Although we regularly use the term weight loss, successful weight loss is actually down to losing fat rather than just weight. Did you no that you can actually lose weight without losing ANY of the fat that you have?! Yes it's true, you can actually lose muscle and water, without actually getting rid of any fat! This is what I would call unsuccessful weight loss, in my opinion successful weight loss is when we only fat, and hold onto the muscle that we have.
To achieve successful weight loss we need to combine a good exercise routine with a good diet. In this article I'm going to talk about the diet element.
Whether we gain or lose weight depends largely on our calorie intake and usage, this is why when we look at diet for weight loss we need to monitor our calorie intake. The other thing that we need to look at is our fat intake, in other words follow a low fat diet plan.
There are a couple of things that we do need to know about low fat diets. Firstly a low fat diet should not be seen as a NO fat diet. Your body needs a mount certain amount and certain types of fat, there are actually good fats and bad fats which we will discuss these in a minute.
We have mentioned the importance of calorie control for weight loss, cutting our fat intake can really help with this, let me explain how. All of the macronutrients have a certain amount of calories. By macronutrients I mean protein, carbohydrates and of course fat. Protein and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, where as fat has 9 calories per gram! So as you can see if you take out some of your fat and replace it with carbs or protein, you will straight away be consuming less calories, simple!
Also if you follow a low fat diet apart from the weight loss side of things, you will also be getting the health benefits, such as lowered cholesterol and decreased risk of heart diseases to name but a few.
So with this in mind, let's reveal a few secrets that will enable you to create a good low fat diet plan, and succeed in your weight loss goals:
1. Learn about the different fats!:
The first thing that you need to know is the different types of fats. As I mentioned there are good fats and bad fats. The good fats are ones which the body can put to good use, the important ones being the Essential fatty acids. You should ensure that when you cut out your fat in take you still get enough of these as your body can only get them through your diet. the EFA's are omega 3,6 and 9, good sources of these are fish, olive oil and nuts. The other good fats are the unsaturated fats, which have some great health benefits including lowering cholesterol. these are not as important to us as the EFA's, and would should still limit the amount we eat.
Now on to the bad ones, these are the ones that we should avoid as much as possible! First on the list are the saturated fats, these cause high cholesterol and heart problems, and can easily be turned to stored fat by the body. Saturated fat is found in red meat, cheese, butter and some of the oils. Cutting saturated fat out of your diet will have amazing effects on your fat loss.
The next bad one that should avoided at all costs are the trans or hydrogenated fats. These are even worse than saturated fats as they are actually a processed creation of man! Cookies, chips, pies and ready meals are all sources of this terrible fat and should be avoided in your diet. Trans fats have detrimental effects on your health, and will pile on the pounds with ease!
2. Eat These to Keep Hunger At Bay!:
You should try to increase your intake of fibre rich foods. These will keep a slow stream of energy supplied to your body and help to keep your hunger at bay. They also tend to be high in nutrition and low in fat and calories. Great high fibre foods include vegetables, cereals and fruit, although you should not eat huge amounts of fruits as they tend to be high in natural sugars.
3. Eat These to Help Hold onto Muscle and Burn More Fat!:
Increasing your protein intake will help your boy to maintain muscle and also helps in the fat burning process. To increase you protein intake you should look to add low fat protein sources, such as chicken, turkey and lean beef. These are all great sources of protein which are low in fat, other red meats such as pork, standard beef tend to be high in saturated fat and should limited.
Use these tips when creating your low fat diet plan, and you will be sure to achieve some great results in weight loss. You will also be getting the great health benefits that we mentioned.
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