Pass on the "Diet" Foods and Drinks

Trying to get some extra pounds off?  Did you know that avoiding foods and drinks with "diet" on the packaging can actually help you lose weight?  Sounds contradictory, but you heard me correctly.  Many diet foods and drinks have ingredients that are "fake" to replace fat, sugar, or carbs, etc.  The "fake" ingredients being added, or adjustments made to the product to enhance the flavor, may be less healthy for you than the ingredients that were naturally in it to begin with.  Artificial sweeteners, in particular, were originally developed to give diabetics a sweet alternative, not for everyday people to consume to lose weight.  These artificial sweet chemicals are addictive and mess with your taste buds and your body chemistry.  Companies producing these products realized that changing their marketing strategy to get the masses to consume these products, in addition to the diabetics, could be very lucrative.  Through million dollar advertising campaigns, over the years, they have brainwashed us into viewing these products as a "healthy" alternative to sugar and a method to lose weight.. Those companies are laughing all the way to the bank.  Don't fall for the ruse.

For instance, typically in turkey bacon, fat is reduced compared to original pork bacon, but sodium is increased to make it taste better.  Fat in moderation helps satisfy your hunger, while increased sodium can cause havoc on blood pressure, and make you retain excess fluids making you feel bloated.  You might be better off grabbing a smaller portion of the real pork bacon instead.  In reduced or fat free baked goods, the processed carbs or sugars are typically higher than the original versions.  In soft drinks, flavored water, candy, cookies, etc... sugar is removed or reduced and being replaced with artificial sweeteners.  These artificial sweeteners give you the sweet taste you want, but studies have shown that because you don't get the calories normally associated with that sweet, your body will crave additional calories later to make up for the calories your body expected to consume when you ate that sweet.  In the long run, you tend to consume more calories than if you would have just grabbed the real thing to begin with.  Keep in mind, you still have to eat the real things in moderation, or eventually limit them to a special treat, or you won't be doing yourself any favors, either.  Artificial sweeteners also train your taste buds to expect an intense sweet and you tend not to be satisfied with the normal sweet any more, again increasing your tendency to eat more normal sweets to feel satisfied.  Some people are also experiencing health problems when artificial sweeteners are consumed in large quantities or taken over long periods of time.  Why even go there?

Typically, the regular foods are cheaper per ounce, than their "diet" counterparts.  Those pre-portioned 100 calorie snack packs are a great example of paying more for less product.  If you want a cookie, buy the regular package, and just grab one or two.  Save your money!  You claim the smaller size pre-portioned packages help your will power?  Baloney!  What is stopping you from grabbing more than one of those pre-portioned packages anyway?  It's all a mental game the food companies are cashing in on at your expense.  Use these for your kid's lunches to save time?  Take a minute to put some regular snacks in baggies ahead of time to make them easy to grab when packing lunches.  It is likely still cheaper this way, even counting the extra cost of the baggie, and you can customize your child's portions.  These 100 calorie portions are still rather large for most kids snacks.  They just end up tossing the excess in the trash, or eating more snack food than they should for their smaller bodies.

Do a little experiment.  Try slowly transitioning "diet" foods out of your kitchen.  Read the labels.  If you have a hard time pronouncing the ingredient, you probably shouldn't be eating it.  It might take a week or two to re-train your taste buds, especially if you are a artificial sweetener junky.   (Note: If you regularly chew gum, you might be consuming a large amount of artificial sweeteners there as well.  Don't forget to take those into consideration as well.)  If you eliminate artificial sweeteners from your diet, you won't feel so deprived.  When you do grab for a food that normally would be on the cheat list, like those little chocolate candies that melt in your mouth and not in hands, take notice as to how many you WANT to eat.  (Note: Don't do this while being distracted or eating mindlessly in front of the TV or all bets are off! )  Most people will be satisfied with just a few, rather than the large handful they might have otherwise wanted to eat.  You will also start to notice that many foods you used to think were bland or not sweet at all, have much more flavor than you realized.  Everything will begin to taste better, naturally.  Taste your food before automatically adding salt or sugar.  You may not need to add it at all anymore.

I don't believe in depriving yourself when you are trying to lose weight.  Just make small, smart modifications in your everyday routine, so these changes will stick.  You will slowly be changing your lifestyle, not actually be on a so-called "diet."  Your weight loss will be slow and steady, and you will keep it off.  In the big picture, that is what is really important.  Yo-Yo dieting is not healthy.  With "diets" that you can't maintain long-term, once you end the "diet", you fall back into your old unhealthy routines that made you gain the weight to begin with.  Long term you will likely end up being heavier than you were when you started the "diet".  What's the point of that?  Be smart and do it the right way for long term success.