/ck/ - Food & Cooking

I eat McDonald's quite often, anywhere from 3-6 times a week, depending on my schedule and tastes.

My "go to" McDonald's dinner is usually a combo (McChicken, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, sometimes Filet-O-Fish) and a smaller sandwich on the side (e.g. if I get a McChicken combo I'll buy a bacon cheeseburger).

I started looking at the calories of my meal and plan accordingly. I always try to eat under 2000-2300 calories a day, so if I eat a big McDonald's meal I just have to suffer for the rest of the day or eat with that meal in mind.

One of the things I always do is ask for extra mayonnaise. I used to dislike mayonnaise but now I really enjoy it and almost exclusively use it as my condiment for fries. I typically use 2-3 packets for my fries and an additional 1-2 for my sandwiches. If I get a McChicken it usually has enough mayonnaise, but I enjoy dipping my bacon cheeseburger into mayonnaise or using several fries to spread some on the patty.

Today I was looking at the nutritional information of the lunch I just had and realized that a packet of mayonnaise is 100 calories! I never think about condiments as having much caloric significance, but I have been adding 300-500 calories on top of my meal without knowing! I am shocked and will obviously adjust by rationing 2 mayonnaise servings per meal or maybe try walking at lunch to burn off the excess calories.

I was really surprised and somewhat perturbed. What other foods or condiments/additives/garnishes have you been surprised about?