Top 8 Deceptively High Calorie Foods

Yogurt and fruit parfaits, vinaigrette salad dressing, grilled chicken wraps … they all sound so healthy, so they must be low calorie – right? Wrong. I have compiled a list of foods of commonly eaten foods that could sabotaging your weight loss attempts. You don’t necassarily need to avoid these foods/drinks, I just wanted to give you a “warning” signal that all is not as low cal as it seems.

Martha’s Top 8 Deceptively High Calorie Foods:

  1. Yogurt parfait.
Yogurt, granola, topped with fruit. Sounds healthy and low calorie – right? Not necessarily. A 16 oz (the usual size) strawberry parfait is 400 calories, 12 gm fat and 52 gm carbs. (from Pax, NYC)

2. Tuna salad sandwich.
We know fish is good for us … so how bad can it be (aside from the mercury content!)? Tuna sandwiches are not nearly as low cal as they sound because they tend to contain tuna packed in oil, are loaded with mayo and are jumbo sized. A typical deli NYC tuna salad sandwich has over 700 calories. The Southwest tuna wrap from Au Bon Pain – which doesn’t even contain mayo – has 860 calories, 54 gm of fat and 65 gm of carbs.

3. Smoothies.
Smoothies can be very healthy… and also high calorie. For example, a Jamba Juice 12 oz Mango Peach Topper Smoothie is 390 calories, 8 gm fat and 73 gm of carbs. The 16 oz size is 500 calories, 10 gm of fat and 95 gm of carbs. The Dunkin Donut’s strawberry banana smoothie (medium size – 24 ounces!) is 550 calories, 4 gm of fat and 118 gram of carbs. Yikes – enough for a meal!

4.  Iced coffee drinks.
With the warm weather hopefully here to stay, think twice before cooling off with a Starbuck’s java chip frappacino (grande) for 460 calories, 19 gm of fat and 67 gm of carbs or the caramel blended frappacino (grande) for 380 calories, 15 gm of fat and 57 gm of carbs. These are only a few of the calorie ladden iced coffee drinks.   I think most of us city girls will think twice before ordering some of these drinks now that NYC has mandated that calories be posted on the menu (for restaurants that have 15 or more chains).

5. Vinaigrette salad dressing.
Many of us think balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing is low cal because is it “healthy”. Sure, olive oil is good for your heart, but that doesn’t mean it is low calorie. These dressings tend to contain a lot more oil than vinegar. A typical size portion of a seemingly healthy balasamic viniagrette dressing can contain 350 calories! (i.e. that little 2 oz container from Cosi’s). We know the other creamy dressings like blue cheese or caesar are high calorie, but don’t underestimate the calories in vinaigrettes!

6. Specialty salads
With summer approaching and visions of bathing suits in our heads,  many city girls turn to salads for lunch, assuming they are making a healthy low cal choice. I can’t tell you how many times a client has proudly told me she/he had a caesar salad with grilled chicken for lunch, thinking I would be pleased. Little do they know that these salads can contain over 900 calories and 60 grams of fat. It is the dressing the packs in the calories. The same goes for a cobb salad which contain 900-1000 calories and 70 grams of fat. Think about it – bacon, blue cheese crumbles, avocado (yes, it’s good for your heart – but not your fat cells!) and blue cheese dressing.

8. Gourmet wraps/ sandwiches.
Many city girls grab a gourmet type wrap or sandwich for lunch from places such as Cosi’s, Au Bon Pain, Pax, thinking they are making a good choice. The ingredients in these wraps can sound healthy as they are often made with a whole wheat wrap and contain ingredients like grilled chicken or turkey.  However, they tend to be loaded with high calorie sauces and/or cheese.  Some of these wraps contain over 700 calories. For example, the Suncoast Turkey Wrap from Pax contains 740 calories, 27 gm fat and 80 gm of carbs. The Tarragon Chicken Sandwich from Au Bon Pain contains 740 calories, 31 gm of fat and 61 gm of carbs.