"Healthy foods" calorie content shock

[waistchallenge]

I'm doing 20/4 fasting and that's meant I've had to start calorie counting for the first time just to monitor what I'm having during my four hour eating window.

A couple of things have been a bit shocking to me even though I thought I was relatively aware of what to eat and what not to eat, etc.

All of these things that I had perceived to be "healthy" have come as a shock to me:

Olive oil 123 calories per tablespoon I had no idea it was so calorie dense. I thought it was healthier than other oils and I've never paid much attention to how much I was using. I could easily be adding several hundred calories to a dish by just up-ending the bottle and adding a big glug of oil to the pan.

Oatcakes 37 calories per oatcake, 8 oatcakes per individual pack. Almost 300 calories!

Houmous I couldn't believe there's close to 1000 calories in those standard 300g pots! 😯 I have often eaten half a pot as a snack/small meal and had no idea of this. So it turns out my "healthy snack" of oatcakes and houmous was actually extremely calorific, I might as well have been eating a chocolate bar.

If anyone has any others to share, please do. I need to be more aware from now on!

Oh no, I've been caught out again, milled linseed 512 calories per 100g 😱

Et tu, milled linseed? 😑

Sorbets are a better option than ice cream also.

Popcorn isn't bad (plain) for the amount you get

But who on earth would eat 100g of linseeds in one go? Why don’t you start portioning up your food into little bags/containers then you can feel that you’ve eaten a whole portion when you’ve eaten a sensible amount?

I haven't eaten 100g 😅It's no tahini!

You'd be hard pressed to eat more than 10g of linseed or chia seed etc. I think you can go overboard with calorie counting. Stop eating crap, most meals from scratch and you're on to a good start.

Exactly

Perfect example of why calorie counting is bollocks. Those 26 calories aren’t absorbed into your body in the same way as for eg. sugar. You could eat a handful of nuts and your body would absorb the same amount of calories as a can of coke- but with the nuts you’d also be taking on roughage minerals vitamins etc. And feel sated for longer.

Pizza Express salads can have more calories than the pizzas depending on choices.

Pollo forza pizza 877
Pollo salad 954.

@waistchallenge I've learnt with hummus and oatcakes (and I eat it a lot as an gluten free) to spread the hummus on thinly rather than just dunk in- so will have 3 oatcakes and a thin spreading for around 275 calories - all the taste but less calories

@Nandocushion are you sure- I've looked on the back and even a decent sized pack is about 380 Cals which I think is low and quite filling.

It you look up the research on the food matrix though you will see that we only utilise around 50% of the calories in most nuts, the rest pass straight through us.

I couldn't believe there's close to 1000 calories in those standard 300g pots! 😯 I have often eaten half a pot as a snack/small meal and had no idea of this.

That IS quite a lot of humous though. It's not meant to be eaten like that really.
Eat it slowly and you'd feel sated I think.