You really aren't stupid. It was a reasonable mistake to make. They are packaged together after all!

The reason that serving sizes seem so small is because the present standards were determined about 40 years ago from surveys when people consumed less food. Even though the serving size is regulated we all know from observation that the food companies take advantage of the outdated regulations.

Poptarts are really awful for you, but you know that. Even switching to the "fiber" poptarts would be a lot better since they have more fiber and protein than a normal one. Maybe crisp diet / whole wheat toast with a tad of butter spray and no-sugar, low sugar jam/jelly or cinnamon and sweetner you would eventually find satisfying?

I agree, it's not stupid! Those nutrition labels can be sneaky. One time I brought something to lunch thinking it was like 200 something cals but instead it was like double that, and it set me over my daily limit. It's okay though because at least you know now, you can still have a poptart, too!

I can't post links yet, but if you google the phrase

calorie counts packaged food inaccurate

you will turn up a bunch of recent articles about how inaccurate the calorie counts can be in both packaged foods and in restaurants -- even if you get the serving size right (and those serving sizes are always so silly).

I made a similar-but-different mistake when not once, but twice, I bought regular root beer when I meant to buy diet. So instead of treating myself to a no-cal soda every day, I was drinking, you guessed it, 2 servings of full-calorie sugar soda. Duh!

Servings sizes ARE small. I believe the reason for that is that when we were created we were intended to eat very little. And that was for our protection. Times were tough back then. Food was scarce. The reason we require so little food to survive is indeed for our survival. It was intended to protect us in times of famine. Thing is - we are always in times of FEAST. So, it kinda back fired. We were intended to eat very little (& move a LOT) of high quality foods (natural ones), but instead we are eating a high quantity of processed foods with no value. Definitely not how it was intended to be.

That's why we need to be extra vigilant, make really good choices and look the other way at 95% of the food out there on the market. More of a challenge, but it's doable. It's definitely doable.

I hate this.

But what I hate more is when the grams vs. the cup size doesn't match.
Like almonds. I have a 1/4 measuring cup IN my giant costco box of almonds, which is 1 serving size. Even when i fill the thing flush to the top (no cheating!), the gram weight is always WAY higher than the serving size says.

Sometimes, it feels like trying to be conscious of serving size is near impossible. Because really, who eats 1 pop-tart or 1 serving of canned soup?

Ha don't you hate that? It's everywhere. I always get excited when I look at a nutrition label and I'm like "OH! That's not bad!" but then I see it's for 3 servings. If it plays tricks like that, 99 times out of 100 I won't even buy it.

One thing you can do it make your own poptarts. I found this recipe while stumbling (it's this thing you can add to your web browser that takes you to random websites.) They look really good, and I bet they taste better. You can do things to make them healthier too, and portion control them by freezing a majority of the dough or better yet, giving it away!

Here's the site for the homemade poptarts: click meeee

Oh - I found this old thread of mine, to make you feel better!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...est-thing.html

Jamba Juice now has all of the nutritional info listed beside EACH product, which is AWESOME. Go JJ!

Alright, I just had one of these oopsies, hehe...

I use caloriecount.com, and I've been plugging my 12-inch turkey sandwich from Subway in. It says it's 560 calories, which is a lot, but I budget it in once a week. Welllll, I've always gotten honey oat bread. I didn't even think about the breads having different calorie counts (which was silly...hindsight is 20/20). Just out of curiosity, I looked it up on Subway's website. A 12-in loaf of honey oat bread has 100 more calories than wheat! I guess that's not a huge deal, 100 extra calories/week, but I have no difference in preference between the honey oat and wheat bread, so I could have been saving those 100 cal and spending them elsewhere...or at least recording them, lol.

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who does silly things like this

I have noticed something that rockinrobin pointed out, though- as I've been changing how I eat, I've been liking healthier and natural foods more and more. For example, I've started eating nonfat yogurt with berries for dessert, and replacing half my diet soda for water with lemon (the lemon is key!). Honestly, I'm very surprised at how, well, normal it feels. And it doesn't mean that I don't have ice cream or diet soda or anything like that. I just have less of it.

I'm also intrigued by bronzeager's suggestion of making my own. Makes me want to pick up some whole wheat flour and no sugar added jam, yummy

Ugh.. I feel you. You are not stupid! Serving size is one of the most frustrating things. I bought a can of no salt added green beans (i suck at getting veggies in so they were a good alternative) and I was thinking it would be like soup... two servings in a can. Nope.. 3.5! So weird!

I am very conscious about serving sizes now.. always read packages before I buy anything. Its very deceptive and frustrating. Its also hard with some veggies and fruit since they don't come with labels. And when I type it into DailyPlate all these different things pop up, so I have to do some searching to find the RIGHT one!

I know it's not the most nutritious option, but some grocery stores near me have started carrying these 100 calorie pre-portioned bags of pop tart mini bites. They aren't soft and chewy like a pop tart, more of a crunchy texture. But they do have a similar taste and they come in chocolate and strawberry flavors.

Again.....not really good for you, but maybe it could be a more low-cal way to satisfy your cravings once in awhile?