A healthy diet is full of traps. Don’t do these common mistakes!
Mistake 1. You do not monitor the portion size.
Many people think that if a product is healthy, then you can eat it in unlimited quantities. This is a big mistake. Even wholesome foods like cereals, whole grain pasta or sweet fruits, consumed without restriction, may well nullify all your efforts.
How to fix
Buy a kitchen scale and weigh all the foods you consume.
Download the calorie counting app or keep a diary so you don’t exceed your daily requirement.
Remember that the packages and tables indicate calories per 100 grams of unprocessed product, and the weight of dry/raw and finished products can vary greatly. Therefore, either weigh the products before cooking or look for finished products in the calorie tables.
Mistake 2. You do not take into account the calorie content of the sauce.
You suggest that a small amount of sauce does not greatly increase the calorie content of a dish. In fact, purchased sauces are usually very high-calorie and fatty: they contain about 30 grams of fat and more than 300 kilocalories per 100 grams. By adding 30 grams of sauce to the dish, you consume 90 kilocalories, most of which are saturated fats.
How to fix
Replace purchased sauces with natural spices. So you reduce the calorie content of your dishes without sacrificing their taste.
If you can’t refuse sauces, proceed from the principle of lesser evil: instead of ketchup, buy natural tomato paste, and replace mayonnaise with white yogurt and mustard sauce.
Mistake 3. You prefer low-fat foods
Low-fat dairy and sour-milk products not only do not help to lose weight but also make you consume more calories. Recent studies by Food & Brand Lab show that the “0% fat” mark on the packaging forces consumers to eat more food and get an average of 84 kilocalories more than normal foods.
In addition, low-fat foods do not give a feeling of satiety, and their vitamins and minerals are absorbed much worse. As a result, you are not benefiting and after a short time, you are hungry again.
How to fix
Buy dairy products with medium fat content.
Count not only calories but also the amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.
Read the labels carefully: sugar is added to some low-fat foods to improve the taste, which can increase their calorie content.
Mistake 4. You prefer fried foods
Vegetable oil used in the frying process greatly increases the calorie content of the dish.
How to fix
Use other cooking methods: bake food in the oven, cook with steam.
Buy a non-stick pan that allows you to fry without adding oil.
If you use oil when frying, do not pour it into the pan from the bottle, but grease the surface with a brush.
Mistake 5. You eat too many healthy sweets.
It is often advised to replace sweets and cookies with more wholesome snacks: nuts and dried fruits. Yes, they have much more useful substances, but there are a lot of calories. For example, a small handful of walnuts weighing 30 grams contains 196 calories, and the same number of dates is 80 kilocalories.
How to fix
Remove the plate with dried fruits and nuts from a prominent place.
Before snacking with healthy snacks, measure a serving, weigh it and count calories.
Switch to a healthy diet and do not let mistakes and illusions negate all your efforts.
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