A good mixture of exercise, eating healthy and taking weight loss supplements is generally what people need to lose weight, but you can make a really good start simply by cutting back on some of the following foods.
Refined sugar
Refined sugar is one of the biggest weight gain culprits, and eliminating it from your diet will have you seeing great results right away. This processed, crystallised sugar contains nothing but “empty calories”, meaning it contributes to weight gain but doesn’t contain any vitamins or minerals.
Foods high in refined sugar present a significant weight loss roadblock and include cakes, pastries, biscuits, pudding, sweet meats, candy, milk chocolate, soda, artificial juices, enriched cereals and breads. Essentially, women and men shouldn’t consume more than six and nine tsp. of sugar a day, respectively.
Saturated or trans fats
With weight loss in mind, many people skip eating fat in general. This is a big mistake because there are good fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, which actually help to balance your metabolism. The bad fats, such as saturated and trans, are the ones you must look out for.
These fats contribute to excess weight gain and also increase your risk of heart disease, and are contained in food such as red meat, eggs, dairy extracts, margarine, cakes, pies, frostings, as well as fried foods like French fries, fried chicken, and so forth. Also avoid foods that contain hydrogenated vegetable oils, as these are high in trans fats as well.
If you want to lose weight and be successful, then you need to limit your intake of fat in addition to burning it off through exercise and taking fat burning supplements.
Sodium-rich foods
A high proportion of your “flabbiness” is actually caused by water that has been retained in order to dilute the excess sodium in your body. People who eat a lot of salty foods will bloat up quickly because of this process, causing them to become fat.
If you want to lose weight quickly, start cutting out foods that are high in sodium, such as frozen pizzas, potato and corn chips, salted crackers, canned soups and sauces, frozen dinners, hot dogs, tomato sauce, salted nuts, chips -- the list goes on. To start losing weight, it’s recommended that you limit your consumption to 2,300 mg of sodium per day, and start drinking plenty of water.
Refined white flour
There is a lot of attention focused on refined white flour these days as more and more people are joining the gluten-free diet to lose stubborn belly fat. White flour, which is made by bleaching and processing grains, is completely devoid of essential vitamins and minerals that are needed for digesting food properly, and is calorie intensive.
To avoid white flour, don’t eat food such as white bread, pizza, buns, scones, enriched cereals, white rice and so forth. Keep in mind, however, that whole grain flour is generally okay, such as whole cornmeal, brown rice, wild rice, rye, oatmeal, spelt, barley and bulgur.
There are so many foods to avoid if you want to lose weight, but luckily there are even more foods that are great to eat in their place. In your quest to lose weight, eat plenty of natural foods such as vegetables and fruits to stave off hunger and avoid turning to processed foods. Additionally, try some super greens to make sure you get all the vitamins you need to stay fit and healthy.
