Written By: Sabine Milien
It is common for people to become frustrated with their weight loss journey. While exercise plays a role in losing weight and staying healthy, we all know that it is impossible to outrun a bad diet. With the majority of long-term weight loss coming from what we eat, knowing what we are really putting into our bodies will help a hundred times over any exercise regime. It’s one thing to indulge in a meal at restaurants, family gatherings and events. However, nutrition starts in the home as it is probably the most visited location you encounter every day. Fuzionistas here are foods hiding in your kitchen that are probable reasons to your weight loss frustrations.
#1 CEREALS
Fuzionistas the most commonly eaten breakfast food on the market is cereal. From brands targeting children to those targeting adults, they definitely try to leave no one behind. As healthy as some may be marketed, cereals are packed with tons of sugars, at least 23 grams of sugars per serving for most! Let’s face it, with sugar being such an addicting drug and cereals being nothing but empty carbohydrates, most people are eating double the serving! While probably never feeling full until your second or third bowl of cereal, you will be taking in hundreds of unnecessary calories and sugars only adding more inches to your waist line.
Alternative: Old Fashioned Plain Oatmeal cooked in water and topped with strawberries, blueberries, and banana.
#2 CANNED SOUPS
We’ve all had the flu, felt sick at one point or just wanted something warm and savory in our tummy. At first hand, store bought soups may not look all that harmful. With all of your favorite vegetables inside, there’s no way this could be unhealthy right? WRONG! Canned soups contain a great amount of sodium. Now with sodium having no calories at all, you might ask “what’s the problem here?” Consuming high volumes of sodium will allow your body to retain water, resulting in weight gain. You will be bloated and this can be the reason as to why you’re not seeing those hard rock abs you’ve been working on.
Alternative: Using low sodium broth instead of cream, adding your favorite vegetables or legumes for fiber and natural herbs* to taste
#3 FRUIT JUICES/BOTTLED SMOOTHIES
So I’m sure most of us know how unhealthy sodas are for our bodies but fruit juices are not as spoken about. While it looks healthy, packaged fruit juices and smoothies contain loads of sugar and artificial sweeteners. Ever wondered what those “natural flavors” really were? Yeah, they were definitely not natural at all. With one cup of orange juice containing more than 15 grams of sugars, you can expect to see visual appearances of cellulite and extra belly fat.
Alternative: Have a blended smoothie that consist of high fiber vegetables such as spinach and kale with fruits low in sugar such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries
#4 WHITE RICE
Let me guess, you just love how it’s made at the Chinese restaurants. Well, think again when looking to purchase grains. White rice has been bleached and is chemically processed, being stripped of its nutrients. That’s right, white rice is low in fiber, not allowing the food in your body to move properly down your digestive system. This makes it difficult to flush out the toxins and waste in your body. With more calories and carbohydrates than brown rice per cup, you can expect weight gain and a bloating appearance once again.
Alternative: Brown Rice, Barley, Quinoa
#5 FLAVORED YOGURTS
So you’re eating this tasty cherry flavored yogurt with fruit on the bottom and you think it’s the perfect snack for your healthy lifestyle. WRONG! This also contains tons of sugars, artificial sweeteners and fillers along with those “natural flavors” that I mentioned earlier. With flavored yogurts being more of a sugary treat than a healthy snack, one can expect to either gain weight all around or show no weight loss progress whatsoever.
Alternative: Plain Greek Yogurt flavored with berries, banana, pure honey, natural peanut butter, and/or cinnamon
#6 FROZEN DINNERS
With the rate of people working long hours and having responsibilities, being busy may lead to eating frozen meals. These dinners can contain sodium between 700 and 2200 milligrams. With the recommended daily intake of 2400mg of sodium, one frozen meal would max out your daily intake. Surely this won’t be your first and last meal for the day. This will only result in you exceeding your max and therefore retaining more water, causing weight gain.
Alternative: Prepare foods that consist of carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. Cook sweet potatoes, chicken breasts, broccoli or asparagus in bulk, on a day that you are most available. This way, your food will be ready for the upcoming week and you are less likely to indulge in fatty processed foods.
Fuzionistas being mindful of what you are keeping in your kitchen will definitely be of help when making purchasing decisions at your local super market next time. Awareness is the beginning of change. Now, you are well on your way towards a successful weight loss journey.
Ingastram Handler: _whynotsmile_
