With the growing trend of clean eating, it’s important to highlight an essential point: calories still count even when you’re eating clean, because simply, even if you are consuming healthy items, too much of them will get you gaining weight. 

Coconut oil: A very beneficial and tasty oil, coconut oil is used in many clean eating recipes; but did you know that 2 tablespoons of it account for 240 calories?

Smoothies: Everyone is now drinking fruit and vegetable smoothies, and that’s great because it’s an easy way to get your daily servings of fruits and vegetables. However, adding too many fruits in a smoothy means a lot of extra calories, so try to have more veggies and fewer fruits, to get the nutritional value without the excess calories.

Granola: The serving size of granola shouldn’t be more than ¼ of a cup, not an entire bowl like most people are doing. Granola may be a healthy cereal, but too much of it is a definite weight gain. 

Nut butters: Having a snack with nut butter is great for your heart; spreading it on toast or an apple for example. But these butters are not only loaded with nutrients but with calories too, so think twice before indulging in spoonfuls out of the jar.

Energy bars: Although energy bars are great on-the-go, make sure to check the label for the calories, because some bars, no matter how healthy they are, can have hundreds of calories stacked in them. 

Dried fruit: Another great idea for a nutritious and fulfilling snack, dried fruits usually have twice the amount of calories than the fresh ones, so make sure not to overeat.

No matter what you are eating, whether it is healthy or not, it’s important to listen to what your body is telling you, eat slowly and focus on what you are eating so that you can enjoy it. 

Christelle Bedrossian
Dietitian-Nutritionist
Beirut, Lebanon