Whilst we really wish a diet made up entirely of cake and Ben & Jerry’s was acceptable, we’ve come to realise that a healthy, balanced approach to food is the key. Over the last few years, clean eating has exploded all over social media and the press, hailed as the key to feeling great – plus, it allows us to eat all the avocado we can manage. What’s not to love?
Done right, clean eating can make you feel a million dollars. However, more and more dieters are beginning to realise that some of their favourite “healthy” snacks and meals are just as unhealthy as their sugar- and fat-filled counterparts – and may actually be sabotaging their healthy eating regimes.
Take a look at some of the most commonly confused foods below – which of these are your dieting downfalls?
Avocado On Toast
Sorry, guys – avocado on toast isn’t as virtuous as we’re led to believe. Lots of smashed-avo-on-rye recipes call for a drizzle of olive oil on the top, layers of smoked salmon underneath and thick cuts of bread – all piling extra calories and fats into your mid-morning snack. Instead, try crushing an avocado on crispbreads and finishing with lemon juice, salt and pepper – halving the calories by ditching the bread and added extras.
Smoothies
Who doesn’t LOVE a freshly blended smoothie first thing in the morning? We certainly do. However, whilst full of vitamins and minerals, an average smoothie contains around 200 calories, predominantly coming from fruit and vegetable sugars – almost as much as a large, full-fat Coke. Eek.
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Overnight Oats
Oh, overnight oats – how we love you. Our breakfast saviour, these Mason jars of deliciousness are giving our colleagues all sort of food envy in the mornings – yet they’re not as good for us as we’d think. Nutritionists are having a field day over the toppings we keep adding to our angelic breakfasts – jams, yoghurts, raisins, nut butters and cacao chips make the sugar and calorie content of your oats skyrocket, becoming more of a dessert than a cereal (with some recipes containing a whopping 500 calories or more). Ditch the toppings and opt for lower-calorie milks and yoghurts to flavour instead.
Dried Fruits
Remember getting a little packet of raisins in your lunchbox at school? We do. If you’ve ever chosen malted fruit loaf over cake in a bid to cut the calories, or snacked on handfuls of dried apricots at your desk, you could be making a crucial diet mistake. Water is removed from dried fruits, so you need to eat a considerably bigger quantity in order to feel full than if it were fresh – plus, many types of raisins, sultanas, apricots and mangoes are coated in sugar. Not quite as healthy as we first thought…
Vegetable Chips
We often feel like polishing our halo when we opt for veggie crisps over the crinkle-cut potato variety, but in reality, they’re just as bad (boo). Because they’re still deep-fried, the calories and fat are equally as high as regular crisps; if you’re craving carbs, choose popped potato chips instead, which taste just as good but boast a considerably lower amount of fat. You’re welcome…
Okay, okay: that's a pretty demoralizing list. If we've just shattered all your avocado dreams, it's time to treat yourself - to a new handbag, that is - at MyBag: discover some of our favourites below.
Images property of Huffington Post.
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