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.

I’m fascinated by this, my surprises are that lager has more calories then Guinness.

Also a proper jam doughnut is only about 200 calories where as each Choc Hobnob is 95 - so if you have 3 biscuits that’s more then the doughnut!

There are some nice calorie surprises OP - broad beans for instance are really low, so you can have shedloads of them and feel really full! Other foods less so tbf

The other way around as well, Meringue nests are only 50 calories each. With spray light cream and strawberries, you've got yourself a low calorie eton mess.

I love MFP!! Can’t do without it now! I used to eat like a bag of sugar snap peas instead of crisps!! In terms of calories, I’d have been better off eating a pack of walkers French fries! So I soon knocked those on the head!

Also a proper jam doughnut is only about 200 calories where as each Choc Hobnob is 95 - so if you have 3 biscuits that’s more then the doughnut!
Jesus!

As a rule of thumb, carbs and proteins have 4 calories per gram and fats have 9 calories per gram. That measly tablespoon of double cream you were being so good with, is 61 calories.

It's not 100 for brown bread and butter, it's more like 150cal.

1 pistachio nut is about 4 calories.

I approach this from the opposite angle because DD1 has an eating disorder, so I'm always looking for the most calorie dense food I can find, as she struggles with quantities. Double cream and oil are my best friends!!

But it does show that food we see as a 'little treat' is hugely calorific. A single 'chocolate melt in the middle Pudding' and a decent glug of double cream is 950 calories.

A single ferrero rocher is 80 cals.

@Blossomandbee

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!

That's the one that shocked me too, I knew they would be high calorie, but was surprised at just how high!

Wine is the biggest kick in the teeth 🤣

Peanut butter is more calorific than Nutella

I used to play a MMORPG in the evenings, years ago, and would quite happily snack on a packet of fig rolls. 760 calories right there!

@NutellaEllaElla

Peanut butter is more calorific than Nutella

One of my big hitters for DD1 is a roll with 25g butter, 35g peanut butter and 25g Nutella. 685 calories.

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.

But anything you eat in between meals is a snack. And drinks can really mount up too - juice, squash, sugar in tea or coffee, hot chocolate, fizzy drinks etc.

If you want to cut down on calories, the best thing to do is drink lots of water, eat shedloads of veg (not potatoes though!) to fill you up and either don't snack, or snack on carrot sticks or something. Or do fasting.

For some reason OP you drinking mead every day has really amused me. I imagine you in a medieval castle a 2 finger kitkat is 99 calories and an apple is 80, I pick the kitkat every time!

@lightand Well done on getting started and good luck. Certain foods have been a revelation to me too. And it's often the extra 'small snacks' that are the issue.
@Youdontknowwhatyoureonabout - I agree with you - I wish I had a fitbit in my 20's! My weight has yo-yoed all my life. In the past, when I'd lost weight, I relaxed back into old habits of eating and invariably gained the weight again. This time, I've realised that I need to keep track of what I eat permanently, as it's too easy to overeat or eat the wrong things. In my 20's there wasn't as much of a drive towards protein as there is now. In fact, you were supposed to limit eggs to three per week - does anyone remember that? And it was "low fat" everything, which invariably meant high sugar.
Increasing my protein intake and being much more careful about carbs /sugar has been a game changer for me. I just don't get as hungry anymore and don't crave certain things like I used to.
I still love chocolate - thank God for Aldi dark chocolate

I ate the sweetcorn rib things from Leon last week - OVER 500 CALORIES - it’s tiny! And sweetcorn! What’s the point in telling you the calories in main dishes on your menu board and not warn you about the calorie bomb lurking on the side?!?!

I have just started using nutricheck - UK version of MFP - and I think it’s the bomb. Way more Uk orientated.

Oh and hot chocolates from chain coffee shops. More than several bloody chocolate bars.

@RockCrushesLizard

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)

This is the bane of my life. People who tell me they can’t understand how I stay slim when I “ I eat so much “.

That’s from my colleague who has no breakfast and then a Large Starbucks coffee and cookie/ pastry at 11am and a boots meal deal at lunchtime. AFAIK that’s about 800 - 1000 calories by lunchtime alone ( just a guess not fact checked )

Meanwhile she OOHs and AAhs at my huge salad with fish / tuna saying “ I’ve no idea how you can eat that much, I’d be sleeping / bloated all afternoon after such a big meal “.

And

“ You are so lucky with your high metabolism, I just have to look at food and I put on weight “.

I may have to kill her.

Sweetcorn and peas are high carbohydrate foods, @partyatthepalace. It's quite deceiving.

I had no idea how many calories are in a single tablespoon of regular mayonnaise! Scary really. You think you're being healthy with tuna or salads and adding a bit of Mayo but the calories are so high!

Tesco danish bread is only 51 calories per slice

Conversely, Aldi chocolate chip brioche swirls are 150 cals each which is pretty great.

I like making a mixed side salad at lunch time to go alongside my sandwich. Dressing, humous, coleslaw, sundries tomatoes etc all add hugely to the calories total and need to be used sparingly. Too much/ too many of those things at once and the sa-lard is heavier in calories than the sarnie.

I tried MFP went

Then ignored MFP reminders to log meals

And went back to eating raw nuts and shedloads of olive oil and butter. 😃 And strawberries

Nuts, which we should all eat, are incredibly high.