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SONICB Posts: 4,262
1/12/13 12:08 P

Granola - It averages around 450 calories per *cup*!

JEAN2666 SparkPoints: (1,960)
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Posts: 32
1/9/13 3:06 P

FIG NEWTONS....every time I go visit my grandparents, my grandfather pushes these on me saying "there's nothing in them" ... meaning they are good to eat - in his mind. And he's a thin man that walks 4 miles a day at the age of 85. So I trust him and generally have a few. They are always stored in a cookie jar. WELL a couple weeks bag, they didn't quite make it to the cookie jar yet and I read the label and about fell over to discover that 2 of these had 110 calories. Needless to say, I was surprised! So I tell him "no thank you now!"

1/9/13 12:07 P

Nearly all things that come in a box, bottle, bag, jar or can at the store. I am amazed at the number of calories and the lack of satiety due to no protein or fiber. Also, such high sugar and sodium! Many years ago I relied on these things to get a quick meal on the table at the end of the day and would spend the rest of the evening hungry because my food wasn't satisfying.

Also, restaurant food... period. A 1,000+ calorie salad just boggles the mind. I spend more time telling a server what I don't want than what I do want. Also, I don't trust the nutrition information on restaurant websites at all.

1/9/13 10:43 A

Chicken Wings! OMG they are loaded with calories. You wouldn't think that such a tiny piece of chicken could have so many calories. Of course, when you dunk it in hotsauce and ranch dressing those calories add up. I tried a turkey alternative that I found on Pinterest and it was disgusting.

1/2/13 1:13 A

While a lot of lunch meats can have a lot of sodium in them (generally the prepackaged meats), you can always go to the deli and ask for a lower sodium meat. It will have considerably less sodium but still tastes just as delicious. After my mom switched to the lower sodium lunch meats, I was never again able to go back to the higher sodium. Just ask your deli and they'll be happy to help you out. : )

CLRWILLIAMS25 SparkPoints: (32,730)
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Posts: 1,081
12/13/12 8:07 A

I totally agree with disliking the misleading advertising for Special K. My mom has Special K everything- cereal, granola bars, crackers and pastry crisps. She honestly thinks she is going to lose weight by eating them. I've eaten a pastry crisp (yes, they're tasty), but it is pretty much a 100 calorie thing with no nutritional value. And of course it wasn't satisfying due to lack of protein or fiber.

RUSSELL_40 Posts: 16,826
12/12/12 7:25 P

I agree on the fruit. Last time at the store, my brother went to buy apples, and they were as big as softballs. He bought clementines instead.

They mess up our vegetables too. An ear of corn shouldn't be a foot long, and as thick as a baseball bat either. Of course, since they sell by the lb, bigger is better for the producer.

STARSHINEFL SparkPoints: (1,072)
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Posts: 158
12/12/12 7:07 P

Another vote for the giant fruit. I ate an orange once and then went to calculate how many calories it had. The site I checked at had measurements and calorie counts for small, medium, and large oranges. My orange was significantly larger than even the "large" option. emoticon

JENSAWIP Posts: 170
12/12/12 2:02 P

One medium artichoke has 10.3 grams of fiber!
Now, my challenge is finding something other than butter to dip the heart in when I eat them!
Good topic question.

APPRIL Posts: 2,238
12/11/12 11:50 P

Onions - they're a superfood !!!

Spices - really? Who would think that just adding spices to foods would make such a big impact on health?

KRISTEN_SAYS SparkPoints: (73,428)
Fitness Minutes: (35,001)
Posts: 5,088
12/11/12 10:53 P

Surprising in a good way, when I first started eating beans a few years ago, I was shocked at how nutritious they were. I make vegan chili and homemade veggie burgers almost every week now. Loooove them.

And in a not-so-good way, I second the Special K thing! Ugh their commercials make me so mad. I used to eat Special K cereal every morning before I started to pay attention to nutrition labels, thinking that I was eating something healthy. Then I switched to Special K Protein Plus, which had 10g of protein, hardly any sugar and maybe 6g of fiber. But then they changed the product! More sugar and less fiber. So I stopped eating it.

BOKJOY SparkPoints: (1,941)
Fitness Minutes: (3,496)
Posts: 76
12/11/12 8:57 P

Some positive surprises (both in cans!):

Canned pumpkin. I guess I always associated it with dessert/sugary things, but plain it really is surprisingly healthy. Great mixed into oatmeal or just heated with some cinnamon and rosemary.

