What?? Weight Gain with Diet Foods??

So you’ve been very meticulous about what foods you eat in order to lose weight. Your eyes are quick to check if it’s low-fat, low-calorie, and anything else ‘low’. Nothing gets past you; you’re better than any security check out there. But then you start noticing that you seem to be gaining weight despite how careful you’ve been in choosing what you eat.

The bad news is there are some diet foods that can actually make you gain instead of losing the weight. Don’t fret; you’ll soon understand why.

Popular Grain – These are what are called ‘super grains’ like Quinoa, freekeh, and faro. Called super, these grains provide high amino acids, protein, fiber, potassium, strengthen immune system, and even lower cholesterol. But what most fail to realize is these are still carbohydrates. And carbohydrate in whatever form is still carbohydrate. And that means high in calories. A cup of any of these grains can carry up to 260 calories. And if you over consume, your diet is ruined. But if you really want these grains, you need to control how much you consume.

Coconut Water – Considered an alternative to sports drinks because this has sodium and potassium and electrolytes, but a carton of coconut water can have as much as 40 calories. It seems low, but remember some brands add sugar. You don’t really need the electrolytes unless you’re running, and by running this means running for more than an hour. What you can do is just drink plain water. You’ll save yourself from consuming those 40 calories.

Green Juice – The trend nowadays is to juice everything green. How can you gain weight if you consume vegetable juice, right? The answer to that is you actually can. The problem here is yes you’re being healthy by consuming veggies, but in order for you to be able to drink a glass of a slurpee-like texture of mixed greens you may have a tendency to add sugar to make it more palatable. If you don’t do this and actually take it straight up, then good for you! But if you’re part of the percentage that adds sugar then you have a problem. Most times there are at least six teaspoons of sugar in a regular green juice. That’s almost as much sugar to be found in a can of soda. And if you think about it, if this is all you take, you miss out on other important nutrients, but pack on the sugar. So, if you’re really serious about this, you need to cut out the sugar.

Nuts – Now how can nuts make you gain weight, you ask? How can these wee-things make you heavier? They’re so small and innocent looking. And therein lies the problem. Once you start with one piece you won’t even notice you’ve already had two handfuls. Do you know that an ounce of peanuts or almonds has 14 grams of fat and around 160 calories? These are actually called trigger food—it’s very hard to stop or control yourself once you put one in your mouth. What you can do is run in the opposite direction when you see nuts. Any nuts. Kidding aside. If you need to have them, then the best way is to just sprinkle some on salads. That way you get to have nuts, but not go overboard.

Dried Fruits – Now how can fruits make you gain weight? It’s fruits! What’s more, it’s been dried up! How bad can it be? It can since it’s like candy. A half-cup of dried apricots has 25 grams of sugar and around 107 calories. Manufacturers most often add sugar to these. So snacking on these can really add the pounds.

Gluten-Free Snacks – When you see ‘gluten-free’ your first thought usually is “weight loss”. It’s true that a lot of people have lost a lot of weight going gluten-free. However, when gluten-free snacks like pizzas, cookies and cereals started lining up shelves in stores a lot of people found trouble losing weight Why? Because these snacks maybe be gluten-free but are high in sugar and fat. So be careful. You need to check the nutritional information on the back of the packaging to make sure portions do not go over 4 grams of sugar.

Agave – Strict dieters are very particular about artificial sugars. They want all natural. So for sugar they go for Agave. Agave actually packs on more calories than sugar—a teaspoon has around 20 calories versus 15 with sugar. It may be sweeter, so you will tend to use less, but it has been found that Agave, being primarily fructose, may raise triglyceride levels—linked to diabetes and heart disease—when too much is consumed.

Don’t be in a panic thinking these may be the culprits to you gaining weight. All these are still good for you. What you just need to remember is proper portioning and a little bit of discipline and you’ll be on your way to continuing losing weight.