People often choose to change to a low fat diet for their own reasons. Maybe they want to lose weight, feel healthier or avoid some of the risks associated with diets that are high in fat and the risks of heart disease, some cancers, even dementia.
Other people are told they need to switch over to a low fat diet. They may be at risk of heart disease or even have heart disease, or be overweight or have some other medical condition that necessitates a change of diet.
But the problem is that it is really easy to think about a low fat diet or even to talk about it, but it can be really hard to actually do it, which is why you need to read the top 5 tips that will ensure success!
1. Change Gradually
Doctors and healthcare professionals often look at things in very cold, clinical terms. From their point of view you have health problems, so you need to ditch your old eating plans and adopt new ways of eating. Or you have chosen to seek out a low fat diet for health reasons, but it can still feel daunting. Which is why gradually introducing low fat foods over a period of a month is the easiest way to succeed. This allows you to acclimatise to the changes and you will not crave fats so much if you start gradually cutting out high fat foods and replace them with low fat items instead.
2. Go Upmarket
The better the quality of the meat products that you buy the less fat you will consume. Cheaper meat is fatty so always trade up and go for the best meat that you can afford. It is simple but it works and because the meat is not bulked out with fat, you will find that a little goes a long, long way.
3. Bulk Up With Fruit
Low fat diets do not allow much in the way of fulfilling cakes and goodies, so instead make sure that you eat a lot of fruit so that you can feel full, without missing the fat and the carbohydrates from cakes and biscuits! Try not to pick out 'low fat desserts' or puddings, simply because they may have hydrogenated fats, which are really bad news in terms of health or they may be full of additives or sugar replacements. Fresh fruit is the best alternative.
4. Plan Your Shopping
When eating a low fat diet, then you need to have the right ingredients to cook with. Yes that sounds obvious, but if you go shopping and you don't buy low fat foods then your whole shop is wasted. Or else you will use higher fat content items and not have low fat meals. So plan what you need from your shopping, write a list and then only buy the items on that list. The only items that you can buy that are not on your list are fruit and vegetables. And remember, never shop on an empty stomach, or you will simply fill your trolley up with lots of items that you really don't need!
5. Don't Beat Yourself Up If You Cheat
We all have days where we may feel down, fed up and need a little bit of comfort. Or we may be out for a meal and suddenly the desserts are unavoidable. But if you do end up falling off the wagon, don't panic, after all the occasional treat is allowed; just make sure that the next day you eat sensibly again.
Libbie Johnson is a freelance ghostwriter, who has recently published an ebook 'Life After A Loved One Has A Heart Attack' a survival guide for anyone living with a person who has had a heart attack. Passionate about health and heart issues, please check out Libbie's other articles at http://articlenow.co.uk