Sardines. Like, the little fishes in cans. I've never known anyone who ate them, but suddenly they are this huge foodie trend. For a good reason! Crazy high in omega-3's, really low in mercury (compared to fish like tuna), and highly sustainable. Plus they are CHEAP. They take some getting used to but now I like them on a piece of toast with mustard and tomato.

12/11/12 1:15 P

Fiber in Fruit Loops? Who knew! :)

YOJULEZ SparkPoints: (15,605)
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Posts: 2,171
12/11/12 12:31 P

A cup of froot loops actually has 3g of fiber LOL Only 1g of protein though. I eat it for a sweet snack sometimes.

I personally don't find any cereal to be filling at all by itself!

12/11/12 12:11 P

Special K uses all kinds of diet imagery in its ads and talks up its protein content, but a serving of regular Special K has zero fiber, 23 g. of carbohydrates and only 6 g. of protein. Better than Fruit Loops, probably, but if I eat just a bowl of Special K for breakfast, I'm hungrier at 10:00 am than I would have been if I'd had nothing at all.

Granola has more fiber, but it's always surprisingly high in calories, even if you make your own. If you buy the store-bought stuff, you might as well have a piece of cake for all the fat and sugar in it.

WHITNEY0089 SparkPoints: (9,387)
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Posts: 22
12/11/12 9:38 A

Always has amazed me at how much fat is in nuts! I have a hard time limiting myself to just the few pieces that is considered a healthy snack.

Edited by: WHITNEY0089 at: 12/11/2012 (09:38)
MIAMIVT SparkPoints: (11,784)
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Posts: 244
12/11/12 9:19 A

Peanut butter, i love it but because it's so high in calories i never really enjoy it anymore. I'm big on the quantity of food I eat, i like to eat a large mass of things with fewer calories, peanut butter kind of takes that away.

12/11/12 8:17 A

vegetables have more protein than I had expected

LOVE4KITTIES Posts: 1,929
12/10/12 5:56 P

Things that I have found to be not as healthy as I thought:
Subway (sodium and not as many nutrients as you'd think)
Lunch Meat (sodium)
Anything in a box or can (sodium) with canned soups being incredibly high in salt. Even Jello pudding mix is loaded with sodium (which I found surprising, as it is sweet).

Things that I used to think of as being unhealthy but which I now see as beneficial when eaten in proper portions:
Cheese (it can have lots of calcium and not a lot of sodium, depending on the brand))
Peanut butter
Potatoes (loaded with nutrients) and sweet potatoes (even more loaded with nutrients)
Lean red meats

Edited by: LOVE4KITTIES at: 12/10/2012 (17:57)
GRAMCRACKER46 SparkPoints: (29,219)
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Posts: 1,173
12/10/12 4:54 P

Changing from WW to SP, I found that many of the foods and recipes I was using were not all that nutritious. I like knowing the nutrition of each food.

I agree, bacon and swiss cheese have value in moderation from time to time and keep me from feeling deprived.

As for bean salad, I love it, but make my own. 3 cans of beans of your choice and WELL rinsed. Add a vinegrette of your own making. I also add other veggies like onion, sweet red pepper, etc and even cubes of cheese. This is the only time I use canned beans. I cook the navy, lentil and split peas that come in the bag for all kinds of good soups.

As you may surmise, I am on a high-fiber diet per the doctor.

MPLANE37 SparkPoints: (65,234)
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Posts: 2,167
12/10/12 4:15 P

Sweet potatoes. The incredibly rich sweet taste and great texture, yet way too reasonable in the caloric cost. One great dessert with absolutely no guilt is just one oven roasted small to medium sized sweet potato.

CLRWILLIAMS25 SparkPoints: (32,730)
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Posts: 1,081
12/10/12 3:48 P

Speaking of sodium... I forgot my lunch today and went to the grocery store to grab something to eat. I got an apple (good), a yogurt (good) and a frozen broccoli with cheese sauce. I ate the whole package of the broccoli/cheese which had 150 calories and a whopping 1,025 mg of sodium! Here I though I was being superior for not buying a Lean Cuisine!

worse than I thought:
lunch meat (lots of sodium)
canned soups (also lots of sodium)

Not as bad as I thought:
pasta (measure it out and it's not bad for you- full of protein too!)
cheese (lots of calcium and fair amount of fat, which I am always low on)

edit: I totally agree with NAUSIKAA about huge fruit! I am always on a quest for the tiny apples so I can eat a whole one as part of my snack instead of as my entire snack!

