Weight Loss Tips
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 37.5%, or one third of the American adults are obese, an astounding number, which is a cause to worry.
It is not just about looks that you need to keep your body in shape. Gaining weight and becoming obese is a threat not just for your appearance, but it is also bad for your overall health. Hence, it is imperative that you keep your weight in check.
It’s certainly not healthy to put on extra pounds, in fact, as you gain weight you are more likely to have conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some forms of cancer, and stroke. But, losing weight is by no means an easy task, it is a struggle for some, to say the least. As it is, lifestyle changes are not all that easy to make.
But, if you are serious about shedding those extra pounds, and want to get into shape, then exercising on a regular basis and eating a healthy diet is a start worth considering. And, one thing that you should immediately do in case you are planning to lose weight is to start shopping smartly. Several packaged foods that you buy at your departmental store might have hidden calories. Labels outside don’t give you the exact picture. Do some research on your own, and speak to your weight loss consultant to find out what is good and bad for you in terms of diet.
What you eat has a direct bearing on your weight, the more your calorie intake, the more difficult it will be for you to control your weight, and keep your body in shape. Controlling foods that have high carb content, consuming sugary beverages, and living on processed foods are a dangerous combination, which can only lead to weight gain. Hence, you need to select foods that are not just good for your health, but a diet that also keeps your weight in check.
Here are seven categories of food, which you need to avoid in case you are on a diet, or even otherwise, if you want your body to remain in shape, you have to say no to these foods.
7 foods to avoid if you are planning to lose weight
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Say no to sugary beverages
– These are by far the unhealthiest foods that you can have, which are not just bad for your health, but it is also a leading cause when it comes to weight gain. People who have a tendency to put on weight cannot do worse for themselves if they have sugary beverages.
An ordinary 12 oz. soda can contains 38 grams of carbohydrate, which is not just bad for your health, it can also make you obese. Also, these are not solid foods, and hence they don’t make you feel full, you tend to eat other food items with them, which can lead to over eating. They also have very high calorific values, hence they increase your weight much faster.
Moreover, from Desserts, sweets, and soda to candies, cookies and cake, all of these have practically no nutritional value, and are considered carbohydrates of low quality. Further, these beverages have high content of fructose, and its greater consumption increases your belly fat.
Therefore, if you are planning to lose weight, you should stay away from these sugary beverages at all cost.
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Keep fruit juices at arm’s length
– Fruit juice is not for you if you are planning to lose weight. You should never take it as a replacement for the whole fruits.
While, whole fruits are good for you if you are on a diet, fruit juices are in equal measure bad for your health, and weight loss program. Fruit juices are processed food, which contain a lot of sugar and it can only increase your weight instead of helping you in your weight loss regimen. Fruit juices are considered to be a bit better than sodas, but certainly not good enough if you have to lose weight.
Also, fruit juices do not have fiber content like whole fruits, hence you don’t feel full even after having a glass or two of these juices. Again, you end up eating more food, over and above these juices, which increases your weight.
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Also keep yourself away from fried foods
– Everyone loves to have fried food, be it potato chips, French fries or fried chicken. But, you cannot lose weight if you don’t altogether stop having fried stuffs. All these fried items contain too much of oil, and hence calories, which is not good for people who are on a diet. Potato chips and French fries have very high calorie content, and it increases your weight more than most other foods. You can have whole potatoes instead because it makes you feel full. Also, you tend to eat fried stuff like potato chips more than anything else because it is easy to consume. Hence, if you want to keep your weight in check, you have to avoid these fried foods at all cost.
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Control your carbohydrate intake, especially those that contain only carbs
– If you only eat dry cereal, rice cakes, or bread, then your body changes these carbohydrates to sugar, which is directly absorbed in to your blood. In order to absorb the sugar, your body has to produce extra insulin, which temporarily reduces your blood sugar levels making you feel hungry and weak. To get instant energy you then tend to eat foods that have high sugar content, but have no, or very low nutritional value. This again would increase your weight and hamper your efforts in losing weight. It is therefore necessary to eat snacks that have a combination of proteins, carbohydrates and fat. This takes longer to digest, and makes you feel full for a long time, helping you to avoid eating more than what you need during the weight loss program.
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Don’t indulge in pizzas
– An extremely popular fast food, you should not have pizzas if you have plans to lose weight. In fact you need to strictly keep away from food like pizzas in case you have to lose weight. Pizzas are not just high in calories, it also contain processed meat and unhealthy refined flour, which is not just bad for your health, but is also not helpful for your weight loss program. Also, the sauce you get with pizzas contain lots of sugar, which can only increase your weight and deteriorate your health. Hence, avoid eating pizzas if you seriously want to lose weight.
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Be careful while consuming alcohol, mainly beer
– Calorie content in alcohol is higher than carbohydrates and proteins, approximately 7 calories/ gram. Though it is conclusively not proven that alcohol causes weight gain, but it has been noted that drinking it in excess leads to weight gain. Drinking alcohol in moderate quantity helps you in your weight loss endeavors, but the problem with alcohol is that very few people are able to drink it within limits. Moreover, the type of alcohol you drink also makes a difference. If you are fond of beer, then it is an issue, because it increases your weight substantially. On the other hand, wine is said to act differently than beer, it helps you in your weight loss efforts. So, if it is a beer that you like, then you need to stop drinking it because it will increase your weight.
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Say no to foods and drinks that contain added sugar
– if you want to lose weight, then stop taking foods and drinks that contain added sugar. One of the worst type of dietary habits, consuming added sugar in excess not just spoils your weight loss plan, it is also known to cause some of the most serious ailments of today’s times. All it contains is empty calories, which are not even filling. Sweetened breakfast cereals, flavored yogurt, and granola bars are some of the foods that might contain huge quantities of added sugar. Beware of fat free and/ or low fat foods, as they are manufactured with lots of added sugar to compensate for the flavor, which is lost during the process of fat removal.
These are some of the main foods, drinks, and beverages that you need to avoid in case you want to lose weight. But, this is by no means an exhaustive list of items, which you should avoid for your weight loss plan. In order to know all about the foods that you should avoid during your weight loss program, contact Solutions Weight Loss today.