It's A Fatty Blog!

F A T

Fat is very "calorically" dense, meaning that a gram of fat has about 9 calories while a gram of carbohydrate or protein has about 1/2 the calories, or 4 grams, so you can eat twice as much carbohydrates or protein for the same amount of calories of fat it means more room for fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans. Reducing fat from your diet can assist in weight loss or weight maintenance since you will be eating fewer calories.

Reducing saturated fat can also help reduce your risk of heart disease which will help lower blood cholesterol levels, also it may help reduce your risk of cancer.

The Four Types Of Fat

I'm not going to deep in this "you'll have a big headache if i say Cis and trance", but in general here are four categories that all fats fall into, Monounsaturated, Polyunsaturated, Saturated, and Trans Fats.
Hard!! well i'll simple it to you.. If I say Trans Fat are the only of the other types of fat that are man-made you will know that we should be far far away from them.. So when you're out shopping, always avoid these:
- hydrogenated vegetable oil
- partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
- vegetable shortening
- margarine

So mainly Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats, keeping saturated fats to less than 10% of total calories, & it's important to realize that no fat source is purely saturated or unsaturated.
Foods like nuts and avocados are predominantly monounsaturated fat sources, as are olive and canola oils. Polyunsaturated fats are found in vegetable oils like corn, soy, and sunflower, along with in fish and fish oil. Animal products, including dairy, and the foods made from coconut (coconut cream, coconut milk, coconut oil) or palm oil are the main sources of saturated fat in the diet.

What to do

Here are some tips to help you:

1. Steam, boil, broil, or microwave vegetables, or stir-fry them in a small amount of vegetable oil.
2. Season vegetables with herbs and spices rather than sauces, butter, or margarine.
3. Try lemon juice or fat-free dressing on salad, or use a yogurt based dressing instead of mayonnaise or sour cream dressing.
4. To reduce saturated fat, use vegetable oil or tub margarine instead of butter or stick margarine when possible.
5. Replace whole milk with skim or low-fat milk in puddings, soups, and baked products. Substitute plain nonfat yogurt, blender-whipped cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream, or buttermilk in recipes that call for sour cream.
6. Choose lean cuts of meat, and trim any visible fat from meat before and after cooking. Remove skin from poultry before or after cooking. Monitor portion sizes.
7. Roast, bake, or broil meat, poultry, or fish, so that fat drains away as the food cooks.
8. Use a nonstick pan for cooking so added fat will be unnecessary, use a vegetable spray for frying.
9. Chill broths from meat or poultry until the fat becomes solid. Spoon off the fat before using the broth.
10. Eat a low-fat vegetarian main dish at least once a week.

11. Start exercising. Jogging, running, swimming and cycling are excellent ways to be fit, but if you find themboring, you can start a team sport such as volleyball, basketball etc.
12. Drink a lot of water. It makes you feel full and forget about having extra meals and snacks
13. Have healthy snacks among your main meals if you are still hungry (fruit, vegs, low fat or skimmed diary products, with some protein"
13. Use reduced-fat or nonfat salad dressings.
14. Use nonfat or lower fat spreads, such as jelly or jam, fruit spread, apple butter, nonfat or reduced-calorie mayonnaise, nonfat margarine, or mustard.
15. Use high-fat foods only sometimes; choose more low-fat and nonfat foods.
16. To top baked potatoes, use plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt, nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream, nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese, nonfat margarine, nonfat hard cheese, salsa or vinegar.
17. Use a little lemon juice, dried herbs, thinly sliced green onions, or a little salsa as a nonfat topping for vegetables or salads.
18. Use small amounts of high-fat toppings. For example, use only 1 tsp butter or mayonnaise; 1 tbsp sour cream; 1 tbsp regular salad dressing.
19. Switch to 1 percent or skim milk and other nonfat or lower fat dairy products (low-fat or nonfat yogurt, nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream).
20. Cut back on cheese by using small (1 oz) amounts on sandwiches and in cooking or use lower fat and fat-free cheeses (part-skim mozzarella, 1 percent cottage cheese, or nonfat hard cheese).
21. Try small amounts of these low-fat treats: fig bars, vanilla wafers, ginger snaps, angel food cake, jelly beans,, gum drops, hard candy, puddings made with low-fat (1 percent) skim milk, nonfat frozen yogurt with a fruit topping, or fruit popsicles. Try pretzels or popcorn without butter or oil for an unsweetened treat.
23. To top baked potatoes, use plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt, nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream, nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese, nonfat margarine, nonfat hard cheese, salsa or vinegar.
Save french fries and other fried foods for special occasions; have a small serving; share with a friend.
24. Save high-fat desserts (ice cream, pastries) for special occasions; have small amounts; share a serving with a friend.
25. Use beans as a dip for vegetables or filling for sandwiches.
27. Serve soup made from beans or peas - minestrone, split- pea, black bean, or lentil (once a week or more).
28. Try black-eyed peas or black beans as a vegetable side dish with meat or fish.
29. Add beans to salads. Many salad bars feature kidney beans, three-bean salad, or chick peas.
30. Small amount of nuts are good choices for a health snacks.