How to Reduce Fat Intake in Your Diet

You need fats in your diet. Without fats your body can’t function properly. According to FDA, daily fat intake should be between 25% and 35% of total calories consumed in a day. But there are good fats and bad fats.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats provide your body with health benefits. Those fats you get from vegetable oils, fish and nuts and seeds.
Saturated fats and trans fats are considered to be bad for you and should be avoided as much as possible. Saturated fats are mostly coming from animal sources and trans fats, or hydrogenated fats, are made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils to make them solid.
It is easy to reduce fat intake but still benefit from the good fats.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• desire to eat healthy

1. Watch out for the fast food. You will be surprised how many calories form fat you can consume in a sandwich which seems to be a healthy choice.

2. Cut on the amount of processed foods such as sausages, canned soups, frozen dinners etc. Read the food labels and pay attention to the amounts and types of fats.

3. Cook with vegetable oils or use other methods of preparing food such as braising, grilling, baking, steaming, or slow-cooking instead of frying. If you need to sauté, use some broth, water or vegetable juice instead of fat.

4. Eat more fish than meat. At least twice a week use fish as main ingredient for lunch or dinner. The best way to cook fish is baking or broiling with a little lemon juice. Add leftover tuna or salmon to a green salad for lunch.

5. When buying meat choose lean cuts or trim all visible fat. Pork tenderloin is a good choice of meat since it is as lean as skinless chicken breast. Baking or grilling is an excellent cooking method for lean meats. Drain fat from cooked meats.

6. Use cheese as a condiment rather then a main ingredient. Aged cheeses are better for that purpose since they have more flavor. Add cheese to salads, have it as a snack but be careful in casseroles and baked spaghetti.

7. Use beans, lentils or vegetables to substitute up to half of meat in meatloaves and casseroles, and you (and your children) will be eating your vegetables without even knowing that.

8. Make at least two days a week totally vegetarian. Use a lot of seasonal vegetables and fruits as well as grains and legumes. Rice pilaf with vegetables is an excellent choice for dinner, huge green salad with garbanzo beans, tomatoes and olives with a slice of whole wheat artisan bread will make a satisfying and tasty lunch. Don’t forget to sprinkle walnuts on your salad.

9. In baking substitute some of fats (in quick breads you can substitute at least half) with apple sauce or low fat yogurt. Use reduced fat cream cheese and sour cream in cheesecakes.

10. Try salsas, herbs and spices to enhance your dishes instead of mayonnaise, cheese and sour cream. Use vinegar and olive oil for salad dressings. Switch to skim milk especially in making puddings and mashed potatoes.

Tips & Warnings

• You still need around 30% of your daily calories from fat in order for your body to be healthy.
• Keep in mind that 1 gram of fat still has 9 calories in it – even if it comes from the most beneficial form of fat.