Nutritional Facts...I read 'em

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kriggs1976
kriggs1976 Posts: 117
in Food and Nutrition
I used to have the worst cravings and would eat fast food at least once, sometimes twice a day - before MFP.

Now there are still times I want a burger and fries for my lunch at work. But I have found something that works for me, so I figured it might work for someone else out there too.

I look up the nutritional information. And after I do, I do not want it anymore.
Like today I was thinking about just going to McDonald's and getting a meal...Not anymore.

This is what I would have had:

Big Mac - 540 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1040 sodium
Large Fry - 500 calories, 0 cholesterol, 350 sodium
Medium Sweet Tea - 180 calories, 0 cholesterol, 10 sodium

TOTALING: 1220 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1400 sodium

Now I know I could go to McDonald's and get a salad...but in all honesty I am not strong enough for that yet. If I go to McDonald's I am getting a burger.

So, I encourage you to try it and post your favorite meal. Whether it be at your favorite local restaurant or dive, look it up and see how many calories, cholesterol, and sodium you are taking in.
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Replies

  • DL121004
    DL121004 Posts: 214 Member
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    I'm notorious for reading labels at the grocery store for items I'm not familiar with.

    It's gotten to the point where I barely walk down any aisles but, instead, shop the perimeter.
  • j_emerson
    j_emerson Posts: 48
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    I've gotten the same way with nutritional values. I went out to dinner with a friend the other night and went through 6-7 restaurant websites before finding one that I felt was ok enough to eat. I allow myself 1 splurge meal a week, but even with that, I try not to go completely overboard. My favorite go-to meal is from Chick-Fil-A, so I've had to stay completely away from that place.

    12 count nuggets w/2 packets of polynesian sauce, Large Waffle fry w/3 ketchup packs, Large sweet tea, and a slice of cheesecake - 1745 calories, 80 g fat, 220 mg Cholesterol, 3375 mg Sodium

    The calories of that 1 meal is more than my daily intake now.....It's crazy to think I used to eat that just for lunch.
  • kriggs1976
    kriggs1976 Posts: 117
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    I never used to think of nutrition...I would get fast food before work and then for lunch. Thank God those days are behind me...
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
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    I used to have the worst cravings and would eat fast food at least once, sometimes twice a day - before MFP.

    Now there are still times I want a burger and fries for my lunch at work. But I have found something that works for me, so I figured it might work for someone else out there too.

    I look up the nutritional information. And after I do, I do not want it anymore.
    Like today I was thinking about just going to McDonald's and getting a meal...Not anymore.

    This is what I would have had:

    Big Mac - 540 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1040 sodium
    Large Fry - 500 calories, 0 cholesterol, 350 sodium
    Medium Sweet Tea - 180 calories, 0 cholesterol, 10 sodium

    TOTALING: 1220 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1400 sodium

    Now I know I could go to McDonald's and get a salad...but in all honesty I am not strong enough for that yet. If I go to McDonald's I am getting a burger.

    So, I encourage you to try it and post your favorite meal. Whether it be at your favorite local restaurant or dive, look it up and see how many calories, cholesterol, and sodium you are taking in.

    what are the nutrition readings on their salads?

    I've heard they are pretty bad themselves
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
    Options
    I've gotten the same way with nutritional values. I went out to dinner with a friend the other night and went through 6-7 restaurant websites before finding one that I felt was ok enough to eat. I allow myself 1 splurge meal a week, but even with that, I try not to go completely overboard. My favorite go-to meal is from Chick-Fil-A, so I've had to stay completely away from that place.

    12 count nuggets w/2 packets of polynesian sauce, Large Waffle fry w/3 ketchup packs, Large sweet tea, and a slice of cheesecake - 1745 calories, 80 g fat, 220 mg Cholesterol, 3375 mg Sodium

    The calories of that 1 meal is more than my daily intake now.....It's crazy to think I used to eat that just for lunch.

    love that place, so glad I don't have any near me
  • Moonbeamlissie
    Moonbeamlissie Posts: 504 Member
    Options
    I used to have the worst cravings and would eat fast food at least once, sometimes twice a day - before MFP.

    Now there are still times I want a burger and fries for my lunch at work. But I have found something that works for me, so I figured it might work for someone else out there too.

