What foods surprised you the most, calorie-wise?

Both low and high, what foods were you not expecting to be what they were?

My #1 I found out today.. 10 fritos scoops is 160 calories! What? Excuse me?!

Another big one was corn.. retrospectively the two are related, but 600+ calories per cup is absurd.
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Replies

  • christi576
    christi576 Posts: 2 Member
    Magic food. Sweet potato, the ones that are yellow on the inside. Low calorie tons of vitamin A very filling
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Purple sweet potatoes... I used to just log them as regular sweet potatoes, and they are literally twice as much... I love them, but I just cant justify spending the calories on them. Also salmon makes me sad at how high it is in calories. Not really surprised at any processed high fat, high sugar foods... I always knew they'd be very high in calories. Strawberries are awesome tho, super high volume food!
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    Fage 2% Greek yogurt, plain. Only 150 calories for 7 oz, and 20 g of protein. I add 60 calories of honey with cinnamon, and that's a lot of protein for 210. It really helps fill me up.
  • cocoastral
    cocoastral Posts: 21 Member
    sainsbury's milk chocolate cookies. they're my girlfriend's favourites so she always brings them over, just bigger than my palm, and only 210 calories ! i was worried they'd be worse than that and i'd have to sit there and watch her eat them every saturday but i can indulge on one too with that.
  • julie_broadhead
    julie_broadhead Posts: 347 Member
    The deli sandwich pinwheels I used to get at the grocery store. 1,000 calories for a dozen pinwheels.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    Peanut butter. Guacamole. Sad days.

    Laughing Cow cheese. Spinach and mushrooms. Happly days.
  • trisH_7183
    trisH_7183 Posts: 1,486 Member
    Cookies,pizza......beans..regular salad dressings,the list goes on.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,610 Member
    Another big one was corn.. retrospectively the two are related, but 600+ calories per cup is absurd.

    What kind of corn are you eating?

    http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2850/2
    A cup comes in at about 130-ish calories.


    Pears surprised me ... I mistook them for being light and low cal. Turns out they are denser and higher cal than I thought.

  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    definitely Frito's (I go by grams, though.. even more sad) but I find a few added to chili or whatever will add the flavor and I don't need a ton.

    Peanut butter was a sad day.

    Fish was a nice surprise. Pretty decent calorie range there

    oh. and my fave spring mix. If I wanted to, I could eat a mixing bowl full and barely hit 100 cals. :D

    I love Fritos and use them as a topping like you do vs eating a serving by itself. My favorite way is with Progresso's light chicken enchilada soup (a whole can is under 200 calories), with hot sauce drizzled in and then topped with a half serving of fritos. I eat this for lunch several times a week and it's sooo good!
  • Kristi26
    Kristi26 Posts: 184 Member
    I'm surprised the calories in something pretty regularly honestly. This morning, my surprise is the banana banana bread from allrecipe. 229 calories in one little slice. Sigh.
  • Raptor2763
    Raptor2763 Posts: 387 Member
    bad surprise = chicken wings and just about anything with processed sugar. I had NO IDEA how much fat and empty calories were in them
    good surprise = eggs; absolutely protein-laden
    OH - REAL BAD SURPRISE - turns out I have a sensitivity to salt; I puff up like there's no tomorrow and it's days before I can lose the accumulated water.
  • Mary_Anastasia
    Mary_Anastasia Posts: 267 Member
    YOGURT, CHIA, and BEANS! I was always trying to make healthy meals by incorporating these things, and then wondering how each small meal is 500-600 calories! The cookies at Wawa also have over 400 calories per cookie :open_mouth:

    I was pleasantly surprised at how few calories APPLES and GREEN BEANS have, as well as BROTHY SOUPS and ALMOND MILK :smile:
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Everything. Seriously. Even veggies. 40 calories for 100g of carrots is not 'few calories'. Worst surprise maybe was bagels. 400 calories in a plain bagel. Sheesh.

    I think that the only thing I always assumed was worse than it is is caramels. I always thought they were like 50-100 calories each.. but nope, typically only 25-30. And maybe shrimp and white fish.
  • shaybee377
    shaybee377 Posts: 42 Member
    Good surprise: Shrimp, crabmeat, crawfish... I live in Louisiana, and this made me very happy!
    Bad surprise: Peanut butter, hummus, pretty much any condiment that isn't plain mustard or hot sauce- I was always aware of the caloric content, but when you weigh that stuff out, it is really depressing to see how small one serving is haha
  • RogerToo
    RogerToo Posts: 16,157 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Pop tarts.. cause you only 1 out of the pack as the serving size.. Why don't they individually wrap the pop tarts?

    Hi
    Simple answer, the expense of wrapping singles would cost them more and Mainly due to the fact that they want You to eat tow at a time and they know that toasters all have two or four slots :) It they wrapped singly they would sell fewer boxes. I was amazed at how many things that trumpet a decent calorie count end up with the calorie count being for 1/2 or less of a single package.

    Cheers
    Roger
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    Ooohh. Soup has been a blessing for sure. I eat soup several times a week.

    Salad dressing got a big "booooo" from me. Not even enough to make salad worth it. I'd rather have plain fresh veggies than a lame-o salad.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    On the low side, jicama surprised me. Sweet? Low cal? High fiber? Heck yeah!
    On the high side ... nothing really surprised me because I already knew that corn and green peas were denser with energy than green beans. I no longer think that a big old russet potato is a side to a meal. It's a side to 3 or 4 meals, or a day's worth of nutrition alone. I guess I was surprised to find that my cornbread could be made with masa harina, with small tweaks to the recipe to make a more nutritious bread for some of my meals. The Ole Xtreme Wellness tortillas were a revelation.
  • kirstenb13
    kirstenb13 Posts: 181 Member

    Another big one was corn.. retrospectively the two are related, but 600+ calories per cup is absurd.

    That is only for corn that is dried (like for making cornmeal), fresh sweet corn has only about 150 per cup.