Never Diet Again with Max Lowery

5 Healthy Foods Sabotaging Weight Loss

• Max Lowery

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You’re eating clean. You’ve ditched the junk. But the weight still won’t budge.

In this episode of Never Diet Again, I expose the hidden ways “healthy” eating might be the very thing keeping you stuck—and explain why so many women over 40 feel tired, frustrated, and out of control around food despite doing everything “right.”

We talk metabolism, cravings, emotional eating, and the truth behind what’s really sabotaging your fat loss progress—and how to turn it all around.

If you're a woman over 40 who’s eating well but still struggling to lose weight—this episode is the perspective shift you didn’t know you needed. 🎧

Watch my The Cravings & Fat-Burning Masterclass:   https://www.neverdietagain.uk/register-podcast

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/max.lowery/

Book a Food Freedom Breakthrough Call: https://calendly.com/maxlowerycoaching/food-freedom-breakthrough-call

Max Lowery:

Have you ever wondered why you can't lose weight, even though you're eating healthily? I've helped over 1,000 women lose weight and keep it off, and this is something I hear every single day. But, max, I only eat healthy food. Why aren't I losing weight? Well, it's because you've been lied to. These so-called healthy foods are the reason you aren't losing weight.

Max Lowery:

In this video, I'm going to reveal the five most misleading healthy foods which are very high in calories or make it very difficult to lose weight. That's even if you're eating clean all the time. You can learn exactly why these foods are so problematic, what makes them encourage weight gain, and I'm going to share the secret hack my clients use to lose weight without feeling hungry. But before I get into these five foods which can sabotage your fat loss, I want to be really clear about something these foods are not inherently unhealthy. In fact, many of them do contain micronutrients, vitamins, fiber and can absolutely be part of a balanced diet. But they're also extremely high in calories and if you're trying to lose weight, they can quietly wreck your progress without you even realizing it. So I'm not saying you need to cut out these foods and these foods are bad. I'm just saying be mindful of your consumption and learn to understand how they fit into your fat loss goals. But even more important than what you eat is why you eat. If you turn to food in moments of stress, boredom or overwhelm, or as a reward, it doesn't matter what foods you cut out or not, because when life gets tough, you'll still reach for food. That's why we don't just help our clients with nutrition. We help them rewire their relationship with food from the inside out. So if you want to learn how we do that and how our clients finally feel in control of the relationship with food, click the link below to get access to the Cravings and Fat Loss Masterclass. So let's get into the foods fat loss masterclass so let's get into the foods. How do you create a life that allows you to lose weight, eat the foods that you love and sustain the results? Over the last 10 years, I've helped thousands of people do exactly that. I'm Max Lowery. I'm an author, personal trainer and weight loss coach. In this podcast, I'm going to share my top tips and tricks from within my one-on-one coaching program. It's my goal to give you the tools and understanding so that you never diet again.

Max Lowery:

This one really frustrates me. You scroll through any health influencers page and there it is Bright crunchy loaded on top of a pretty smoothie, like it's the holy grail of healthy eating. And don't get me started on the supermarket health food aisle it takes up more shelf space than any vegetables. Whenever I onboard a new client and they tell me they're eating this for breakfast, I quietly celebrate Because I know this one swap alone can make a massive difference. At first glance it looks and sounds healthy Oats, nuts, dried fruit sounds wholesome, right.

Max Lowery:

But here's what no one tells you Granola is one of the most calorie-dense foods you can eat. I do a lot of hiking and long-distance cycling and when I'm packing food for an endurance day, guess what I'm looking for? The highest calorie food per gram. What I'm looking for the highest calorie food per gram. Granola is up there with chocolate, nuts and trail mix 500 calories per 100 grams. And think about this Most people don't weigh their portion. They just pour it over yogurt and suddenly you've added 500 plus calories to a 200 calorie meal. And the worst part, you're still hungry hours later. So essentially, you're starting your day with a dessert disguised as a health food. If you're doing this, I'm willing to bet that you are quietly sabotaging your fat loss. So instead, swap granola for fresh berries or raw oats. You'll feel fuller, consume less calories and keep your progress without sacrificing flavor.

