Avoiding These 6 Food Helped Me To Lose Weight

You’ll surely hate me for making this list. I bet these are all your favorites.

If you haven’t read my journey from 102kg to 77kg: How I Lost 25kg of Body Weight, kindly click the link.

Done reading? Let’s dive into the list!

Oops! Hold on.

Disclaimer: What you’re about to read is not a piece of expert advice. I’m not a nutritionist-dietician nor a fitness coach. If you want to lose weight, consult a doctor first. I’m sharing this based on my own experience.

6 Food That I Avoid

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am doing calorie deficit to lose my extra pounds. This means I try to eat fewer calories in a day to achieve my body goal. This list includes some high-calorie food that are oily and sugary.

First on our list,

1.       Burger

When I was still above 100kg, this was my go-to snack. It became almost an addiction when quarter pounders became a hit.

But the thick and greasy patty, fluffy bun, and some tasty sauces make the burger high in calories. Eating too much of this will surely make you fat.

It is already a complete meal. It’s filling. But can you just eat a burger for lunch? I don't think so.

So, what completes a burger meal? That’s second on my list,

2.       French fries

I used to eat five to eight small servings of French fries for free from a burger restaurant in our office building. Every day, I visit their place just to get free fries after answering surveys printed in receipts.

From straight cut to curly and crisscrossed, from plain salted to cheese and barbeque-flavored, French fries have evolved over the years. While it's evolving, so does its calories.

Burger and fries also come with my third item,

3.       Soft drinks/iced tea/juice

I am a fan of these sugary drinks since I was young. Family lunch or celebration wouldn’t be complete without any of the three. I used to drink up to three glasses of iced tea or orange juice in one sitting. As for the soft drinks, I wanted them up-sized along with my fried chicken meal.

But these colored beverages are filled with sugar but no macro and micro-nutrients that your body needs.

Then came my fourth food on the list,

4.       Instant noodles/pancit canton

The OG breakfast of a typical Filipino family. But as years went by, it also became a midnight snack. I used to eat two packs of pancit canton with two or more cups of rice right before I sleep after a stressful day at work.

Imagine, how did my organs process all that food when I was fat? Especially the sodium that the seasonings contain per pack.

Fifth on my list,

5.       Street food

When I was still a student, I used to drop by a food cart on the sidewalk to eat fishballs, kwek-kwek, kikiam, and squidballs. I could still remember how the vendor cooked the food by letting them swim in the boiling oil.

That oil will eventually enter your body after eating and has the potential to stay in the veins of your heart.

Completing my list,

6.       Milktea

If you’re looking for a record-breaking milktea drinker, that would be me... a year and nine months ago. My week wouldn’t be complete without drinking three extra-large cups of this sweet beverage. Yes, I used to drink milktea weekly! No wonder I reached 102kg in 2019.

I also used to request 0% sugar, thinking that it will be healthier. But it wasn’t. The milk, tea, pearls, and some more add-ons all had sugar.

Did I Stop Eating These 6?

No. I did not. Because in calorie deficit, you can eat anything you want as long as it’s in moderation.

Calorie deficit is nothing like keto and low carb diets where you completely cancel a food group, in this case, carbohydrates like rice or bread.

You can still eat what you want or what you crave like rice, cookies, fries, milktea, burgers, as long as it’s under your daily calorie intake requirements. For example, instead of consuming extra-large-sized fries, why not order a small one? That way, you’re in a calorie deficit.

Just to set the record straight, I just avoid the 6 food that I mentioned above. I didn’t stop eating them.

I still eat them but on rare occasions only. Unlike when I was still above 100kg, I used to consume them almost every day or every week.

But Why These 6 Food?

Is it the taste? The price? Some traumatic experience?

No. It’s the availability. I chose the food that I can live without.

While I avoid burgers, fries, soft drinks, instant noodles, street food, and milkteas, I still eat sugary and oily food and go on with my fitness journey. The following will blow your mind:

• Pizza

• Donuts

• Ice cream

• Cookies

• Chips

• Biscuits

• Spaghetti or any kind of pasta

• Cake

• Unli-chicken wings dripping in different flavors

• Pinoy kakanin

This list can go on.

So, this means, I can live without burgers, but not pizzas. Because pizza is a common food during parties, not burgers. In fast-food restaurants, I eat spaghetti and fried chicken (breast part) which is high in protein.

I can live without French fries, but not chips. Because I love to share a bag of chips more than greasy fries.

I can live without soft drinks and instant noodles, but not cake and spaghetti. Because cake is more filling and satisfying than Coke, while spaghetti is more delicious especially when cooked by my mom than instant pancit canton.

I can live without milktea, but not ice cream. Because I just love ice cream.

Before I end this blog, I want to remind you that food is not an enemy. It is us that makes the food unhealthy. It’s fine if you eat sweets or some greasy meal. Just keep in mind to eat in moderation.

Do you avoid any food? Tell me about it in the comment section below.

#fitness #food #motivation #caloriedeficit