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By Tracy Olgeaty Gensler, M.S., R.D., Best Life nutritionist
I know I shouldn't eat this, but…. How many times have you uttered that phrase? Hopefully, during the first four weeks of Phase One, you won't say this anymore, at least not when it comes to the foods in the list below. These six foods are a major weight-gain culprit for most people, so you'll need to eliminate them in the first phase of the plan. Giving up these foods is easier when you have alternatives, so we also offer some healthier substitutes.
1. Alcohol
Alcohol can add a lot of extra calories to your diet, and it's more caloric than other foods. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram (carbohydrates and fat contain only 4 calories per gram; fat contains 9 calories per gram). But there are reasons besides the calories to skip sipping. Alcohol, a depressant, can slow your metabolism. And, it's hard to make healthy eating decisions after you've had a few.
Replace It With:
• Sparkling water with a twist of lime
• Unsweetened or lightly sweetened iced tea
• Juice cut with sparkling or seltzer water
2. Soda
Some sodas provide up to 180 calories for just 12 ounces. Plus they don’t tend to fill you up. In fact, if you drink calorie-laden beverages, your brain doesn’t always register you’ve consumed those calories and you don't feel satisfied. Soda also contributes to elevated triglyceride levels, which raises your risk of heart disease. Use this opportunity to ramp up your calcium with the calcium-enriched beverages or milk. The extra calcium helps your bones and manages your blood pressure.
Replace It With:
• Bottled water. Nestle Pure Life has the Best Life seal
• Fat-free or one perfect milk or calcium-enriched soymilk, such as Silk, which is Best-Life approved. (One cup equals one dairy serving.)
• Unsweetened bottled iced tea.
• Black tea or green tea, such as Lipton varieites.
• Calcium-enriched orange, tangerine, or pomegranate juice (one-half cup counts as one serving of fruit). Have no more than one serving daily.
3. Foods Made With Trans Fats
Trans fats are the unhealthiest fats. They not only raise your total cholesterol and LDLs (the "bad" cholesterol), they lower your healthy HDLs. Eliminate them as much as possible by looking for "trans fat-free" on the label.
Replace It With:
• Foods made with olive oil, canola oil, or high-oleic safflower or sunflower oil.
• Check your labels for the words "partially hydrogenated oils," which is the origin of trans fats. Because foods labeled "0 g trans fat" are allowed up to 0.49 g of trans fat per serving, you have a good chance of consuming trans fats unknowingly if you don't read your label.
4. Fried FoodsFried foods are usually high in trans fats, but that's not the entire problem. At nine calories per gram, they also provide way too many calories.
Replace It With:
• Baked, broiled, and sautéed options. For sautéed, use about 2 teaspoons oil per serving.
5. White Flour Bread
White flour has been through a milling process that strips it of many valuable nutrients.
Replace It With:
• Whole-grain bread. Look for the word "whole" before the grain, as in "whole wheat." Or look for brown rice, buckwheat, bulgur, cracked wheat, millet, quinoa, sorghum, or triticale wheat berries as the first ingredient listed.
6. Full-Fat Milk and Yogurt
Whole milk and yogurt have too much saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories.
Replace It With:
• One percent or fat-free dairy products
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