Anyone else shocked?

2

Replies

  • missmatalini
    missmatalini Posts: 30 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Yes !! I was shocked to see how much i was truly consuming. I used to think i was having one serving of cereal. When i came here and started weighing it out, it was actually almost five servings! ! I had no idea !! Mfp has also taught me many valuable lessons about portion control and moderation.

    Oh lawd, pasta. After doing the old Fat N Fibre plan on WW, I actually though that pasta, being low fat, was a GREAT choice!! Pasta with a lean meat bolognaise... Holy hell, hello near 1000 calories in a big bowl. I'm a volume eater and could happily polish off a giant pile of pasta.

    Also WW used to peddle sushi as being a great choice! I'd have 3-4 rolls for lunch and feel like I did good - hello 800 calorie lunch!

    Mine was two things - butter and cheese. Slather butter on my toast, have a small bowl of pasta, and smother it in a rich sauce (cooked with butter) and shredded cheese. Now when I weigh out my butter for toast and other cooking, it scares me how much I used to use. I could eat a wheel of brie or large wedge of blue cheese without batting an eyelid. Now I cry a little inside when I have to weigh out my danish blue and see that my afternoon snack has more calories than my lunch.

    Weighing cheese is the biggest downer of all downers. Ahh for the days of eating cheese with abandon.
    But it's either that or low fat cheese...gag

    Weighing cheese is so depressing. I've taken to grating cheddar, even if it is to go on crackers or whatnot, because it looks like a lot more. Low fat cheese is a travesty.


    Tricking your mind is the way to go. I only use super small plates for dinner now. The appearance of more food makes me happy
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Yes !! I was shocked to see how much i was truly consuming. I used to think i was having one serving of cereal. When i came here and started weighing it out, it was actually almost five servings! ! I had no idea !! Mfp has also taught me many valuable lessons about portion control and moderation.

    Oh lawd, pasta. After doing the old Fat N Fibre plan on WW, I actually though that pasta, being low fat, was a GREAT choice!! Pasta with a lean meat bolognaise... Holy hell, hello near 1000 calories in a big bowl. I'm a volume eater and could happily polish off a giant pile of pasta.

    Also WW used to peddle sushi as being a great choice! I'd have 3-4 rolls for lunch and feel like I did good - hello 800 calorie lunch!

    Mine was two things - butter and cheese. Slather butter on my toast, have a small bowl of pasta, and smother it in a rich sauce (cooked with butter) and shredded cheese. Now when I weigh out my butter for toast and other cooking, it scares me how much I used to use. I could eat a wheel of brie or large wedge of blue cheese without batting an eyelid. Now I cry a little inside when I have to weigh out my danish blue and see that my afternoon snack has more calories than my lunch.

    Weighing cheese is the biggest downer of all downers. Ahh for the days of eating cheese with abandon.
    But it's either that or low fat cheese...gag

    There are only two low fat cheeses I'm willing to put up with - babybel, and laughing cow. They're processed enough that there isn't that much of a difference. If you try to give me low fat tasty cheese or any artisan type cheese, and I'll attempt to maul you with a spoon.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Yes !! I was shocked to see how much i was truly consuming. I used to think i was having one serving of cereal. When i came here and started weighing it out, it was actually almost five servings! ! I had no idea !! Mfp has also taught me many valuable lessons about portion control and moderation.

    Oh lawd, pasta. After doing the old Fat N Fibre plan on WW, I actually though that pasta, being low fat, was a GREAT choice!! Pasta with a lean meat bolognaise... Holy hell, hello near 1000 calories in a big bowl. I'm a volume eater and could happily polish off a giant pile of pasta.

    Also WW used to peddle sushi as being a great choice! I'd have 3-4 rolls for lunch and feel like I did good - hello 800 calorie lunch!

    Mine was two things - butter and cheese. Slather butter on my toast, have a small bowl of pasta, and smother it in a rich sauce (cooked with butter) and shredded cheese. Now when I weigh out my butter for toast and other cooking, it scares me how much I used to use. I could eat a wheel of brie or large wedge of blue cheese without batting an eyelid. Now I cry a little inside when I have to weigh out my danish blue and see that my afternoon snack has more calories than my lunch.

