Are you tired of dieting? Is dieting makes you lethargic and weak? Then you should introspect again about your meal plan. Eating less is somehow effective in having a controlled weight but it can also makes you internally weak. So now it is the time to cut that fat out by not eating less but by eating low fat food.
Maintain a low-fat diet and you will see the visible results. Low fat diet is a lifestyle; it changes all your perception and priorities about the food. But what is a low fat diet? Low fat diet is basically a meal plan that consists of food that is low in calorie. It cuts out all the unhealthy fat that your body does not need and which results in high cholesterol. Low fat diet is a diet that is easily digestible so that you don’t have to feel acid reflux and provides you energy that keeps you going throughout the day.
Low fat diet consists of all the good fat and is high in fiber that helps in balancing cholesterol level of the body. Try in taking soluble fibers more often.
What are the basic types of fat present in food?
Every food is made up of many nutrients, fats. Some of them are good fats but some are not so good for health. Following are some types of fats that you should know about before eating any food.
Unhealthy fats: food that is rich with saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol is not good for health. Consuming more of these fats will not only increase the weight but can also cause many health diseases.
- Cholesterol: Mostly found in meat, dairy products and eggs.
- Saturated fat: it is mostly found in ice cream, butter, cheese and other processed foods like hot dogs, sausages. Processed meat, chicken skin also contains high amount of saturated fat.
- Trans fat:Mostly found in fried and backed items.
Healthy fats; replace your high cholesterol foods with the food that have healthy fats. Healthy fats come from the vegetables and fruits. They lower down the risk of heart diseases and high cholesterol.
- Monounsaturated fats: these fats source is fruits nuts and vegetables, mostly comes from avocados, olives and in sunflowers.
- Polyunsaturated fats: these are found in vegetable oil. It has omega 3 in it that helps in avoiding heart diseases
Foods to avoid in low fat diet
- Chips that is made up of hydrogened oil
- High fat cookies, pastries, pies and doughnuts
- Heavy, whipped and half and half creamer should be avoided
- Fried meat and chicken with skin, sausages and hot dogs
- Fried vegetables
- Fruit preserved in cream
- Ice cream
- Butter, margarine and heavy fat cheese
Foods that should be included in diet
- Whole grain food, whole wheat bread, barn and grain cereal.
- Low fat crackers
- Fresh vegetables and fruits with skin
- Non fat skimmed milk and cheese
- Yogurt
- Meat with no skin and excessive fat
- Baked fish
- Beans and peas
- Egg whites
- Flower and fruit seeds
- A lot of fiber
- Unsaturated oils
Important tips to make low calorie food
Best and effective way to decrease calories from your food to replace food with high fat with the ingredients with low or no fat. Instead of frying start baking your food; it will have a huge impact on your whole health. Try using oil that has less fat or no fat at all. Try changing amount of ingredients of high calorie food. Following are some replacement tips that won’t affect the taste of the food but makes a huge difference in calorie chart.
- Use low fat butter and margarine
- Use lean grounded meat or chicken breast.
- Adding lean turkey breast is also a good low fat option for your dinner platter
- To replace heavy cream, use 1 spoon of canola oil to 7 ounce of milk. It won’t affect the taste but it is much lower in calorie chart.
- Use low fat cheese, low fat ricotta instead of a heavy cream cheese.\
- For food dressings use grated carrots apples and other vegetables other than high calorie cheese or coconut.
- Reduce the amount of oil during cooking or use olive oil to brush the pan for baking or to cook food because olive oil has many health properties and have minimal to no fat.
- Use egg white more often than the whole egg, as it contains rich nutrients and proteins but less calories.
- Instead of using a heavy baking chocolate, make your own less calorie chocolate by adding coco powder and canola oil.
How to I increase fiber in your diet?
Having fiber in your diet is really important. Fiber is not only easily digestible and its continuous use also helps in avoiding having stomach and digestion issues. High fiber food ensures easy digestion that stops acid reflux thus you feel light and full all day.
In the start it is advised to add 20 to 30 grams of fiber in your diet and when your body starts to accept the change increase the amount gradually. It not only works better but also avoids stomach cramps and other acid reflux issues.
- Eat Whole grain foods: Add whole grain food in your diet, and consume approximately 3 ounces every day. One ounce of whole grain makes a single slice of bread, so eat accordingly, you don’t want to over consume as it can cause stomach cramps. Whole wheat must be the first choice when it comes to eating. Replace white flour with whole wheat as it has numerous health benefits. Whole wheat is heavier than the regular white flour.
- Adding high fiber food in breakfast: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so it should be packed with high fiber and nutrients. But this question comes in mind that what should be the first choice for breakfast, and then Oat meal is your answer. Yes Oat meal is fully packed with fiber and is really low on cholesterol so you will get all the good stuff from it while it keeps you fit and light all day long. Along with that cereals that have bran and whole wheat products such as brown rice and whole wheat pasta and barley can be used in both for breakfast and lunch.
- Add beans to your diet: Want to eat something low calorie but tasty, then add lentils and beans as a side dish to your food platter. Add fruits vegetables in your daily diet. Don’t peel your fruit as it contains more fiber. So make a salad of fresh fruits and vegetables add some beans to your salad and Viola you have a perfectly healthy, low calorie and high fiber food.