Edited by: CLRWILLIAMS25 at: 12/10/2012 (15:51)
YOJULEZ SparkPoints: (15,605)
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Posts: 2,171
12/10/12 3:46 P

I should also add that I don't think bacon is "nutritious" necessarily, but for me at least, it adds a level of satisfaction to my meal, which IS nutritious. My turkey sandwiches by themselves are boring and makes me not want to eat them (which in the past would cause me to go get McDonald's) instead. But with the addition of bacon, and a bit of honey mustard, I'm quite pleased with it. If you're more satisfied with your meal, then you will be happier just eating that, instead of going after other stuff later on.

YOJULEZ SparkPoints: (15,605)
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Posts: 2,171
12/10/12 3:40 P

Bacon! Bacon is not NEARLY as bad as people make it out to be. Sure, just like with anything, if you eat hoards of it it's not good for you, but in moderation it's fine, and adds a ton of flavor. I use center-cut bacon which does have less fat than normal, and 2 slices of the kind I buy is only 50 calories. Have to watch the sodium of course. But even one slice goes a long way if you chop it up and mix in a pasta dish, or on top of a salad. I often use 2 slices on top of my turkey sandwich and it's sooo good. I save my bacon grease in a jar in my fridge and use for making breakfast items like french toast or eggs. It's only slightly more (like 15) calories than butter, and actually less saturated fat, and often because of the stronger flavor, you need less. For french toast I use half the amount of bacon grease than I would for butter.

The only thing I was surprised about in reverse is cookies. 1 of those big cookies you can get at sandwich shops or panera have a meal's worth of calories in them. That made me sad LOL Otherwise I was pretty aware of what was good/bad for problem before was actually applying my knowledge.

Edited by: YOJULEZ at: 12/10/2012 (15:41)
NAUSIKAA Posts: 4,848
12/10/12 3:39 P

A food that continuously amazes me every time I track it is lentils. The fiber and protein are so high for the calories, it's such an amazing food!! Same goes for split peas. And there is no sodium, as these foods are not in cans. I live in a country where beans are not sold in cans, they are sold in bags (you have to cook them in order to eat them) and there is no sodium. I love beans and think they are great nutritionally.

One thing that was a negative discovery for me was milk. It's amazing how you can go from an innocent cup of coffee that you could just not track at all, to a big chunk of your snack calories just by adding a little milk. And I really prefer coffee with milk. Now I'll often have tea instead (I don't put milk in my tea).

Another one that I think we need to remind ourselves of regularly is that the fruit in stores is NOT "regular" fruit -- it's enormous! A "medium" apple in the supermarket is like 2x the calories in a "medium" apple in the calorie database - and that's if you're lucky enough to find an apple smaller than your kneecap to start with. Fruit is just HUGE these days and it does add up a lot faster than we like to think!

RUSSELL_40 Posts: 16,826
12/10/12 3:28 P

I didn't intend this thread to be about low carb, or my way of eating. I agree beans are great, but I would do better just eating regular beans, which have a lot less sodium. Cheese actually can be very low sodium. Swiss is very low. You just have to be picky. Meanwhile, it has a lot of calcium, and if you don't drink milk, this is a concern.

I expect most of the foods to be not on my plan. Just thought that it might be eye opening to others When I hear that Subway is heart healthy, and bananas are bad, I realize that there is confusion out there. Not saying Subway is bad food, just not heart healthy, or as great as it is reported to be. A 6" sub would be okay, if you had low sodium the rest of the day. I am hoping this thread helps people on all types of diets.

CMCOLE Posts: 2,667
12/10/12 2:54 P

It's definitely the sodium in canned and processed foods that is an eye opener.

Beans ARE great. Use dry, frozen or fresh as an alternative to canned.
Rinse the canned ones, and perhaps it will mitigate some of the added sodium

Cheese, for the most part, is pretty high, as well, and it was always my "go-to" when I was eating low carb. I didn't pay attention to sodium content at the time

Edited by: CMCOLE at: 12/10/2012 (14:55)
RUSSELL_40 Posts: 16,826
12/10/12 2:47 P

Last night I ate a can of 3 bean salad. Beans sound healthy. This morning I was up to 223 lbs. Looking at the can I read that it has 1500 mg of sodium in it.

I thought it would be interesting to see what you have found to be surprising.

Foods that you thought of as healthy, but they really weren't: ex) Subway, 3 bean salad
Foods that you though of as unhealthy but aren't as bad as you thought: ex) eggs, cheese.

Subway was huge for me. I eat low carb, and used to get a foot long sub for a " cheat meal " While worrying about the carbs, I never noticed they are loaded with sodium.

Of course these foods can all be eaten in moderation, but I think a lot of us might benefit from hearing about these foods. You might have noticed something that a lot of people eat that at best should be eaten in moderation. On the other hand, people might be skipping out on a food that is actually loaded with a lot of nutrition

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