Max Lowery:

This next health food gets me every single time. You want to be healthy, you want to lose weight, so what do you do? You fire up the blender Banana, peanut butter, dates, oat milk, maybe a splash of honey for sweetness. It sounds healthy. It looks healthy and, let's be honest, it tastes incredible. Smoothies have become the modern health badge. They're all over social media, they're colorful, they're in every new gym.

Max Lowery:

But here's the reality. Whenever a client tells me they've swapped meals for smoothies, I know exactly why they're frustrated, because these things are sneaky sugar and calorie bombs and no one's telling the truth about them. I've worked with many women who are gaining weight and couldn't figure out why. One client in particular told me she was skipping meals and just living on smoothies because it felt like the right thing to do. But when we broke it down, she was drinking 500 to 800 calories of mostly carbs and sugar, and still feeling hungry. And this is the problem. Liquid calories don't fill you up the same way real food does. They don't stretch your stomach. They don't trigger fullness hormones properly. So you end up eating again an hour later and your fat loss stalls. And the worst part, you think you're being healthy, but your body is still stuck in sugar burning mode hungry, tired and craving more. If you want to learn more about sugar burning mode and how to reset your body to burn fat, make sure you check out that cravings and fat loss masterclass by clicking the link below. So how do you fix it? Whilst you're in a fat loss phase, I would avoid smoothies and eat whole foods. They're harder to overeat, you'll feel fuller for longer and, as a consequence, you'll eat less calories.

Max Lowery:

This third one is the snack that's secretly sabotaging you. It's a so-called health food, which was born from one of the first ultra-processed food categories ever created Designed for profit, mass-produced, shelf-stable and now repackaged as a healthy lifestyle food. You'll see them in every health aisle Markets as a quick breakfast, a clean gym snack, a high protein grab on the go option. But let me be blunt cereal bars are a con. They're packed with sugar, spiked with cheap oils and loaded with calories that hit you fast and ultimately lead you feeling hungry again just as quickly. And what pisses me off the most is that people have been persuaded to believe these are healthy. And if you're snacking on these regularly, you're not just fueling your body, you're keeping yourself trapped, trapped in a cycle of blood sugar crashes, energy dips and cravings.

Max Lowery:

One client I worked with had these stashed everywhere in her handbag, her car, even at her desk at work. She didn't realize how dependent she'd become on this constant stream of sugar to function. She also didn't realize how many extra calories she was consuming every single day just to feel okay. It was like sugar on life support just to get through the afternoon. And look, I'm not saying these are completely useless. Again, I use them when I'm cycling 300 kilometers or hiking through the Alps, trying to get as many calories in me as possible.

Max Lowery:

But if you're trying to lose weight and you're trying to stabilize your energy levels and regain control of your eating, cereal bars are not your friend. So instead do this. Eat larger, satisfying meals that keep you full for hours. Focus on lean protein and fiber to stabilize your blood sugar. You'll then realize that you don't need to snack on cereal bars. Eat like an adult, not like a child. That's as cool as I can for free. All I ask in return is that you help me spread the word. That way I can help as many people as I can to never diet again. The way to do that is to rate, review and share this podcast. A review will only take 30 seconds, but it would mean the world to me. But, more importantly, it could help change the life of someone else. This next one slips under the radar for nearly everyone, because it's a natural source of protein, which must be good for you, right? Well, no, especially if you're trying to lose weight. Let me explain.

Max Lowery:

Nuts and nut butters are one of those food that health influencers love. A spoon of almond butter on oats, a handful of cashews between meals, a snack-sized portion of trail mix on the go. But here's the truth that no one talks about. These foods are insanely calorie dense and, the worst part, they don't fill you up. I had a client who told me proudly I don't snack on chocolate crisps, just almonds. She was doing her best. She genuinely thought this was a great habit. So I asked her to measure what she was eating. Just a few small handfuls of nuts per day, a spoonful of peanut butter here, another one after dinner and one in her smoothie in the morning. And guess what? Over 700 calories every single day just from nuts and nut butter. That's an entire meal on top of the three meals she was already eating.

