Surprised about my ignorance
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For me it was something at McDonald's that was about 430 calories alone but as a meal 1300. I gave up sweet tea and fries on the spot and came to MFP to start counting. Another moment was when I ran far enough to burn 1000 calories (7.5 miles) if that doesn't motivate you to control what you consume nothing will. In reality I was over eating and making bad food choices. That was 45 pounds ago and it just don't stop. That's why I tell people "It's not a diet, its a lifestyle change" If you re-train yourself on what and how much to eat, its not all that difficult. It also helps to run 25 miles a week too.
(Emphasis added)
The bolded is part of why the axiom "You can't out-exercise your calorie intake" holds so true. How many of us have time (or energy! or inclination!) to run 7+ miles to burn off a piece of cheesecake, or two bagels with cream cheese, or ....
Wow. On a separate note, I just realized that a bagel with cream cheese (370 - 540+) could have more calories than a bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes (390-440). I know which one I would enjoy more!
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I know the feeling. I had that moment of realizing how evil and sneaky calories are they hide in massive amounts in the most unlikely of places and yes that does explain a great deal why some people are overweight.
I have a friend who likes to drink, primarily brightly colored sweet drinks and all I can do is shake my head at all the added calories he consumes . . . of course he cannot understand why he is gaining the weight that he lost while hanging with me and drinking mostly water. There are times when I think his beverages have more calories than his meals.
Evil and sneaky is right.
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No, but a food scale will let you weigh your portions so your calorie counts are more accurate. If you say you are eating 4 ounces (the recommended serving size) of meat, how do you know that it's really 4 ounces unless you weigh it? I know I was terrible at eye-balling portion sizes when I first started.sherbear702 wrote: »It is an eye opener. If you're serious about losing weight, invest in a food scale. You'd be shocked at how much 2 oz of pasta isn't
Does a food scale count calories?
That's it. I'm getting a food scale!
Best desicion ever! #congrats... I owe everything to my food scale
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For me it was something at McDonald's that was about 430 calories alone but as a meal 1300. I gave up sweet tea and fries on the spot and came to MFP to start counting. Another moment was when I ran far enough to burn 1000 calories (7.5 miles) if that doesn't motivate you to control what you consume nothing will. In reality I was over eating and making bad food choices. That was 45 pounds ago and it just don't stop. That's why I tell people "It's not a diet, its a lifestyle change" If you re-train yourself on what and how much to eat, its not all that difficult. It also helps to run 25 miles a week too.
I just restarted jogging today. Fingers crossed.
Start slow and gradually work up and get some good shoes.0 -
No, but a food scale will let you weigh your portions so your calorie counts are more accurate. If you say you are eating 4 ounces (the recommended serving size) of meat, how do you know that it's really 4 ounces unless you weigh it? I know I was terrible at eye-balling portion sizes when I first started.sherbear702 wrote: »It is an eye opener. If you're serious about losing weight, invest in a food scale. You'd be shocked at how much 2 oz of pasta isn't
Does a food scale count calories?
That's it. I'm getting a food scale!
Best desicion ever! #congrats... I owe everything to my food scale
Agreed! I even weigh things like peanut butter and salad dressing because the serving size is given in grams as well as tablespoons. The benefit is that I don't dirty as many tablespoons and measuring cups! It's the things which are calorie dense that are the most important to weigh.0 -
It's actually pretty depressing to me when I eat out... I look at what looks good on the menu and it upsets me when I think that everything is probably over 1000 calories (sure, I could eat half, but then half the time I'd still be hungry after!).
But I knew some things had a lot of calories, I just never realized that it was THAT bad. .. like more than what I should eat for a day in one meal bad.0 -
Peanut butter. So I guess nuts in general. I didn't eat much before but started when I started logging (go figure) and now I'm addicted but oh so many calories.0
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I love chicken wings! But now when we go to my favorite place for wings, I order baked wings instead of fried. And instead of fries I get celery. To be honest, their fries are not even very good! But the wings come with either fries OR celery. And its only like $.60 to get wings & fries and add celery. So I used to do that as it was the better value. And at home, I buy a store brand frozen bag of wings and make them in the hot air 'fryer'. Awesome invention!
Its healthier to avoid the grease, but they're still quite good.0 -
I went to Olive Garden last Friday night. I had 4 pieces of Lasagna Fritta (appetizer), 1 bread stick, 1 bowl of Toscana Soup and two cokes. Just that came to 1391 calories. And I didn't even get a meal. Just some appetizers, a bowl of soup, a drink and one bread stick. Rediculous. And we wonder why America is fat.0
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slinke2014 wrote: »yep, burgers became a rare treat for me. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year. I do enjoy eating out quite a bit in general but I make room for it during the day by really scaling back so I have extra calories for dinner.
I thought that a meal at McDonald's, including the 20 piece, was only 900 calories, turns out it was 2,399 calories.
