"We swim in an ocean of food."
If I lean toward any particular approach to eating styles, I would definitely lean toward a low-fat eating plan. It has been shown that a low-fat diet is best not just for weight loss but for weight loss manintance. (1) I, along with many others, believe the fat content of our diets, across the board, are too high. We are living in an environment that encourages and promotes eating of too much fat. (2) And, consequently, our fat-rich diets are, well, making us fat.
Think for a minute
about the three kinds of calories we can possibly consume. There are 3
and only three kinds: fat, protein, or carbohydrate. All the food
groups, all the components of the Food Guide Pyramid,
everything you eat during the day has components of one or all three
calorie types.Simply read the food labels of some of the stuff you eat
and you will see a breakdown of how many grams of fat, protein, or
carbohydrate your food have per serving. [Note: That "per serving" is a
really confusing point and worthy of some comments later about reading
food labels.]
Some foods are absolutely "fat free," that is, they have zero fat grams. Take spaghetti noodles. Straight out of the package and boiled, they have zero fat grams and zero grams of protein. They are entirely made up of carbohydrate grams. Now, at the opposite end of the spectrum, take Crisco cooking oil.It has zero carbohydrate grams and zero grams of protein. All the calories are fat grams - 14 grams of fat per tablespoon.
This, along with a low level of physical activity, does not allow people to keep to a healthy weight. Losing weight is much easier with a diet that is very low in fat and has moderate amounts of protein and carbohydrate. Long term, a balanced low fat diet and choosing the right foods can result in better weight control than fad or ‘crash’ diets that are hard to stick with, can leave you feeling permanently hungry and may be unhealthy. (1)
The best way to lower your energy intake is to cut down on fat as much as possible, especially saturated animal fats. Fat has over twice the calories per gram compared with other food types and it does not fill you up as quickly, so you tend to eat more. (3) Unfortunately, as humans, we have been biologically programmed to seek fatty foods to keep up our energy stores – but as such foods are now easy to find, it is too easy to overdo it. (4)
Choosing lean meat and low fat dairy products, and grilling, baking, microwaving or steaming rather than frying, will help cut the amount of fat you eat. Foods with plenty of fiber (eg, whole grain bread) help you avoid hunger without piling on the calories. Slowly, you can train yourself to enjoy low fat foods; there are lots of tasty and healthy options around these days. For a quick estimate of the amount of fat you should be consuming in a healthy diet, click here. For a quick estimate of your calorie needs based on your activity level, try this link.
You can skip or delay meals if you are not hungry, or save a portion for later, but don’t get over-hungry as this can result in binge eating. What you eat is more important than when you eat!
Limiting alcohol (also high in calories) to two standard drinks (2 ounces of 100 proof alcohol) per day helps weight loss and lowers the risk for alcohol-related ill heath. The real problems with alcohol are the things we mix in the alcohol (Pina Colada mix is a good example) and that alcohol reduces willpower (in a lot of areas!) and increases the tendency to snack.
| Food | Servings | One serving being |
| vegetables | at least 3–4 | a medium size potato, a half cup of peas or carrots |
| fruits | at least 2–3 | an apple, orange or half cup of fruit juice |
| whole grain bread, pasta, rice, cereals | 6 | a slice of bread, a roll, a half cup of cooked rice, or noodles (pasta) |
| low fat milk and dairy | 2 | a cup of low fat milk, a cup of low-fat yogurt or two slices of low fat cheese |
| lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, lentils or beans | 1 | a chicken breast, small (4 oz) steak, two eggs or a 3/4 cup of cooked beans |
| *Reducing meat in a meal by adding beans is a good tip. | ||
For an excellent example of a meal planner for every meal of the day without certain calorie limits, click here. Another important aspect of any diet, not just our low-fat program is portion control. For more about this part of the plan, click on the next button below.
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Albright Bariatric Clinic
