Despite what you hear from the purveyors of trendy fad diets, specialty diet foods, and expensive weight-loss programs, there is no secret to dropping pounds. You simply need to use more calories than you consume.

To put things into perspective, here are the calorie counts for some typical foods -- keep in mind that the exact number of calories can vary.

 

 


45 Foods and the Calories They Contain

 A medium-sized apple contains about
72 calories. See more apple pictures.


Food: Calories

1. Apple, medium: 72
2. Bagel: 289
3. Banana, medium: 105
4. Beer (regular, 12 ounces): 153
5. Bread (one slice, wheat or white): 66
6. Butter (salted, 1 tablespoon): 102
7. Carrots (raw, 1 cup): 52
8. Cheddar cheese (1 slice): 113
9. Chicken breast (boneless, skinless, roasted, 3 ounces): 142
10. Chili with beans (canned, 1 cup): 287
11. Chocolate chip cookie (from packaged dough): 59
12. Coffee (regular, brewed from grounds, black): 2
13. Cola (12 ounces): 136
14. Corn (canned, sweet yellow whole kernel, drained, 1 cup): 180
15. Egg (large, scrambled): 102
16. Graham cracker (plain, honey, or cinnamon): 59
17. Granola bar (chewy, with raisins, 1.5-ounce bar): 193
18. Green beans (canned, drained, 1 cup): 40
19. Ground beef patty 193 (15 percent fat, 4 ounces, pan-broiled):
20. Hot dog (beef and pork): 137
21. Ice cream (vanilla, 4 ounces): 145
22. Jelly doughnut: 289
Top 5 Most Intriguing Lists
While you can browse through hundreds of fascinating lists at Extraordinary Lists, here are 5 lists that we feel are certain to amaze and entertain:
23. Ketchup (1 tablespoon): 15
24. Milk (2 percent milk fat, 8 ounces): 122
25. Mixed nuts (dry roasted, with peanuts, salted, 1 ounce): 168
26. Mustard, yellow (2 teaspoons): 6
27. Oatmeal (plain, cooked in water without salt, 1 cup): 147
28. Orange juice (frozen concentrate, made with water, 8 ounces): 112
29. Peanut butter (creamy, 2 tablespoons): 180
30. Pizza (pepperoni, regular crust, one slice): 298
31. Pork chop (center rib, boneless, broiled, 3 ounces): 221
32. Potato, medium (baked, including skin): 161
33. Potato chips (plain, salted, 1 ounce): 155
34. Pretzels (hard, plain, salted, 1 ounce): 108
35. Raisins (1.5 ounces): 130
36. Ranch salad dressing (2 tablespoons): 146
37. Red wine (cabernet sauvignon, 5 ounces): 123
38. Rice (white, long grain, cooked, 1 cup): 205
39. Salsa (4 ounces): 35
40. Shrimp (cooked under moist heat, 3 ounces): 84
41. Spaghetti (cooked, enriched, without added salt, 1 cup): 221
42. Spaghetti sauce (marinara, ready to serve, 4 ounces): 92
43. Tuna (light, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces): 100
44. White wine (sauvignon blanc, 5 ounces): 121
45. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (one piece): 243

Source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 19 (2006)

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen