The first thing you did when trying to lose weight was load up on healthy foods. The problem? Even healthy foods can be caloric if you eat too much of them. Think: avocados, hummus, and oil-based salad dressings. In reality, you still need to eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight, no matter how healthy your diet is.
"The one I see most often is the thought that eating 'healthy' is all someone needs to do to lose weight," Allison Childress, PhD, RDN, CSSD, Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Texas Tech University, told POPSUGAR. "I have patients who say, 'I'm eating healthy. I stopped drinking sodas, eating fast food, started drinking more water, etc.' However, what they are not doing is creating a calorie deficit."
Eating healthy is good to get proper macro and micronutrients, but that doesn't necessarily mean you are eating in a calorie deficit.
"We need to be aware that adding 'healthy' foods to our diet can be beneficial, but we will only lose weight if those 'healthy' foods are lower in calories than what we were already eating," she explained.