4 Vegetarian Foods NOT To Eat On A Weight Loss Diet
From Vince Delmonte
By: Kardena Pauza, CPT (NASM), FNC (Fitness Nutrition Coach)
When most folks think of vegetarian foods, they think of naturally healthy meals and men and women with vibrant energy. But did you know that there are dozens of so-called "health foods" that vegetarians eat that are downright unhealthy - and can even cause you to gain fat fast?
I’ve been a vegetarian for 5 years now, and I learned a lot of lessons about these "healthy" foods the hard way - so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes I made.
Here’s my list of the first 5 vegetarian foods you MUST avoid if you want to lose fat, boost your energy, improve your complexion, and dramatically increase your health.
1. Junk Food Breakfast Cereals/ Granola
Your cereal could be making you FAT…. Since cereal products were introduced in 1867 they have become popular as the standard breakfast for most people. We love our cereal!
The problem is that cereals are not as wholesome as they once were. One major change in today’s cereal is the amount of sugar they put in the products. Most of the cereals on the market have high sugar content and also contain hydrogenated oil.
No amount of hydrogenated oil (trans fats) is healthy or ok to consume and we should definitely kick‘em to the curb. According to the FDA a person should have no more than 2 grams of trans fat per day but in my opinion these foreign oils should not be ingested whatsoever.
Many cereals are loaded with tons of sugar containing between 9-26 grams of sugar per serving, little to no protein, 1-3 grams of fiber and fat derived from hydrogenated oils. Basically, cereals don’t have enough healthy fiber, goods fats, or protein, and contain too much sugar, bad fats, and refined carbs.
Granola is one of the most popular cereal types but is dense in calories and coated in sugar to give it that scrumptious crunch. It seems like a "wholesome hippy" thing to eat, but believe me, I learned the hard way how damaging the sugar is in granola. I loved eating granola when I was a teenager and that’s when I gained weight!
Excess sugar can be quickly stored as fat right on your belly or thighs, and sugar is also very damaging to the liver, the skin, the joints and causes inflammation and many other complications in the body.
I recommend having no more than 6-9 grams of sugar in a sitting. You have to be careful because if the nutritional label says 6 grams/serving and you eat 1 ½ cups which may be 2 servings, oops, you just consumed 12-18 grams of sugar!
And wait, that doesn’t include the sugar in your milk. My clients and other guys I’ve talked to eat 2-3 bowls of cereal at one time! No wonder they have belly fat!
You must also watch out for hydrogenated oil in cereal: Hydrogenated oil & partially hydrogenated oil ARE "trans fats." These fats get deposited as fat & toxins in our body and arteries.
Manufacturers use hydrogenated oil in their products so the cereal will last longer on the shelf. It’s used as a preservative to save companies money but it’s unhealthy for you. And here’s a shocking fact about trans-fats.
If a product has 0.49999 grams of trans-fat per serving they do not have to report it on the nutritional label but you will see it on the ingredient list. How sneaky!
You still need to watch out for it because the FDA has stated that consuming more than 2 grams per day of trans-fats is unhealthy. You can see how this would be easy to exceed once you start looking at all of the ingredients in your food can’t you?
Here are just a few of the many cereals to avoid:
• Granola, Honey Nut Cluster (17 grams sugar/1 cup)
• Kellogg’s Raisin bran (18 grams sugar/1 cup)
• Most children’s cereals (it’s like eating a chocolate bar, 24 grams sugar)
• Most crunch or cluster cereals
• Kashi Go Lean Crunch (Alternatively, Kashi Go Lean is a better choice!)