Want to Lose Weight? Don't Eat This!

If you're trying to lose weight, you know you need to be eating healthy. That means lots of [...]

If you're trying to lose weight, you know you need to be eating healthy. That means lots of veggies, low-calorie meals and no extra snacks throughout the day. But there are lots of foods that seem healthy that you should avoid. So what are they? We'll tell you!

1. Frozen meals: To keep ingredients fresh, manufacturers have to add a lot of sodium to the foods. Lots of sodium causes your body to retain water which causes bloating. Plus, while a frozen meal contains a normal meal's calorie count, it's often less food, which will cause your brain to feel unsatisfied even though you've gotten your prescribed number of cals. You'll want to keep eating even if you don't need it!

frozen meals

2. Artificially sweetened drinks: These are one of the worst foods for weight loss. You may be thinking, "But that diet soda has zero calories!". That may be true, but doesn't mean it's healthy. In fact, it's not even close! Read more about the dangers of diet soda here. Next time you need a sweet drink, try water with lemon or sparkling water.

3. Alcohol: You can scour the Internet all you like, but you have a very slim change of finding an expert who recommends drinking alcohol to lose weight. While you can chose a lower-calorie cocktail, it's best to avoid them when you want to shed some pounds. Why is it bad for weight loss? Drinking can lead you impaired judgment, which leads to wanting to overeat — something you probably remember from your college days. Alcohol also contains a lot of empty calories. Finally, when your body is filled with alcohol, your liver goes into high-detox mode trying to rid your body of it. This means it can't focus on burning fat like normal.

>> What cocktails should you explicitly avoid? Find out here!

4. Tropical fruits: Fruits like mangos and pineapple, while very tasty, are pretty high in natural sugars. Choosing fruit as a snack is a great idea, but pick an apple or orange when craving something sweet.

5. Canned soup: Like frozen meals, this convenient food is loaded with sodium. It's a great meal when you're low on time (or just feeling a little lazy), but make sure you pay close attention to the label! You don't want to eat an entire day's worth of sodium in a cup of soup.

6. Pastas: Unless you're carb-loading for a marathon, pastas aren't your best healthy eating choice. Carbs get turned into simple sugars in your body and won't contribute to the hard work you're putting in for weight loss. If you need a quick spaghetti night on a crazy weeknight, be sure you're using whole-wheat pasta so you're still getting nutrients.

For a healthy pasta alternative, try making zoodles! We love this Zoodle Pad Thai recipe and so will you.

7. Fancy coffee drinks: Bad news, ladies. Those Frappuccinos we love so much — HUGE calorie trap. If you need coffee, just get a normal coffee, which is usually about 10-20 calories with skim milk. A Peppermint Mocha can have up to 440 calories! Do you even want to know how many calories are in the beloved Pumpkin Spice Late? You can find out here.

8. Snack foods: Say goodbye to chips, popcorn, pretzels, and more. Even if you tell yourself "just a little bit", it's too much. Those salty snacks are filled with fat, calories and chemicals just waiting to expand your weight line. If you need a snack, chose one of these 52 tummy-flattening options!

9. Fruit juice: Even if it's a 100 percent juice option, you should skip it. While there a lot worse things out there, there's no point in drinking your calories when you can have water. Instead, eat an actual orange so you can get all the healthy nutrients that it can offer and not the toned-down version in a fruit juice.

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