If you're tubby and chubby and you want to lose weight, you know you're going to have to go on a diet. That means no more of the good stuff we all love to eat. Just wave goodbye to everything but rabbit food and baked or boiled meats that have no flavor and are as dry as the Sahara. It's not that drastic, but you really do have to eliminate excess fats and sugars from your diet and eat foods that give you more nutrition, or you aren't really going to lose much weight.
Too much of the wrong kinds of fats increase your cholesterol levels and increase your risk of having diabetes, a heart attack or stroke, but your body still needs fats. Fats aid in the absorption of nutrients and nerve transmission, but some are much healthier for you than others.
Animal fats, including dairy foods and eggs, are saturated fats and increase total blood cholesterol levels and LDL (bad) cholesterol. Trans fats are found in packaged foods and fast foods, vegetable shortening, hard margarine, and hydrogenated oils such as popcorn "butter." These are the fats that should be avoided if you want to succeed with a low fat diet.
The good fats are naturally occurring fats that your body needs. These are monounsaturated, omega-3 and polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats are found in canola, peanut, sesame and in olive oil, although some say that only extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil should be used. Nuts, avocadoes, all kinds of olives, sesame seeds, and old-fashioned peanut butter are good sources of monounsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats are found in walnuts, regular or reduced fat mayonnaise, regular or reduced fat salad dressings, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and corn, safflower, soybean or cottonseed oils. Omega-3 fats are found in fatty fish, such as tuna, mackerel, salmon and herring, in nuts and flaxseed. All seafood contains some omega-3, but the fatty fish are the best source.
Just because a fat is good for you doesn't mean you can go overboard with it; fatty foods are higher in calories. Admittedly, it's best to fry foods in peanut oil, but fried foods, especially those that are coated or battered, retain a lot of fat, and that all goes straight to your middle, hips and thighs. And just because you're on a low fat diet doesn't mean you can't have fried foods on occasion. When you do eat a fried food, take into consideration the extra fat calories, and adjust your calorie and fat intake accordingly. Ideally, no more than 30% of the calories consumed daily should come from fats. By trimming it down to just 20%, and increasing your high fiber, complex carbs intake, you increase the amount of fat your body loses-IF you follow a healthy diet and exercise plan!
To cut down on fat calories, remove the skin and trim visible fat from meats and poultry, and grill, broil, bake or boil it. Use herbs and spices to flavor meats. Searing meat seals in the juices and helps keep meat tender. Using flavored vinegars, such as roasted garlic or red pepper vinegar to season vegetables is a delicious way to perk up the taste and avoid using fats, like butter or margarine. Stay away from pastries and liquid coffee creamers; they're loaded with fat!
A low fat diet will help you lose weight, but the results are far better if your diet is also low in calories. By no means starve yourself though, this only makes your body hang on to its precious fat stores!
These are just the basics of losing body fat, so do a little research by discussing your fat loss program with your doctor and doing some online research to help you find what works best for you. The following link is a great way to get started. thecomputerguynetwork.com/info/fatloss.htm Click Here to get your FREE diet plan and body composition profile!
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