Keto, paleo, Atkins…what’s the difference? Losing weight is challenging as it is but it can also be confusing when you’re trying to learn what to eat. But don’t let all those fancy diet terms discourage you. Fad diets come and go and do not work for everyone.
Instead, we recommend eating a wholesome diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and avoiding too many sugary, over-processed foods. But what are these foods that we should avoid? Below is a guide to the top 10 foods to never eat and stay away from when dieting and why.
10 Foods to Never Eat for Weight Loss
How many of these are you currently eating or drinking now?
1. Alcohol
Cocktails and beer are full of empty calories that don’t add anything to the body except sugar and toxin. They also impair judgment and make the drinker crave junk food.
If you want to lose weight, try to avoid alcohol completely or at least pick better options. Wine, vodka, and gin tend to have the least calories but there’s no guarantee that once you have one, you won’t have another and another… and before you know it, you’ll be ordering fries or end up at the pizzeria.
2. Juice
While juice sounds healthy because it comes from fruits, the reality is, many packaged juices are full of added sugar, artificial flavorings, and fructose.
Fructose is the natural sugar in fruits and it’s not bad in low quantities but when you drink a lot of it at once, such as in juice, your blood sugar levels will spike and mess up your body’s ability to recognize when you’re full.
You’re much better off eating real fruits.
3. Diet Soda
Diet sodas with artificial sweeteners might seem like a healthier alternative compared to regular soda but they should be sipped with caution. One study found participants who drank diet sodas regularly were twice as likely to gain weight than people who didn’t. The reason for this was because when people knew they were drinking something with fewer calories, they also drank more of it. As a result, the person will choose more artificially sweetened foods than nutritious food when given the choice.
4. “Low Fat” Foods
Similar to sugar-free foods, people who eat lots of low-fat foods also tend to overeat because they think they are eating healthier foods. In reality, however, they’re not choosing healthier foods, they’re simply eating more low-fat foods, which aren’t always the best choice either.
Also, since low-fat foods may not taste as good to some people, they’ll add sugar or other toppings to it to compensate for taste, making it even less healthy.
5. Plain Carbs
Have you ever noticed how when you’re hungry, you sometimes crave foods like bread, pasta, or rice? That’s because our bodies know carbs can be easily converted into sugar and give us quick energy.
This energy boost, however, will also make the person more hungry because carbs do not contain essential vitamins and minerals and will cause the person to reach out for more food. Carbs should always be eaten with something else to make it more nutritious and filling.
6. Instant Meals
Instant ramen, T.V dinners, canned soups, and frozen microwavable meals may be convenient but they are horrible for weight loss.
They contain loads of sodium to help preserve the food but too much sodium in our bodies will retain water and make us feel bloated. If you know you’re short on time, try to make your own meals ahead of time and freeze them instead.
7. Store Bought Salad Dressing
Fresh vegetables are great for weight loss but don’t make the mistake of drenching them in store-bought salad dressing! Most of the salad dressings you see in your grocery aisle contain high amounts of saturated fat, calories, sodium, and sugar.
Not only are they bad for weight loss but they are terrible for your heart. Too much saturated fat can clog arteries. Sometimes, these dressing also contain cheese, high-fructose corn syrup, and harmful food coloring.
8. High Fiber Snack Bars
Fiber keeps us full and helps us regulate digestion but when you have too much of it at once, it can lead to digestive problems and upset stomachs.
If you eat these high fiber snack bars as a meal replacement, you aren’t getting the other essential vitamins and minerals you need. The right way to eat fiber is to have small amounts of it throughout the day.
9. Flavored Coffee Drinks
Unfortunately, all the fancy and delicious fraps, mochas, and lattes at your local coffee shop are also high in fat and sugar.
A “Chai Tea Latte” from Starbucks, for example, contains 42 grams of sugar and a Caffe Vanilla Frappacino contains a whopping 60 grams of sugar and 14 grams of fat. Yikes! Better stick with regular coffee and milk and try to go easy on the sugar packets.
10. Energy Drinks
Maybe you’re thinking if you drink an energy drink, you’ll get a better workout but think again. While you do get a boost of energy, it doesn’t come without a cost.
Most energy drinks contain large amounts of caffeine and sugar which are bad for the heart and people with diabetic or prediabetic conditions. Energy drinks also mess up your sleeping cycle, which again, is bad for weight loss and metabolism.
Short Cuts Are Temporary
Now that you know which foods to stay away from when dieting, you can slowly try to cut back on them. At first, it might be hard especially if you eat them a lot but try your best to slowly cut them out. Start clearing out your cabinets of these foods so they won’t even be there to tempt you.
Losing weight is hard work and we would hate to see you slow down or impede your own progress by eating the wrong foods. Most of the foods we listed here are foods that people eat when they don’t have the time to cook or because they’re simply used to eating them.
This means you have to retrain your brain to feel the same way about healthier foods. If you would like more tips to lose weight or maintain weight loss, be sure to check out our website for more ideas!
