One of the most difficult things to handle when you are trying to lose weight is snacking. Finding healthy snacks especially when you are on the road is usually very difficult.
And after reading the label of several food items that were advertised as being good healthy snacks I discovered that they are most definitely not healthy and they are loaded with sugar and have tons of calories. So instead of being a good healthy snack they should be advertised as a get fat quick snack.
So I had a nice chat with my medical doctor and we discussed a few different snacks that are being advertised as being healthy weight loss snacks and he gave me the yes or no on each of these supposedly healthy snacks.
So here is a lift of snacks that are being advertised as being good for weight loss and being healthy and I will give you either a yes or no. Yes it they are healthy and you know if they are not healthy.
- Kale chips homemade with garlic and oil and any other seasoning – yes.
- Popcorn that is air popped – yes.
- Raisins – no, because most are usually loaded with sugar.
- Banana chips – no, because most dried fruits are looted with sugar.
- Dried apple rings – no, again because it is a dried fruit and has tons of sugar in it.
- Raw nuts – yes, most nuts especially almonds and walnuts are good for you. But if you’re trying to lose weight do not eat more than ¼ cup of nuts a day.
- Carrots – yes. For some reason everyone thinks you are not supposed to eat carrots when you’re trying to lose weight. They do have a higher rating on the G.I. scale but you are much better eating a bunch of carrots then a candy bar.
- Vegetables – yes, especially leafy green vegetables.
- Trail mix – no.
- Rice cakes – Yes and no. Race cakes are kind of in between food just do not eat a whole bag of them in one day.
- Fat-free yogurt – no. You really should be eating full fat organic Greek yogurt. If something is fat-free the manufacturers will usually take out the good healthy fat and put in a ton of sugar to make it tasty. And all of this extra sugar will make you fat.
- Berries – yes. Either fresh or frozen. But if you’re trying to lose weight do not eat more than 2 pieces of fruit per day. For something like berries you want to consider a half cup a portion size.
- Chickpeas or hummus – no. For some reason most people think that hummus is a weight loss diet food but this is totally not true. You can have a little bit of hummus just not a large bowl of it every single day.
- Pitas - Yes and no. A pita is a starchy carbohydrate so considering this a carb is a must and should be counted into your nutrient intake for the day and counted towards your carbohydrates and calories.
- Pizza – is not a diet food. Having one slice of pizza once or twice a week is not going to destroy your figure but do not eat more than that. Otherwise you were just asking to be overweight.
You know there is always some type of super-duper weight loss program that is being advertised and promoted quite heavily. It seems like almost every other week there is a new diet program that is being pushed on us.
Sometimes everyone is pushing a low-fat diet and for years even the medical community pushed a low-fat diet. But now the research is actually proving that good healthy fats are necessary for us to be healthy and eating good healthy fads even helps us stay skinny.
So the fat-free or low-fat diet trend has been totally blown out of the water by current research. Although I do have to say I know lots of people that are stuck in the past and swear by low-fat. But then they wonder why they are overweight and sick all the time.
Then there were people who go crazy over the high protein diets. I love how they believe that you can eat as much meat chicken and cheese it as you want and be as thin as a stick.
Now personally I love protein I love beef I love chicken I love fish but I do not eat 6 lbs of beef a day. Personally for me throughout the day I may eat about 10 to 12 ounces of protein. Some days I made it more than that some days I made it less than that. It all depends on what I am doing that day.
One thing that I do know is that it’s very important to eat lots of vegetables especially your leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale and even lettuce. They are packed with lots of nutrients that give our body almost everything that we need to function properly, be healthy and physically fit.
So the more good healthy veggies eat the more healthy and more skinny will be. On the opposite if you are candy bars and ice cream and pop tarts all day long you’re going to be sick and obese.
Some people recommend that you should have 5 small meals or snacks each and every day. Again you should make sure that your vegetables are included in this especially your leafy green vegetables. It’s okay if you want to put them in a nutra-bullet or blender or something like that and make a nice vegetable smoothie. You can even put a piece of fruit in their but if you’re trying to lose weight you do not really want to eat a pound of fruit every day.
You should definitely stay away from all the foods that are man-made and processed and have lots of sugar in them. It is okay to eat bread but don’t eat enough of bread each and every day. You want to make sure that your bread that you’re eating is natural and not totally empty fattening calories.
Be careful with your juices also. Lots of people think that the juice they buy at the supermarket is totally healthy for them and that they are being healthy. But if you are buying your juices for most grocery stores etc. they are loaded with unhealthy fattening sugars. You may have well just be eating a candy bar or a piece of cake. Its much better to eat your fruit because you are going to be eating the fiber and this helps counterbalance all of the sugar that’s in the fruit itself.
So I really enjoyed this conversation with my medical weight loss Doctor. It’s a shame that so much of the information out there is totally wrong or misleading. I have found that lots of the stuff that is being promoted on TV and even online have a little bit of correct information in their and that little bit of correct information is being used to sell some type of nutritional supplement or simply both product.
So just make sure when you were eating and drinking that you are consuming good healthy quality foods and not just some product that is being made to just make the pockets that of the manufacturers because usually that type of product will usually make your belly fat.