What foods are just not worth the # of calories?

Sweets. All sweets. Give me a good cracker and sharp cheddar over chocolate cake any day of the week!

Well, I've really worked hard to not to view foods as "worth the calories" in terms of weight maintenance, but rather what's better for my health and what makes me feel better internally after eating it, AND what do I actually like eating. So having said that, I'm gonna choose whole fruit over juices, not drink soda, limit processed and fried foods including baked goods, etc. You will rarely find my eating something like a Ding Dong because now they just don't taste all that good to me, even though those were definitely treats as a kid. I also don't drink those high-calorie high-sugar smoothies that you can find at a place like Jamba Juice, but I do drink my own protein/fruit and/or veggie smoothie once a day. However, if there was ever a day where I really wanted one of those things, I'd have it and balance it out in the rest of my eating.

I'm in the process of cooking a tagine with chicken thighs, and while I don't normally eat dried fruit, dried apricots are totally worth the cals (not that much per serving) in the dish, IME.

Flan.

Alfredo sauce
Nuts
Butter
Deep fried anything

Lietchi wrote: »

Most wines and beers.
Fruit juices.
Most supermarket cakes and baked goods.
Edit: and breakfast cereals/granolas

Agree to all... specially, Fruit juices are a complete waste of calories.

pancakerunner wrote: »

lemurcat2 wrote: »

I'm in the process of cooking a tagine with chicken thighs, and while I don't normally eat dried fruit, dried apricots are totally worth the cals (not that much per serving) in the dish, IME.

Oh, this is the exception for me too. But I think things like dried pineapple, etc are a waste

For me, with something like pineapple -- probably all fruit -- the juiciness is part of what makes the fruit so delicious, so dried doesn't seem nearly as tasty. It's less about the cals as just liking it better non dried. (And raisins specifically are not good.

IMO, this is kind of a weird thread, in practice.

Probably it's just me, but when I think of "foods not worth the calories", I think of foods I actually do like, but eat less frequently or in smaller portions (maybe even nearly never) just because of the calorie cost.

A lot of answers on the thread are foods that people actively dislike taste-wise, have excluded because of their chosen dietary strategy (low carb/keto, plant-based, etc.), avoid because of perceptions about healthfulness of the food (chemicals, dairy, etc.), or must omit due to allergies/sensitivities.

For me, things I moderate/avoid as not worth their calories (but did actually formerly happily eat, when obese) are large portions of deep-fried/beer-battered things (love them, eat rarely now), most sandwiches (I'd rather just eat more of the contents, skip the bread/bun), and some "good but not great" highish-calorie things like most restaurant Alfredo sauces, potato chips/crisps to name a few.

I don't eat meat/fish because I'm vegetarian, I don't drink soda pop or mega-sweet hot coffee drinks because I generally don't like them, I avoid hydrogenated oils because I think they're unhealthful, and I minimize a few things because I think they're not sustainably produced in some way. None of those things are related to the calorie cost of the foods involved, so I don't think of those foods as "not worth the calories". 🤷‍♀️

curmudgeon/ Besides, there are other "stir the pot" threads where people can parse out which foods they dislike or are otherwise picky about, and argue about them. /curmudgeon

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Probably it's just me, but when think of "foods not worth the calories", I think of foods I actually do like, but eat less frequently or in smaller portions (maybe even nearly never) just because of the calorie cost.

I think of it as something I like okay or even pretty well, but when watching calories, it doesn't make the cut, even though back in the day I'd eat it without thinking.

A perfect example for me is (usually) fruit juice. I like fruit juice quite a bit, but only drink it rarely (usually when traveling and at a hotel or before a race, it's a thing of mine). The cals (and lack of filling-ness) isn't worth it for me, even though it's tasty -- and I can have the fruit, which I like just as much, for fewer cals and more satiety.

Another example is the bread on the table at a restaurant. Even with really good bread (not talking about the mediocre stuff), I don't eat it, since although it's tasty enough, I'm about to eat a delicious meal I get to choose that meets my preferences and the cals from the bread in that context just aren't worth it.

I often think of this as trade off stuff -- I like enough foods that some I like just fine just never seem to be ones I choose.

Pre covid, a lot of the sweets that would be on offer at the office would be in this category -- I might have thoughtlessly eaten something at one point, but when thinking about it, was it worth the cals (and not having the dessert I otherwise would have had later that specifically fit my own preferences or some other higher cal item I chose for myself)?--no. Or I used to get occasional Potbelly's (sandwich place) plus chips, and I don't get the chips now since they are okay, but not worth the cals given they don't add anything nutritionally that I need and I will be satisfied without them. If I feel a need for a salt fix in addition to the sandwich, a pickle is a better cal to salt ratio, and I find it at least as enjoyable.

lemurcat2 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Probably it's just me, but when think of "foods not worth the calories", I think of foods I actually do like, but eat less frequently or in smaller portions (maybe even nearly never) just because of the calorie cost.

I think of it as something I like okay or even pretty well, but when watching calories, it doesn't make the cut, even though back in the day I'd eat it without thinking.

A perfect example for me is (usually) fruit juice. I like fruit juice quite a bit, but only drink it rarely (usually when traveling and at a hotel or before a race, it's a thing of mine). The cals (and lack of filling-ness) isn't worth it for me, even though it's tasty -- and I can have the fruit, which I like just as much, for fewer cals and more satiety.

Another example is the bread on the table at a restaurant. Even with really good bread (not talking about the mediocre stuff), I don't eat it, since although it's tasty enough, I'm about to eat a delicious meal I get to choose that meets my preferences and the cals from the bread in that context just aren't worth it.

I often think of this as trade off stuff -- I like enough foods that some I like just fine just never seem to be ones I choose.

Pre covid, a lot of the sweets that would be on offer at the office would be in this category -- I might have thoughtlessly eaten something at one point, but when thinking about it, was it worth the cals (and not having the dessert I otherwise would have had later that specifically fit my own preferences or some other higher cal item I chose for myself)?--no. Or I used to get occasional Potbelly's (sandwich place) plus chips, and I don't get the chips now since they are okay, but not worth the cals given they don't add anything nutritionally that I need and I will be satisfied without them. If I feel a need for a salt fix in addition to the sandwich, a pickle is a better cal to salt ratio, and I find it at least as enjoyable.

All of this.

When I started looking at calories of all kinds of things I ate and *liked* well enough, but not *that* (insert calorie count) much. I don't 'forbid' myself any food, I'll have whatever it is I really like, but where I used to sort of mindlessly grab a pastry at the gas station convenience store on my way to wherever, I now just nope out. I like it okay but I don't like it 400 calories worth! I'll grab an apple for my grab and go 'I just need a thing to eat' snack on the way out the door instead and save the other 300 calories and eat something I either like a lot more or is a lot more filling!