    Weighing cheese is the biggest downer of all downers. Ahh for the days of eating cheese with abandon.
    But it's either that or low fat cheese...gag

    Weighing cheese is so depressing. I've taken to grating cheddar, even if it is to go on crackers or whatnot, because it looks like a lot more. Low fat cheese is a travesty.


    Tricking your mind is the way to go. I only use super small plates for dinner now. The appearance of more food makes me happy

    Sadly, I'd be using a plate for an Espresso cup to make it look full for a recommended serving of cheese :(
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,250 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Yes !! I was shocked to see how much i was truly consuming. I used to think i was having one serving of cereal. When i came here and started weighing it out, it was actually almost five servings! ! I had no idea !! Mfp has also taught me many valuable lessons about portion control and moderation.

    Oh lawd, pasta. After doing the old Fat N Fibre plan on WW, I actually though that pasta, being low fat, was a GREAT choice!! Pasta with a lean meat bolognaise... Holy hell, hello near 1000 calories in a big bowl. I'm a volume eater and could happily polish off a giant pile of pasta.

    Also WW used to peddle sushi as being a great choice! I'd have 3-4 rolls for lunch and feel like I did good - hello 800 calorie lunch!

    Mine was two things - butter and cheese. Slather butter on my toast, have a small bowl of pasta, and smother it in a rich sauce (cooked with butter) and shredded cheese. Now when I weigh out my butter for toast and other cooking, it scares me how much I used to use. I could eat a wheel of brie or large wedge of blue cheese without batting an eyelid. Now I cry a little inside when I have to weigh out my danish blue and see that my afternoon snack has more calories than my lunch.

    Weighing cheese is the biggest downer of all downers. Ahh for the days of eating cheese with abandon.
    But it's either that or low fat cheese...gag

    There are only two low fat cheeses I'm willing to put up with - babybel, and laughing cow. They're processed enough that there isn't that much of a difference. If you try to give me low fat tasty cheese or any artisan type cheese, and I'll attempt to maul you with a spoon.

    Oh yeah, laughing cow is my exception too. Though I did buy full fat at Costco and it's still only 40 cals a triangle. I mix it into stuff and couldn't really tell the difference.
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
    I was never really overweight, but I was getting fatter. Not by much, but by a little every year. Still healthy, still happy, but sneaking on weight. What 'saved' me in those days is that I just do not eat much of any meal while polishing off bag after bag of chips. I went over maintenance, but just a little bit every day. When I had to cut out all grains two years ago, the weight automatically came off a little; because I cut out monster servings of pasta, croissants, and chips, I ate a deficit naturally. Not a big one because I was still packing away the sweets like a champ, but still. When I started logging, it gave me so much insight into how and why my body reacted the way it did in those days and crisps now? Soooo not worth the calorie splurge except for a tiny bag I have to go out and buy specifically as a treat. Logging made me aware of my body and its needs. Even in three weeks, it has changed my way of thinking about food and changed the way things taste. It has settled my cravings. I am so, so grateful.
  • wochlikgm
    wochlikgm Posts: 131 Member
    Yup. Shock factor here. MyFitnessPal is a bit of a wake up on quantity and quality of food. All those calories do add up. I now meticulously estimate or calculate how much food I'm taking in.
  • cutec527
    cutec527 Posts: 18 Member
    I have been logging my food for over 6 months now and it's funny how much is in things I would never have guessed. I now get on MFP Food Database before I eat things to see how many calories are in them before I consume them :D And I have fallen in love with the "create and log your own recipie" feature as I do love my casseroles still (mostly veggies). My husband thinks I have gone overboard with it all but it has worked for me I feel it has kept me accountable to myself. And I am so happy in the evenings when I still have calories left to eat my fave thing in the world popcorn :D
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  • missmatalini
    missmatalini Posts: 30 Member
    What's crazy is when you have a day where you splurge and eat like you did before and you want to die because you feel so sick.

    Experiencing that today. Make me never want to do it again!
  • 460mustang
    460mustang Posts: 196 Member
    edited July 2015
    Yup, never calorie counted before and was surprised by the cals in deserts and soda pop. Since cutting back on sugar I have been able to lose weight.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    so many things... olive oil (I still eat it though), nuts - I'd think "ooh I'm being healthy - I'm going to eat trail mix" and eat like - a bag of the stuff - hello 800 calories and I wasn't even full!!

