“Health Foods” Preventing Weight Loss.
This is a list of “healthy foods” that people commonly consume when trying to change their diet. The goal of this article is not to strike any foods as “bad” but instead to make note of foods that can mislead people in their weight loss journey. These are generally healthy foods but their portions can easily get out of control. Everything is great in moderation, we hope this gives you some insight into just some of those foods.
1. Avocado: Now that the “avocado toast” trend has cemented itself into society, social media is filled with beautiful posts involving avocado. Yes, Avocado is full of healthy fats and can be utilized in a fat loss diet, BUT avocados are also extremely calorie dense and those calories can add up if not properly monitored. A whole avocado has roughly 200-300 calories and 20-25 grams of fat. We are not saying not to eat avocados but eating 2-3 avocados per day can be one thing keeping you in a calorie surplus in attempts to “eat healthy”.
2. Smoothies: In a similar category, smoothies can be a great low calorie snack. If you know exactly what goes into each smoothie, you can pack in lots of micronutrients and macronutrients while keeping calories low. Smoothies are a tasty way to increase fiber intake through fruits and vegetables, which helps keep you feeling full for longer. The thing a lot of people struggle with are the pre-packaged “healthy smoothies”. Most of these popular brands are packed with added sugars and surprisingly high in calories. The popular smoothie brand Naked has a “green machine” smoothie, It looks very healthy, but it actually has 270 calories, 63g of carbs, and 53g of sugars. Things like these can be fit into your daily diet but keep in mind that some of these smoothies are less nutritious than a can of Coke.
3. Cooking Oils: Oils for cooking can get out of control easily. Olive oil has roughly 120 calories and 14g of fat per 1 TABLESPOON. We all need some cooking oil to keep things from sticking to our pans and cookware but we know from experience that that 1 tablespoon can quickly turn into 3,4,5 without noticing. Cooking spray comes in many forms nowadays such as, olive and avocado oils. These are a great way to keep your pans clean but also a simple way to keep those serving sizes under control. It should be noted that the 0 calorie cooking spray is for a small spray so be careful using lots and lots of spray because those little sprays can start adding up to those tablespoon sizes!
4. Peanut Butter: We are peanut butter lovers here at AdaptFitt.com and that is tough when trying to lose weight. Peanut butter, similar to avocado, is very calorie dense and is very heavy. Serving sizes are often measured in weight. You can measure this with any food scale and is very beneficial to weight loss. A serving of peanut butter is 32g or 2 tablespoons. Most people cannot estimate the serving of peanut butter they are having. While it is a good way to get fats and some protein into your oatmeal or greek yogurt, it should be measured when possible and not over consumed.
5. Rice: This is a hugely overrated “healthy food”! Yes, it is a clean, easily digestible carbohydrate. It is an affordable way to prep meals for your week but to us it is extremely overrated. Rice serving sizes are often small and the association with being “healthy” can often lead people to eat much more rice than recommended. For instance, potatoes are often associated with being worse for us than rice but in fact potatoes are also a nice clean source of carbs and is commonly noted as the most satiating food. Satiating foods, like potatoes, are an easy replacement for rice to help you feel full while in a calorie deficit. Potatoes also have many different forms , allowing you to have variety in you diet.
All of these foods can be fit into your calorie deficit but can also be easily over consumed. It is our goal to help people more easily recognize things like serving sizes and portion control. The only way to guarantee weight loss is to maintain a calorie deficit. Calories in versus calories out. It’s perfectly fine to consume all of these foods, just be mindful of how much you’re truly consuming at a time! Keep chasing those goals!