If you’re having trouble losing weight, it might be a good idea to check that you’re not overeating any of these sneaky high calorie foods.
It might seem obvious. High calorie foods will increase your overall calorie intake, potentially pushing you past your target. If you think you’re consuming 2,000 calories and you’re actually hitting 2,500 calories, then your weight loss attempts are likely to falter before you even start.
Most of the time, you don’t even realize that you’re taking in all these extra calories.
So let’s take a look at these high calorie foods that might be preventing you from losing weight!
Discover What These Sneaky High Calorie Foods Are
I know what you’re probably thinking. You’re careful about what you eat, and there’s no way these sneaky high calorie foods are affecting your diet…
The truth is, most people will be consuming at least one of the following products. The problem isn’t in eating them; it’s in underestimating how much you’re having and how high the calorie content is.
1. Peanut butter
There are 100 calories in one tablespoon of peanut butter. How much are you putting on your toast? Most people probably use a LOT more than 1 tablespoon (guilty!).
2. Tahini
1 tablespoon of tahini contain approximately 90 calories.
3. Muesli / Granola
½ cup of a typical toasted muesli or granola can have around 220 calories.
4. Honey
1 tablespoon has 64 calories.
5. Trail Mix
½ cup trail mix can have as much as 346 calories!
6. Avocado
1 average sized avocado will have approximately 240 calories.
7. Crisps / Potato Chips
A small packet of salt and vinegar crisps has 184 calories.
8. Coconut Milk
An 8-ounce glass (250mL) has 550 calories.
9. Olive Oil
1 tablespoon has 120 calories.
10. Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon has approximately 90 calories.
11. Nuts
I know we’ve already covered peanut butter, but 22 peanuts are the same as 200 calories! And ¼ cup of almonds or cashews is about 200 calories.
The Real Problem With The Sneaky High Calorie Foods
The real issue is not that these foods are high in calories, because many of them are healthy. It is that you don’t realize just how high they are!
The other problem is that with these foods, it’s easy to eat a LOT of them without even realizing how many calories you’ve just eaten! Portion control with these foods is tough!
The Best Way To Deal With These Sneaky Foods
Wiping them out from your diet is not a good long term solution (you don’t want to cut out any foods if you don’t have to!). If you enjoy these foods, then include them in your diet. If you cut them out, you might start to crave them and could then be tempted to binge on them.
Don’t Forget About Them
Try to make sure you don’t forget about the calories in these foods, and you account for them if you’re counting calories.
If you don’t consider the calories in a tablespoon of olive oil and you cook with it every day, you could be adding hundreds of extra calories to your diet each day!
The calorie content for each item might seem fairly small but you can easily consume a lot of each piece of food.
Journal It
By creating a food journal you’ll be able to verify if your calorie intake is the same as what you think it is. You’ll also be able to see how often you’re using sneaky high calorie foods. This will allow you to work out the best way of removing them or managing them each week.
Portion Control
You should also consider your portion control of these foods (easier said than done, I know!).
If you are watching your calorie intake, then make sure your food is in the right size portion. This will help to ensure you don’t over eat and add unnecessary calories.
To effectively lose weight you need to monitor and plan every aspect of your eating habits.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t eat out or enjoy a meal / snack with friends. All it means is that you need to be a bit more aware of what you are actually consuming.
The calories in certain items can have a far more significant impact on your weight loss efforts than you realize. Knowledge is power :) xx
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