Is Your Health Food Actually Junk Food in Disguise?

Sometimes we believe things because we want them to be true. We’ve been told that a health smoothie is good for you and it’s actually freaking delicious. So, why look at the ingredients and ruin a good thing, right?

Sadly, a little bit of research can show us why we’re struggling to lose weight. This is the danger of fake-health-food. You try to “be good” and do all the right things, meanwhile, something you’re trusting to be healthy is actually sabotaging all of your efforts.

Watch out for these hidden dangers.

The Fit For Life Zesty Chicken Burrito

Fit For Life shops have become a staple of food courts in office buildings and malls everywhere. They market themselves as healthy food for people on the go.

Most of their food is fairly safe, but the chicken burrito is an absolute bomb. Please, never, ever order this if you want something healthy. Don’t let the chicken fool you. It has 850 calories and 29 grams of fat. A Big Mac, small fry and Diet Coke only has slightly more calories.

It does have 33 grams of protein, but you can certainly get that much protein from a lot of other places.

Just About Any Salad in Any Sit-Down Chain Restaurant

If you’re dining out at places like Applebee’s or Outback Steakhouse, it can be almost impossible to eat healthily.

Even if you’re trying to get the healthiest(ish) thing on the menu, it’s still not going to be that healthy. You might be better off just writing off the night as a cheat day, enjoying the experience, and being good the rest of the week.

Say, for example, you tried to be good and you ordered the fresh-sounding Strawberry Fields Salad with Chicken from TGI Friday’s. It should be fine, right? It’s actually 800 calories and 53 g fat.

Or maybe you’re in Cheesecake Factory and want to be reasonably good with their Grilled Chicken Tostada Salad. Grilled chicken means it’s healthy right? Not in this case. You’re actually about to consume almost 1200 calories with your entire day’s worth of sodium.

Breakfast Bars/ Protein Bars

You probably love these tasty little things, and they’re great to eat on the go while you’re in the car or on the train in the morning.

However, most of these bars are marketed as very healthy despite the fact that they have a ton of sugar added and a host of other possible issues.

There are some good ones out there. In fact, Men’s Journal listed 7 bars that you should be pretty OK with.

Store-Bought Granola

Isn’t a bowl of granola the eating staple of healthy people? Not necessarily.

Making your own granola can be a very healthy snack or breakfast. However, when you start to buy it from stores, you really need to turn it around and read those labels. Many of them contain way more sugar (and other additives) than you may expect from a health food. It can also be very high in calories.

The lesson here is that when you’re trying to lose weight, marketing is your enemy and research is your ally. Always look at the label or look it up on your fitness app before assuming it will be healthy.

Random Posts