You’re trying to lose weight.  You buy all the “right” foods.  The label says it’s low fat, so it must be healthy.  You eat low fat snacks and have low calorie lunches right out of the microwave and haven’t lost a single pound.  Sound familiar?

These marketing messages screaming “Low Fat” are messing with our brains.  We’ve lost our ability to find foods that are naturally low in fat, low in calories, and healthy vs. nonhealthy fat.  We’re trusting the food manufacturers – who want to sell their products – to tell us what’s healthy.  Fruits and vegetables are low cal, low fat foods.  They just aren’t labeled that way.

If you really want to lose weight, you need to eat more fresh produce and less low calorie processed frozen dinners.  Lean Cuisine is not your friend!  Get back to eating freshly prepared foods and cut the “carbage” (garbage carbohydrates) out of your diet.  Those 100-calorie snack packs?  Don’t buy them!  No ingredients in chips, crackers, pretzels, or sweets will promote fat loss.  Skinny Cow?  You know desserts won’t help you lose weight.

All of our food can be placed in one of three macronutrient categories:  carbohydrates, protein and fat.  Fruits and vegetables and wheat-based products fall into the carbohydrates.  Meat, eggs, fish and beans are proteins.  Avocado, nuts, olives, flaxseed are all healthy fats.  Notice I mentioned fruits and vegetables are a carbohydrate?  Start choosing them as your carbohydrate sources over the nutrient-void carbage and you’ll be on your way to losing weight.

Stop looking for low fat or low calorie recipes for desserts just so you can say you’re eating healthier.  Instead, look for recipes that include more vegetables.  Eat vegetables with every meal.  Choose two sides of vegetables rather than one vegetable and one starch.

If your low calorie food is not rich in vitamins and minerals and fiber, than it has poor nutrient quality.  Shop for quality.  It’s what your body needs to lose weight.