This isn’t a pseudoscientific article about how grains cause obesity, how artificial sweeteners are making you fat, or how many “chemicals” are in your diet salad dressing.
This is a breakdown of the five foods that I’ve found consistently screw up diet progress, based on my experience as a coach and trainer.
So sit back, put your feet up, and read on while sipping your Diet Coke, safe in the knowledge that I won’t be telling you to ditch it any time soon.
Nuts
They might be the darlings of the low-carb revolution, but nuts are one of the first foods I tell clients to cut out of their diets.
“But Mike, nuts are full of healthy fats. They’re packed with vitamins and minerals – surely we should be eating MORE of them?” I won’t argue with most of that in the slightest.
Healthy fats? Check.
Vitamins and minerals? Check
Crap-tonne of calories? Check.
Most nuts contain 550-600 calories per 100 grams, and a “serving” is typically around 25g (just under 1 oz). Not too bad, right? Trouble is, most folks don’t weigh their nuts (cue dirty jokes aplenty).
Ask someone to pour themselves a serving, and it’ll typically come out to 50g+. Or, to put it another way, 300 calories. A few of those throughout the day, or, worse still, not measuring out servings at all and just snacking mindlessly from the bag = bad news.
Most nuts contain 550-600 calories per 100 grams. Image courtesy of http://camillaferraro.com/
“Healthy” Oils
Like nuts, oils are seriously calorie-dense.
As much as I admire Jamie Oliver for the work he’s done with nutrition in schools, I point the finger at him for this one. His “drizzles” of oil turn out to be a half bottle poured on top of a salad, a steak, in pasta – you name it, good old Jamie pours it on EVERYTHING.
Once again, there’s the notion of “healthy” fats. A fat (or any food for that matter) is only as healthy as your diet as a whole. Too many people buy into the hype of healthy fats, forgetting that they’re still fats (at 9 calories per gram). So they go nuts with the oil, cook all their meals in it, and use it ad libitum on salads and veggies.
I’m all for fats (I generally recommend 0.3 to 0.6 grams of fat per pound of bodyweight daily), but it’s too easy to overdo the oils, especially if you’re not measuring your servings. At around 120 calories per tablespoon of oil, I’ll take whole-food fat sources over oils any day of the week.
As much as I admire Jamie Oliver for the work he’s done with nutrition in schools, I point the finger at him for this one. His “drizzles” of oil turn out to be a half bottle poured on top of a salad, a steak, in pasta – you name it, good old Jamie pours it on EVERYTHING.
Bulletproof Coffee
The best way to ruin a good coffee is to add in a load of non-satiating, empty calories.
‘Nuff said.
Actually, while we’re on the coffee theme, I’ll also address the “skinny caramel latte” crowd. Can you drink your calories by way of a skinny caramel latte if you wish?
Absolutely, go ahead.
But a couple lattes a day makes a pretty big dent in your daily caloric intake, and most folks don’t even think of drinks as containing calories.
I often perform a food recall analysis with a client, where we sit down and discuss the client’s food intake over the past few days.
(For any trainers and coaches out there, this is a REAL eye-opener, and can provide you with a wealth of information if you’re not afraid to probe.)
I’ll give you an example:
Me: So Mandy, tell me about what you ate yesterday.
Mandy: I had a bowl of muesli with skimmed milk for breakfast, a ham sandwich with some pretzels and an orange for lunch, and chicken parmigiana with new potatoes for dinner, followed by a low-fat yoghurt.
(Five minutes of talking about snacks, amounts of food, and mindless eating later…)
Me: How about drinks?
Mandy: Oh, nothing that contains calories – no fruit juice or fizzy drinks. I don’t touch that stuff.
Me: Okay, cool, how about coffees?
Mandy: Yeah, I had two coffees actually.
Me: Black or with milk?
Mandy: Well they were lattes. Skinny ones, though.
Me: Right, plain skinny lattes. Size?
Mandy: Medium. And they were caramel ones too, but like I said – skinny.
Me: Two of them? Did you know that’s over 300 calories?
Mandy: * Jaw drops *
So a word of warning – while it’s perfectly okay to drink some of your calories (hey, what’s a life without beer?), liquid calories add up quickly and need to be counted.
The best way to ruin a good coffee is to add in a load of non-satiating, empty calories.
Paleo Brownies
Ah, my nemesis: the paleo brownie.
Actually, any paleo “treat” along with gluten-free or raw biscuits, cookies, muffins, and the like can fit in this category. Here’s why – by taking out the “unhealthy” oats, flour, and sugar, and replacing it with “natural” coconut or almond flour, dried fruit, real butter, and so forth, you massively ramp up the total calories.
Sure, those sugar-laden snacks in Tesco’s bakery aisle may not be diet-friendly, but I’ll take one of those over a calorie-dense ball that claims to resemble a muffin, but is really made from some weird concoction of raw cocoa powder, coconut, and almonds.
Since when did cavemen find the time to make baked goods anyway?
By taking out the “unhealthy” oats, flour, and sugar, and replacing it with “natural” coconut or almond flour, dried fruit, real butter, and so forth, you massively ramp up the total calories.
Organic Food
Want to eat organic?
Go ahead – if it makes you feel like you’re doing your bit, I’ll never tell you to do otherwise. You might feel better for it and, placebo or not, that’s a good thing.
But a 2012 meta-analysis of organic foods concluded that “the published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods.”1
By placing “organic” in front of a food, it’s easy to assume it’s better for you or lower in calories, when the truth is that’s very rarely the case. Also sub in “natural,” “gluten-free,” “raw” – any of those buzzwords.
Watch out for health buzzwords.
BONUS:
Weight Watchers Bread
This is awesome.
Per slice, Warburton’s white Danish bread has 63 calories, while Weight Watchers’ white Danish has 50 calories. Not much of a savings, but a savings all the same.
Take a look at this, though:
Weight watchers bread vs regular bread.
The calories per 100g are exactly the same! So, lower calories per serving… because you’re eating smaller servings.
The Wrap Up:
I’ve condemned these foods a little, but the truth is, none of them will ruin your progress by themselves.
As I’ve said, a food is only as good or bad as the diet it’s contained in. Organic broccoli, grass-fed beef, and wild salmon are only good foods if they’re part of a diet that meets your nutritional goals.
Likewise, there’s nothing bad about a Pop Tart if you hit your protein, carb, and fat goals, and eat plenty of fibre, fruits, and veggies. To learn more about that, I recommend the book, Flexible Fat Loss.
These are just the top foods masquerading as “healthy” and duping people into a false sense of security, leading them to think they can eat as much as they wish and not gain fat.
Keep your common sense about you, and remember the big picture – your overall diet, not some fancy marketing or buzzwords.
About the Author
Mike Samuels is an online coach and personal trainer based in the UK, specialising in fat loss and strength performance. As a competitive powerlifter and former fat boy, Mike knows what it takes to get lean while gaining. Learn more, from his book, Flexible Fat Loss, by clicking here.
References:
1 Smith-Spangler, C., ML Brandeau, GE Hunter, JC Bavinger, M. Pearson, PJ Eschbach, V. Sundaram, H. Liu, P. Schirmer, C. Stave, and I. Olkin. “Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier than Conventional Alternatives?: A Systematic Review.” US National Library of Medicine, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22944875>
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