I had no idea how many calories are in....

[lightand]

Glass of Ribena - 107 calories

I thick slice of brown bread and butter - 100

Even just 2fl of mead wine - 90

On the plus side
Cup of tea - 1

1 strawberry - 4

No wonder I have been struggling for months to lose up to 1 stone in weight.
I had decided today to start writing down everything I eat and drink.
It has already become a lot less of a mystery as to where the calories have been hiding themselves!
More strawberries and cups of tea for me, by the looks of things.

Are you sure that’s right for bread and butter? Did you weigh the bread before and after spreading the butter?

I lost 3 stone by logging everything on My Fitness Pal and finally educating myself about calories. I wish MFP existed when I was in my 20’s, I’d have killed to have been this size and have this figure with lovely firm skin. It’s not quite the same with saggy, wrinkly skin at nearly 50

Surely that's not that surprising? Tea is almost entirely water! One strawberry is very small and, again, high water content. Your other examples are high in sugar, carbs and fat.

That's presumably before adding milk or sugar to the tea. And seems wildly optimistic for the bread and butter.

Also starters at Nando’s. 793 calories in a little bowl of nuts!

Slimming world is quite good at this.

Unprocessed foods are mainly free, as they are low calorie density. So veg, lean meat, pasta, rice, raw fruit all free (to the point of stopping hunger).

Processed, High fat or sugary foods- bread, butter, honey, oil... are all counted.

Cooked fruit is counted as the calories are more available.

Some exceptions- avocado, coconut and nuts are high density, so have to be counted.

I remember being shocked that those cookies you get in a pack of 5 off the supermarket bakery, they have about 350 calories each.
I need to get back on MFP!

I would download an app like my fitness pal or calorie counter - they’re now so advanced you can just scan the barcode of the item and it logs the calories you’ve had! Like Co op scone or something - so handy. You can set your weight goal and it’s sooo helpful - even subtracts the calories you burn walking if you have a smartphone that tracks your steps.

@eurochick

That's presumably before adding milk or sugar to the tea. And seems wildly optimistic for the bread and butter.

It’s what I get? Seeded bread, warburtons, 85 cals, butter 1/2 teaspoon 17 cals. Ok 2 calories over.

@lazylinguist

Surely that's not that surprising? Tea is almost entirely water! One strawberry is very small and, again, high water content. Your other examples are high in sugar, carbs and fat.

It is surprising to me!

I havent properly calorie counted in years.
Ribena I would have thought was mainly water too, but still manages 107 calories.

Ribena is made out of sugar.

Its one plus is that it's so full of sugar but has no artificial sweeteners in it.

How much mead do you drink?!?!

It's delicious but made out of honey. Which is of course sugar.

Honestly I think it depends on how committed a person is to losing weight. I think calorie logging or not most people sort of get what has calories and what doesn't. A cup of tea i.e. with no milk and sugar isn't going to add up to a can of coke. Neither is a plate of a tuna salad going to add up to a plate of chips.

I did my best working out calorie counts. I am not guaranteeing I have got it all correct.

I cant see me downloading an app, but can quite see how it is very useful @Dogoodfeelgood

@Blossomandbee I do tend sometimes to look at packaged food calories. Read a label recently for a small, shop bought, chocolate brownie. Still bought it, but ate half one day, and half the next, as it was something like 180 calories.

@FizzyPink Dreadful.

A 150g fillet of salmon, about 300 calories I know it is healthy fat but MFP calls it 300 fatty calories nonetheless!

@moofolk

Ribena is made out of sugar.

Its one plus is that it's so full of sugar but has no artificial sweeteners in it.

How much mead do you drink?!?!

It's delicious but made out of honey. Which is of course sugar.

I actually do drink about 2fl oz, most days. Which seemed a tiny amount to me. But seems it isnt in calorie terms. I got long covid, and found that elderberry seemed to help a lot. There are not many things with elderberry in them, and quite frankly, back when I was at my worst, anything that helped me get out of it, was fine by me.

It can be a revelation!
Wait until you find out how many calories are in a tiny cocktail/buffet pork pie!
When I started logging food I was astonished at some things. Obviously I knew that chips weren't good, but I didn't know HOW many calories.
My mum still does things like having a "light" dinner of sourdough & jam (450 calls) while being amazed I can lose weight with my big meals - lean protein and 3 portions of veg (275 calls)

Yes @RockCrushesLizard
It has been an eye opener.
I nearly didnt write down the bread and butter, or the half glass of Ribena, as I "didnt think they would count much" calorie wise, so wasnt going to bother!

I have to say that using an app has been really useful for me in highlighting which foods are reasonable to eat when trying to control calories. There are some surprises which work the other way too - like squares of dark chocolate or large bowls of soup.

Bread and butter is the worst .... 150 calories a slice and so easy to not stick to one.

Nobody butters their bread with 1/2 teaspoon of butter! Nobody.

I count all my calories and it's the only way I've been able to lose weight after trying SW, Scottish Slimmers and various other methods.

I'm doing calorie counting and 17lbs down in under 3 months. I watched Secret Eaters on Prime and it is eye opening the number of people who think they are eating healthily not realising the calories in things. One couple thought they were having a 'healthy' smoothie before breakfast. It had milk, banana, protein powder huge spoonful of peanut butter huge spoon of Nutella and honey. They worked it out to be almost 1000 calories they were drinking before starting eating for the day 😱

I put what I eat into My Fitness Pal and I’ve been amazed at the amount of calories that I’ve been in foods. Cereals especially. I would eat 60g cereal as a portion, no problem. Even corn flakes, which to me were not remotely a treat, are quite high calorie and don’t fill me up. So I’ve made some better choices as a result.

I do have a Diet Coke habit though, which are zero calories, but aren’t exactly healthy.

The amount of calories in oil is criminal.

Oh yes, if you currently cook with oil get yourself some fry light instead. Also different butters have wildly different calorie counts so check that as well.

Once you’ve got your low calorie staple foods it becomes a lot easier

Different butters are different? Didnt know that either.

I am going to have to keep writing down precisely what I am eating and drinking, for quite some days I think.

For me, I think it is what I am eating and drinking in between meals, that arent even really snacks, that is more of a problem than the actual meals themselves.