The Lighter Side of Weight Loss

You might as well find some humor in the process while you are on the journey to weight loss and the ultimate healthy lifestyle. Here's a cute quip from "Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat" and a link to all the other entertainment they have to offer!
http://tinyurl.com/dy7xx8

The Low Fat Diet: A good idea for weight loss?

Technically a low fat diet is one containing less than 50 grams of fat, and this can be useful for controlling certain conditions, such as gall bladder disorders. Keeping your fat intake to 50 grams or less can also help balance the energy-yielding nutrients that compose your calorie intake: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. On a typical weight loss diet of 1500 calories, 50 grams of fat would provide 450 calories and this is just under 30% of the calories; well within the recommendations of several health associations such as the American Heart Association, The American Diabetic Association, and of course the American Dietetic Association.

But, what if you try to follow a diet very low in fat? Will this help you lose weight?

Well, there are several drawbacks to trying this. Fat actually serves a few purposes in our diet!

1. It's the source of fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K. Of course, you could take vitamin supplements for these, but it's always a good idea to get your vitamins from food.

2. There are nutrients called essential fatty acids that are only found in fats. If you lack these you will see symptoms such as a scaly rash and thinning hair. Fat are definitely necessary for certain body functions.

3. Fat helps you stay full longer after you eat. Go on a diet too low in fat, and you could end up so hungry a couple of hours later (think Chinese food) that you might end up overeating to satisfy that hunger.

A few guidelines to getting the right amount of fat in your diet:

- Don't try to avoid fat altogether. Choosing every food you can find in a fat-free form can end up sabotaging your weight loss efforts and even lead to certain deficiencies.

- Read labels and look for foods containing less than 30% of the calories from fat

- Certainly don't seek out fats to add to your diet. I hear about people using extra salad dressings and spreads, rationalizing "fat is necessary in the diet"... but it's easy to get plenty when you eat a healthy diet with some animal products (even fish contains some), dairy products (even low fat contains some), grains (there are breads, cereals and crackers with small amounts of fat in them--you don't have to go for donuts to get what you need!), and even vegetables (where do you think corn oil comes from?).

A very low fat diet might not give you the benefits you are looking for. If you plan to try a very low fat diet be sure to get at least 10% of your calories from fat, and do the research you need to do first to be sure you won't end up lacking any essential nutrients.

Gourmet Low Fat Snacking

Have you been looking for a great snack that won't break your calorie bank?

Here's one, but it might break your piggy bank!!

A while back I told you about the pineapple jerky that was just fabulous, nutritious, and fat free. Now the makers of the best variety of jerky have a new release: sasquatch jerky. As you can see, it's quite expensive and available only in limited quantities, so act fast if you want to be among the few to try it! Once they run out they aren't likely to get any more.

Please post your comments here if you can afford this rare, luxury food item to let us know how it tastes!