portions, calories

The more I write down what I eat -- and take the steps to find out what a portion is, and how much calories are in that portion -- do I realize my "standard" portions pack a lot more calories in than I thought! And even if it's healthy food, those add up.

For example, I made a rice tofu dish tonight. I take a extra-firm pack of tofu and stir-fried it. Normally I eat about half the tofu pack. I mean, hell, it's tofu, right? I've never actually looked at the label.

Well it turns out that there are FIVE portions in that pack -- not two! Which means I've been eating almost 300 calories when I eat half, not the 150 calories I thought I was. I don't even know where that 150 number came from. Honestly, I think I just made it up one day, thinking, how many calories can be in tofu anyway?

Now, I probably won't stop eating tons of tofu. I mean, talk about a healthy food packed with nutrients and protein, with little fat. But realizing how many calories was in it really opened my eyes.

And I looked at the black bean can label. Turns out a half-cup is about 100 calories. Not bad, but I think I've counted it as 50 calories before. And the whole-grain rice? A half-cup is almost 200 calories, not 100 like I've been writing down.

So add that up -- that's almost 400 calories that I have not factored into my diet. All healthy foods, all normal serving sizes -- but wow. That sure added up fast!