1. Ice Cream
I’m sure a lot of people will be mad at me when they see their beloved ice cream as number one on the hit list of the foods that turn to fat, but here goes: Ice cream is Bad news with a capital B! Ice cream is loaded with fat, sugar and way more calories than you need; an evil fat-storing triad. Not to mention, the artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, emusifiers and stabilizers.
Now let’s talk about the fat. One cup (that’s a pretty small serving you know), contains approximately 350 calories and 20 grams of fat – mostly saturated. And that’s just regular premium vanilla ice cream. A cup of Chocolate Ice Cream has 660 calories and 36 grams of fat.
You can have your ice cream and eat it too, you just have to watch your portion sizes, read labels, choose your brand carefully, and go with a reduced fat or even a fat free version.
2. Fried Foods
All fried foods are really BAD NEWS! (with all capitals!) Fried foods are harmful in more ways than one. First of all, they are high in calories and mostly fat. Take a McDonald’s super size fries, for example. Polish off the whole batch and you’ve got yourself 610 calories and 29 grams of fat, 10 of them saturated. Large Burger King hash browns – 390 calories and 25 grams of fat, 15 of them saturated. KFC fried chicken breast (extra tasty crispy) – one serving alone sets you back 470 calories and 25 grams of fat.
Folks, stay the heck away from anything fried!
3. Donuts and pastries
Like ice cream, doughnuts are one of the all time no-no’s when body fat reduction and good health are your goals. Doughnuts contain that king of fat storing combinations: refined sugar and saturated fats.
A small plain or powdered donut contains about 170 calories and 10 grams of fat (by the way, that’s over 50% fat by calories). Your larger donuts contain anywhere from 200 to 420 calories and up to 22 grams of fat – much of it saturated.
The flour in donuts, of course is white flour – stripped of any nutritional value with no trace of the original whole grain left intact. And heaps and heaps of sugar are added on top to add insult to injury.
Donuts also contain chemical agents designed to keep them soft, mono and diglycerides
If you want a chemical cocktail loaded with fat, sugar and calories, donuts fit the bill nicely. By the way, did you know they deep-fry those things? And one more thing; did you know a Cinnabon has 670 calories and 34 grams of fat? Stay away from Cinnabons, pastries, éclairs and anything else in the “donut family.”
4. White sugar, Candy and sweets
One of the biggest misconceptions in weight loss is that carbohydrates make you fat. This is an incorrect statement. A correct statement would be; refined carbohydrates make you fat… and that means white sugar, candy and sweets. Of course, calories are the bottom line… it’s not necessarily sugar that makes you fat, it’s too many
calories that make you fat. But guess what? Refined carbs are incredibly calorie dense, making it extremely easy for you to eat too many calories.
Even if you could “get away with” eating sugar because your calories were below maintenance, you wouldn’t want to. You see, sugar is “empty calories.” No vitamins, no minerals, no fiber, no nothing… just calories.
Refined sugars wreak havoc with your blood sugar levels and they increase insulin levels, which can also increase fat storage and prevent stored fat from being released.
If you made only one change to your nutritional habits today… that is, to reduce your sugar intake… the difference in your health, energy levels and body composition would absolutely blow your mind. Get the sugar out!
5. Soda
It was 1767 when British Scientist Joseph Priestly discovered how to carbonate water. Quite simply, pressurized carbon dioxide gas is pumped through the liquid and that’s what creates the bubbly fizz so many people have come to love.
Since then, soft drinks have become a multi-billion dollar industry all around the world. In fact, Coca Cola is one of the most valuable and recognized brands in the world. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the total consumption of carbonated beverages in 2001 was 10.3 billion cases. The average person consumes... get a load of this… 55.7 gallons of the fizzy stuff every year. But what’s good for the cola companies definitely isn’t good for what ails you.
Soft drinks are mostly water, but the amount of sucrose and high fructose corn syrup used to sweeten regular soda is more than enough to do its share of damage.
6. Fruit “drinks” and other sugar sweetened beverages
Don’t drink your calories, especially if they’re full of sugar! And don’t be fooled by the labels that say, “Contains real fruit juice.” Do your homework and read the ingredients list. If you see sugar, sucrose, corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup on the label, STAY AWAY!
Too be continued...
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