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If you're on a diet right now you are probably looking to lose a few pounds, but watch out. There are 3 deadly mistakes that kill diet plans and are easy to make, turning a healthy diet and even healthy recipes into one that actually harms our bodies.
Furthermore, one of these mistakes can actually cause you to gain weight!
The first thing to do when considering a diet is change the words you use from 'diet' to 'getting healthy'.
The word 'diet' signifies losing. The phrase 'getting healthy' signifies winning.
It's a mindset thing.
The next thing to do is to change the way you look at food. It is nutrition for your body and unfortunately, many added ingredients can change healthy food into unhealthy food without us ever realizing it.
The problem for most of us is we're so busy that we run into the grocery store, grab what we perceive as healthy and end up eating food that sabotages our health instead.
These are the most common and even deadly mistakes people make while on a diet.
Mistake #1 - Consume food listed as "diet food", "healthy" or "all natural" without reading the labels.
Marketers are good at writing up the benefits of certain ingredients in manufactured food products. Using words and phrases like 'all natural", 'loaded with antioxidants' and 'low sugar' and 'low calorie' draw us like a magnet to products that can actually be bad for us.
It's an easy mistake to make because marketers are good at shouting the health benefits without mentioning the not so healthy aspects.
For example, did you know that many yogurt products contain loads of sugar?
What to do instead: Look at the label for ingredients. Shockingly many so called health food includes sugar in the first 2-3 ingredients! Even if it's a small percent of the ingredients, eating sugar will turn on your appetite so you are hungry again in a short period of time. This is a good way to sabotage your diet.
Look for words like dextrose, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, maltrose, or any derivative of these sugar names that might show up. If it's got it, avoid it.
In addition, note what's in the ingredients of products touted as "all natural". Nuts, oats and honey are all natural and normally healthy foods. But when the manufacturer adds high fructose corn syrup it turns the whole mix into food that can actually make you gain weight.
Tip: Avoid foods with artificial sweeteners if at all possible. Many researchers today also suspect that artificial sweeteners have the same effect, just without the calories.
Mistake #2 - Not washing fruit and vegetables before you eat them
No matter how healthy the product, toxins can appear in the form of left over pesticides or contamination that happens along the way from farm to store.
Even organic food may have residue from natural fertilizers that can poison your system through bacteria or toxins that are certainly 'natural' but not very healthy.
Boric acid is natural and keeps pests away. But, you don't want to eat it. Boric acid is categorized as a poison, so it can have adverse effects on people and animals.
Washing before you eat is a good way to have healthy results from your diet.
Mistake #3 - Leaving all fat out of your meals
We have been trained by the media to think all fats are bad, but nothing could be further from the truth.
We all need fat for energy and satiation, particularly as we diet.
There are good fats that help reduce cholesterol, boost energy and most importantly help you feel satisfied so you don't go back for second and third helpings or feel hungry again after an hour or so. That is key to keeping weight down.
Try sautéing or brushing foods with a little olive oil and then grill or pan sauté.
Avocado oil, which you can buy in a spray form to make it easy to use, is extra tasty on a salad when combined with a little lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss the salad to blend.
A great source of nutritious fat is to use mashed avocado in place of mayonnaise. Avocados are loaded with the good fats that lower cholesterol and are an excellent source of potassium (containing more per ounce than bananas). In addition, avocados are rich in vitamin K, Vitamin B9, vitamin B6, vitamin B5 vitamin C, and vitamin E. Take ¼ avocado, add a tiny bit of lemon juice to keep the color if you aren't going to consume it immediately and then mash. That's it!
Tip: don't use diet mayonnaise as it often has sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.
A good diet is a natural remedy for weight loss and improving your diet for long term results.
To get healthy and stay healthy you need to feed your brain regularly with information, education and inspiration. When you do, you significantly increase the chance that those diet plans are going to work this time!
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