I recently moved to WA where most restaurants are required to have the calories listed on the menu, including fast food and Starbucks. it really helps you decide what to put in your body.0 -
You get really good at filling yourself up on low calorie fare. And it doesn't take long. Bad habits begin to be replaced with good habits. It's surprising how filling a salad can be. And add extra veggies to your meal and lots of water and you will get by with your allotted calories. Not to mention, your appetite goes down. If you add exercise it also helps decrease your appetite,at least in my case0
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sherbear702 wrote: »It is an eye opener. If you're serious about losing weight, invest in a food scale. You'd be shocked at how much 2 oz of pasta isn't
Does a food scale count calories?
It helps keep you from underestimating your true portion sizes, which in turn helps YOU count calories.
"You'd be shocked at how much 2 oz of pasta isn't" = "a 'serving' of pasta is a lot small than you'd think!"
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Sorry folks, a quick off topic question.
Staci, how is the hot air deep fryer?
I keep playing with the thought of getting one, actual deep fried food tastes just too greasy now, but have never met anyone who uses one to get a good review.
Cheers, h.0 -
OMG YES! When I first joined MFP, I looked up a lot of foods I knew were not the best but HOLY COW! I used to get 2 burritos and a lg soda from Taco Bell for lunch (quite often, I might add)- 1,500 calories! That's more than I eat in an entire day now!
And I found that even things I thought were "healthy" are calorie laden. Like the grilled chicken caesar wrap from McAlister's Deli- 810 calories! Add to that a bag of chips and a sweet tea and, again, HOLY COW!0 -
I feel like living in the US is an automatic disadvantage when it comes to weight loss. Being overweight and sickly has become the norm here. I see more judgement on healthy people than I do on overweight or obese people. If you control your portions and try to eat correctly you get accused of being anorexic or sometimes even snobby. If you're overweight, you're just one of the gang and being yourself......or should I say you're being like everyone else and that makes them feel better about their health issues.
I was in that trap too. From high school all the way up until now. 20 years. I accepted it as normal that I was eating huge subs and huge plates of spaghetti every day. Come on, my belly isn't that big, right? This XL shirt must have shrunk! It used to fit me great!
This country has a severe problem. Most people aren't willing to get out of their comfort zone to change it. If you want to get healthy and eat right, you have to do it yourself and not expect anyone to help you. In fact, you can even sometimes expect the people you THOUGHT would support you to give you a lot of crap and try to push food on you no matter how many times you say no.0 -
I was into Costco salads till I found out they had 950 calories. Hey it is a salad.0
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I love it! They are not cheap, especially since I got one with a larger basket. I'd read the limitation is being able to only make a little food at a time. I can make a whole bag of wings - which is 20-25 sections. I like the flats, hubby likes the drums. Perfect marriage! (Store brand, frozen food section, not huge wings like at a restaurant but I think its something like 5 pieces for 180-190 calories.)
You can cook almost anything in it. I'll sometimes cook a single piece of salmon or a chicken breast for me - put it on wax paper and into the basket it goes. Better than heating up the oven and the house in 90+ degree weather! Cleanup is easy enough. I dump the crumbs into the garbage can, then wash it in hot soapy water. Then run it thru the dishwasher. You could do one or the other but I figure it gets the most clean by doing both steps.
I use it at least 1-2 times a week. The kids use it. And so does Hubby.middlehaitch wrote: »Sorry folks, a quick off topic question.
Staci, how is the hot air deep fryer?
I keep playing with the thought of getting one, actual deep fried food tastes just too greasy now, but have never met anyone who uses one to get a good review.
Cheers, h.
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OMG YES! When I first joined MFP, I looked up a lot of foods I knew were not the best but HOLY COW! I used to get 2 burritos and a lg soda from Taco Bell for lunch (quite often, I might add)- 1,500 calories! That's more than I eat in an entire day now!
Egads... i used to get a combo meal at Taco Bell with an extra large cherry pepsi, and i'd add a couple chili-cheese burritos to make it filling.
When i'd go to McDonald's i'd always get an extra 6-piece nuggets, to top off the burger and fries.
I knew i was over-eating, but didn't really have a frame of reference for scale.
Once i started paying attention to calories, it hit me pretty hard at first! But i didn't find making adjustments all that difficult once i started understanding them. And when i finally started looking at "food-enjoyment-per-calorie" it was pretty easy to make better choices, and still indulge from time to time when i budgeted for it.0 -
Ps-I had wondered about them also, but my mother in law got one and gave us rave reviews. 0
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For me it was something at McDonald's that was about 430 calories alone but as a meal 1300. I gave up sweet tea and fries on the spot and came to MFP to start counting. Another moment was when I ran far enough to burn 1000 calories (7.5 miles) if that doesn't motivate you to control what you consume nothing will. In reality I was over eating and making bad food choices. That was 45 pounds ago and it just don't stop. That's why I tell people "It's not a diet, its a lifestyle change" If you re-train yourself on what and how much to eat, its not all that difficult. It also helps to run 25 miles a week too.
I just restarted jogging today. Fingers crossed.
Start slow and gradually work up and get some good shoes.
Well, I have old shoes. That explains why my feet hurt!0
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