1. Salads. I love salad. I know, that's unusual. How often has it happened that you show up at a restaurant and look over the menu and all you see are high-calorie-value-options. But then you see "salad," and you think, "Ah ha! I can eat healthfully now!" The problem with salads are two-fold: Firstly, the toppings. Cheese. Almonds. Dried fruit. Croutons. Bacon Bits. All of these items add up significantly! The second problem: Dressings. Most are laden with oils, salt, and fat. In moderation, that's not a problem, but if you're like me, you want to douse your greens with some flavor. Your best option if you're going to pick a salad: Mix up some homemade dressing and carry it with you. My homemade dressing is: equal parts red wine vinegar and lemon juice. Add a little water, some salt, and some dill. (Add a dash of olive oil if you want, but I typically don't.) On its own, this dressing has ZERO calories. It's worth putting in your purse or keeping in the fridge. Just in case.
2. Sushi. I have several issues with sushi. For starters, they are filled predominantly with white rice. White rice (CARB) doesn't do a thing for you other than raise your glucose levels and then make you crash about an hour after eating it. It's bland, meaningless filler, devoid of nutrition and vitamins that you can find in other foods. Secondly, let's talk about the sodium. In a typical serving of Sushi (9.5 oz) there is about 1182 mg of sodium! That's a whole heck of a lot! You can typically find the salt in the seaweed wrap, in the rice, and in any sauces. And let's talk about the salt. In Wegman's Hoisin Peanut sauce for sushi, there's a ton of sodium (620 mg) and a ton of sugar (12g). There's nothing healthy in it. So, sushi, I say shame on you! You are not a health food! If you are stuck with Sushi or Sashimi at a party, pick that bad boy apart and just eat the fish or veggie in the middle. THAT part is good. The rest is naughty!
3. Dried Fruit. While I admit that dried fruit is healthy (it's fruit, after all), they pack more calories than if you got them served fresh. For instance, 10 rings of dried apple is 156 calories; a regular apple is less than 100 calories. Half a cup of raisins is 219 calories; half a cup of regular grapes is 52 calories. If you LOVE your dried fruit and must indulge, do so in moderation!
4. Granola. Holy calorie nightmare, batman! One cup of granola has about 597 calories! Plus, many types of granola are high in saturated fats. I don't know why granola is associated with a skinny, hippie lifestyle, but if you eat this stuff regularly, you're going to be anything but skinny.
5. Wraps. Many people opt for wraps instead of regular bread when enjoying a sandwich. The problem with wraps is that there's more surface area to them than regular bread, so you can pile more food in the middle. Case in point: A Honey Baked Ham Turkey Bacon Ranch Wrap has 705 calories. Red Robin's Caesar Chicken Wrap has 1244 calories. A Ruby Tuesday Turkey Burger Wrap has 658 calories. None of those are diet-friendly choices. If you really feel like indulging in a sandwich, why not wrap the outside with a big hunk of lettuce?
6. Veggie burgers. These bad boys are becoming pretty much standard in most restaurants and offer a "healthy" alternative, especially for vegetarians. One good reason to choose a veggie burger is because it cuts out saturated fats. Also, the portion sizes of a veggie burger is typically much less (2.5 ounces, as compared to 5.0 ounces for a burger). They are also higher in protein. These all seem like great choices, right? The problem is when you start slapping on the extras. Have you ever seen just a plain veggie burger, on a bun? Nope. They're loaded with cheeses, sauces, veggie-chili, ketchup, etc. A quick perusal of calorie counts shows an average veggie burger cashes in at 650 calories! At that nutritional price tag, you're better off choosing something else.
7. Diet, microwaved meals. While many of these frozen meals offer yummy variety, quick cooking, and low-calories, the amount of salt they put in the dishes in order to preserve them on your grocery store shelf is deadly. Most meals clock in around 600 mg (or more) of salt in each meal! Holy smokes! You'll be so bloated it'll be a shock if you can squeeze your butt out of the cafeteria chair after that. Steer clear, my friends.
8. Bran Muffins. I checked out a few bran muffin recipes, and most of them are extraordinarily high in cholesterol and carbs. That being said, they are an okay (not good, but okay) source of fiber and protein, and don't always have high amounts of calories and fat. Not all bran muffins are created equal, so if you must have one of these, read the labels carefully. Personally, I wouldn't touch these with a ten foot pole.
9. Rice cakes. Remember back in the 1980s when everyone was chowing down on rice cakes as the latest diet craze? I don't know about you, but rice cakes are inexorably linked in my mind to weight loss and waifish figures delicately grazing on them. But are they really that healthy? Well, they are low in calories (about 35 calories per cake) and can be filling. The downside is that they offer pretty much zilch in terms of nutrition. They have very few vitamins, devoid of fiber, high in carbs, and a high glycemic index. For the same caloric price tag you can wolf down a big cucumber, and I guarantee it'll keep you feeling fuller for longer.
10. Half and Half. Most people enjoy their coffee in the morning, and there's a lot of people out there that put enough sugar and cream in the coffee to kill a small village. But not you, health-conscious person! You use half and half! But is it really as good as you think? For a little container of half and half, it's 20 calories. "What's wrong with that?" you ask. But think about it...8 oz of half and half is 160 calories, whereas 8 oz of skim milk is only 80 calories. If you're watching calories, this is a significant difference. My advice? Replace that half and half with a dash of skim milk.
11. Bottled Tea. Tea isn't necessarily that bad for you. Lipton's Unsweatened Tea has 0 calories, after all. But if you grab a SoBe Green Tea found in so many convenience stores, you're chugging down 240 calories and a whopping 61 grams of sugar. At that calorie price-tag, you might as well chug a Red Bull.
12. Juice. Most of us are aware that juice is pretty high in sugar. Many companies add a ton of extra sugar as well. For instance, a regular 8 oz cup of Tropicana Orange Juice has 108 calories and 21g sugar, whereas 8oz of SunnyD has 128 calories and 30 g sugar. But let's take a look at the carbs in these drinks, too: 25g and 31g, respectively! Between the sugar and carbs, you're better off just saying no. If you're going to drink some juice, get a fresh piece of fruit and juice it yourself. You'll cut out a lot of added sugar by going the natural route.
Christine lives in upstate New York and works as a Communication Specialist/Technical Writer for a technical university. Christine has a Masters of Science degree in Technical Communication. In her free time, she writes and maintains her website, Phoenix Revolution. More than just a blog, Phoenix Revolution provides a safe haven for women and men all over the world to come together to discuss real-life weight loss strategies. For ten years Christine has volunteered as a member, moderator, or administrator of several eating disorder forums. Visit her website at: http://www.phoenixrevolution.net and receive updates on Facebook at: http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/phoenix_revolution/
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