Foods that are ripoffs

joyanna2016
joyanna2016 Posts: 323 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Any thoughts lately on food that just aren't worth the calories? I've had three lately...pasta, white rice, and pizza.
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Replies

  • Lynatea
    Lynatea Posts: 311 Member
    Definitely rice and pasta for me too. And oddly, I don't miss them. I'd rather bulk up on roasted veggies in my stir fry than rice.
  • LiftandSkate
    LiftandSkate Posts: 148 Member
    Definitely pasta, rice, and beans for me. Just not a fan, and they pack a lot of calories for the nutritional content. I'd rather have something else.
  • Lildarlinz
    Lildarlinz Posts: 276 Member
    I love pasta!! So I tend to just have that as a treat (lasagne)

    Birds eye do a bag of frozen vegetable rice 184 calories u could do that with some meatballs and tomato passata :) it’s lovely xx but again only a treat
  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    I find gnocchi better value for calories than pasta, gram for gram. I do have to weigh carefully though, to get the right numbers - it's not something I can eyeball.

    With pizza, it depends on the type. Some pizza isn't worth it, but I'm fond of a tiny deep pan for 400 to 450 calories. Hits the spot, and can be easily worked into a day.

    Chocolate products are generally quite poor value calorie wise - I find it better to just have a square of actual chocolate rather than a cake or biscuit with chocolate in it.

    I find oil a major rip off. I've replaced cooking oil with oil spray and saved hundreds of calories that way.

    Ice cream - unless it's Halo Top. Again, a tub of Ben and Jerry's is nice, but it's just not worth the calories.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    John772016 wrote: »
    Sorry, pizza is never a ripoff :)
    Now peanut butter or chocolate, those are major ripoffs!

    I’d have to agree! Much as I love peanut butter (and to a lesser extent chocolate) I just don’t find either to be helpful on the calorie vs satiety scale.

    One I’d add too - avocado. Again, I love it but it goes down way too easily for the calories!

    Oh, and bananas. They lack both the crispness and freshness of other fruit - which is what I love about fruit, yet they are higher in calories. Waste of space! 😂
  • Mithridites
    Mithridites Posts: 600 Member
    Croutons. The mass-produced kind. Around 50 calories for 8 or so.
  • unstableunicorn
    unstableunicorn Posts: 216 Member
    Muffins, bagels, and most pork products.

    Chips are worth the calories, but I have discipline issues with them so we generally don’t buy them.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    I agree with muffins and bagels, but not with pork. At least pork loin, or even pulled pork on occasion when I've had a little more burn, but I could see pork bacon/sausage being an issue.
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    Seeds. I love pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds on my salad, but they double the calories! So many calories for something that you barely notice.
  • Shortgirlrunning
    Shortgirlrunning Posts: 1,020 Member
    Pasta rice and pizza are three of my favorites! I do only have them on run days when I have an extra like 800 calories to work with though.

    Sweets are what aren’t worth it to me. Like cookies or a brownie. I just don’t enjoy them enough to use my calories on them.
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,330 Member
    Rice.. pizza . Pasta. Yummies. 🤤
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    Mayonnaise on sandwiches.
    Cheese on burritos or tacos.
    Butter on biscuits, pancakes, and waffles.

    But pizza and pasta are definitely worth it.

    White rice usually isn't worth it to me, because it's so bland. If I can't get brown rice when I order Chinese takeout, I'll save the rice for another day and make some like fried rice; fried rice cakes; soup with rice, egg, lemon, and mint (it came from a Molly Katzen cookbook, but I may have altered it somewhat over the years since I don't bother to look at the recipe any more); or rice pudding.
  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
    Oh, you have to be careful with sausages. My butcher does some amazing pork sausages for 180 calories each - I have to 'ration' them in pasta, or eat as a 'hot dog' with mustard and a small roll, without any sides.

    I'm currently exploring veggie alternatives, as you can often get more bang for your buck. I've just bought some vegan sausages which are 79 calories each - haven't tried them yet, but am hopeful they will be nice.

    I wouldn't say mayo is a waste of calories, but full fat mayo is. Light mayo is such an easy swap. Better yet is mustard or ketchup, depending on the food.
  • Hanibanani2020
    Hanibanani2020 Posts: 523 Member
    Chocolate or any kind of candy.
  • asthesoapturns
    asthesoapturns Posts: 313 Member
    Alcohol, oil. Not saying I never use either but I generally prefer to spend my calories elsewhere.
  • threewins
    threewins Posts: 1,455 Member
    Potato chips. I can eat a 140g packet in 15 minutes. That's half of my daily intake. It's just not worth it.
  • cgcdavis7
    cgcdavis7 Posts: 85 Member
    edited June 2020
    I had a salad that was a total rip off. I don't understand how it could have even been 250 cals but I guess feta and croutons were the culprit. Plus the dressing which is a staple for the salad, an additional 140 cals. Not filling in the least.
  • moxiept
    moxiept Posts: 200 Member
    While not a food, sodas are a total rip off. One 32oz drink can run close to 400 calories! So not worth it...
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
    cgcdavis7 wrote: »
    I had a salad that was a total rip off. I don't understand how it could have even been 250 cals but I guess feta and croutons were the culprit. Plus the dressing which is a staple for the salad, an additional 140 cals. Not filling in the least.

    Bad salads are the worst. And yes, feta and croutons are very much a salad culprit.

    For me, maybe the worst rip off that I still eat with some regularity is french fries.
  • holly8312
    holly8312 Posts: 38 Member
    thelastnightingale wrote: »
    Oh, you have to be careful with sausages. My butcher does some amazing pork sausages for 180 calories each - I have to 'ration' them in pasta, or eat as a 'hot dog' with mustard and a small roll, without any sides.

    I'm currently exploring veggie alternatives, as you can often get more bang for your buck. I've just bought some vegan sausages which are 79 calories each - haven't tried them yet, but am hopeful they will be nice.

    I wouldn't say mayo is a waste of calories, but full fat mayo is. Light mayo is such an easy swap. Better yet is mustard or ketchup, depending on the food.

    If you're in the UK, the Linda McCartney vegetarian sausages are really good. They don't taste like the real thing, but much lower in calories and really tasty.
  • Geneveremfp
    Geneveremfp Posts: 504 Member
    Caloried drinks in general - with the exception of tea and coffee with just a bit of Oat milk.

    I occasionally have alcohol but it's often not worth it.

    Crap bread. Like nice bread is worth it but that cheap nasty bread that's a bit plastic no thank you.
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
    fruit juices and some full fat dairy products (my family says they prefer it but 1) I don't think it tastes any better and 2) it tends to upset my stomach... + it's like 2x the calories of the low fat stuff)

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