Ingredients to Avoid

TGIF! I'm sure everyone is excited for Friday, except people who work on the weekends, and today on Foodie Fridays, I am going to talk about ingredients you need to avoid when choosing what to eat. I will cover both fast food and food you get at the grocery store. I won't make this too detailed since I know everyone has somewhere to go today. So here's a quick little list to keep in mind over the weekend when you are grocery shopping or eating out.

Avoid These When Eating Out
- Cheeses, unless locally made
- Condiments, except oils and vinegars
- Bread, unless made that day at the bakery
- Red Meat, unless local beef
- Chips and Salsa at Mexican Restaurants, I know this one is brutal for my Houston peeps.
- Only thing healthy at a Chinese Restaurant are the lettuce wraps.
- Sauces, unless homemade, Olive Garden sauces are horrible for you.

Avoid These at the Grocery Store
- If you need a chemistry degree to understand items on an ingredient list, you probably shouldn't eat or drink it.
- Avoid the middle aisles at the store as much as possible, this is where all the processed foods are located.
- "Enriched" or "bleached" listed on your bread is just not good for you.
- Low fat options of food are usually not better for you because they have more calories and sodium most of the time. Sodium and calories combined is a lot worse for you than fat that often is good for you.
- Soups. I have not found one soup that is remotely low in sodium.
- Cereal. Yup, all of them.
- Always get Whole Milk

That should be enough items to piss you off. LOL. This is a pretty strict list to follow, but if you can try to achieve them all, you will definitely notice your stomach getting flatter even without working out. Start off by following a few rules if you want and work yourself up to more.

Although you might feel that I have just taken the fun out of eating, I will tell you that I follow this list pretty strictly and I eat new and exciting meals everyday. Get creative and use Google to find millions of recipes and options for when you go out. Keep it local when choosing a restaurant. Have a good weekend!