To feel so stupid over hidden calories

[Cheeseandlobster]

I have been trying to be healthier for ages. I follow a lowish carb diet combined with intermittent fasting, do hiit exercises daily, drink loads of water and get on average 9 portions of fruit n veg a day (usually 7 veg 2 fruit). Yet the weight keeps piling on

My go to healthy lunch is veggie scramble. Mushrooms, peppers, courgette, spinach and jalapeño with 1 egg. My pan is shit and the mushrooms stick to the pan or burn so I have been adding more splashes of rape seed oil when this happens. I looked at the bottle yesterday and 1 table spoon is 124 calories so I reckon I have been consuming on average 300 - 400 calories extra in oil. Maybe more. That's another meal! And I feel like an absolute idiot for not realising sooner.

So out goes the pan and I have bought a new pan where you can dry fry and some spray oil with 1 calorie per spray just in case.

I thought I was being food savvy but now I just feel stupid. Does anyone else have any hidden calorie warnings or done something similar?

No I don't have measuring spoons. Perhaps I should invest in some

Maybe I have misunderstood the OP - but what is "hidden" about the calories in fats/oils?

Surely we all know oil or fat is high in calories?

So - if I glug oil over my food = I am cooking my food in glugs of oil = my meal is high in calories.

Not sure why you are surprised OP? If I cooked a curry laced in oil - instead of using Fry Light for example - then I would know the former is higher in fat and calories. It is not "hidden".

I've found in the past that those things I pick at as I stand in front of the fridge trying to think what to eat can add up I was so sure that if you're standing at the fridge they wouldn't count!

Full fat milk in tea … it adds up !

OP In the kindest possible way, as previous poster suggested, I think you are doing neither 'pure' low-carb or 'pure' low-calorie, but a mixture of the two. All the fruit and veg are great, but they are not carb free.

For instance, 100 grapes - not very many - is approx 15 g carbs; 100g of red pepper (half an average one, weighed including core, stalk etc) is approx 6 g carbs; 100g of raw onion (half a small one, unpeeled) is around 7.5 g carbs; 4 or 5 little tomatoes are approx 10g carbs. Half an avocado is 8 g of carbs. A small baked potato is approx 30g carbs; a satsuma is 12 g carbs etc etc. From your example day's meals, that's between 80 and 90 g carbs a day, without counting any veg or any other carbs , apart from the potato, in your evening meal.

That's pretty low, but might not be low enough to keep losing weight or maintain weight loss. This is quite interesting:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537084/

The Mumsnet low-carb bootcamp thread has very useful tables of carb contents of foods. Collins Gem Carb Counter - a cheap little book - is also excellent. I cook for a family member who has to follow a low-carb diet on medical advice; I rely on it!

For the poster who asked about additive-free dressings, they are so easy to make yourself: olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar, salt, pepper, herbs/bit of mustard/sliver of garlic /pinch of chilli if liked. Put in jar with secure lid and shake vigorously. The mixture wil emulsify (go creamy). Will keep a week in fridge. Shake again before use each time.

The thing that caught me out for a while was shopping substitutions.

We often buy pizza bases to do DIY pizzas with the kids. A few times they were subbed for a different brand and I didn’t think much of it. Discovered one day when I scanned the barcode into the app that the different brand was 85 calories higher than the original.

Out of curiosity I checked a few other things that had been subbed and the bread was 25 calories a slice more. I love bread so the calories were built into my diet (no point me conning myself - I’m never going to give up bread).

If you have the patience and time, you can make your egg dish into an omelette, in the oven.
You can spread a little oil or butter onto a preheated oven dish (glass) and pour your egg mixture in.
Pop it in the oven at 180° and check every few mins until it's cooked through.
The cooking time will vary depending on how many eggs and how much veg is in there.

Also if you swap out your pans for cast iron ones, they double as ovenwear.

[quote Cheeseandlobster]@Harrysmummy246 why do you say that about hiit? I like it as it is quick, it uses a combination of cardio and strength based exercises, I break into a sweat and I feel it works most of my body. Despite the weight gain I have some pretty excellent abdominal muscles but then a pouch of fat in the middle which ruins the effect somewhat. My understanding was that it burns calories even after you have stopped. Oh and I get so hot that I don't need to put the heating on much in the daytime too

@thisplaceisweird they look nice. Are they oven baked eggs?

I have wondered about the grapes. I am going to start counting more of what I eat rather than a splash here a handful there.

I also still think peri menopause has a lot to answer for[/quote]
Yep that's one of the myths, this long extended calorie burn. Sorry, just ain't true.
And sweat is no indication of anything I'm afraid.

If you're low carbing don't be too stingy with oil as your body needs fuel to keep your metabolism going and blood sugars even.

Have you read 'Why we Eat Too Much' it goes into the latest science around the 'new' hormones which control your fat stores / appetite / metabolism etc as well as insulin and the general way your body adapts to changes in diet.

The argument would be if you kept a good dose of (healthy eg olive not rapeseed) oil with your lunch, it will keep you really full for much longer, it signals to your body that food is plentiful so it can let go of fat stores and you won't need much to eat in the evening. This reducing overall calories but crucially keeping you full, satisfied and energy levels stable.

If you strip it back to just eggs and veg, your body will think there's hard times ahead, will start storing any extra calories it can, will increase your appetite to make sure you get more coming in and will drop your energy levels to conserve what it's got.

Peri is a bitch for weight gain but be careful you don't under nourish yourself.

