Anyone else shocked?

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Replies

  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 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?!

    Pick just about any of them from the Cheesecake Factory or Chili's to start.
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
    smantha32 wrote: »
    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?!

    Pick just about any of them from the Cheesecake Factory or Chili's to start.

    I am not American so I don't know the brands. I'll look them up. I just can't figure out for the life of me what you have to put into a salad to make it that calorie dense before dressing. I am shocked!
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
    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!!

    THIS!!! What is up with that?! :anguished:
  • AlecB62
    AlecB62 Posts: 264 Member
    Yes, I started logging on here and then realised just how much I was eating.
    The snacking on cheese and crackers with a glass of wine without realising the amount of calories I was downing in a short space of time hit me hard.
    I think the portion sizes has shocked me, cereal, pasta, cheese all of these I used to eat far too much of in one sitting without knowing that I'd had way too many portions in what I thought was an acceptable amount.

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,346 Member
    smantha32 wrote: »
    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?!

    Pick just about any of them from the Cheesecake Factory or Chili's to start.

    I am not American so I don't know the brands. I'll look them up. I just can't figure out for the life of me what you have to put into a salad to make it that calorie dense before dressing. I am shocked!

    Caesar salad can be horrific. If it's a proper one, it can run higher calories than a chicken parma, including chips.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I'm about to hit a month long streak of logging, and I've truly benefited so much from being active in the community here. I've learned so much from all of you and owe a lot of my success to the insight and support!

    A few times this past week as I've been logging in my food, I've reflected on past eating habits and I continue to be shocked by how much I was eating and how unaware I was of it. I always used to say that I really didn't eat that bad, which is true, I don't, but I was eating so much of it that it's a no brainer why I was packing on the weight the past 4 years.

    Once you decided to make the lifestyle change, were you as impacted by your past habits as I was?

    I was actually the other way round. When I first started logging (in July 2012, losing baby weight) I was eating around 1200 calories per day. I have now learnt that I can eat 1600 calories a day and still lose. That's an eye-opener for the girl who thought you had to starve to lose weight! Now I'm losing after my 3rd baby, and it's been so nice to not have to restrict myself to such low calories.
  • kyrannosaurus
    kyrannosaurus Posts: 350 Member
    randomtai wrote: »
    BILLBRYTAN wrote: »
    What shocked me was the amount of garbage I was eating. While losing weight I literally ate more calories than I did before. CALORIES ARE NOT THE ENEMY, NON-FOOD GARBAGE IS!

    You shouldn't eat garbage...

    Why not?

    I've literally eaten garbage. When I was 21 after rent I didn't have much money. So my housemate would get food out of the skips after the local market closed and we'd eat it. We were all fine and it was better than starving. So if literally eating garbage doesn't kill you processed foods in moderation probably won't either
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
    smantha32 wrote: »
    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?!

    Pick just about any of them from the Cheesecake Factory or Chili's to start.

    I am not American so I don't know the brands. I'll look them up. I just can't figure out for the life of me what you have to put into a salad to make it that calorie dense before dressing. I am shocked!

    Caesar salad can be horrific. If it's a proper one, it can run higher calories than a chicken parma, including chips.

    I'm shocked :confounded:
  • felblossom
    felblossom Posts: 132 Member
    When I first started to log my "healthy" meals, I shuddered to see how many servings of it I was actually eating, and how easily I could down 3-4000 calories in a day and not even feel that full. Another eye-opener was when I got my food scale and started weighing things out, realizing how not every "cup" or "one medium sized" something adds up to the same amount.

    Also, restaurants and recipes in cookbooks occasionally make me cringe. Over 1000 calories for a "normal" meal? It's no wonder we are so completely unaware by serving sizes and the amount of calories we consume when a cookbook offers something that looks healthy and home-cooked or a restaurant offers a friggin' salad that's worth more than your daily calories.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 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?!

    As soon as you add cheese to a salad ... :)

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    To those who mentioned cereal, that was eye-opening as well. A 45 gram serving is TINY.
  • paulaviki
    paulaviki Posts: 678 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    To those who mentioned cereal, that was eye-opening as well. A 45 gram serving is TINY.
    Yup! I love cereals but pretty much never eat them anymore, the size of bowl I want just isn't worth it! :(
  • mehrkraft1
    mehrkraft1 Posts: 1 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?????!!!!

    Too true about the crisps!! The food companies pretending that's the serving size is so misleading, especially since potato chips have been engineered so that we want to eat as many of them as possible.
  • mlynnhamil
    mlynnhamil Posts: 10 Member
    I recently came back to MFP because I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing weight, I felt like I'd been doing fine. After resuming tracking, I totally understand the problem!!
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    smantha32 wrote: »
    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?!

    Pick just about any of them from the Cheesecake Factory or Chili's to start.

    I am not American so I don't know the brands. I'll look them up. I just can't figure out for the life of me what you have to put into a salad to make it that calorie dense before dressing. I am shocked!

    Right? That's why people believe ordering a salad is a healthy option. Until you look up the nutritional value. ugh.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    edited July 2015
    smantha32 wrote: »
    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?!

    Pick just about any of them from the Cheesecake Factory or Chili's to start.

    I am not American so I don't know the brands. I'll look them up. I just can't figure out for the life of me what you have to put into a salad to make it that calorie dense before dressing. I am shocked!

    Caesar salad can be horrific. If it's a proper one, it can run higher calories than a chicken parma, including chips.

    Caesar has the dressing mixed in though so you can halfway expect it.. but ordering a salad somewhere with dressing on the side, then looking it up later and finding out it's 1900 calories can be a shocker. I saw one on the Cheesecake Factory menu that was over 2600 calories.

  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    mehrkraft1 wrote: »
    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?????!!!!

    Too true about the crisps!! The food companies pretending that's the serving size is so misleading, especially since potato chips have been engineered so that we want to eat as many of them as possible.

    Well they don't want you to know their small bag of chips has 800 calories in it, but they have to tell you now by law, so they break it down to a small caloric amount and then put 8 servings on the bag and hope you don't notice.
  • Timelordlady85
    Timelordlady85 Posts: 797 Member
    Ive been active on here for 463 days and I'm amazed at where I started fitness wise and eating. I have completely changed my life around for the better. I do aerobics at least hour to 2 hrs a day, plus work at a job that keeps me active by cleaning. Im a mom to 3 boys and easily keep up with them now. I love myfitnesspal and my fitbit and plar ft4. Healthy eating and exercise makes me happy!
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