Shocking Nutritional Information

[NeverlandClub23]

Have you been shocked by nutritional information? I consider myself pretty knowledgable about nutrition info (only because I read EVERYTHING's label) but every once in awhile something completely shocks me (I mean I would figure an onion bloom or cheese fries would have well over a thousand calories, I wouldn't have to see the nutritional info to have guessed that). Tonight is my Mom's birthday and we're going out to Texas Roadhouse. I'm being really concious (sp?) of what I eat (as I'm training for a half marathon in November) and decided to check out what I could eat around the calorie range I had left for the day. I noticed that ONE roll with nothing extra put on it is 227 calories and 11 grams of fat. WOW. My Dad had a heart attack a month ago and is concentrating on lowering his fat. I'm sure if I didn't know this information he would've eaten two of these rolls and think he was doing good because he didn't put butter on them.

So, what have you been shocked by?

 

[ontariomonkey]

Someone at the office had a yogurt with like 8g of sugar in it! I was surprised. I don't think of yogurt as a sugarry snack.

 

[Micca]

Someone at the office had a yogurt with like 8g of sugar in it! I was surprised. I don't think of yogurt as a sugarry snack.

Sugar is a major culprit in a number of foods you don't think of as sugary.
There are soups with quite a bit of sugar, snack crackers, and many other packaged foods contain quite a bit. Kinda depressing.

 

[ckay87]

Someone at the office had a yogurt with like 8g of sugar in it! I was surprised. I don't think of yogurt as a sugarry snack.

Oh heck yea, unless you mix your own. Mine right here has 17 g of sugar.

You know what shocked me recently? I love ice cream and I'm not afraid to eat it. But I try to be careful with it, so I read the label before I buy it. For the most part, my ice creams are about 150 calories for a 1/2 cup. I picked up Hagan Daaz and took a look....250 calories for a 1/2 cup. What the heck do they DO to their ice cream????

 

[eeyore65]

Really any restaurant meal shocks me. I know when I make similar dishes at home they are not that bad.

Specifically, Cheesecake Factory, portions are big but even half portions of some things WOW!
Moe's - love their burritos but I now order the kids size or a naked burrito after looking at the nutrition. I was also amazed to see beef burritos were the lowest calorie meat. Also sad for my MIL to see that all the meat includes a gluten product. (She is gluten free.)
Jamba Juice! OMG! The carbs and calories in a jamba juice are staggering.

I really eat out a lot less because of a change in my job and less travel. I immediately dropped an easy 20 lbs and I know it was from cooking at home. No normal person uses that much oil or butter or salt when they cook.

 

[wvjules]

I get daily "Eat This Not That" emails and many many things on there shock me.

Since you are going to outback, avoid the cheese fries. I think there are 2000 calories in that thing.

 

[momrek06]

I knew that Caesar salads were high in calories BUT on Biggest Loser just this week they discussed it....a small Chicken Caesar Salad is 1010 calories!

Ok, I am sooo done with Caesar salads with or without chicken.

And yes, yogurt...oh my, you have to read their labels...look at the carbs in yogurt alone.

 

[agnes!]

I'm always shocked by the excessive amount of sodium that's in food... *and* it's in food that doesn't really need it for taste at all or (REALLY bad) it's in 'diet' or 'healthy' food. What's funny is when you pick up some supposedly "healthy" frozen or canned foods, like Lean Cuisine entrees or Campbell's Healthy Choice soups...the fat content might be lower but there's enough salt in there to kill a horse.

But if you want to be really freaked-out, then go read how much salt is in regular canned soups or other 'regular' foods.

agnes!

 

[eeyore65]

I agree on the sodium - but if you cook a chicken and make chicken soup and add salt - there is no way you could put as much sodium in it and not have it taste so salty you couldn't eat it. I always wonder how they actually get all that salt in and still have it taste okay? and even worse - what are they hiding with salt?

 

[agnes!]

Someone at the office had a yogurt with like 8g of sugar in it! I was surprised. I don't think of yogurt as a sugarry snack.

Chobani 'greek-style' yougurt is non-fat, is sweetened but doesn't have nearly as much as Dannon/Yoplait/etc.

Actually 8g of sugar isn't as bad as many yougurts' sugar content and it's about the same as what's in a serving of most breakfast cereals.

agnes!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Chobani 'greek-style' yougurt is non-fat, is sweetened but doesn't have nearly as much as Dannon/Yoplait/etc.

Actually 8g of sugar isn't as bad as many yougurts' sugar content and it's about the same as what's in a serving of most breakfast cereals.

agnes!

I was thinking the same thing. 8 grams is not bad at all.

 

[dawson5]

pop tarts.