Max Lowery:

And here's the kicker most people don't realize, especially vegans. Nuts are not a good source of protein. Yes, they do contain a little bit of protein, but what you're really getting is a ton of fat and calories. Again, they're perfect if you're doing multi-day hikes or long distance cycles, like I do, but if you're trying to lose weight, these foods will silently stall your progress if you're not careful. So what can you do? Measure your nut butter. One tablespoon is 100 to 120 calories maximum. Pair it with real protein, like yogurt, eggs or lean meat, not carbs, and stop treating it as a guilt-free snack. It's not. Nuts are healthy, loads of micronutrients, but they are not magical and they will potentially sabotage your weight loss efforts.

Max Lowery:

And this last one I absolutely love. It is incredibly healthy. It could be labeled as a superfood. You cook with it, you drizzle it over your salad, you saute your vegetables in it. It's olive oil. It's packed with polyphenols, healthy fats and anti-inflammatory compounds. But here's the problem it's also one of the most calorie-dense foods on the planet. Just one tablespoon is 120 calories and most people are pouring two, sometimes three, without even realizing it.

Max Lowery:

So imagine this you make what you think is a low-calorie lunch Grilled chicken, veggies, maybe some rice. You estimate it to be around 600 calories, but you used a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and then another drizzle on top for flavor. That 600 calorie meal becomes over 750 calories. And then you do the same for dinner, and then you do it the same for lunch, and do the next day and the next day and the next day, and suddenly you're consuming two to 400 calories more than you think every single day. And then you're wondering why the weight's not coming off, even though you swear you're doing everything right.

Max Lowery:

I see this all the time with clients. They're eating whole foods, tracking their meals, doing their best, but they're not tracking the oil, because it's healthy and it is. But if you're not being precise, healthy can still lead to weight gain. So we always recommend our clients to use a spray bottle when they're using olive oil, or measure with a teaspoon. Use as little as you can and don't treat it all like a free pass. Treat it like any other calorie dense ingredient. You don't have to cut it out. Just be mindful of how much you're using, because, when it comes to fat loss, tiny, untracked calories add up fast, and olive oil is one of the biggest culprits. So those are the five health foods that might be secretly sabotaging your weight loss.

Max Lowery:

Here's that bonus tip I mentioned earlier. This one hack helps lose weight effortlessly without feeling hungry. All the time, your stomach has stretch receptors and they help signal fullness to your brain. That means you don't just feel full based on calories. You feel full based on how much food is in your stomach. The problem with these five foods is they are known as low volume, high calorie foods, so they are really calorie dense and they don't take up very much space in your stomach.

Max Lowery:

So the ultimate hack to get effortless weight loss without feeling hungry is to focus on foods which are exactly the opposite high volume, low calorie. This is literally hacking your biology. You're going to feel more satisfied. You can eat big meals, but the calories stay low. So here are some examples Leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, berries, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, oranges, melon, courgettes, cucumber, celery, soups and stews, popcorn All of these. You can essentially fill your boots. They are high volume and very low in calories. It's going to be very difficult to push yourself into a calorie surplus with them Essentially any non-starchy vegetable and if you pair these with lean proteins like chicken breast, turkey, mince, white fish, eggs and eggs whites, low-fat Greek yogurt, lentils, beans, chickpeas these combos keep you full without needing willpower.

Max Lowery:

So if you want to eat more food and lose weight, start thinking about volume, not just about calories. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about high volume, low calorie foods. But here's the thing if you're a woman over 40 making these mistakes, I'm willing to bet that your metabolism is likely stuck in sugar burning mode and when that happens, you're constantly hungry, you crave sugar and carbs and your energy levels are all over the place and you just feel completely out of control with food. And the worst part fat loss becomes almost impossible. Long term, this can set the stage for serious issues like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and even Alzheimer's.

Max Lowery:

If you want to fix this for good, make sure you watch this video right here. It will teach you exactly how to reset your body to burn fat. Thanks again for watching this video. If you want to learn more about how we could help coach you to lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life. Click the link below to book in for a food freedom breakthrough call. If not, make sure you check out this video to reset your body to burn fat.