So what exactly is fats? Fat is made up of building blocks called fatty acids and these are classified as saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated depending on their chemical structure. Fat is essential to human life, we all need fat in our diets
For years, nutritionists and doctors have preached that a low-fat diet is the key to losing weight and preventing health problems. However, not all fat is the same.
Our body requires small amounts of ‘good fat’ to function and help prevent disease. However, most of the ‘modern’ food contains a lot more fat than the body needs. Too much fat, especially too much of the wrong type of fat could be detrimental to our health causing serious health problems such as higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, obesity, which in turn lead to a greater risk of heart disease.
So, it is significant to know what types of fat should we be cutting back on
Good Fats VS Bad Fats
We are constantly being told that “Fats are bad”, and many will spend lots of time and money to completely rid their diet of fat. The truth is, we need fats.
Fats help in nerve transmission, nutrient absorption, maintaining cell membrane integrity etc. Simply said, fat is actually necessary for you to lose weight. However, when consumed in excess amount, it can increase your risk for a number of health threats. The key is to replace bad fats with good fats in our diet.
Good fats
Good fat is sometimes called unsaturated fat. The types of potentially helpful dietary fat are mostly unsaturated. Unsaturated fat comes in two forms: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
Monounsaturated fats
This is a type of fat found in a variety of food and oils. You can get it from:
• Nuts including almonds, peanuts, cashew, macadamia, walnuts and
pistachios
• Avocado
• Canola
• Olive oil
The most well-documented benefit of consuming monounsaturated fats is the potential for keeping your heart healthy. It improves blood cholesterol levels, which can decrease your risk of heart disease. Research also shows that these fatty acids may benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control, which can be especially helpful if you have type-2 diabetes.
Not just that, studies have also found that switching to monounsaturated fat from diets rich with trans fats and polyunsaturated fats results in significant weight loss. Yes, both consume SAME amount of fats in their diet, but end up with DIFFERENT results! The key here is the type of fats you’re consuming on daily basis.
Polyunsaturated fats
There are two types of polyunsaturated fat: omega-3 and omega-6. These are also known as essential fatty acids. Our body can’t produce essential fatty acids on it’s own, so we need to get them from food.
(i) Omega- 3
Omega-3 is a type of polyunsaturated fat. You can get it from:
- Legumes
- Soy food
- Tuna, salmon and mackerel
- Green leafy vegetables
- Walnuts, other nuts and flaxseed
Babies can also get omega-3 from breastmilk.
It promotes brain health during pregnancy and early life. Omega-3 helps a baby’s brain and eye development in the womb and during the first six months of life. It has a great impact on children’s learning and behavior.
As for adults, omega -3 can be good for rheumatoid arthritis, pain relief,morning stiffness and inflammation. It can also protect adults from heart disease.
(ii) Omega-6
Omega-6 is a type of polyunsaturated fat. You can get it from:
- Vegetable oils like sunflower
- Evening primrose oil
- Peanut
- Canola
- Cereals.
Omega 6 plays an important role in cell growth, and is thus essential for brain and muscle development. The omega- 6 arachidonic acid (AA) is for this very reason added to most infant formulas.
Both brain development and muscle development are critical for infants. The growth benefits of omega 6 also explain the great interest that body builders and top athletes have in omega 6 consumption.
Omega-6, particularly gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), is linked to increased bone density and reduced bone loss and it helps to promote hair growth and supports skin health. Omega-6 has an anti-inflammatory affect on our skin, soothing irritated skin.
Bad fats
There are two main types of potentially harmful dietary fat: Saturated Fat and Trans Fat
(i) Saturated fat
You get saturated fat from:
- Animal products such as meat fat
- Full-fat dairy products such as butter and cream
- Palm and coconut oil in processed food such as biscuits, chips & slices
Saturated fat has no known health benefits. A high intake of disadvantageous saturated and trans fats can lead to elevated low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol levels, which may increase your risk of developing heart disease. These fats may also contribute to obesity, diabetes and cancer.
(ii) Trans fat
Trans fat is sometimes used in:
- Commercially-made cakes and biscuits
- Takeaway food
- Energy bars
- Ready-made meals
- Snack food like chips
Trans fats can increase harmful low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, while decreasing good high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol. In turn, this can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, it has been associated with the development of type-2 diabetes.
