If you want to maintain an ideal weight, you need to know which foods to avoid and which to eat. One of the best piece of advice you will get is to avoid calorie-dense foods. Knowing the number of calories alone will not get rid of weight, the goal is to eat a more healthy diet.
Eating low-calorie foods, for example, will leave you feeling hungry. With the lack of nutrients and protein, it will be hard to resist snacking, and snacking leads to weight gain, not the opposite. Here are some foods that you should avoid if you are trying to lose weight or trying not to put on more weight.
1. Potato Chips and French Fries
Every food that you fry is high in calories. French fries and potato chips are the main fried foods that people eat the most. Not only high in calories, but these foods are also high in salt and unhealthy fats. Deep-fried foods add fat and calories but despite this, french fries and potato chips do not help one stay full for long because of the lack of fiber and protein.
Consuming french fries and potato chips regularly contributes to weight gain. The best way to consume potatoes is boiled for the vegetable to keep its nutritional value.
When eating out, try to opt for a salad, a pickle, or fresh fruit instead of french fries to help you in your journey to weight loss.
2. Hamburgers
Hamburgers from fast food restaurants are usually high in fat and calories. People who eat hamburgers regularly are at higher risk of obesity compared to those who eat them only a few times during the year or not at all.
When cooked at home, lean, ground beef can be part of a healthy diet. A homemade burger once in a while is a good source of protein, iron, and other vitamins if not prepared with added fats and oils.
3. Sugary drinks
Most sodas, fruit juices, sports drinks, and other beverages are high in added sugars and don’t have much nutritional value. Even if they are the unhealthiest foods, people love to have these drinks regularly. Sugary drinks contribute to weight gain and have other bad effects on health when consumed in excess.
The brain does not consider sweetened beverages as solid food even if they contain huge amounts of calories due to the amount of added sugar. And because sugar-related calories make you crave more, you will not be eating less and thus get more calories than needed. If you want to lose weight, sugary drinks must be at the top of your list of foods to give up.
4. Candy
Who does not have a sweet tooth? Unless you have some underlying health problem, we all enjoy a little candy bar to fill up between two meals. Candy bars are packed with added sugar and oils along with refined flour, all packed in a small package. Each candy bar contains an average of 200 or more calories but is very low in nutrients. Just think about the amount of calories you put in your body every time you are getting a candy bar and add to that your daily food intake.
Unfortunately, candy bars are everywhere and accessible at arm's length, especially to kids. Usually placed at strategic locations in shops to tempt people to buy them impulsively. When you have a food craving, eat a piece of fruit or nuts instead, they are way healthier than candy bars.
5. White Bread
White bread is made with refined flour and usually contains a good amount of added sugar. Eating white bread will spike blood sugar levels as it is high on glycemic. Eating white bread daily has been linked to weight gain and obesity and is responsible for hard to get rid of fats like the lower belly. There are healthier alternatives that you can change to like cornbread, almond flour bread.
