Eating the right foods is the most important aspect of losing weight. Sometimes its a little tricky to determine which are the healthiest foods that will help with your weight loss! Nutrition experts have found out that there are foods that may appear to be healthy but they help gain weight. Of course, most people know that they should avoid food such as chips, sugary desserts, and any food that begins with fried.
Here are some food tips on healthy foods that help you gain weight and belly:
1. Multi-grain bread and wheat bread
Most of the people think that multi-grain and wheat breads are healthy. However, many of the brands that are produced are not better than white bread because they are made from refined grains. This means that you are not receiving complete nutritional benefits of the real whole grains.
One way to know when wheat bread comes from real whole grains is to read the label. When the first flour in the list of ingredients is refined, sometimes written as “bleached” and “unbleached enriched wheat flour,” it is not the “whole wheat” or the “whole grain” that you are expecting. It is basically white bread with brownish traces. If you are eating in a restaurant, take half of the bread off your sandwich. That will lessen your intake of refined flour (which help you gain weight).
2. Muffins and cakes
Advertisers make it appear that muffins are good for breakfast. Actually, muffins in most areas of the world, they are considered as decadent desserts. Most of the store bought muffins, including those with bran, are cooked oversized and at around 350 to 700 calories with as high as 40 grams of fat. They are usually packed with refined grains and sodium.
3. Ready-made salads/ Store Bought Salads
Not all salads are healthy. There are some salads that contain more calories than one Big Mac. These are salads with meats, bacon, croutons, cheese, and high calorie dressings. Avoid the ready-made salads such as Chef’s Salad which contains turkey, ham, cheese, eggs, and creamy dressing. Say no to Cobb Salads which contain eggs, chicken, blue cheese, and avocado. Avoid any salad with heavy cream-based dressings, crispy strips, and friend chicken.
Homemade salads can be the healthiest when you can choose the ingredients, even the meats. Consider one or a couple of turkey slices, or half grilled chicken breast, one teaspoon of crumbled cheese and add other ingredients that make your salad healthy.
4. Cranberry juice
Pure cranberry juice can be very sour just like lime or lemon juice, and therefore, undrinkable. Most types of cranberry juice that are found at the restaurants and groceries are actually “cranberry juice cocktails.” These types of cranberry juices are loaded with sugar and sweeteners.
Look for cranberry juice concentrate. It is very important you read the labels and it should say “100% cranberry juice.” Most times it can really be tart to sip but you can pour into seltzer or water. This is the best way to get the many health benefits from cranberries.
5. Some sushi rolls
Sushi rolls are basically made of fresh fish and some rice, but there are types of sushi rolls that are loaded with fats and calories. Usually these are spicy rolls with mayonnaise. The famous Philly rolls contain salty smoked salmon, some avocado, and cream cheese.
Another popular version of sushi rolls known as California sushi rolls are also considered as unhealthy because they are packed with avocado which is healthy but also contain unhealthy crab meat imitation.
But sushi rolls can be healthy if you choose those with a combination of rolls with fish and vegetables such as radish, carrots, cucumber, and scallions. Consider sushi rolls that use cucumber rather than rice and load it with miso soup or green salad.
5. Flavored Greek yogurt
Thick and creamy Greek yogurt is quite popular and very trendy now. It was initially introduced in USA in 1990 as protein snack but went through variations since then. Most of the versions now are packed with artificial junk and added sugar. Stay away with fruit flavored Greek yogurt because it is loaded with imitation flavors, sugars, and sweeteners and its protein content is less compared with the plain yogurt.
To sum up,
Many food and health websites provide tips and guides on healthy foods. Be wise in choosing foods that you eat. Know what they are made of. There are foods that are healthy yet they make you gain weight unconsciously.
Good eating habits are not the only factor to consider in sustaining a healthy weight. The kind of lifestyle defines your health and condition. Right food with the right amount and the right lifestyle makes a healthy life!
