The following are foods that you should avoid when you are seeking to lose 10 pounds in 10 days, or any time you are watching your weight.  In fact, these foods are good to avoid…period:

Ÿ         Fast foods

Ÿ         Fried foods

Ÿ         Products marked low fat or diet

Ÿ         Cookies

Ÿ         Candy

Ÿ         Cakes and other sweets

Ÿ         Frozen foods

Notice that this list does not include words like “carbs” or “trans fats”  This is because dieting to lose weight is not a complicated plan.  You do not have to cut out all of the foods that you eat or eat just protein, although you should increase your protein intake.  You just have to avoid foods that are diet saboteurs.

Fast Foods

Fast foods are usually fried, greasy, high in fat, high in sugar, processed with chemicals or high in sodium.  The first thing that you want to avoid when you are seeking a way to lose weight are any fast foods.  That means any of them.  Many of them are disguising themselves as “healthy foods.”  They’re not.  In order for fast food giants like McDonald’s to offer salads, they have to be able to buy the ingredients so that they can be stored and distributed all over the country.  Those “diet salads” often have more calories in them than some of the sandwiches, especially if you add the dressing, which is usually high in fat and sugar.

Take your lunch.  Even if you take a peanut butter sandwich from home, you are still getting less calories than you would if you ate at fast food restaurants.  Actually, peanut butter, although fatty, is very good for you as it is a good source of protein.  You just do not want to overdo it.

One of the first things that you need to do if you are going to lose 10 pounds in 10 days is to give up the idea of eating out.  Skip the muffin that you get in the morning and the lunch that you eat at a fast food joint in the afternoon.  Take your lunch for 10 days and you will see a difference in your weight.

When I wanted to take off weight in the past, the first thing I did was eliminate McDonald’s from my diet.  I used to like McDonald’s, but knew that a Big Mac, an order of fries and a Coke were more calorie content than my body needed for one meal (that typical menu is 1300 calories).  I was never big on calorie counting and prefer to do things simple, but I knew that the calories that I consumed for fast foods were more than those consumed from foods that I brought from home and didn’t really fill me up.  Make eating fast foods the first thing that you eliminate if you are trying to lose weight.

Do not be fooled by Subway ads that say you can lose weight by eating their foods.  They consist of processed meats and cheeses that are not good for you, either.  In order for fast foods to be mass produced as they are, they have to be treated with chemicals.  If you want a vegetable sandwich, make it at home and bring it to work.

Fried Foods

Fried foods are delicious.  Even bugs would taste good if they were deep fried.  But foods that are deep fried are high in fat, usually unsaturated fat.  While many restaurants are getting rid of trans fats in their foods, due to demands by the FDA and other legal authorities, fried foods are high in fat and are not good for any diet.  They are also high in calories.  Eat foods that are broiled or barbequed if you want to lose weight and stay away from anything fried.

Many people eat fried foods because they are inexpensive and filling.  But fried foods are one of the main reasons why people put on weight in the first place.  They do not offer you the nutritional value that you need for your body and what little value they do have is diminished by the fact that they are fried.  When you cook, use a George Foreman Grill to make meats and even grill vegetables.  If you have to use any oils so foods will not stick, use Extra Virgin Olive Oil.