When I first started my fitness journey, I began to follow a bunch of fitness Instagram accounts. These accounts gave me healthy recipe ideas, gym workouts, and helped keep me accountable to my goals. Over the years however, I’ve realized that just because a fitness Instagramer does something doesn’t mean you have to and just because they eat something and say it tastes good also does not mean it’s true. I’ve had my fair share of disappointments when someone suggested something, I tried it and it was NOT GOOD. That’s why I decided to write this blog post. Obviously this is very subjective and you may not agree with my opinion but I tend to have very bland taste so if I don’t like something I guarantee the majority of you won’t either.
- First off let’s start with what this blog is all about! WAFFLES! I followed a few people who were fitness competitors so they were tracking their macros and they always talked about the “one carb waffle“. Now, it’s no secret that I LOVE waffles, so when I discovered this I thought it was perfect. The recipe was simple, one scoop of protein powder, one egg and a pinch of baking soda. At this point in my life I was still fairly new to tracking macros and I was trying to eat more protein and a few less carbs. I thought this recipe would help me be able to satisfy my waffle craving and still have a high protein breakfast. I followed the recipe to a T and my waffle came out looking exactly like a waffle! I was ecstatic about this simple and easy recipe until I actually tried it… It may have looked like a waffle but it definitely did NOT taste like a waffle. AT ALL. Waffles are supposed to be light and fluffy and this was very, very dry with almost no flavor. I was determined to like this waffle recipe so I ate the rest of it and made it a few more times (maybe twice) until I realized that it was most definitely not worth it. I guess if you’re trying to eat really low carbs it might be worth it but even then I would highly suggest another low carb option. Also, I noticed that the girls who ate this would top their one carb waffle with oatmeal which is essentially mostly carbs… My advice: put the carbs in the waffle for a 100% better tasting waffle that you will actually enjoy. 🙂 Click here for my high protein waffle recipe that doesn’t taste like dirt. These can also be made into pancakes if you prefer pancakes or don’t have a waffle iron.
- Spindrift. Alright, up next is one I recently discovered from one of my favorite (if not my favorite) fitness inspirations, Whitney Simmons. Sprindrift, a sparkling water that is lightly flavored with fruit juice and only 9 calories per can. Personally, I like flavored water such as Bubly and Le Croix, so I thought this would be even better since it’s more flavored. More flavor = tastier, right? Wrong. So, so wrong. I’m not sure if it’s the flavor I purchased, Raspberry Lime, or if they’re all like this but I’m too afraid to find out. It has a very distinct flavor which I’m not sure I would call raspberry lime and a very bad aftertaste. It’s hard to describe but I will not be purchasing these again. They are more expensive than flavored water, have more calories (although negligible), and not even good. Save your money and buy something else! *Update* My boyfriend tried these and he liked them so maybe it’s just me.
- Quest Bars. This one may be controversial but at the beginning of my fitness journey I was obsessed with Quest Bars. They were one of the only protein bars I knew about and I felt good about eating them since they were healthier than a candy bar and curbed my sweet tooth. Since then, I’ve realized the error of my ways and now every time I have one, I am very disappointed. I will put a disclaimer with this one and say that some flavors of Quest Bars are good, but more often than not, they are far too chewy and dense for my liking. They also have a high amount of fiber in them which causes me to be extremely bloated afterwards and just not feel the best. After years of trying different brands, I’ve realized that there are WAY better tasting bars out there with similar (if not better) nutritional information. The bars I would recommend are located here, if you’re interested in tastier protein bars.
- Apple cider vinegar shots. I should have known this going into it but I saw so many people taking apple cider vinegar shots first thing in the morning and kept reading about the health benefits of it that I had to try it. I took the route of doing a straight shot (I figured I would get it over with as soon as possible) instead of mixing it with water. I later read that this was bad for your esophagus so I would not suggest doing it this way. Not only is it bad for your esophagus but it’s disgusting. I plugged my nose and took the shot and immediately regretted it. It tasted so bad I wanted to throw up and less than a minute later I was running to the bathroom. I assume this was related to the shot but I’m not going to try it again to find out. Apple cider vinegar is supposed to improve digestion among a bunch of other stuff which I guess it did; however, I would not recommend it since it is so gross. I tried this again about a year later except this time I thought I would dilute it in some water and then drink it. I got about one drink in and decided it wasn’t worth it. If you’re trying to do this for digestion, I would recommend taking probiotic pills instead. Tasteless and still just as effective.
The takeaway here is that just because something is low carb, low fat, or marketed as healthy doesn’t mean that it’s worth eating. Sometimes eating the higher carb, higher fat options are actually better because we enjoy what we’re eating and we’re more likely to stick with it. What are some “healthy” things you’ve tried that weren’t worth it??
LOL, I love this post. Thanks for confirming my suspicions on Quest bars too.
I know some people like them but there are definitely a lot better options out there. And they have way too much fiber in them in my opinion so I stopped buying them awhile ago!