    I look up the nutritional information. And after I do, I do not want it anymore.
    Like today I was thinking about just going to McDonald's and getting a meal...Not anymore.

    This is what I would have had:

    Big Mac - 540 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1040 sodium
    Large Fry - 500 calories, 0 cholesterol, 350 sodium
    Medium Sweet Tea - 180 calories, 0 cholesterol, 10 sodium

    TOTALING: 1220 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1400 sodium

    Now I know I could go to McDonald's and get a salad...but in all honesty I am not strong enough for that yet. If I go to McDonald's I am getting a burger.

    So, I encourage you to try it and post your favorite meal. Whether it be at your favorite local restaurant or dive, look it up and see how many calories, cholesterol, and sodium you are taking in.

    what are the nutrition readings on their salads?

    I've heard they are pretty bad themselves


    The calories in the salads are not bad but I tend to not look at the other stuff so I wouldn't know about that. However, I do eat out alot and I do order a salad everywhere i go.
  • Moonbeamlissie
    Moonbeamlissie Posts: 504 Member
    Options
    I've gotten the same way with nutritional values. I went out to dinner with a friend the other night and went through 6-7 restaurant websites before finding one that I felt was ok enough to eat. I allow myself 1 splurge meal a week, but even with that, I try not to go completely overboard. My favorite go-to meal is from Chick-Fil-A, so I've had to stay completely away from that place.

    12 count nuggets w/2 packets of polynesian sauce, Large Waffle fry w/3 ketchup packs, Large sweet tea, and a slice of cheesecake - 1745 calories, 80 g fat, 220 mg Cholesterol, 3375 mg Sodium

    The calories of that 1 meal is more than my daily intake now.....It's crazy to think I used to eat that just for lunch.

    love that place, so glad I don't have any near me


    Chick fil a has grilled chicken nuggets now!!! Just thought id share lol
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
    Options
    I used to have the worst cravings and would eat fast food at least once, sometimes twice a day - before MFP.

    Now there are still times I want a burger and fries for my lunch at work. But I have found something that works for me, so I figured it might work for someone else out there too.

    I look up the nutritional information. And after I do, I do not want it anymore.
    Like today I was thinking about just going to McDonald's and getting a meal...Not anymore.

    This is what I would have had:

    Big Mac - 540 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1040 sodium
    Large Fry - 500 calories, 0 cholesterol, 350 sodium
    Medium Sweet Tea - 180 calories, 0 cholesterol, 10 sodium

    TOTALING: 1220 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1400 sodium

    Now I know I could go to McDonald's and get a salad...but in all honesty I am not strong enough for that yet. If I go to McDonald's I am getting a burger.

    So, I encourage you to try it and post your favorite meal. Whether it be at your favorite local restaurant or dive, look it up and see how many calories, cholesterol, and sodium you are taking in.

    what are the nutrition readings on their salads?

    I've heard they are pretty bad themselves


    The calories in the salads are not bad but I tend to not look at the other stuff so I wouldn't know about that. However, I do eat out alot and I do order a salad everywhere i go.

    I just looked up a list, and WebMD has a good article http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/best-and-worst-fast-food-salads
  • craziedazie
    craziedazie Posts: 185 Member
    Options
    I've gotten the same way with nutritional values. I went out to dinner with a friend the other night and went through 6-7 restaurant websites before finding one that I felt was ok enough to eat. I allow myself 1 splurge meal a week, but even with that, I try not to go completely overboard. My favorite go-to meal is from Chick-Fil-A, so I've had to stay completely away from that place.

    12 count nuggets w/2 packets of polynesian sauce, Large Waffle fry w/3 ketchup packs, Large sweet tea, and a slice of cheesecake - 1745 calories, 80 g fat, 220 mg Cholesterol, 3375 mg Sodium

    The calories of that 1 meal is more than my daily intake now.....It's crazy to think I used to eat that just for lunch.

    love that place, so glad I don't have any near me


    Chick fil a has grilled chicken nuggets now!!! Just thought id share lol

    :love: :love: :love: I can't wait to try them
  • RockaholicMama
    RockaholicMama Posts: 786 Member
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    I have to read labels very close. I want diagnosed with Celiac in 2010. I avoid restaurants like crazy since I never really know what they put in their food, what it's touched most of the time and even who made. I went to Outback and ordered from their gluten free menu. They assured me that it wouldn't be cross contaminated. Yeah. Guess who was in the hospital later?
  • ojell
    ojell Posts: 749 Member
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    I used to have the worst cravings and would eat fast food at least once, sometimes twice a day - before MFP.