"For the poster who asked about additive-free dressings, they are so easy to make yourself: olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar, salt, pepper, herbs/bit of mustard/sliver of garlic /pinch of chilli if liked."

I asked for low calorie dressings that don't have additives/preservatives. I don't like garlic/chilli. Mustard has additives and preservatives in it anyway. I think I'll stick to my supermarket thing unless I can make the yogurt suggested above work.

OP - I remember someone who used to use an entire canister of 1cal spray when cooking. She didn't realise it was 1kcal per spray so she was using a couple of hundred on her popcorn.

It still is quite confusing for people when some calories are so low that they don't need to be stated but they can be tied to a very specific size (like a single spray).

It's a nuisance when people follow US advice on nutrition labels because they still don't count calories in fibre whereas we do in the UK (it's approx. 2 cals per 1g of fibre) so you see all of these "50 cal chocolate mug cake" recipes that ignore the 60 calories from fibre and use a defatted level of cocoa that seems to be readily available in the US but not in the UK so these differences easily add up to at least another 100kcals.

@QuirkyTurtle

Low carb diets don't help any more or less than high carb diets. All that matters is calories in vs calories out. However, carbs don't fill you up for long whereas high protein will keep you satiated for longer.

Adding oil unfortunately can add massive amounts of calories. Get one of those little oil spray things (but don't overuse it) or just a non-stick pan. Drink water only. You can get zero calorie water flavourings if you really want. Drinks add heaps of calories and salt.

Vegetables are not calorie free either. Avocados for example are pretty high in calories. If you like eggs, you can try having egg whites only, which gets rid of most calories.

You could also replace some of the HIIT with weight training. The more muscle you have, the more calories you can eat without gaining weight.

That just simply isn’t true. There is a huge correlation between insulin spikes and weight gain and carbs is what causes the huge spikes.

"Gwynhwyfar yes tinned beans like heinz have sugar "

It's still the sauce that has sugar isn't it. If you wash the sauce off, no sugar, surely? Or at least no added sugar.

@Dixiechickonhols

Gwynhwyfar the options hot chocolates are low calorie depends how you feel about sweeteners. With milk or unsweetened almond milk.

I can't get Options where I live and they are also not as thick as I'd like. I'm looking to cut down on my chocolate consumption in general. And also looking for a drink to make with water rather than milk.

If you are calorie counting op measuring spoons and some salter add & weigh scales are invaluable. Even if you only do it for a short while to gauge portions. Your small potato might be medium, your handful of nuts 3 portions etc.
Oil I used to pour in tray for roast potatoes. I knew it was high calories but had no idea how high and had it in my head it was ‘healthy.’ Now I use spray oil. I think people see tv chefs glugging oil over.
Same with butter - a little 10g portion is 75 cals. I used to use more than that making scrambled eggs, adding to mashed carrots etc. Now I just don’t use it.
Not saying don’t eat it if you want but be aware it could be hundreds of calories you aren’t accounting for if you are splashing it in not measuring it.

@LH1987

Definitely an obvious one but museli, I thought it was a low calorie, healthy option but the one I was having seems to be basically sugar!

Yes. I went through a phase of having muesli for breakfast. All very calorie dense and high sugar, lots of dried fruit. I realised it was 600 calories because I was filling up a soup bowl!

Re mustard - no preservatives or additives if you use traditional mustard powder. Colmans brand is available from Sainsburys and I expect other supermarkets. Easy to use in recipes or to mix up at home with water, vinegar, herbs etc.

"I also used to eat a tin of soup or a carton rather than half the recommended amount."

I need a tin. I think half is if you have it as a starter or with lots of bread.

@cherrytreecottage

Just a warning, fry light absolutely ruins a non stick pan! If something particularly needed oil I found the tiniest drizzle or spray of oil, brushed around with a pastry brush to get good coverage was far better. I've gone through SO many pans because of fry light!

Been fine on mine.

"Not everyone can stomach microwaved eggs"

Why not? An egg cooked in a cup for 30 minutes is like poached egg, but even better.

@HoliHormonalTigerlilly

Nuts & seeds!! Ate a packet of sunflower seeds at my desk once throughout the day. Then realised it was 1000 cals 🙈🙈🙈

That's why I don't get people eating those Graze boxes. They're only good if you're underweight.

@Flowersandhearts

Do remember though OP that calories aren't the only things that matter when it comes to healthy eating. The rapeseed oil that you've been eating will have been of benefit to your skin and hair as it's very high in vitamin E, it's also full of omega 3 so good for your heart health.

I thought rapeseed was the opposite, too much omega 6? I thought it was one of the least healthy oils.

Obviously, in an ideal world we'd all eat healthily, but I think sometimes you have to decide what your goal is at a given time and if OP's goal is to lose weight by reducing calories, she has to consider calories even in healthy foods.

Doing some exercise and stopping drinking alcohol would make a huge difference.

I'm guessing you're not doing much exercise at the moment as you describe the HIIT you're doing as "quick" and don't mention anything else.

30 minutes ??

@scottishnames

Re mustard - no preservatives or additives if you use traditional mustard powder. Colmans brand is available from Sainsburys and I expect other supermarkets. Easy to use in recipes or to mix up at home with water, vinegar, herbs etc.

Yes, but then I'd have to make my own mustard AND my own vinaigrette afterwards and I suppose my mustard would go off quickly. I don't live in the UK so can't necessarily get Colemans. I suppose I'd be doing it from mustard seeds. I looked into giving up added sugar and decided it wouldn't be doable because of condiments and sauces.