Sure, you consider yourself to be a healthy person, but do you really have healthy food in your kitchen? You’d be surprised how many fattening foods you’re still buying and eating. Keep reading to learn the 7 Worst Items inside your kitchen cabinets and refrigerator.
1. Breakfast Cereal
It’s delicious, it’s easy to prepare, and sometimes it even gives you enough energy to get to lunchtime. Unfortunately, breakfast cereal is often jam-packed with extra sugars that will do more to drag you down than build you up for your day. Prefer the flavorless kinds? Then be ready to be hungry soon, as they often don’t provide enough good calories to fill you up for long. Still hungry for a bowl of cereal? Consider this: they’re one of the most processed foods on the market.
2. Flavored Yogurt
Yes, flavored yogurt tastes much better than its plain peers, but going with a pre-flavored yogurt will instantly double the amount of sugar you consume. Fortunately, overcoming the flavorless thing can be done healthily. All you have to do is add chopped, fresh fruit of your choice and enjoy!
3. Frozen Entrees
It’s hard to believe how many people rely on frozen TV dinners on a regular basis. If you’re a frozen believer, it’s time to put your health before convenience. On top of frequently lacking all the vitamins and minerals you need for optimal health, frozen dinners often ooze with trans-fats and sodium. This means that while your palate may be pleased, your waist, arteries, and heart will not.
4. Diet Soda
One of the most dangerous items to ever be invented was the diet soda. By trimming certain things from the ingredients list, soda manufacturers guaranteed a giant market share, consisting largely of people who are attempting to be health conscious. Unfortunately, diet soda messes with your body’s ability to recognize and manage sugar properly. And while diet drinks may be calorie-free, those who drink them are at a much greater risk for weight gain than those who do not.
5. Popcorn
No, all popcorn is not to be avoided at all costs. But more than likely, a lot of the unpopped kernels in your kitchen should be ditched. Here’s a good way to determine if your popcorn is at war with your good health. Is it in a prepackaged bag that simply has to be tossed in the microwave to be cooked? Then stay away! Those prepackaged popcorn packages, whether lightly buttered, drowning in butter, or candied, offer no benefit. If you’re going to do popcorn, you’ll need to pop it the old-fashioned way, preferably via air popping.
6. “Skinny” Desserts
The word “skinny” is alluring. It’s what you want to achieve. And marketers know that. Unfortunately, marketers are not tied to some code of ethics that prevents them from using words that are not factual. What they are tied to is doing whatever it takes to sell more of their product. A great way to do that is to toss the word “skinny” on your favorite dessert item. You’ll buy it, thinking you’ve saved yourself valuable calories, but all you’ve probably done is buy a smaller portion of the same stuff, only there isn’t any natural sugar and flavor. It’s all artificial.
7. Granola Bars
Enjoyed by healthy hikers around the world, granola bars are the final unexpected bad choice in your kitchen. This one may have you scratching your head when you consider that your favorite kind is crammed with every fruit and nut you can imagine. But read the ingredient label and you’ll soon see that there is probably more sugar—make that high-fructose corn syrup—than goodness your body can use. Are you ready to ditch the unhealthy items from your kitchen in order to take your fitness to the next level? Would you like to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are going to lose weight in the coming months?
It’s my goal to see you achieve greatness. I believe that you’ve got what it takes.
It’s so simple. Call or email today to get started on a program that will improve your health and well being, and will get you amazing results.
Sarah Whitehead is the owner of Inline Fitness, Austin County’s Functional Aging, Fitness, & Nutrition Center located in Downtown Sealy, TX. You can reach her by email or phone at (713) 202-3099.
