We all wish for a flat belly at one time or another in our lives. Often it is recommended by sports experts that it is the amount of calories you burn and the energy that you put out that counts the most.

While this is not entirely untrue, there is another side to this coin that is equally as important, which is choosing the proper foods to put in. So here is a list of the 7 worst foods for your belly and which you can replace with foods that are much better.

1. Simple Carbohydrates:

These foods are things like white rice, white pasta, white flour, and white sugar. They are generally very low in fiber and therefore cause a spike in blood sugar that is hard for your body to manage. So when you are at the store always look at the nutrition info on the back of the package and make sure that it there is at least 4-5g of fiber per serving.

2. Unhealthy Fats:

Often found in packaged and fried foods, but can also be present in non-grass fed meats. Always choose high quality oils and be careful what kind of oils you are cooking with. Spend some time learning about which oils are safe to cook with and which ones are not.

3. Fat Free/Zero Fat labelled foods:

These foods can be found anywhere in the grocery store from the dairy aisles to the chips to the chocolate. They are tempting to buy because we associate the fat in foods to the fat in our bodies, when in fact this is an old way of thinking. These foods are very high in sugar and chemicals which are hard for the body to process.

4. Artificial Sweeteners:

New research is coming to light to artificial sweeteners (since foreign to the body) are quite difficult for our bodies to process and in fact make it very difficult to shed those extra pounds. It is always better to choose natural sugars and consume in moderation, rather than choosing artificial sweeteners thinking that they are somehow better for you.

5. Color additives:

Similar to artificial sweeteners, research is coming to light that these so called 'benign' additives will do far worse for your digestive system and ability to lose weight than most products on the market.

6. Soda pop:

So high in white sugar, and so incredible addictive. There is more sugar in a can of soda pop than you want to know, so regardless of how addicted you are to these nasty refreshments, make the effort and stop. Find alternatives.

7. Sugar Free Food:

All sugar free means is that it replaces the natural chemicals with chemically lab processed sugars that do not have calories. When first created these were thought to be genius, but as research goes on they are showing to be less and less helpful for weight loss and more likely to create long term health issues.