Shockers when you started paying attention to calories?

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  • candicane_06
    candicane_06 Posts: 3 Member
    Dark beer. A 16 oz glass of stout can easily be 300 calories.
  • skinnyEmilijah
    skinnyEmilijah Posts: 61 Member
    Chinese food, at least the chinese food served in America. I don't know why I thought it was healthy before, but fried meat and some veggies with a sugary sauce over white rice is really calorie dense :neutral_face: Also, cream cheese wontons: I love those things, but they add up so fast!!

    Another thing that shocked me were the calories in Olive Garden dishes. I knew they weren't good, but the portion sizes there are ridiculous and I never liked it enough for it to be worth it. Now if my family wants to go, I usually get the soup and salad (which is pretty decent, calorie-wise)

    On the flip side, I've been happy to discover that quesadillas and burgers (if smaller sized and without bacon/mayo) actually fit in well with my calorie goals if I don't get caloric sides with them.
  • mojohowitz
    mojohowitz Posts: 900 Member
    Serving-Size-of-Common-Foods1.jpg
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    The calories from drinks REALLY caught my eye when I started looking at daily consumptions. Especially with coffee with a few cups a day with creamer. Seriously. I just cut out or reduced those and was close to my goals without changing food habits.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    Cheese.

    Restaurant meals don't shock me. I know they're super high.
  • mojohowitz
    mojohowitz Posts: 900 Member
    candicane_06 wrote: »
    Dark beer. A 16 oz glass of stout can easily be 300 calories.

    Dogfish 120 IPA 450 calories in ONE 12 ounce beer.
  • sarieth05
    sarieth05 Posts: 313 Member
    I was being naive, but the calories in sweets really surprised me. Also, I tried to order healthy at a restaurant and got a chicken salad, got home and realized it was like 1000 calories. I like going to a grocery store, almost impulse buying something until I turn it over and see the nutrition, and just go "OH CRAP!" and angrily put it back.
  • superfox12082
    superfox12082 Posts: 512 Member
    Flavored yogurt. Even the tiny containers. It sucks.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    How small a serving of peanut butter is. :\
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,224 Member
    Caesar salad! I remember working out how many calories was in the chicken Caesar at my old job and realising I could have the Chicken Parma with chips for less calories. And you'd see people all the time say "Oh, I'm being good, I'll just grab the caesar salad..."
  • Soggynode
    Soggynode Posts: 1,179 Member
    edited November 2014
    beamer0821 wrote: »
    i guess i wouldn't be shocked eating a creamy alfredo pasta dish is a ga-zillion calories.

    what shocked me (and still shocks me) is what 1oz of tortilla chips looks like! ugh!!

    ^^ Yep. The brand of tortilla chips we buy have 170 calories in 13 chips. We used to go to Chilis or other restaurants and eat basket after basket of tortilla chips. That could explain a few things about my current condition.
  • Justcallme_J
    Justcallme_J Posts: 28 Member
    The calories in fast food grilled chicken sandwiches. I don't eat fast food often, but when I do I usually choose grilled chicken because I thought it was the lower calorie option. I've done this at several places and found that the chicken has more calories than a small hamburger. The first time I noticed it was at Wendy's. I wanted a jr. cheeseburger deluxe but thought it would be way too many calories. Instead I looked up what I thought would be the better option, a grilled chicken pretzel sandwich. I can't remember the exact calorie count. I think it was between 500-600. I ended up getting the jr. cheeseburger because it was surprisingly a few hundred calories less.
  • rlmiller73190
    rlmiller73190 Posts: 342 Member
    fit2014yay wrote: »
    Sweet tea!! Had no idea how many calories I was drinking a day!! 600+ calories I could've been eating! :(

    That, and Smucker's Uncrustables - 210 a sandwich!!

    210 a sandwich isn't that bad considering that 2 tbsp of peanut butter is around then (+/- 30)? I guess based on the size, though, it is!!
  • fearlessleader104
    fearlessleader104 Posts: 723 Member
    Cheetos. . F u cheetos
  • shadowloss
    shadowloss Posts: 293 Member
    I know the place has been named, but I used to go to "Chilis" and think I was being good by ordering the salad. You know the one that has lettuce, grilled chicken along with other vegetables, and oh yea the quesadilla wedges, the Quesadilla Explosion. I went to load it into MFP while I was sitting at the table and damn near had a stroke! over 1300 calories for a SALAD! No more salads for this guy!

    Another shocker was Panda Express, again, already mentioned, but I would ordered what I thought would be the "Healthier" option, the Bejing Beef, and I ordered it as a bowl, not the 2 entrees with the rice or noodles. 900 Calories for the bowl! I did notice after the fact they had some better caloric options, but the sodium is off the charts.