    I still eat butter/olive oil (I don't even log the olive oil because I use it in every single thing I cook) but I call "good oils" and eat it anyway.

    Crisps were an eye opener too - one serving of crisps is 18 pieces - who the hell can eat only 18 crisps?????!!!!

    Nuts are a killer! I love them, but I can eat a bag of them over the course of an afternoon while grazing and never feel full.

    NUTS! That was the other one I couldn't remember. I was floored at how calorific nuts are. I was like they're a whole natural food! They can't be high in calories!

    I'm not like that with nuts unless it's warm salted and roasted macadamia nuts.

    Although, my idea of a serving of peanut butter before..... I'm pretty sure on some occasions just my brekky had my daily caloric intake from peanut butter alone.
    What's crazy is when you have a day where you splurge and eat like you did before and you want to die because you feel so sick.

    Experiencing that today. Make me never want to do it again!

    Ikr? Eating a whole large pizza, half a garlic bread, dessert, and a bottle of soft drink is unthinkable now. I'd probably be sick for a couple of days and have the water retention of a healthy camel.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,250 Member
    What's crazy is when you have a day where you splurge and eat like you did before and you want to die because you feel so sick.

    Experiencing that today. Make me never want to do it again!

    Yuuup, food hangover. I get wild heartburn from it now, it sucks.
  • Chezzie84
    Chezzie84 Posts: 873 Member
    I was shocked by my my eating habits.
    I used mfp for two weeks, logging everything but not looking at the numbers so I could analyse what I was doing.
    My diet was great, my breakfasts, lunches and dinners were all calorie and nutritionally sound...
    It was the stopping at McDonalds and eating a full meal whilst driving home (before dinner) and the stopping at the petrol station for a bacon and egg sandwich before work (where I would eat my breakfast) and the huge amount off sweets, chocolate and crisps I would eat. All in secret, all wrappers being hidden so no one knew.
  • 111grace
    111grace Posts: 382 Member
    I was shocked about the calories in chocolate, never knew!! :( . 1 small pkt of choc-nuts 500 calories, 1 box of Ferrero Rocher = -+1500 calories!! and that was just snacks!!
  • brandyosu
    brandyosu Posts: 257 Member
    Fast food and cokes...cutting those two things out has made a world of difference. And what's really funny? I quit cokes cold turkey and went over a month before I would even allow myself to have one on my free day because I didn't want to risk more caffeine headaches, but when I finally decided enough time had passed that I could indulge in one, it wasn't even good. I was so disappointed in how sickly sweet it tasted that I didn't even finish it.

    But yeah, I used to eat fast food every day for lunch - it's AMAZING how many calories can be in a fast food meal. Now I keep food stocked at work that I can eat if I don't have time to drive home and eat lunch.
  • vadimknobel
    vadimknobel Posts: 165 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Yes !! I was shocked to see how much i was truly consuming. I used to think i was having one serving of cereal. When i came here and started weighing it out, it was actually almost five servings! ! I had no idea !! Mfp has also taught me many valuable lessons about portion control and moderation.

    Oh lawd, pasta. After doing the old Fat N Fibre plan on WW, I actually though that pasta, being low fat, was a GREAT choice!! Pasta with a lean meat bolognaise... Holy hell, hello near 1000 calories in a big bowl. I'm a volume eater and could happily polish off a giant pile of pasta.

    Also WW used to peddle sushi as being a great choice! I'd have 3-4 rolls for lunch and feel like I did good - hello 800 calorie lunch!

    Mine was two things - butter and cheese. Slather butter on my toast, have a small bowl of pasta, and smother it in a rich sauce (cooked with butter) and shredded cheese. Now when I weigh out my butter for toast and other cooking, it scares me how much I used to use. I could eat a wheel of brie or large wedge of blue cheese without batting an eyelid. Now I cry a little inside when I have to weigh out my danish blue and see that my afternoon snack has more calories than my lunch.

    Weighing cheese is the biggest downer of all downers. Ahh for the days of eating cheese with abandon.
    But it's either that or low fat cheese...gag

    Weighing cheese is so depressing. I've taken to grating cheddar, even if it is to go on crackers or whatnot, because it looks like a lot more. Low fat cheese is a travesty.

