The Big Fat Diet Myth

To lose weight, we need to diet and exercise everyone knows that much. But we have been told for years that we need to eat less fat, and that low fat diets are the best way to lose weight, but are they?

Well actually no.

Fat going into our mouth does not necessarily mean fat on our bodies.

In fact fat doesn't make us fat sugar does, and not just the white stuff in our sugar bowls. When I say sugar I mean simple carbohydrates which have no real nutritional value except to give us energy. The most common simple carbohydrates that we consume on a daily basis are white bread, potatoes, white rice, pasta, cakes, and sweets. If we consume a lot of these foods we are going to put on weight it’s as simple as that!

However for years we have been told that meat, eggs, cheese, and mayonnaise were the foods to avoid and nothing could be further from the truth these foods are full of protein as well as fat, and will fill you up and help to build lean muscle. To lose weight without losing lean muscle it’s important to eat MORE of these high protein foods.

t's not as easy as it sounds to give up our favourite bread and pasta, but depending on how much weight you would like to lose you can still consume some of these foods and still shed some pounds. The key is to eat less sugar and more protein and fat.

But we need sugar for energy don't we?

Yes we do, but only very lean athletes using up a lot of physical energy every day need to consume sugar for energy. The rest of us have enough energy stored in our fat reserves, and if we keep topping up these reserves with more sugar and not doing much exercise we are going to get fatter. So a basic rule of thumb is, the more exercise you do the more sugar you can consume without getting fat.

If like me you have a fairly sedentary lifestyle you really shouldn't eat any sugar at all except for fruit which have other nutritional value. Try to stick with plenty of eggs, cheese, meat, salad vegetables, (root vegetables tend to be very high in sugar).

• White flour, white bread and pasta
• White rice
• Potatoes and all root vegatables
• Bananas
• Cakes, biscuits,cookies, sweets and all confectionery
• Ice cream
• noodles

If the sweet cravings become unbearable, you could try one square of very dark chocolate as this doesn't contain much sugar, but don't eat too much fruit at the early stages of your diet as it can be very high in sugar.

• red meat, poultry and fish
• cheese and eggs
• full fat cream
• mayonaisse
• nuts
• salad vegatables

Always choose full fat dairy products as low fat versions have more sugar added. Most nuts are low carbohydrate, but cahews have some so its best to avoid these early on in your diet.

Most of us are aware that Cholesterol is bad for our hearts because it clogs up our arteries, and we have told for years that eating too much fat causes high cholesterol.

New studies have shown that yes cholesterol is bad for us but it’s caused by the same thing that causes fat on our bodies, too much sugar.

So is eating fat actually good for us?

Yes it’s good for our skin and can actually help us stay younger looking for longer!

Eating protein and fat has so many advantages, you lose weight easily without feeling hungry, you keep your skin looking youthful and you don't lose lean muscle while losing fat. The thing is you are consuming fewer calories if you eat this way because protein and fat satisfy your hunger faster, and keep you full for longer.

Eating some bread, pasta and rice in moderation is fine as part of your normal diet, but if you have some weight to lose try to cut out all simple carbohydrates for a period until you lose your desired amount of weight.