Original Article by Liz Ritter.
When you're contemplating getting a CoolSculpting treament or have already received a treatment, it's important to eat healthy. This list of five foods from NewBeauty.com points us in the direction of foods we should avoid if we don't want belly fat. And I think it's safe to say that's all of us.
Is the war on belly fat leaving you feeling like you are always in a losing battle? “Belly fat is
something you have a lot more control over than you realize,” says
Traci D. Mitchell, nationally recognized health and fitness coach, and
author of The Belly Burn Plan.
“And the foods you should eat are as important as the foods you should
avoid when it comes to offloading weight, particularly through your
midsection.” Here are Mitchell’s five big food offenders that you should
steer clear of to banish belly fat from your body.
Just Eating Egg Whites
Egg whites aren't
inherently bad, but avoiding the healthy fat, vitamins and minerals in
egg yolks shortchanges you on all the benefits this food offers. More
importantly, when people go out of their way to avoid whole eggs, they
often do it to avoid fat. Avoiding fat is probably one of the biggest
mistakes someone with belly fat can make. Eating a little more fat helps
to regulate blood sugar levels and therefore insulin, both of which,
when unruly, are signs that belly fat will be a problem. Instead, eat
the whole egg. In fact, eat a couple. Your body and belly will thank you!
Low-Fat Flavored Yogurt
Yogurt is
another food that in its plain, full-fat form is pretty healthy. But,
through the manipulation of chemicals, sugar and an incredible amount of
processing, that once-healthy yogurt has become a hotbed of trouble for
our bodies. Whether it's conventional or organic, fruit-flavored yogurt
often contains as much as 9 teaspoons of sugar per serving. If the
sugar isn't there, then artificial sweeteners, like aspartame and
sucralose, are there to take its place. Just like someone with belly fat
needs a little more dietary fat, they also usually need to avoid sugar.
Quick fix: Grab a container of plain yogurt and dress it up with walnuts, cinnamon, chia seeds or fresh berries.
Energy Bars
Like low-fat flavored yogurt, many energy bars have
anywhere between 4 and 10 teaspoons of sugar per bar—and there is
nothing healthy about eating that much. When we eat this much sugar,
especially if it isn't buffered by protein or fat, we end up hungry a
short time later. This hunger, usually triggered by a quick rise and
fall in blood sugar levels, calls on insulin to help balance things out.
In this case, think of insulin as your "fat storage hormone."
Single-Serving Oats
You might think that
you're better off eating a single-serving packet of oats because it will
help you control your portions better, but it does you no good if that
portion is laden with sugar.
Many single-serving packets of oats contain 4 to 5 teaspoons of sugar
per serving. They're also pretty low on protein and fat, too.
Smoothies
Mitchell says this is one food category
that she has a love/hate relationship with. “I love them when I can
make them at home on a warm summer morning, but I hate them when I see
people lined up to order a 16 ounce beverage that contains upward of 15
teaspoons of sugar per serving.”
Quick fix: Use ingredients like avocado, spinach, gelatin or chia seeds.
Bottom line: Above all, when it comes to getting rid of belly fat, focus on the quality of what you're eating. If you're eating processed or packaged foods often, be aware of added sugar. Finally, don't be afraid of fat or protein. They help keep you full and keep blood sugar levels on an even keel.