Strategizing Your Diet
Now that you have learned the basics about fats, it’s time to learn how to design your own diet to shed those extra pounds. Creating a weight loss diet that caters your own preferences is the golden rule to a successful diet plan.
Don’t go for an extreme diet plan just because you’re desperate for a drastic change in your weight – it’s unrealistic and you rarely get to your goal. Ideally, small changes in a healthy direction over time can work magic to your body.
Winning Rule: Slow & Steady wins the race in long-term fat loss! Follow these simple magical steps to creating your own fat-shedding diet!
Identify your current diet
Keep a careful diary log of your normal food intake for 7 days. Eat as per normal but keep record of what you have consumed each day, how much at each meal or snack. For example how many bowls of cereal? One or two? How much milk? What type of milk?
TIP: There are so many amazing Calories -Tracking Apps today! Simply download one and start tracking – The more convenient it is, the more likely you’ll track your food intake!
Make sure you calculate the amount of calories intake for every meal, add all seven days’ total calories intake and divide by seven. This will give you a good idea of the calories intake you’re currently consuming at your current body weight.
Design a new diet
Dream big but start small. Be realistic and take small steps towards big success! A safe weight loss is one that will most likely be permanently consistent, is one pound a week. GOAL = Lose 1lb / Week
Do your math. One pound equals to 3500 calories. 3500 divided by seven days a week equals to 500 calories each day. Identify your daily average calorie count and subtract 500 calories.
My personal favourite formula to calculate my Average daily intake is to take my own body weight, multiply by 14 (Of course, there are other formula out there…more complex ones that is,)
But remember: Keep things simple! That’s the key to easy weight loss
So let’s say I’m a 180lb man. So 180X14=2520kcal
Then, 2520-500=2020kcal. *So, I need to consume around 2000kcal per day to
lose 1lb/ week.*
If my weight loss progress is slow / hit a plateau, I’ll lower down my daily
calorie intake to 1700-1800kcal. Simple.
However, keep in mind that you should not lower your calorie intake to less than 1500 without advice from a professional registered dietician.
Play of substitution
Don’t quit food, don’t go into hunger mode! Think about zombies… what they do? They binge! So if you starve yourself for too long, you’ll BINGE!
Learn to substitute healthier food that you like and reduce portions of high calorie food that you like so you can achieve the new lowered daily calorie count.
Let’s just say you love burger and almost can’t live without it, its okay, eat it. But instead of eating the whole thing as it is, lower its calorie count by cutting the portion size or substituting certain ingredient. Eat half of it rather than the whole; opt for lean chicken meat rather than fattening beef patty, a sprinkle of chilli flakes instead of oozing chilli sauce.
The easiest and most possible way to achieve huge calorie savings is by changing the way your favourite food are prepared. Avoid frying and rich or thick sauces. Opt for steam, bake, broil, roast, or even better – just eat it fresh.
The Elusive “Secret” To Feeling Fuller, Longer
Eat More Low Density Food
Calorie density refers to the number of calories per gram of food. It is the simplest approach to healthful eating and lifelong weight management. Food that are HIGH in calorie density contain a high nu mber of calories per gram; food that are LOW in calorie density contain a low number of calories per gram. Calorie density is the key to feel full without overeating.
You’ll end up consuming a lot of calories to fill your belly when you eat too much calorie dense food. On the other hand, if you focus on low calorie density food, you can fill up on fewer calories because low density food contain a lot more water, which adds weight and volume to the food, but no
calories.
In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that some high-calorie food – like bakery treats – not only such food won’t fill you up, but instead trigger your appetite to make you crave for more!
In the research experiment, participants who were fed a meal of such food actually ended up eating twice as much over the rest of the day (3000 calories in all) as compared to those participants fed a low-fat and low-calorie meal!
Now, here’s the deal, find fitter fast food. Look for low -fat, low-calorie, and fulfilling options. Brown rice, grilled skinless lean meat, whole-wheat bread, salads (they’re extremely filling actually!), soup, and best yet, plain water – goes along with any meal and you’ll feel full for sure!
So this is it! The ultimate secret to fat -shedding diet! Learn about your food,eat smart, and you’ll be shedding those fats away with not just a healthy body, but also a happy tummy!