What Not to Eat to Lose Weight Fast

Overview

Making the right dietary choices and avoiding foods that contain high amounts of calories, fats and sugars is important for successful weight loss. Make the right choices by checking the food labels at the grocery store and the calorie contents when eating out. You can access the nutritional information for most of the popular restaurants, fast food joints and coffee houses online.

Fried Foods

You should avoid fried foods always. One medium serving of french fries contains around 370 calories and 19 grams of fat. One fried chicken breast has around 570 calories and 35 grams of fat. You can cut hundreds of calories and dozens of grams of fat from your diet by eating baked and grilled foods instead of fried ones. Switch your regular fast food fries to oven baked fries. One medium serving has only around 150 calories and 4 grams of fat. Also, switch your fried and breaded chicken to grilled rotisserie chicken breast, which contains only 300 calories and 4 grams of fat.

Soft Drinks and Juices

We all know that regular soft drinks are full of calories and sugars. What may be a surprise for many, is that 100 percent fruit juices also contain lots of sugars and calories. One can of regular soda has anywhere from 120 to 200 calories and one cup of juice -- about half the volume of the soda -- has around 100 calories. Although, one cup will not hurt you, drinking several cups a day adds up quickly. Switch these to calorie-free flavored water or diet soda.

Sugary Treats

You should avoid sugary treats that are full of empty calories and lack essential vitamins and minerals. Besides the typical jam, candy, ice cream, pastries, doughnuts, and muffins, there are several common foods in this category that you might not even realize. Sugary cereals, granola, energy and snack bars, and bagels may sound good but can contain staggering amounts of sugar and calories. As an example, a bowl of granola oats and honey can have 420 calories, 12 g fat and 30 g of sugars. Switch this to a bowl of shredded wheat cereal with fresh berries and save 200 calories.

Coffee Drinks

Caramel latte sound delicious but can contain a whopping 1,300 calories, 60 g of fat and over 100 g of sugar. This equals almost a days worth of calories for some individuals. Order the light or sugar-free coffee drinks with fat free milk instead. These can contain as few as 60 calories for the same size.

Pizza and Pasta

We all know that restaurant pizza and pasta dishes contain high amounts of calories and fats. However, you can cut hundreds, even thousands of calories, by making the right choices when picking the crust and toppings or your pasta sauce. As an example, a large normal crust pepperoni pizza with 10 servings, has around 2,900 calories and 140 g of fat. Whereas, a large thin crust chicken Mediterranean pizza with 10 servings, has around 1,800 calories and 90 g of fat. Always choose a thin crust pizza with healthy toppings like grilled chicken, spinach, artichoke, and olives. Avoid Alfredo's and other creamy pasta sauces. Choose tomato based pasta dishes instead.