by Ann Major

Created on: December 20, 2008   Last Updated: March 16, 2011

People struggling with weight gain and various diet plans are well acquainted with which common foods and food groups to avoid. However, by limiting the intake of these foods, one should ensure replacing them with better nutritional and healthier substitutes, and that the remedy suits the cure.

The first cardinal rule is to avoid the following popular snack foods:  potato chips, ice cream, sodas, pastries, and chocolate bars. They are no-nos because they are easily accessible, easily consumed, difficult to control portion-wise and they pack on the calories when one is trying to satisfy a craving. 

As for baking and cooking ingredients, limiting intake of anything that is classified as a"white" food will go a long way in losing weight. Therefore, stay away from anything made with white flour, white sugar, bread, rice, pasta, etc. Instead, replace these popular carbs with healthier versions. Manufacturers are heading in the right direction as the latest marketing ploy is to put more fiber into breakfast cereals and breads by fortifying with whole grains and added flax or bran to popular foods.

Condiments:

 It's not always the foods being consumed that are the culprits to weight gain, but dressings and sauces which go along with each meal.  Seasoning food with extra salt, using ketchup and mayonnaise, covering salads with rich dressing add extra unneeded calories that often go unnoticed in the fight to lose weight.  An overload of salt leads to water retention and extra rich condiments become fat storage.  Instead, try using better alternative condiments such as mustard, Mrs. Dash, balsamic vinegar or lemon to put some punch into one's meals.

The Good Fats:

Not all fats are bad, so as long as one tries to stay away from saturated fats (from animal sources) and trans fats. By focusing on unsaturated fats from sources such as olive and nut oils;  essential fatty acids from fish such as salmon, mackerel, cod, etc. are actually beneficial to one's health, aiding in weight loss and weight maintenance.

Sugar Free Soft Drinks:

It is well-known that soft drinks are empty calorie foods, plus they leach important minerals such as calcium and magnesium from one's body.  At the same time, the verdict is not in concerning sugar-free drinks sweetened with aspartame, splenda or sucralose. Stevia, the newest kid on the block has been approved by the FDA to be used in soft drinks by a prominent soft drink manufacturer. Latest findings on

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