Monday 12 October 2009

5 Dietary Disasters That Are Keeping You Fat

Have you considered what you have been eating lately? When you’re determined to downsize or lose weight, it’s easy to get caught up in calorie counting, out of control cravings, and post cave-in guilt that you can’t step back and pinpoint why you’re still not ready for those hot and sexy dresses.

Studies proved that when you’re weight-loss struggle has been going around in circles; a food diary is like a road map. It helps you discover areas for development, avert from unhealthy lifestyle, and keep tracking your food choices until you have reached a healthy destination.

So before you hit the market and shop for your groceries, here are the 5 Dietary Disasters that should not be on your cart.

Dietary Disaster #1 – Digesting Refined Carbs. We all know what carbohydrates can do for our body right and in fact, it’s necessary for our everyday living. Carbohydrates can only become a disaster once you have eaten the processed, refined kind rather than going all natural.

When we say processed, refined carbohydrates, these are the white rice, white breads and pastas, cakes, pastries, confectionary and plain old sugar, and among others. This kind of foodstuff doesn’t have “real nutrition” and is a huge resource of sugar which is bad for our health.

The best carbohydrates or carbs that we could digest are fruits and vegetables, or anything that is still in their natural form. Not only you would be able to consume less calories but also you re guaranteed that you’ll be getting enormous amounts of vitamins, mineral and phytonutrients which are essential on weight loss.


Dietary Disaster #2- Consuming Processed Foods. This is actually the same with dietary disaster #1.

When we say about processed foods, this are basically the canned goods, packaged high calorie snack foods, high-fat convenience foods, frozen fish sticks and dinners, packaged cakes and cookies, packaged ready-to-eat noodles, sugary breakfast cereals and processed meats.

Though processed foods are very convenient and popular, it contains tons of sodium, calories and trans fats which are bad for our wellbeing. Again, nothing could replace an all natural foodstuff but if you are pressed of time and got lots of errands to accomplish, perhaps a once-in-awhile indulgence will not hurt as long as you are cautious and paying attention to the serving size as well.


Dietary Disaster #3- Consuming Too Much Caffeine. Let’s face it, coffee, soda, and tea are addictive. If you can identify someone who can’t start his day without sipping his morning cup of tea or coffee and you asked them to give it up, perhaps, you have to make a different turn now.

For those who are obsessed with too much caffeine, it’s like a drug or remedy for these users. It is a powerful stuff that can control your emotions, feelings, reactions, and physical performance. The side effects of drinking too much caffeine can make your “cortisol” levels high, therefore, you’ll have a hard time in losing fat over time.

So before it’s too late, avoid this dietary disaster from your food intake. As a replacement for coffee, tea, and soda, shift on drinking herbal and fruit teas or your good old water and you’ll feel more refreshed and in good physical shape.


Dietary Disaster #4-Cutting back on dietary fat. Let’s make this clear. Fat is not bad for our bodies. To be frank, we need fat to speed up our metabolism. Dietary fat becomes a disaster if we are consuming the bad fats instead of the good fats.

So what are the bad fats? The bad fats are those trans-fats in vegetable oils and margarine. Similarly, the good fats are those that we can find on nuts, seeds, and legumes. These foodstuffs are not only nutritious but can also help you in losing those fats too. You can also get good fats from coconut oil and omega 3 fish oils which are considered as miracle food as well.

Dietary Disaster #5-Cutting Calories. When people noticed that they are gaining weight and fat, the first thing that comes in their mind is to start a diet program of starvation where important meals of the day are even sacrificed and the ending is malnutrition. Hence, this should not be the scene.

If you are eating meals that are rich in vitamins and minerals, then you don’t need to count your calorie ingestion. Human body is more concerned with nutrients than calories. When your diet becomes low in nutrition, then your body will simply send signals to your brain to eat more.

It’s in your hands now on how to avoid the five dietary disasters and focus more on organic, all natural foodstuffs that are high in nutrition, vitamins, and minerals.

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