Diet is one of the most important factors to be considered for weight loss, and you can very easily ruin your weight loss plan simply by eating the wrong foods, even if you’re not eating very much of them. So if you’re trying to lose weight and get in shape, here are 5 foods you should avoid like the plague:
1. Alcohol
Alcohol contains what you could refer to as empty calories which neither fill you up nor provide any nutrients. Alcohol could also impair your judgement, and a drunk or tipsy individual is much more likely to have a heavy meal when they shouldn’t.
Even worse, according to Dr. Caroline Cederquist, when alcohol is present in your body, it’s considered a toxin that your body wants to get rid of, and becomes your liver’s top priority. When your liver is in hard-core detox mode, it can’t burn fat as efficiently.
The bottom-line is: Skip alcohol altogether if you’re serious about losing weight.
2. Frosting
Inasmuch as frosting might taste great on cakes and cookies, it’s packed with a lot of problems. It’s one of the only items in the grocery store that still has trans fats, which are terrible for your health and weight. Trans fat raises bad cholesterol, lowers good cholesterol, and causes inflammation, which can lead to belly fat and diseases ranging from heart disease to diabetes. On top of that, frosting is loaded with sugar, and high-sugar diets contribute to premature wrinkles.
3. Orange juice
Oranges contains some amount of calories and also some amount of natural fiber. But when you drink most types of orange juice, you consume all the calories from those oranges without the natural fruit fibers, which simply helps promote weight gain.
Another thing is this: fructose, the natural fruit sugar that makes fruit and fruit juice taste sweet, tricks your body into gaining weight by inhibiting your body’s ability to recognize when it’s full, according to Melissa Rifkin, a registered dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. This makes you eat more, and increases your risk of developing insulin resistance and diabetes.
4. Sugary cereals
Sugary cereals usually have a high amount of inflammation-causing sugar and gluten content, so always go for low-sugar, gluten-free options.
5. Processed baked foods
Processed baked foods might be very convenient, and somewhat tasty, but if you’re trying to lose weight, then you best steer clear of them. These foods, such as pre-packaged doughnuts and cakes, will add tons of calories and loads of unwanted sugar to your diet, and to make matters worse, they’re not very easy to digest.
Initially, you might find it hard to resist the lure of these foods but it’s the smart thing to do. Though they might be delicious, the effects they could have on your body may cause a lot of havoc to your system and ruin your weight loss efforts.
