Candy Bars Stick to Your Hips

In the time between lunch and dinner you might have a snack to keep that growling tummy and the hunger causing it at bay. If you choose to eat a candy bar, your hunger may stay away, but unfortunately the fat will not. Candy bars stick to your hips and slow you down.
 
Some women say that certain foods go straight to their hips. Imagine all of those foods attached to the outside of your clothing as you jog on the treadmill. When you get off, it’s still there. That’s not good.

When we lose weight, it’s because our calorie intake is less than our calorie output. Depending on how much less, your body begins to use stored fat as fuel and the weight you have on you begins to melt away. Okay, it might not quite melt away, but you get the picture.

It’s okay to treat yourself when you are on a healthier eating plan, but not with food. Most of the foods we consider to be “treats” are things we might actually want and need to stop eating altogether in order to get the weight off. Candy bars? Yes, they fall into this category.

Let’s face it no matter how hard you try you can’t rationalize eating a candy bar. It doesn’t represent any major food groups you need to eat but does represent the ones that can and should be limited. Milk chocolate doesn’t count as dairy any more than peanut nougat counts as protein.

What is it about candy bars that you love? It is the sugar of course. Eating sugar makes you crave more sugar. Candy bars are so small, that eating one might not satisfy your appetite even if it is filled with peanuts. If you read the nutrition label, your candy bar snack could contain more than one serving which means if you eat the entire bar, you are ingesting double the fat and calories listed on that label.

Candy bars also contain a lot of saturated fats. These are bad fats that you want to do your best to minimize when on a healthy eating plan. Saturated fats raise our bad cholesterol levels (LDL) which can lead to atherosclerosis, stroke, or heart disease. The word “bad” is being used often here but LDL cholesterol and saturated fats are known health offenders. There is a daily intake guideline for saturated fat (less than 20 grams for those on a 2,000 calorie diet) but one candy bar can push you close to that limit. That’s not good considering it doesn’t take into account any saturated fat included your other meals throughout the day.