    Now there are still times I want a burger and fries for my lunch at work. But I have found something that works for me, so I figured it might work for someone else out there too.

    I look up the nutritional information. And after I do, I do not want it anymore.
    Like today I was thinking about just going to McDonald's and getting a meal...Not anymore.

    This is what I would have had:

    Big Mac - 540 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1040 sodium
    Large Fry - 500 calories, 0 cholesterol, 350 sodium
    Medium Sweet Tea - 180 calories, 0 cholesterol, 10 sodium

    TOTALING: 1220 calories, 75mg cholesterol, 1400 sodium

    Now I know I could go to McDonald's and get a salad...but in all honesty I am not strong enough for that yet. If I go to McDonald's I am getting a burger.

    So, I encourage you to try it and post your favorite meal. Whether it be at your favorite local restaurant or dive, look it up and see how many calories, cholesterol, and sodium you are taking in.

    This is EXACTLY what has helped me! I used to go out to eat everyday, a lot of times more than once. I'm to the point now where I can almost guess how many calories are in certain foods when I go out to a restaurant. I ask for the nutrition value chart often. lol One place I went flat out told me, jokingly, "you don't want to see that!" lol Yea, they know it's bad! haha
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    I rarely go out to eat. When I do, I couldn't care less about calories...and it's usually sushi when I eat out.
  • EMagineBeingEMazing
    EMagineBeingEMazing Posts: 76
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    pizza buffet... a little bit of everything, except the salad bar... OVER 2000 calories... plus at least 2 glasses of Coke, maybe 4... YIKES!!!! (no math necessary to figure out how I got this way!)
  • fatmama4
    fatmama4 Posts: 39 Member
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    I think the main problem when you get into the salads is what kind of meat, are there croutons, and what kind of dressing. Cheese can also make a huge difference. If you put your own, low fat dressing on as opposed to having them dress the salad for you.
  • ludogx87
    ludogx87 Posts: 286 Member
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    my fav meal is JD wetherspoons

    i would have - large nachos - 974 cals
    gourmet chicken burger - 1650 cals
    hundred of real mayo - 200cals
    and sticky toffee pudding - 760 cals

    so in one sitting i would consume at least 3584 calories :cry:
  • lorihalsted
    lorihalsted Posts: 326 Member
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    Have your Big Mac and swap the large fry for a small fry and then water for the sweet tea. You can still splurge every now & then!
  • eedossa
    eedossa Posts: 54 Member
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    I bought a 30th anniversary cheesecake for my brother's birthday yesterday. I entered it in MFP just for kicks... 1,138cals PER SLICE!

    I used to eat those at least twice a week when I used to work there. What was I thinking????
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    My favorite meal before joining MFP was Fettucine Alfredo from Olive Garden.

    It has 1220 calories, 75 grams of fat, 47 grams of saturated fat, 1350 mg of sodium, 99 carbs

    And that doesn't include the 2 or 3 breadsticks I would eat before my meal with a dipping sauce
  • CharityEaton
    CharityEaton Posts: 508
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    This is funny! My kids now play a game with me. They pull boxes off the shelf and ask me questions about the nutrition facts.
    Like , "mommy, how many calories are in this cracker?" or "how much protein is in peanut butter?" They get a kick out of it because I am usually right, I've read sooo many lables over the past several months.
    My daughter just asked this morning, " how many calories in a boiled egg? I told her about 70. She said, " how much protein?" I said aout 6 grams. She said, "wow, you know about everything we eat." I said, I'm supposed to that way I know what you need and what you don't need!
    It's crazy to think that I used to just buy whatever I wanted and had no idea what was actually in it. Scary when I look back at some of the choices I used to make!
  • Jackie9950
    Jackie9950 Posts: 374 Member
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    pizza buffet... a little bit of everything, except the salad bar... OVER 2000 calories... plus at least 2 glasses of Coke, maybe 4... YIKES!!!! (no math necessary to figure out how I got this way!)


    This ^^^^^ My exact problem!

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