Why Even Healthy Foods Can Make You Fat

By April Daniels Hussar, SELF magazine

You may think that as long as you stick with a few smart food choices during the week, you're in the clear when it comes to gaining unwanted weight and staying healthy. Alas, even if you only eat slimming foods, if you're eating the same thing over and over again, you're not doing your future bikini body any favors.

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SELF contributing experts Willow Jarosh, R.D., and Stephanie Clarke, R.D., co-founders of C&J Nutrition, say that while choosing the least processed foods you can find, eating fruits and veggies and opting for lean protein (or fatty fish) is ideal, it is possible to gain weight by eating too much of even the most nutritious choices.

"In terms of variety, think of the nutrition of your diet on a weekly basis," they say. "Over the course of a week, you want to eat foods that provide you with the variety of nutrients that your body needs to maintain, repair and grow."

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So, if you're eating the same foods each day, over the course of the week you'll be getting a LOT of the nutrients in those foods, but lacking the nutrients that other foods provide. And an unbalanced diet is not conducive to sustained weight loss. "You actually can lose weight on an unbalanced diet," say Jarosh and Clarke, "but you can't lose weight healthfully -- and unhealthful weight loss isn't sustainable."

That's not to say you need to eat a completely unique meal for each meal, every day of the week. Jarosh and Clarke recommend switching up your fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds. For example, if you have cereal with banana and walnuts one morning, try cereal with diced apple and pistachios the next. Or, if you're eating turkey and cheese wraps every day, try adding purple cabbage slaw one day, shredded carrots and celery the next, salsa and avocado the next, etc.

Now, keep in mind: Studies have found that having a bigger variety of foods around can lead to eating more of those foods, but as long as you're not stocking your pantry with a variety of fattening foods, this can work in your favor, Jarosh and Clarke say. Keep a larger variety of the foods you want to eat more of -- fruits, veggies, nuts/seeds, lean protein, fatty fish, whole grains, etc. -- and keep less variety of the foods you want to eat less of (sweet treats, for instance).

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Too much variety isn't an issue, say Jarosh and Clarke, unless the variety you're getting is of less healthful foods. "From a purely portion-control standpoint, having too many options at each meal and trying try a bit of each would mean going overboard on calories for the meal, and that's not be a positive thing," they say. "But, if you get bored easily and lose interest in healthful eating unless your taste buds are consistently being given new flavors, then frequently changing meals might be a great solution to keep you consistent in your healthful eating."

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