Training & Nutrition - Foods to Watch Out For

What are some foods that seem healthy but are actually high in fat, high in calories, or in some other way bad for someone who is trying to lose weight? I would like to tweak my eating habits by compiling a list of foods I should watch out for that I otherwise never would have thought of as unhealthy. An example I can think of are salted nuts and dried fruits...

What are some foods that seem healthy but are actually high in fat, high in calories, or in some other way bad for someone who is trying to lose weight? I would like to tweak my eating habits by compiling a list of foods I should watch out for that I otherwise never would have thought of as unhealthy. An example I can think of are salted nuts and dried fruits...
dried fruits aren't necessarily bad. just find the ones that don't have added sugar.

even though they are "heart healthy", all the oils have a lot of fat and calories
nuts like you said

I guess it really depends on what you think is healthy that you have suspicions about.

Start reading labels, and take a look over this site: http://www.nutritiondata.com/

I agree with Machka.

Just about anything is bad for you in large quantities. But it's a good idea to read the label and see what the saturated fat amount is. If it's high, don't eat it.

Also, read through the content info. If something starts out with "partially hydrogenated...", I don't even get it. The ingredients listed on the side of the labelling are always listed in order of the biggest amount first. So, if you read a label, and it starts out with Enriched flour, sugar... then you know the majority of that food is enriched flour, which is not a good thing, and the next highest amount of "nutrition" in there is sugar, which means it's pretty bad for you.

You have to learn how to read the labelling. You'll be surprised to learn how many things you think are bad for you are not so bad (in moderation), and how many things you think are good for you are actually kind of bad for you (ie: frozen dinners, which have a LOT of salt in them!).

Koffee

I eat 2 oz. of peanuts a day, as a snack at work. They're a bit staggeringly high in saturated fat, but are a better alternative to:

1. smoking
2. Letting my body go into starvation mode.

I run at 4:30 a.m. - then eat a half piece of 12 grain bread with turkey and mustard.

At 8:30-9:30 a.m. - I eat a bowl of grape nuts flakes with a banana

At 11:30-12:30 - One grilled skinless, bonless chicken patty (7-8 oz.) on one slice of 12 grain bread with mustard and a piece of cheese or with salsa, jalapenos. Also 1/2 a cup of spinach with 2 tbl spoons of cheddar cheese, topped with 1 tble spoon of blue cheese dressing.

At 3:30-4:30 - one 2oz. bag of peanuts

At around 6 p.m. I have another bowl of grape nuts flakes with a banana (for dinner)

At around 8:30-9:30 p.m. I have a granola bar with yogurt (non-fat).

When I get off work at 11:30 p.m. If I'm hungry, I have another 1/2 cup spinach salad again.

I think bad food/good food is all about portion, moderation and not forcing yourself to eat 3 meals where you gorge or worse, your body thinks its starving.

I also drink 1 gallon of water a day and approx. 5-10 cups of green tea (dragonwell).

I eat 2 oz. of peanuts a day, as a snack at work. They're a bit staggeringly high in saturated fat, but are a better alternative to:

1. smoking
2. Letting my body go into starvation mode.

I run at 4:30 a.m. - then eat a half piece of 12 grain bread with turkey and mustard.

At 8:30-9:30 a.m. - I eat a bowl of grape nuts flakes with a banana

At 11:30-12:30 - One grilled skinless, bonless chicken patty (7-8 oz.) on one slice of 12 grain bread with mustard and a piece of cheese or with salsa, jalapenos. Also 1/2 a cup of spinach with 2 tbl spoons of cheddar cheese, topped with 1 tble spoon of blue cheese dressing.

At 3:30-4:30 - one 2oz. bag of peanuts

At around 6 p.m. I have another bowl of grape nuts flakes with a banana (for dinner)

At around 8:30-9:30 p.m. I have a granola bar with yogurt (non-fat).

When I get off work at 11:30 p.m. If I'm hungry, I have another 1/2 cup spinach salad again.

I think bad food/good food is all about portion, moderation and not forcing yourself to eat 3 meals where you gorge or worse, your body thinks its starving.

I also drink 1 gallon of water a day and approx. 5-10 cups of green tea (dragonwell).
wow, that sounds very sensible yet different from most "diets" I've seen. Kudos on finding your own little regiment
:D

Complicating things is published advise that nuts are very great for you, e.g., peanuts--or even "natural" peanut butter where the oil floats to the top at room temperature--because of the monosaturated oils (not saturated fat unless you're buying Skippy) and Omega-8s that they contain. For the same reason, avocados are good for you. Many studies have found that red wine is good for you. And, even low-carb diets recommend berries because of their anti-oxident attributes.

If something starts out with "partially hydrogenated...", I don't even get it.

Koffee

I have just recently made an effort to eat healthier, and it didn't take much research for me to figure out that I did not want hydrogenated oils in my food. What amazes me is how many foods still have them, in spite of the widely known and little disputed knowledge of how bad they are (more and more countries are banning or limiting them).

For example, we like to think that granola bars are healthy, but reading labels in the grocery store the other day, Nature Valley was the only brand granola bars which didn't have them.

I have just recently made an effort to eat healthier, and it didn't take much research for me to figure out that I did not want hydrogenated oils in my food. What amazes me is how many foods still have them, in spite of the widely known and little disputed knowledge of how bad they are (more and more countries are banning or limiting them).

For example, we like to think that granola bars are healthy, but reading labels in the grocery store the other day, Nature Valley was the only brand granola bars which didn't have them.

Isn't that amazing, though? You really think you are eating healthy, and you can't figure out how to get rid of the gut, then when you look at what you're eating and see all that gunk, that's probably why. :(

Koffee

on the granola bar comment, even Nature Valley has its faults. High Fructose Corn Syrup. Is nothing pre-packaged healthy anymore?