    I also used to love cheese and eat lots of it. stopped buying it altogether last month after cutting down from like 4-6 slices to 1- 2 slices per day.
  • Rogue_Esq
    Rogue_Esq Posts: 24 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Yes !! I was shocked to see how much i was truly consuming. I used to think i was having one serving of cereal. When i came here and started weighing it out, it was actually almost five servings! ! I had no idea !! Mfp has also taught me many valuable lessons about portion control and moderation.

    Oh lawd, pasta. After doing the old Fat N Fibre plan on WW, I actually though that pasta, being low fat, was a GREAT choice!! Pasta with a lean meat bolognaise... Holy hell, hello near 1000 calories in a big bowl. I'm a volume eater and could happily polish off a giant pile of pasta.

    Also WW used to peddle sushi as being a great choice! I'd have 3-4 rolls for lunch and feel like I did good - hello 800 calorie lunch!

    Mine was two things - butter and cheese. Slather butter on my toast, have a small bowl of pasta, and smother it in a rich sauce (cooked with butter) and shredded cheese. Now when I weigh out my butter for toast and other cooking, it scares me how much I used to use. I could eat a wheel of brie or large wedge of blue cheese without batting an eyelid. Now I cry a little inside when I have to weigh out my danish blue and see that my afternoon snack has more calories than my lunch.

    Weighing cheese is the biggest downer of all downers. Ahh for the days of eating cheese with abandon.
    But it's either that or low fat cheese...gag

    I refuse to weigh cheese & crackers. I shall declare it a cheat day and enjoy! Having 2 pieces of cheese and 2 crackers isn't worth having them at all.

    I actually lost a decent amount of weight about 7 years ago by using SparkPeople (which is similar to MFP), but once I lost all the weight, I stopped tracking. I think for a good long while, I was pretty good at eyeballing portions and not overeating, but apparently, that has ended. I was just reflecting on how much I've been eating over the past few months and the amounts compared to the past few days of tracking are staggering.
  • Diana_GettingFit
    Diana_GettingFit Posts: 458 Member
    It's funny, I was just thinking about this topic last night. My wife and I were eating out. I had a veggie wrap with fries. I ate half the wrap and half the fries and took the rest home. I felt good, satisfied. Then I started thinking about how just a year ago I was eating the whole wrap and virtually all the fries in one go. I don't know how I did it. Or why. I couldn't eat like that now. It's scary to think how I used to eat.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    I decided to quit obesity at 250 lbs in January. I was taking in enough calories to gain another 50 lbs, and that's assuming I didn't also continue to increase my intake, which it made sense that I would do, since I'd been doing it for years. I kept trying to blame specific foods, carbs, metabolism, laziness etc, but no. I was just eating too damn much for my height and lifestyle.

    One of the first things to go once I found my calorie goal was soda. All those soda calories were gonna make me starve to death. From there, I had to start changing the way I picked foods at the cafeteria, my selections at drive-thrus, and how often I had greek/italian/dominos take-out.

    Now, when I'm asked how I plan to keep the weight off, I say "doing the exact thing I'm doing to lose it," and then All Dogs Go To Heaven pops into my head... "YOU CAN NEVER GO BAAAACK!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,631 Member
    Once you decided to make the lifestyle change, were you as impacted by your past habits as I was?

    I was pleased. :)

    I gained 15 kg over 4 years, and then starting mid-Feb I began to lose it. Mid-June it was gone. :)

    But I did some calculations ...

    There is an assumption that 1 pound is 3500 calories.

    15 kg = 33 lbs
    33 lb * 3500 cal = 115,500 cal.

    In other words, over 4 years I ate an extra 115,500 cal.

    115,500 cal/4 years = 28,875 cal/year
    28,875 cal/365 days = 79 cal/day

    In other words, I was over eating by a mere 79 cal/day! I was so close!!

    That was very encouraging because dropping 79 cal/day from my diet is quite doable and sustainable.

    Also exercising an additional 79 cal/day is quite possible too. That's walking just under 30 min ... or cycling about 3.75 km.

