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When it comes to the worst foods that make you fat, there is nothing worse than unhealthy food in disguise. These foods, for most dieters, are a big reason why they have a hard time losing weight. It’s not your fault.
These multi-million dollar food companies spend tons of money trying to convince you that their product will help you lose weight. The sad part is they don’t want you actually to lose the weight. This is, so you keep buying their products. It’s a vicious cycle.
Think about all those times when you ate an entire bag of chips or had too much cake at a party because it was there and it seemed like a good idea at the time for reasons only known by others with weight problems.
Believe it or not, you’re probably doing the same things to your body that are making it hard for you to reach your goals of a healthier lifestyle. You can do a lot to change those habits, but you need to be informed about what’s in those foods, as well as how they make you feel in order to make appropriate choices.
Worst Foods That Make You Fat
1. Diet Soft Drinks & Sports Drinks
Diet soft drinks and sports drinks are very unhealthy. They are full of artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and provide absolutely no good nutritional value. It’s easy to think those diet beverages are better because they don’t have any sugar or calories.
But they give you incredibly strong cravings for other high-calorie foods. Better choices would be to stick with black coffee, purified water, freshly brewed tea, or fresh-squeezed fruit and vegetable juice.
2. Fried Foods
Anything fried is bad news. Frying the food changes the molecular integrity altogether. It can take healthy fats and turn them into nightmares. But it’s hard to avoid while dining out since you don’t really know what’s in the food, or what will be added to it before you eat it.
On that note, fried foods are often full of unhealthy fats, like trans fat. For example, fried chicken contains high levels of AGEs, which cause inflammation. So basically, they’re not doing you any favors. Instead of frying your food, you should try baking your food. This is less harsh on the foods you cook and will hold on to more of the nutrients.
3. Low-Fat Salad Dressing
This trick started back when fat was the number one enemy. Even if the product is low fat, it will do nothing to help you lose weight. If anything, they will add unnecessary calories when all else is shed from your diet.
Most fat-free dressings are loaded with sugar and carbohydrates, which can be a serious problem if you’re a dieter who is counting calories. With preservatives and salt, most fat-free dressings are not low in calories. Many contain more than their original counterpart. Buying fat-free dressing will probably not help you lose weight.
A better option would be to mix your own salad dressing. Try mixing 2/3 Extra Virgin Olive Oil with 1/3 Vinegar. Not only is it delicious, but it is very healthy.
4. Breakfast Cereals
Cereal has become a staple in many people’s diets. When you walk down almost any breakfast aisle in a grocery store you will see shelves filled with different types of cereals varying from healthy to not-so-healthy. But most of the cereals people eat are full of sugar bombs that add calories to your diet without making you feel satisfied.
Sugar-coated cereal has been one of the worst foods that make you fat for nearly a century. Most breakfast cereals are very high in carbs. They try to hide the enormous amount of sugar that most of the popular cereals have.
Eating breakfast cereals in the morning will only give you very strong cravings for carbs and sugar later in the day. The best breakfast cereal is one with healthy whole grains, fiber, protein, and natural ingredients. You can also try a small bowl of oatmeal with a couple of eggs on the side.
5. Alcohol
One of the worst things to do while trying to lose weight is to drink alcohol. Even a couple of drinks will set you back much more than you bargained for. Alcohol is full of empty calories. These calories provide no energy. They enter your body and immediately turn into sugar.
Drinking alcohol can cause you to eat more because it alters your perception of food. Avoid drinking sugary cocktails and take sips of water in between each drink.
Alcohol causes dehydration which can have a bad effect on the body in a variety of different ways. When you’re drinking alcohol, the body needs extra fluid to process it. it’s also important to remember that when you’re dehydrated, as a result of drinking alcohol, you will lack a lot of energy, which means that you’ll be less active and your workouts are not likely going to be as good. Instead of alcohol, Well… Just don’t drink it!
6. White Bread
White Bread White bread is high in calories and nutrient-poor. It’s a refined carb meaning that it has been stripped of most of the essential nutrients like fiber and vitamins that are found in whole grains. If you want to stay away from this food group because it’s high in calories and can cause major spikes in your blood sugar, opt for 100% whole wheat bread instead which is the best bread to eat on a diet.
7. Frozen Dinners
Even the so-called healthy frozen dinners are full of additives and unhealthy fats. They are highly processed and have lost a lot of their nutritional value.
They are also known to have high amounts of sodium in them. Instead of having frozen dinners, try setting aside 10-15 minutes to whip something up. If you want to save it, you can always freeze your food yourself.
8. White Carbs
White carbs such as white rice and assorted pasta will no doubt make you fat. They enter your body and release carbs almost instantly. So it turns the carbs into sugars and raises your insulin levels very quickly.
Insulin is a storage hormone. It’s hard to burn fat when your body is in storage mode. It’s different than brown rice because brown rice doesn’t raise insulin levels as quickly.
9. Sugar-Free Snacks
They may be sugar-free, but they are full of simple carbs, which actually turn into sugar once you ingest them. They’re highly processed and are also full of artificial sweeteners and preservatives.
This is so the companies can save money by giving their products longer shelf life. Instead of eating sugar-free snacks, try having a small piece or two of fruit. It’s a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth.
10. Granola
The problem with granola is that they add a lot of extra sugar and artificial sweeteners. It’s almost impossible to find healthy granola with nothing added to it. Usually, there are things such as caramel or chocolate chips. This is no good when you’re looking to burn fat. If you want to lose weight, swap out your granola bar for a protein bar.
These are the absolute worst foods that make you fat. These are the tricky foods that may slip under your radar. Not anymore! Now you know exactly what to look for when you go shopping. Just make sure to avoid processed foods and artificial sweeteners like the plague.
