Unhealthy Grocery Foods You Should Avoid

Grocery shopping isn't just about snatching deals, at least not if you're looking to lose weight by the food that you toss into your cart. Too often we rush the process of grocery shopping, putting more effort into reading the price tags than the nutritional facts. You don't need to fill your bag with fruits and veggies, but you should make a conscious decision when deciding between some popular food items. The best-selling book, EAT THIS, NOT THAT! has helped thousands of people improve their health by making simple food swaps. To better guide you through the grocery lanes, here are few items to avoid and similar alternatives to choose from instead.

Let's begin with breakfast. By now we should know to avoid the obvious harmful mchoice... any box with cartoon characters are likely full of chocolaty sweetness and excess sugar. But if you think choosing Quaker's 100% Natural Granola, Oats, Honey & Raisins is a good choice because of the evident ingredients, take a closer look. One cup has 420 calories, 12 grams of fat and 30 grams of sugar! You'll probably get the same amount of sugar in a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and just be missing out on the flavor. Instead, grab the box of
Kashi GOLEAN with 140 calories, 1 gram of fat and only 6 grams of sugar. There's no granola in this cereal, which although is believed to be healthy is often loaded with sugars.

Frozen Pizza... we love you for you simplistic convenience! But don't grab the deep dish kind with loaded toppings like DiGiorno's for One Garlic Bread Crust Supreme Pizza filled with 850 calories, 1,450 mg sodium and 44 grams of fat. The crust is too thick and the toppings are oozing in frozen grease. Try a smart alternative like South Beach Diet's Deluxe Pizza. You can still enjoy all your favorite toppings but with half the calories, sodium and fat as DiGiorno's.

When you have a sweet tooth, it's hard to avoid your craving. You don't need to eliminate tasty treats from your shopping list, just choose a smart alternative. Don't take Toll House's Ice Cream Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches; one alone carries 520 calories and 23 grams of fat. That's equivalent to lunch consisting of 2 slices of pizza. Grab Skinny Cow's Low Fat Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich instead which only has 140 calories and 2 grams of fat (you can probably even afford to eat two!) Now that's eating smart!

Source: Eat This, Not That! By: David Zinczenco