    Now that I am aware of all that, I should be able to maintain my weight without too much effort. :)

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,631 Member
    What did surprise me a little was how many calories there are in things like cheese, nuts, and pears.

    I had a pretty good idea about the calories in bananas, apples, mangos, veggies, bread, etc. ... I have been reading labels and nutritional information for years. But I didn't start weighing my food until I started here and those three things (cheese, nuts and pears) worked out to quite a bit more than I thought.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    edited July 2015
    I'm more shocked by how many calories can be in foods considered "healthy". You eat something and think you're doing well, look it up later and it's got 4 times more calories than it should for what it is. There are some salads out there that have two days worth of calories. Even without added dressing.
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
    smantha32 wrote: »
    I'm more shocked by how many calories can be in foods considered "healthy". You eat something and think you're doing well, look it up later and it's got 4 times more calories than it should for what it is. There are some salads out there that have two days worth of calories. Even without added dressing.

    :hushed: Like which?!
  • VillageSmithy
    VillageSmithy Posts: 42 Member
    edited July 2015
    Never eat more than you can lift.
    __Miss Piggy
  • smotheredincheese
    smotheredincheese Posts: 559 Member
    I used to eat so much butter, and so much cheese. A slice of toast with a layer of butter half a centimetre thick? My idea of heaven. Actually make it two slices.
    And can we talk about mayonnaise? I still don't fully understand how something so light and fluffy can have so many calories. It's basically just air!!
  • focus43
    focus43 Posts: 1 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    Yes !! I was shocked to see how much i was truly consuming. I used to think i was having one serving of cereal. When i came here and started weighing it out, it was actually almost five servings! ! I had no idea !! Mfp has also taught me many valuable lessons about portion control and moderation.

    Oh lawd, pasta. After doing the old Fat N Fibre plan on WW, I actually though that pasta, being low fat, was a GREAT choice!! Pasta with a lean meat bolognaise... Holy hell, hello near 1000 calories in a big bowl. I'm a volume eater and could happily polish off a giant pile of pasta.

    Also WW used to peddle sushi as being a great choice! I'd have 3-4 rolls for lunch and feel like I did good - hello 800 calorie lunch!]
  • dollarbill181
    dollarbill181 Posts: 67 Member
    I had to buy a food scale after being sticker shocked by serving sizes. Makes a huge difference
  • MissAmyx
    MissAmyx Posts: 48 Member
    when I added up what was a 'typical' day for me i was really really shocked at how much I was actually eating like i could easily rack up 1000-1500 calories a day just from chocolate! thats not even counting the other food I was eating along with it.

    I was surprised by the amount of calories the "lite" milk i drink has in it, its still obviously far less than the same size serve of full cream milk would have but it was still a surprise not quite as "lite" as i thought so i now make sure i do measure it properly when i ad it to my cereal and i have barely any in my coffee/tea now.

    Cereal was a bit of a surprise for me, certain brands i found out i could actually have quite a large portion for a reasonable amount of calories...some are awful though like half a cup of cocopops is like 200cals.

    There are some foods though that I refuse to go 'diet version' of though, like cheese Lite cheese is not cheese...im not sure wtf it is but its definitely not cheese. Longlife skim milk is also not something i can get on bored with, its like milky dishwater. and like diet chocolate/lollies I'd rather just eat one serve of the real thing to get the cravings to go away then trying to trick myself into believing that sugar-free chocolate tastes good
  • lovabee
    lovabee Posts: 30 Member
    I used to eat cereal for breakfast most days. When I began to weigh my food I realized that I was not even close to the recommend serving size of 30g +150ml of milk, but rather filled my bowl with 150g-200g + 400ml milk, easily making this an 800 calorie breakfast.

    I still eat cereal these days, just smaller portions of it. The serving size of 30g is ridiculous though in my opinion, I eat more than that every time, usually between 80g-100g.
  • Monklady123
    Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
    edited July 2015
    The cereal was a shocker for me too. I always ate a huge bowl for breakfast, and have now discovered that this was a LOT of calories. omg. Thankfully I can't do that anymore because of the blood sugar crash that it gives me mid-morning. So now I still eat cereal, but I use a small bowl, measure and weigh, and eat it as an afternoon snack when it fits into my daily calories. But omg was I eating a lot of cereal calories before! oy
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