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Lowfat Diets for Longterm Weight Control
I personally recommend to start one of the lowfat diets as soon as you have managed the successful diet cabbage soup week.
That's what I did 15 years ago after my
successful cabbage soup week.
I lost with my first cabbage soup diet almost 8 pounds and was very motivated to keep this weight losing effect longterms. Read here why diets reduced in fat might be the right longterm decision also for you.
What are the benefits for you?
Lowfat diets have many benefits - the most obvious are better health and longterm weight control.
Another great benefit: once you achieve better health and weight loss, you will likely have more energy, feel better physically, and feel better about yourself. What marvelous side-effects!
Weight Loss Control
A gram of fat contains twice as many calories as a gram of carbohydrates. No wonder a high fat diet contributes to obesity! And once your body has created a fat cell, it never goes away - although it will shrink as it is used for energy.
The human body can only store a limited amount of carbohydrates and proteins, but there is no limit to its ability to store fat.
In a recent study, volunteers had to eat a daily diet of 5,000 calories before carbohydrates were turned into fat.
In another recent study, men served a high-fat breakfast were more likely to reach for a mid-morning snack than the lower-fat cereal and toast group.
Low Fat Diets Lead to Better Long Term Weight Control
A weight loss article in FDA Consumer Magazine (Jan/Feb 2002) outlined the weight-control behavior of more than 3,000 American adults who lost an average of 60 pounds weight and kept it off for an average of six years. Less then 1% of these successful weight-losers ate low-carbohydrate diets. Most of them ate lowfat diets including high-carbohydrate to maintain their weight loss.
Better Health!
Dietary fat and obesity are factors in many of the leading causes of death in the western world, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. High-fat diets have also been linked to high cholesterol, digestive disorders, heartburn, and stress.
A lowfat diet can prevent heart disease -- and a very lowfat diet can actually help reverse heart disease. A lowfat, high-fibre diet has also been found to protect against cancer. It is estimated that about 35% of all cancers are directly related to what you eat.
This diet plan is the only one that is consistent with guidelines published by the World Health Organization WHO), the American Heart Association US and UK Government agencies for good health and healthy weight loss.
What can you do?
These are all good reasons to cut down on fat and load up on good calories and carbohydrates, such as beans, vegetables, whole grains and fruits.
The first step is not to think of a lowfat diet as being a temporary way of eating to lose weight or improve health like our 7 day diet cabbage soup.
"Diet" here means "manner of living" and "something provided as for use or enjoyment". It's a good idea to eat for enjoyment as well as for health and well-being.
If you eat healthful, flavourful, satisfying foods that you enjoy, you'll be able to stick to a "diet", lose weight, improve health -and you'll feel better to boot.
How Much Fat is healthy?
Nutritionists recommend that no more than 30% of calories should come from fat. Wondering what that means in practical terms?

If you are trying to stay within the 30% range, try to eat foods that average about 3 grams of fat for every hundred calories. If you want 20% of calories from fat, try for foods that average about 2 grams for every hundred calories. Remember that your body needs fat to function. Don't go below those levels without consulting an expert.
A selection of best food for lowfat diets:
Bread, cereal, rice, and pasta:
· Bagels
· Pasta/noodles
· Corn tortillas
· Pita bread
· Corn bread
· Oatmeal
· Wheat germ
· Air-popped popcorn
Dairy products:
· Nonfat milk
· Nonfat yogurt
· Other nonfat dairy products
Fats, oils, and sweets:
· Oil-free and some “lite”
salad dressings
· Fat-free mayonnaise
· Nonfat frozen yogurt
· Sorbet and fruit ices
· Fruit rolls and fig bars
Protein (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, and beans):
· Lean chicken and turkey
(without skin)
· Egg whites
· Tuna (in water), halibut, bass
· Dried beans and peas
Vegetables and fruits:
· Raw, steamed, or boiled vegetables
· Raw fruits
· Vegetable and fruit juices diluted
with purified water
Low Fat Muffins
Usually Muffins are high in fat and shouldn't be recommended in this low fat section. But, there is an exception. The VitaMuffins from Vitalicious are low fat, healthy and taste delicious. Don't believe me? Taste them for yourself and give me your feedback!
Lowfat Diets advice:
· Low consumption of fatty junk foods and high fat foods
· High consumption vegetables and fruits.
· Consumption of complex carbohydrates on a regular basis, like
pasta, rice, potatoes, beans/pulses.
· Moderate consumption of especially high fat animal protein.
· The major role of wholegrain and wholewheat foods: like,
wholemeal bread, brown rice, oats.
· Extremely low consumption of highly processed foods and refined sugars.
· Water as the healthiest drink.
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