    On a positive note, the family doesn't eat out nearly as much as it used to and I'm saving a boat load of money! Well, it's a small boat!
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
    I found a delish looking recipe for stuffed shells - looked awesome. Pasta shells filled with chicken, spinach, 3 different cheeses... it made about 35 shells and each shell is about 140 calories! I could easily eat 4-6 shells for dinner! That's homemade, made with light cream cheese and half the amount the recipe actually called for! That's 560-840 calories without any salad or garlic bread to go along with it!
  • elv1ra
    elv1ra Posts: 146 Member
    nuts, cereal, cheese, ramen, chips, microwave popcorn
  • LINIA
    LINIA Posts: 1,159 Member
    I am mostly shocked when I read advice like " eat what you like in moderation" , for many items I love at, say, for example "Bonefish Grill" or "PFChang's" that would be about 3 tablespoons of food. Moderation doesn't work for me, and there must be others like this.
  • FoodFitnessTravel
    FoodFitnessTravel Posts: 294 Member
    unfortunately, sushi. I know I know, there are good options that i can choose, good fats and protein, but also i can eat tons and tons of sushi and sashimi in one sitting without getting very full. And the lack of "stuffed" feeling made me think sushi is weight loss food. Needless to say, that was before i started counting cals.
  • ithrowconfetti
    ithrowconfetti Posts: 451 Member
    edited November 2014
    • Milo
    • The sugar content in most Starbucks beverages (like the Green Tea latte)
    • A single serving of peanut butter
    • Most breakfast cereals
    • Avocados
    • Low-fat anything
    • Pesto
    • Olive oil
  • FoodFitnessTravel
    FoodFitnessTravel Posts: 294 Member
    also what LINIA said. There's no eating in "moderation" for some of us, if you are born with that power than i envy you. Also "listen to your body". If i listened to my body i would be stuffing my face with 20 cupcakes a day.
  • vanessa40
    vanessa40 Posts: 328 Member
    edited November 2014
    I have not read through this entire thread but to me it's all about serving size. I mean a container of Ben & Jerry is 4 servings...really what world...lol
    Also those Crystal Light packs you pour in your water..one pack is two servings..who puts a half pack in water..come on be real and just say it's 10 calories per serving..
  • JeriAnne84
    JeriAnne84 Posts: 543 Member
    The honey biscuts from Church's. Those delicious *kitten*. But they are 190 calories for ONE and they aren't that big. :(
  • MJ_Watson
    MJ_Watson Posts: 180 Member
    edited November 2014
    90 calories in one jumbo marshmallow. ONE. Meaning that two of those babies = an entire Quest bar. I could seriously cry.
  • MisterZ33
    MisterZ33 Posts: 567 Member
    i never realized how high in sugar some fruits were.
  • CupcakeCrusoe
    CupcakeCrusoe Posts: 1,425 Member
    It's been said and done to death, but nut butters constantly surprise me. Not by measuring them, oh no, because I can pack a whole lot of peanut butter in a tablespoon. But you go to weigh that ***** and there go your dreams of a wonderful peanut-buttery sandwich.

    It's sad.
  • ems212
    ems212 Posts: 135 Member
    We went out for dinner one night and my fiance ordered cheesecake bites. I looked them up...80 calories for 1 bite (about a 1x1" cube). Crazy!
  • allieallieoxenfree
    allieallieoxenfree Posts: 114 Member
    These have been said already, but: tortilla chips, jeez. Who eats, like, 5 chips and calls it a day?

    Olive oil in cooking--I used to start every saute pan with a healthy tablespoon or two of olive oil. The crazy thing is, you don't even need a tsp to cook most things! I don't know what I was thinking.

    Tortillas. WTF. They're not even GOOD.

    On the plus side, I was flabbergasted that a beef crunchy taco from Taco Bell is only 170 calories. I freakin' love Taco Bell, lol, and I can easily fit a lunch of three crunchy tacos into my macros, if I watch my fat the rest of the day. Mmmm.
  • akboy58
    akboy58 Posts: 137 Member
    Back in January, right after I started logging calories with MFP but before I wised up, I ordered (and ate) the Ma Po Tofu at PF Chang's without checking the calorie count. Vegetarian, right? Lo-cal, right? Wrong. 1,030 frickin' calories. There was an order of vegetarian dumplings (310 calories) in there, too, someplace, as I remember, so I ended up blowing my entire daily calorie allotment in a single lunch. Gah!
  • legowrangler
    legowrangler Posts: 229 Member
    AndyN87 wrote: »
    Biggest shocker has been things like dressings, BBQ sauce, etc that all add up insanely quick. Thankfully I do like mustard..... but something like honey mustard has a ton of calories in it.

    a trick I learned for honey mustard is to take mustard and mix splenda in it!
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