5 Foods I Must NEVER EAT to Lose Weight!

Seems I can’t open my browser without seeing an ad advising of the 5 foods to avoid for successful weight loss secret.

Bananas don't cause bely fat! Too many calories from any source, cause belly fat! If all it took to lose belly fat was to avoid bananas, I'd have the sickest 6-pack of anybody alive!

Bananas don’t cause belly fat! Too many calories from any source, cause belly fat! If all it took to lose belly fat was to avoid bananas, I’d have the most enviable 6-pack of anybody alive!

When I get curious and click on the links to discover the secret, I never am taken to a simple list of 5 foods to avoid. Instead I find a whole lot of crap about some diet plan and a discount offer to get it. Funny thing about the discount offer, it usually costs a lot of money!Screen Shot 2014-05-19 at 7.26.50 AM

Well, I don’t have to spend a cent to know what 5 foods I need to avoid for successful weight control. They’re not what you think.

One actually happens to be a vintage Weight Watchers recipe! I must never eat Mackerelly because it’s so absolutely distasteful to me I think I’d need to eat thousands of calories to erase the revolting taste in my mouth left from a single bite!

The other 4 are:

  • rice cakes (might as well eat styrofoam)
  • kale chips (I’ve heard people say they love these things. I’ve yet to taste any kale chips worth spending even 2 calories on!)
  • sugarfree candy (just doesn’t taste right or feel right. I’m eating candy and it’s not supposed to be a “health food!” It’s a treat and I want the full treat experience!)
  • diet meal replacement shakes! (I do not enjoy “drinking” my meals!)

The list of foods to avoid are highly personal. Yours won’t be the same as mine because you should avoid foods you hate! Although your computer is going to tell you that certain foods make you fat and/or cause belly fat, that’s not true. That’s a claim based on its value as a marketing tool, not its worth as a viable weight loss tool.

Gaining weight and belly fat are a matter of too many calories and genetics. You will gain weight if you eat more calories than your body needs. Although your body can process calories coming from fats and simple carbs more readily than protein and complex carbs calories, the difference is too small to be perceptible.

Foods with added fats and sugars are higher in calories and will displace calories in your food plan that provide better nutrition. That is a valid reason for limiting, but not eliminating, them.

Where and how your body fat is stored isn’t a matter of the source of excess calories, but rather determined by your genes. If you are genetically predisposed to carry fat in your belly, that’s where it goes. If your genes dictate excess weight goes to hips and thighs, that’s where it will go. You can’t reroute your fat by eating this or avoiding that.

So, if you love bananas, don’t be afraid they’ll cause belly fat! If you want to lose weight and you love bananas, eat them! Losing weight isn’t, unfortunately, as easy as “don’t eat bananas!”

If you want to lose weight don’t eat what you don’t like – ever!!!! 

No food is any better for weight loss than another. Successful weight loss is simply a matter of eating what tastes good to you, creating a slight calorie deficit, and for health’s sake ensuring you’re eating an overall nutritious diet. That can be done by eating plenty of vegetables and fruit,  and moderate amounts of whole grains, lean protein, low-fat or fat-free dairy and healthy oils. Include some small servings of fatty, sugary treats (if you enjoy those foods) occasionally!

Don’t waste your time worrying about what not to eat! Spend your time (and calories – remember you have to monitor and limit them!) eating what you enjoy in balance and moderation!

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.