You Think That's Healthy?

There is nothing worse than thinking you are eating healthy when you’re really not. That’s hard work wasted. Most people need to revamp their eating habits when they try to cut calories and get in shape and the quest for “healthy choices” becomes nearly all-consuming. The advertising and food myths out there make it easy to choose foods that have a reputation for being healthy but really aren’t.

You're smart, so you already know that drinking fruit juices with all the processed crap in them isn't healthy. But what about other so-called "healthy" foods? Here are Ten Food to Avoid and Why:

1) Sushi

Fish, rice, and seaweed sounds healthy, light, and low calorie. And in fact, sushi from exceptional Japanese restaurants is just that. It’s also very expensive. Most of us consume grocery store or “to go” quality sushi that ends up being high in carbs, low in protein, and free of vegetables. All that non-nutrition will leave you hungry and craving more sugar.

Think about it. Sushi rice is short-grain white rice dressed with sugar and rice vinegar, high in carbs and high in sugar. Most “rolls” are 60-75% rice, equivalent to two slices of bread. And the amount of fish in a roll is pretty slim. If you are trying for a deck of cards sized serving, you’ll need to swallow a whole lot of sushi rolls.

To up the quality of your sushi supper, consider requesting brown rice, avoid too much soy sauce to keep your sodium down, and be wary of California Rolls that contain imitation crab, which is a processed food.

2) Trail Mix

A handful of trail mix seems like the ultimate power snack, but nearly 700 calories are lurking in a cup, so tread softly. It’s lightweight, tasty, and portable, but if weight loss is your goal, trail mix should not be your go-to snack.

These days packaged varieties are oiled up to keep them from sticking and packed with delicious diet pitfalls like chocolate and fried banana chips.

If you are a trail mix fan and you can limit yourself to a single serving, consider making your own using raw, low, or no salt almonds, walnuts, or peanuts and sugar-free naturally dried raisins, apricots, and cranberries. You can even add pumpkin or sunflower seeds and dried coconut. Always keep in mind that trail mix is calorie-dense, so when you eat it, keep your servings snack-sized!

3) Spinach Wraps, Pasta, etc.

Just because it’s green doesn’t mean it’s healthy. The allure of green pasta and wraps is undeniable. I can eat a ton of these, right? I mean they’re made of spinach! But the truth is that pasta and wraps are still noodles and flour tortillas, high in carbs and not necessarily high in nutrition.

Most spinach wraps and pasta are made from white flour, and the green color comes mostly from food coloring.  Spinach is usually way down on the ingredient list. These foods prey on our belief that green  = vegetables, so green = good. Fact is, green is a color. It’s what’s in your green that counts!

4) Veggie Patties

How many times have you been proud of yourself for subbing a veggie patty for a burger? Consider this; most veggie burgers are highly processed food products made mostly of soy. They’re usually packed with salt too. Check the package for chemicals, additives, GMOs, and unhealthy oils.

In most cases, a big portobello mushroom or a homemade veggie burger made of grains and beans is a much better meat substitute.

5) Couscous

This quick-cooking carb from exotic lands can lure you into thinking it’s healthy, but the truth is that couscous is a tiny pasta with nearly zero nutritional value. It’s just refined wheat, so you might as well eat white pasta.

It is possible to find whole wheat couscous but your better option is to choose quinoa, bulgur, or cracked wheat when you want a fine-textured grain to include in your meal.

6) Commercial Granola

The word “granola” conjures images of healthy outdoorsy folks eating breakfast cereal on a mountain. What a bummer that granola is one of the least healthy ways you can start your day! It tends to be low in fiber and protein and high in fat and sugar, which is pretty much the opposite of a healthy breakfast.

One cup of granola usually weighs in at more than 600 calories, which is about a third of an average woman’s daily total. Think of it like eating a bowl of oatmeal cookies. If you love it and can’t give it up, try making granola at home using whole oats, unsweetened dried fruit, mixed nuts, and cinnamon, baked with olive oil. Then use your granola sparingly as a garnish for fruit or Greek yogurt.

7) Commercial Salad Dressing

What’s better for you than a salad? One that doesn’t contain store-bought salad dressing. That huge bowl of healthy green stuff can be totally destroyed by a salad dressing packed with fats, sugars, salts, artificial flavorings, colors, and preservatives. Processed-food companies create a cocktail of flavors meant to entice you into pouring on the dressing, and suddenly that crisp, fresh salad in front of you is a diet bomb.

The best way around the salad dressing dilemma is to buy organic or make your own. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and spices to create a homemade dressing. Pair a fat with an acid and plenty of spices, and voila! You have a wholesome salad dressing that, used sparingly, won’t add too many calories or chemicals to your meal.

8) Sports Drinks

Most people think sports drinks are healthy sources of electrolytes and hydration for active people. The fact is that most sports and energy drinks contain nearly as much sugar as soda, artificial colors and flavors, a whole lot of processed salt, and caffeine, none of which will help you get healthier.

So stop kidding yourself and ditch the blue beverages. Go natural. Coconut water is a much better natural source of electrolytes, and water is a better hydrator than any processed sports drink.

9) Flavored Yogurt

Yogurt is marketed as the ultimate health food, but if you are eating fruit-flavored yogurt cups, you’re likely to be eating plenty of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and a host of other sweeteners but not much fruit.

Usually, any fruit in your yogurt comes from high-calorie, high-sugar fruit extracts or purees.  In fact, in an 8oz cup of fruit-flavored yogurt, you can be looking at 47 grams—that’s twelve teaspoons—of sugar. You might as well be eating dessert.

Dairy can be a highly inflammatory food, so you might want to consider cutting it out altogether. If you must have your Greek yogurt in the morning, try eating it plain with fresh fruit and a drizzle of honey for a healthier alternative.

10) Fat-Free Anything

When you’re trying to lose weight, the words ‘fat-free’ are like a siren song. Just remember that when a food manufacturer cuts fat, they have to replace it with something and that something is rarely good for you.

Fat gives food flavor. When you take it out, you have to compensate with more sugar, more salt, and more chemicals. Your body needs healthy fats. It recognizes them and knows just what to do with them. But those food additives used to replace fats are entirely foreign and do your body more harm than good, confusing your hormones and making it harder to lose weight. My advice for sustained weight loss always begins with, “Eat real food.”

The best way to make sure that the food you’re eating is really healthy and not just healthy by reputation is to keep it fresh, simple, and clean. Don’t rely on packaged foods. Look for hidden sugars. Check your portions. And remember that you have more control when you make it yourself!