Healthy eating mistakes that are interfering with your weight loss goals

GREEN JUICES

Just because models and celebrities drink green juice doesn’t mean they’re right for you. If your goal is to get more veggies and you have trouble meeting your quota, green juice can help you fill the gaps. But if you’re sufficiently meeting your produce needs or you’re trying to lose weight, green juice can be tripping you up. In many cases, these sips have more fruit than veggies, which means more sugar, calories and carbs, and truthfully, none of us need any of those nutrients in excess. And I’ve seen people whose weight loss stalled because they added a green juice, or even worse, crept up. No matter what your health goals are, the best green juices are those made predominantly with vegetables. Even better are those that are blended rather than extracted. Blending retains the fiber — a beneficial nutrient that’s removed from juice.

PORTION PROBLEMS

I was recently scanning food blogs when I was lured in by a beautiful avocado smoothie bowl recipe. Upon reading the instructions, which listed the recipe as one serving, I noticed it called for three bananas and one mango, among other things. Certainly fruit is healthy, but anything — even healthy food — can be eaten in excess. Any time you overeat, it can interfere with weight loss or worse, cause weight gain. And some foods, while perfectly tolerable in proper portions, can lead to extra gas and bloating if overconsumed. (Excess fructose from too much fruit can have this effect.) The extra carbs, calories and sugar from all this fruit can be problematic, even though it comes with a slew of vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Portion size is influenced by a number of factors. Eating a ‘handful’ of almonds might mean something different in my hand compared to yours. A drizzle of olive oil can vary, depending on who’s pouring, and the avocado mash on your toast might be too little or too much, depending on your needs. If your clothes aren’t fitting as well as you’d like, you’re dealing with excess bloat, or your energy could use a lift, you may need to right-size your portion sizes. It’s not necessary to start weighing and measuring all your food at each sitting, but it could be helpful to do that once or twice until your eyeballs adjust to the amount.