‘Diet’ Foods to Avoid for Better Weight Management

All you have to do is eat fewer calories than you burn. That’s how simple it is to lose weight.

Yet weight loss can be one of the most difficult things you ever do.

So what makes something that seems so simple actually be so difficult? In the case of weight loss, it has a lot to do with food manufacturers knowing how badly you want to be at a healthier weight, and then taking advantage of the fact.

It means there are lots of packaged foods out there that give you the impression they are good for weight loss, but they either don’t deliver on the impression, or they are otherwise so unhealthy that the trade-off for fewer calories isn’t worth it.

Here’s just a few examples:

1. Frozen Entrees– You would think the something called ‘Lean’ would be healthy and help you lose weight.But a recent check of the nutrition label on Lean Cuisine’s Glazed Chicken showed that a single package, which isn’t even an entire meal, contained almost half of the recommended daily intake of salt and over a teaspoon of sugar.
2. Fast Food Chicken Caesar Salads– Salad and chicken; what sounds healthier and better for your diet than that? Unfortunately, it only sounds good.McDonald’s Mighty Caesar Entrée with Crispy Chicken has over 66% of the daily recommended amount of salt, and almost 40% of the fat.

   While Mr. Sub’s Grilled Chicken Caesar does better, it still has 33% of the salt and almost a teaspoon of sugar.

3. Fruit Juice– It’s quite an accomplishment if you’ve managed to get rid of the soda pop in your life and replaced it with healthier fruit and vegetable juices. But, in the case of fruit juices, you might not be getting the weight loss benefit you expect.Tropicana’s Cranberry Cocktail, which is labeled as ‘100% Juice’, has 37g of sugar in a 250ml serving. That’s over 7 teaspoons and almost 50% more sugar than in the same serving size of Coca-Cola, which has 26.5g of sugar.

   When shopping for fruit juice, look for ‘no sugar added’ on the label. It still might be high in sugar, but it will at least be the sugar that was naturally in the juice.

These are just a few examples to give you an idea of how some ‘diet’ foods can actually derail your weight loss efforts. Your local Herbal One nutritional consultant can help you navigate the sometimes tricky world of diet products and make sure you stay on track for healthy, sustained weight loss.