Not shedding a pound more when you expected to? Maybe the answer lies in the food you're eating. Or rather, in the food you think you're healthy but really isn't.
Snackers are likely to be the ones most affected by the "healthy food" fallacy, as some nibbles thought to be helpful for weight loss efforts may be likely to keep you from achieving your goals. Here are the 5 food that you should not touch in order to shed a couple of pounds off your current weight.
Pretzels
Even when they're labeled "gluten-free," avoid these baked goods like the plague it is high on carbohydrates and fat.
"Pretzels are little more than flour and salt," Time said. "Satisfy your salty, crunchy craving with a big bowl of air-popped popcorn instead."Three cups of the naturally gluten-free snack clock in at only 90 calories and count as a serving of waist-whittling whole grains.
Fruit Smoothies
Do you give yourself a pat on the back when you manage to pick fruit smoothies over soda? Perhaps you shouldn't, as these things, especially the store-bought variety, "are blended with high-calorie dairy bases and cheap sweeteners that make them more dessert-like than diet-friendly."
"A small Baskin Robbins Mango Banana Smoothie packs 440 calories, nearly a third of what the average woman on a 1500-calorie weight loss diet needs in an entire day," Time noted, adding that it also packs 96 grams of sugar. That's 71 grams more than the recommended daily amount of added sugars recommended by the American Heart Association. You're better off eating a real fruit instead. Or Greek yogurt topped with slices of low-GI fruit.
Roasted Almonds
Surprised this is on the list? Although almonds are considered healthy choices, those sold in stores typically have been tossed with oil or coated with salt and other preservatives. You're better off eating the raw version.
Granola
"With rolled oats, nuts, and dried fruits, granola seems so healthy," Shape said. "What is misleading though is how much sugar and extra calories are lurking in granola."
In fact, a bowl of granola, even without milk, has 500 calories - that's a meal's worth of load.
Rice Cakes
In another piece, Shape named this treat as one of the top foods a nutritionist would never eat.
"Rice cakes can have a glycemic index rating as high as 91 (pure glucose has a rating of 100), making it the kind of carbohydrate that will send your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride," the fitness news source explained. "This is bad for weight loss and for your health."
Have you eaten any of these treats lately? Tell us of your weight loss journey so far!
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