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?

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The amount of calories in nuts, PB&J sandwiches, pizza, sugar-sweetened yogurt, "healthy" breakfast cereals, and alcoholic beverages. When I think of the calories I have put away in one night due to beer and pizza....I just can't even.

grapes are surprisingly high in calories!

VasquezDoreen43 wrote: »

How do you weigh Peanut butter? I'm new to this and having trouble figuring how to "weigh" things like this...

I have a digital scale, and this is how I do it:

Put your slice of bread on the scale and calibrate it (I just push the calibrate button) so the scale zeroes out with the bread on it. Then put peanut butter on the bread, then put the deliciously peanut-buttery bread back on the scale and it will show you the weight of just the peanut butter.

I may have to buy a better scale... mine is a cheapy from many moons ago....

The eye opener for me was portion control and weighing my food. I was eating a crazy amount of calories before I started doing that routinely.

Don't remember where I read this, but someone determined that we're usually satisfied by a relatively small amount of a particular food. But if it's on the plate we keep eating it because it's there.

I can never eat boxed mac and cheese again... It's like crack for me... It's the only thing I can't eat it in moderation and the calories are so high and I don't even feel full after 400 calories.

The thing I miss most is cheese. An actual serving of cheese is so small, vs the big calorie wallop. I still eat it, but super rarely because when I do eat cheese it's never JUST cheese. It's cheese, prosciutto, honey, pecans and a glass of wine. I miss cheese!

How much calories are in drumsticks!!! I used to have 3-4 of those a week!

How much easier it is to stay at my calorie goal without being hungry if I don't drink my calories. Now I eat my fruits instead of drinking them.

LovelyIvy466 wrote: »

The thing I miss most is cheese. An actual serving of cheese is so small, vs the big calorie wallop. I still eat it, but super rarely because when I do eat cheese it's never JUST cheese. It's cheese, prosciutto, honey, pecans and a glass of wine. I miss cheese!

Mmmmmm!

I don't eat a lot of bread, pasta or rice now. I don't find them worth the calories and I can do without them quite well. I'll have a bit if I want, but the huge plates of creamy pasta with a tiny salad thrust on the side of the plate are behind me (I hope!)

G33K_G1RL wrote: »

How much calories are in drumsticks!!! I used to have 3-4 of those a week!

How much easier it is to stay at my calorie goal without being hungry if I don't drink my calories. Now I eat my fruits instead of drinking them.

Wait! Drumsticks as in chicken or ice cream?

VasquezDoreen43 wrote: »

G33K_G1RL wrote: »

How much calories are in drumsticks!!! I used to have 3-4 of those a week!

How much easier it is to stay at my calorie goal without being hungry if I don't drink my calories. Now I eat my fruits instead of drinking them.

Wait! Drumsticks as in chicken or ice cream?

The ice cream!!! LOL

jessiefrancine wrote: »

The amount of calories in nuts, PB&J sandwiches, pizza, sugar-sweetened yogurt, "healthy" breakfast cereals, and alcoholic beverages. When I think of the calories I have put away in one night due to beer and pizza....I just can't even.

I know the feeling ..i love beer and pizza lol

G33K_G1RL wrote: »

VasquezDoreen43 wrote: »

G33K_G1RL wrote: »

How much calories are in drumsticks!!! I used to have 3-4 of those a week!

How much easier it is to stay at my calorie goal without being hungry if I don't drink my calories. Now I eat my fruits instead of drinking them.

Wait! Drumsticks as in chicken or ice cream?

The ice cream!!! LOL

Hahahahahahaha! Yeah I figured!

I weigh my plate before I serve myself. Add the food, weigh again and do the math (minus the weight of the plate).

See, now I thought I would get less cheese per serving than I actually do. I have a cheese plane that cuts whisper thin slices of hard cheeses, and, believe me, there are a LOT of slices in an ounce of sharp cheddar, if you slice it super thin.

Of course, if you are like CERTAIN HUSBANDS and insist upon taking bites directly out of an 8 oz block of Cabot Seriously Sharp? You have a rude awakening coming your way.

HeySwoleSister wrote: »

See, now I thought I would get less cheese per serving than I actually do. I have a cheese plane that cuts whisper thin slices of hard cheeses, and, believe me, there are a LOT of slices in an ounce of sharp cheddar, if you slice it super thin.

Of course, if you are like CERTAIN HUSBANDS and insist upon taking bites directly out of an 8 oz block of Cabot Seriously Sharp? You have a rude awakening coming your way.

Ok, this had me LOL. I can understand the impulse though.

I've found some foods can easily have twice as many calories as advertised because the serving size isn't consistent.

That you can lose weight eating the "right" tv dinners.

Oh and for bread lovers. Wonder Bread has an excellent low cal low sodium one out. White Wheat I think it's called. It's 60 cal still but only 75 sodium per slice I believe. I'm on a low salt diet only 1500mg so I have to watch sodium content in everything I eat.

If you're looking for good fast food. Burger King Double cheesburger (no bun, no pickles no ketchup) and bring that home and use Heinze no salt ketchup and this no salt substiture in a big white container they sell at Walmart's. It's just called Original NO SALT sodium free salt. Go figure. lol Also at Walmart's they sell these Great Value Hamburger Buns....90 cal/150 sodium for the whole bun. They are small but same size as Burger King uses for the Dbl Cheeseburger.

The weight vs. measuring cups/spoons thing was huge for me. I bought a scale and was so surprised by my first weighed meal that I started just weighing foods I had around to see what the real serving looked like vs. the package estimate. Totally worth the $15!

Also that "a steak" is not a serving size, and that my beloved twizzlers pull n peel has 100+ calories per twist

estherlion wrote: »

I weigh my plate before I serve myself. Add the food, weigh again and do the math (minus the weight of the plate).

This is really taking the long way around. For example, put the plate on there, hit tare. Now you are at zero. Add the first item and record that weight on MFP, hit tare again. Add the next item and record the weight, hit tare, etc. It takes me next to no time to add foods from my recent list and then just edit the weights.

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