Foods to Avoid on Your 90-Day Challenge

In addition to your Vi-Shakes, Nutra-Cookies and energy drinks, it is important to watch what you are eating while on your 90-Day Challenge. The shakes can replace two meals a day and the Nutra-Cookies will help fuel your body and quell your hunger, but from time to time you may find you’re still hungry between meals.  Everyone knows that having a hamburger or pizza is going to negatively affect their weight loss goals, but what about foods that fall in the gray area? Snacking from time to time may be something you really enjoy, so if you’re going to do it, you might as well be smart about it! Here is a list of four seemingly ‘harmless’ and ‘healthy’ foods that you should strive to avoid while on your Challenge.

Low-Fat Ice Cream

Everyone loves ice cream right!?  And low-fat sounds so great doesn’t it?Unfortunately, it sounds a lot better than it actually is for you. For example, Häagen-Dazs Low-Fat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt has 21 grams of sugar in a half-cup serving (nearly double the amount in real ice cream). That half-cup serving alone will take up almost your entire recommended daily sugar intake! There are obviously other types of low-fat ice cream out there, but to be safe I recommend trying to stay away from low-fat ice cream in general.

Greek Yogurt (Certain Kinds)

Greek yogurt can be a bit of a double-edged sword depending on what type you get. There is no denying that Greek yogurt is a great source of protein (about 15 grams) and calcium (25% of your daily value in 1 cup), however some types may be packing on too many calories. For example, Fage Total Plain Classic Greek Yogurt has 23 grams of fat and about 300 calories in a single cup. If you’re a big fan of Greek yogurt I would recommend steering clear of the whole milk kind and instead enjoy the 2% fat version which only has 150 calories in a single cup. Another option would be Fage Total 0% Plain Greek Yogurt which is still a great source of protein (20 grams) yet has no fat and only 120 calories.

White Rice

White rice is considered to be a high glycemic carbohydrate which is quickly broken down into glucose.  The problem with high glycemic carbs is that they actually stimulate your appetite which in turn makes you more hungry. Thankfully there is an easy alternative to white rice: brown rice. Brown rice is a low glycemic carb that won’t stimulate your appetite.

Cream of Wheat

Similar to white rice, cream of wheat is a high glycemic carb which enters and leaves the stomach without giving you the satisfaction of feeling full. Other than being a high glycemic carb, there really aren’t any major downsides to cream of wheat; however there are a number of alternatives that you should look into instead. A few examples are oats, oatmeal or even oat brand. Remember- stay away from high glycemic carbs!

It is important to remember that many of the ‘low-fat’ and ‘low-carb’ foods out there often compensate for the lack of fat or carbs with too much of something else. No matter what type of diet or Challenge you’re on, never forget that moderation will be one of the main pillars of your success. If I listed one of your favorite snacks, there’s no need to panic! Just try to find a healthier alternative or minimize your consumption of that item.