What surprises have you found about foods you didn't realize before logging?

One of the interesting things about logging foods is what I've learned about the nutrition/calories of certain foods that are different than what I had believed was true. For instance, I always thought that peanut butter, while full of calories, had a lot of protein. Not so - at just 4g/100 calories it's not a great tradeoff. I still eat it b/c i love it, though. I always that that sour cream, the full fat kind which I love, was a calorie bomb, but it's really not bad at just 60 calories for 2T. What things have surprised you?

Find more posts tagged with

Replies

I have learned that if you don't weigh your food you have no idea on how much you are eating. That is coming from a person who was measuring food with cups.

There are very few 70 calorie eggs. Almost all of mine weigh closer to 85- 90 calories a piece.

There are trans fats in products you wouldn't expect... I'm looking at you, Raisin Bran! I'm here for my heart health in particular and practically everything I thought I knew is wrong. Lol Better late than never?

That even when I didn't think I was eating a lot of food. I was eating a lot of calories. And that is why I was not losing wt

DirrtyH wrote: »

asflatasapancake wrote: »

Bananas. Who knew they were so caloric? Not me. I don't care. I'm eating them anyway. And peanut butter. 190 calories for 2 Tbsp. Don't care. Eating that too. How the heck does the peanut butter and dark chocolate spread only end up being 170 calories for 2 Tbsp? I don't know. Don't care. I'm eating that as well.

I was actually surprised that a tablespoon of peanut butter was as much as it was, volume wise. I was ready for it to seem like nothing, but I find I can spread a tbsp of PB over a piece of toast just fine.

My PB&Js apparently had about at least three tablespoons per sandwich. Times three sandwiches. Plus six pieces of bread. Plus a similar amount of fruit preserves. Plus 32 ounces of milk. Way over 1000 calories for what was basically a snack. Yikes.

Cheese. In Quebec, we eat fine cheese often as dessert, with drinks, as a light meal, etc. The amount of cheese I was eating was a major contributor to my weight gain. Yet, I used to say, "It is a healthy protein." True, but in MUCH smaller quantities because the calories are stunningly high!

In the past week I've found that a Fruity Pebbles treat is a better pre-workout breakfast than a Special K bar (lower calories, feel better at the gym).

avskk wrote: »

In the past week I've found that a Fruity Pebbles treat is a better pre-workout breakfast than a Special K bar (lower calories, feel better at the gym).

Lucky Charms post-workout. Dominates brown rice.

How much sugar I was adding to drinks, cereal, etc which was shocking. Cutting that right down alone has done what a lot on MFP class as impossible in losing 8kg in 5 weeks. Same for my wife as well and I wanted to lose 15kg, and the wife 8kg (she has lost 3kg in 4 weeks by just cutting added sugar right back). Strangely neither of us have lost any muscle mass at all & have actually gained some if anything!!!

Sugar and fruit - an apple and a yoghurt for breakfast and I had used up 70% of my sugar intake for the day

asflatasapancake wrote: »

Bananas. Who knew they were so caloric? Not me. I don't care. I'm eating them anyway. And peanut butter. 190 calories for 2 Tbsp. Don't care. Eating that too. How the heck does the peanut butter and dark chocolate spread only end up being 170 calories for 2 Tbsp? I don't know. Don't care. I'm eating that as well.

Yeah, this! Here, here!

And thanks to whoever started this thread. Very interesting and topical for me.

@DeguelloTex Yes. Also, there are Lucky Charms treats and they work just as well as the FP ones pre-workout. With a Slim Jim or two for staying power.

melyssachan wrote: »

How much I was eating.
I was really bad at eating if anything was close to me or if someone asked me if I wanted something to eat.

This!! I never knew I was taking in SO many calories. & sadly most of it was from snacking all the time & soda. After I started my weight loss I looked back at an average day & added up all my calories I used to eat..... I almost passed out. 2-3000 a day.

mynameisoliverqueen wrote: »

How much sugar I was adding to drinks, cereal, etc which was shocking. Cutting that right down alone has done what a lot on MFP class as impossible in losing 8kg in 5 weeks. Same for my wife as well and I wanted to lose 15kg, and the wife 8kg (she has lost 3kg in 4 weeks by just cutting added sugar right back). Strangely neither of us have lost any muscle mass at all & have actually gained some if anything!!!

If you were taking in 1760 calories of added sugar a day, that makes a lot of sense. That's 110 teaspoons a day, I think.

HollandOats wrote: »

- what a serving of cereal or almonds looks like

^ This for sure.
Also Nuts. I used to eat them all the time as an afternoon snack because they are healthy. Not knowing i was probably eating 500+ calories in nuts. I would have PB&Js for lunch because i thought since it was a small amount of food i was keeping calories low. Not knowing how many calories were actually in a PB&J sandwich.
I would make a crockpot Chili with lean turkey so i thought is was low calories because the beans were healthy as well. Man 1 or 2 big bowls could add up to 1,000 calories.

Hellmans Mayonnaise. Gosh I used to live off the stuff and it has so many calories I still cant believe it!

Hilarious "serving sizes". two Girl Scout cookies? pfffft!

I never liked drinks like smoothies and slushies/Icees/etc...but the calories in those blew my mind.

Recently a friend, who is "dieting" without the use of this site for calorie counting, opted for a gigantic cream based fruit smoothie at the coffeehouse because she was "being good" that night...I just bit my tongue, as she probably downed 3X the calories of my black coffee and maple donut.

100's of calories from fat each meal seems absolutely insane when I look at it in my food log but by the end of the day my calories are low -- or at least lower than when I was focused on eating low calorie diet friendly foods. Seems like voodoo.

The amount of fat in cheese.
The amount of fat in nuts.

I measure both very carefully now.

Other calorie bombs: fries, caesar salads, and most restaurant "salads" loaded with dressings, dried fruit, cheese and nuts.

higgins8283801 wrote: »

That two tablespoons of peanut butter is closer to 1 scoop when not weighed. Before I started weighing I was eating closer to 4tablespoons and not even knowing it.

Chips and nuts that say 9 pieces 100 grams (example) is not remotely close to 9! When weighed, it's more like 5 pieces for 100 grams.

And ground turkey and 97% ground beef are actually pretty close in calories and 4ozs of chicken is a lot of chicken!

How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...
for example I'm having a small amount of rice and refried beans today, leftover from my Cinco de Mayo lunch yesterday which I only ate half of as to not blow my daily calories, and I'm trying to figure out how to "weigh" them. I did bring a 1/2 cup measuring cup to work and I was going to go that route as I don't see how to place refried beans and rice on a scale, LOL!

One plate of Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo has as many calories as my entire day now on MFP.

Quick Links