Watch out for alcohol also. There are four basic nutrients: fat, protein, carbohydrate, and alcohol. Each supplies a certain number of calories per gram. If your total consumption of those four nutrients exceeds your body's energy needs, you will gain weight b/c your body will store that excess energy as FAT.

Stay out of restaurants. It's almost impossible to get food that is not high in fat at most restaurants.

Look out for anything that is quick to make. I was amazed at how much salt and calories were in a lot of prepackaged rice mixes, quick and easy potato meals, and even the boxed pasta salad stuff.
One item that I have found that is quick to make, delicious and healthy is boca burgers. The knock off brands such as gardenburgers are not as good. I heat up my boca burgers in the microwave, 35 seconds, flip and then another 35 seconds and it's done! Almost all flavors of boca burgers have less than 3 grams of fat, less than 90 calories, more than 11g of protein and more than 2grams of dietary fiber. I highly recommend the onion, flame grilled, or original flavor.

Stay out of restaurants. It's almost impossible to get food that is not high in fat at most restaurants.
that's not true at all. A lot of restaurants are starting to incorporate healthy options on their menus

Peanuts are not nuts, they're legumes. Almonds are super good for you, nutrition rich but also fiber rich.

Between high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils, you're just asking for unhealthy eating. :(

Koffee

Peanuts are not nuts, they're legumes. Almonds are super good for you, nutrition rich but also fiber rich.

And, walnuts are high in fiber, but then, some say they are not nuts but fruits. And then . . . there are seeds to consider.

when I said nuts were a food to watch out for, I was talking about salted nuts, which are covered with way more salt than necessary. However, I vaguely remember hearing that nuts are not as healthy as they say, because they are not completely unsaturated. This might be completely incorrect, since I can't even remember where I heard this.

The main problem I have had with finding healthy and unhealthy foods is knowing how many calories is too much. It's really hard for me to keep track of how many calories I consume, since i don't have any nutritional information about the meals I eat. And all of this becomes a lot more complicated when I try to factor it into my exercise routine and how much energy I need in order to replace what I lose.

Just out of curiosity, how healthy are bagels? I heard that eating a bagel is equivalent to eating four slices of bread. Is eating a bagel for breakfast everyday too much bread?

This is a pretty good site for learning how to eat (and live) healthy:

http://www.drweil.com

Generally when you are trying to lose weight, the more difficult thing to do is reduce the quantity. Not that quality is unimportant, but focusing on these minutiae is meaningless if you're still hounding down 2 or 3 times as much as you need to, even with "good" foods. The simple equation for losing weight is: expend more calories than you consume. But that means you're going to have to count. No combination of "healty" foods is going to take the weight off if you're over-consuming; that is a simple fact.

Some granola bars and granola cereals have a surprising amount of fat.

Watch out for Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Sure, the peanutty filling has protein, but...

This is a pretty good site for learning how to eat (and live) healthy:

http://www.drweil.com


Dr. Weil is da bomb. I have several of his tapes and books.

Koffee

when I said nuts were a food to watch out for, I was talking about salted nuts, which are covered with way more salt than necessary. However, I vaguely remember hearing that nuts are not as healthy as they say, because they are not completely unsaturated. This might be completely incorrect, since I can't even remember where I heard this.

The main problem I have had with finding healthy and unhealthy foods is knowing how many calories is too much. It's really hard for me to keep track of how many calories I consume, since i don't have any nutritional information about the meals I eat. And all of this becomes a lot more complicated when I try to factor it into my exercise routine and how much energy I need in order to replace what I lose.

Just out of curiosity, how healthy are bagels? I heard that eating a bagel is equivalent to eating four slices of bread. Is eating a bagel for breakfast everyday too much bread?

Offhand, I don't know where you would get it, but my wife has a program called "Balance Log" that lets her log her food consumed for the day, and also the exercise to compute "net" calories. She's also had an analysis of her basal caloric rate, so she can figure it all out. (I'm sure there are several programs like this as well). Anyway, my point is that if you did this, you would probably glean a quick education of what foods are good and bad from a caloric perspective.

Between high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils, you're just asking for unhealthy eating. :(

Koffee
I think hyrdogenated oils (aka trans fat) are the worst for folks who are mainly concerned about diet, but not as concerned about calories (i.e. weight loss)

No matter how much energy you burn, no matter how fit you are, the trans (and saturated) fats will be bad for you.

But I understand (and please correct me, hence my post) that if you are burning more calories per day than you are eating and you are in shape, lean, etc. then HFCS is not really harmful.

Al

Add bagels to the list. Most bagels are made from white flour instead of whole wheat. Then people slap tons of butter or cream cheese on them and things get even worse. You can also add muffins to the breakfast list. They're made of white flour and are big on the butter. A few chunks of fruit doesn't make your muffin healthy.

I hate white flour. Why does it even exist? They take away the fiber just to make it look "pretty"? The world would be a better place without white flour.

Offhand, I don't know where you would get it, but my wife has a program called "Balance Log" that lets her log her food consumed for the day, and also the exercise to compute "net" calories. She's also had an analysis of her basal caloric rate, so she can figure it all out. (I'm sure there are several programs like this as well). Anyway, my point is that if you did this, you would probably glean a quick education of what foods are good and bad from a caloric perspective.

There's an online log like this called "Calorie King" that's pretty good. Just go to CalorieKing.com and I think it gives a week trial for free. Just use it for free for a week and you'll get the idea. You can search for different brand names of food and everything.

You'll also learn that one serving is smaller than you think.