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Exercising is one of the most important steps you can take to stay healthy. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, maintain weight, or simply take care of your health, working out does wonders for your body. According to Healthline, regular exercise can even help you live longer.
But regardless of how frequently you work out, there are certain foods that can deter you from your fitness goals. According to trainers, there are four foods that no one should ever eat, regardless of how much they work out. Scroll down to learn more.
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Peanut Butter
According to Joe Johnson, qualified fitness instructor of 9 to 5 Nutrition, anyone trying to lose weight should cut peanut butter out of their diets - completely.
He told SheFinds, “Peanut butter is incredibly calorie-dense, meaning it contains a lot of calories for very little food volume. Twenty grams of peanut butter contains around 120 calories, so a very small amount, which isn't likely to help fill you up, could take up 10% of your calories if you were eating 1,200 calories per day.”
“The other issue is that peanut butter contains fat, sugar and salt which triggers the pleasure receptors in the brain, making us crave more,” he added. “This means it's very difficult to stick to a small amount. Twenty grams can easily become 200 grams!”
Soft Drinks
It should come as no surprise that fitness experts agree we should stop drinking soda, but what is a surprise is how hard it is for many people to cut sugary soft drinks out of their routines.
“Of all the foods my clientele have cut out of their diets, soft drinks have been the biggest hurdle in their weight loss journey,” Fitness lifestyle blogger Stephanie Boll told SheFinds. “Studies indicate that the average American drinks a minimum of 5 fluid ounces of soda per day. That is truly staggering, when you consider that these studies factor in people who do not consume any soda whatsoever!
She added, “Beside the weight gain one can expect from consuming the massive quantities of sugar found in soda, health risks range from rapid tooth decay all the way to diabetes. If you want to improve your rate of weight loss, swap the soda for water!”
Protein Bars
Even certain foods advertised as a fitness aid can hinder your exercise goals. Hiba Batool, nutritionist at Marham.pk., warned SheFinds that we should avoid eating protein bars.
“These bars are not only high in protein but in sugars and calories too,” Batool said. “The high protein content in these makes you believe that they only provide protein and nothing else. People on a weight loss journey often find alternatives to their traditional sugary and fatty snacks. Protein bars are one of the easy finds by such people. But protein bars can hamper all your weight loss efforts.”
Dairy
Even though most dairy items are high in protein and calcium, fitness experts recommend anyone trying to lose weight cut down on this food group.
Dairy products contain sugar in the form of lactose,” explained Jacquelyn Markiewicz, Head Trainer and NASM Weight Loss Specialist of RockBox Fitness in Charleston West Ashley. “In my experience, I've also seen a change in my clients that have cut dairy from their meal plans. While following the RockBox 42 day meal plan, which has essentially no dairy in it, except for allowing coffee creamer, we've had members lose 7, 19, 26+ lbs in six weeks and seen significant changes to their body fat percentages!”