As a treat my hubby would buy them for the kids. He would let them eat them in the family room, that had carpeting, somehow they would be ground in. I put my foot down about them because of that reason then one day I'm reading the ingredients. I realize that out of the first 5 ingredients, 3 are sugars. The kicker is one pastry is a serving. My kids were eating 4. I knew they were sugary, I never knew the serving size or that the amount of sugar in them. We rarely buy poptarts anymore, usually if they are going camping, something quick and easy clean-up.


also magic shell. nothing but coconut oil. Highest amount of saturated fat. Hubby is still floored by this.

 

[NMAmy]

DH was traumatized to learn that his beloved Marie Callender's pot pies have over 1000 calories and a huge amount of fat. (Sorry, I don't remember the exact numbers but it was outrageous!)

Now he's forced to wait until I make a homemade one.

 

[bumbershoot]

pop tarts.

As a treat my hubby would buy them for the kids. He would let them eat them in the family room, that had carpeting, somehow they would be ground in. I put my foot down about them because of that reason then one day I'm reading the ingredients. I realize that out of the first 5 ingredients, 3 are sugars. The kicker is one pastry is a serving. My kids were eating 4. I knew they were sugary, I never knew the serving size or that the amount of sugar in them. We rarely buy poptarts anymore, usually if they are going camping, something quick and easy clean-up.

If you ever saw Paula Poundstone's comedy you'd laugh about her poptart stuff. She mentions that one is a serving, but who can eat just one. Then you've kind of gone over a "snack" when you eat the two, so you might s well just make a meal and eat another pack of 2. Then there's only one more pack of 2 in the box, so you eat that too, just to clean up.

DH was traumatized to learn that his beloved Marie Callender's pot pies have over 1000 calories and a huge amount of fat. (Sorry, I don't remember the exact numbers but it was outrageous!)

Now he's forced to wait until I make a homemade one.

Fat content in their fett alfredo frozen meal is terrifying as well....



Probably the difference with Haagen Dasz ice cream is that it's more dense; less air. So there's more actual ice cream in the half cup. And full fat milk; but then again, that 2% 1% stuff is so silly, as regular milk is only something like 4% anyway, not that big of a difference.

 

[johnsontrio]

You guys should look up Jimmy John's sub sandwiches. I thought my DM was crazy when she told me how many calories the Italian sub had in it, but she wasn't.

 

[Jockaroo]

DH was traumatized to learn that his beloved Marie Callender's pot pies have over 1000 calories and a huge amount of fat. (Sorry, I don't remember the exact numbers but it was outrageous!)

Now he's forced to wait until I make a homemade one.

Oh, we learned our lesson with Marie Callender. When we got married, we got the pot pies from Sam's Club. Quick fix supper. We would each eat a whole pot pie. Healthy right? It has lots of veggies. The nutritional information scared us--then we saw the kicker--each pot pie was 2 servings! So we had to double the calories, double the sodium, double the fat. Needless to say, hubby has to wait for me to make a homemade one. I frequently top mine with phyllo sheets rather than pastry. Cuts the fat even more.

At our house, we frequently say "Marie Callender wants you dead." These foods may taste good, but too much can do you in.

Oh, and a link to the dreaded Chicken Pot Pie Nutritional "facts".
http://www.mealographer.com/food/MARIE/CALLENDERS-Chicken-Pot-Pie-f-22526.html

 

[claudia]

I think I was really shocked when I picked up a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers and read that they contain 25-35 mg of cholestrol.....so much for healthy....and there goes my quick and easy solution to lunch

 

[Nancy]

I knew that Caesar salads were high in calories BUT on Biggest Loser just this week they discussed it....a small Chicken Caesar Salad is 1010 calories!

Ok, I am sooo done with Caesar salads with or without chicken.

And yes, yogurt...oh my, you have to read their labels...look at the carbs in yogurt alone.

I was shocked when I had to start watching my carbs and saw how much was in there.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I get daily "Eat This Not That" emails and many many things on there shock me.

Since you are going to outback, avoid the cheese fries. I think there are 2000 calories in that thing.

I get the ETNT e-mails too. I've been shocked a lot by those. It's just a quick read, but the info. stays with you. Sure helps when you are eating out!

I do read the labels, but every now and then something escapes me. I was buying the Deli Creations. Something like that. The fat content was through the roof! I switched to lean pockets for a quick lunch now and then. Big difference!

 

[SundaeAfternoon]

I am always amazed at the fat content from restaurants like Chili's and UNO Chicago Pizza. UNO has a deep dish pepperoni pizza for one that is 150 grams of fat. Are they insane??

It's pretty sad when you can eat less fat at Burger King and McDonalds.