In maintaining balance in your healthy weight loss plan healthyweight loss plan, you should strive to keep your fat intake to 30% or less? Listed below are 10 ways to maintain a low fat diet. Review the list to see which suggestions you can use.

1. Choose low fat or skim milk. Milk is a great way to get calcium, but one cup of whole milk has 8.5 g of fat and 150 calories — that’s over 50% of calories from fat. Compare that to a cup of skim milk with .4 g of fat and 81 calories. If you’re not quite ready for the move to skim milk, try 2% milk with 5 g of fat and 125 calories or 1% milk with 2.5 g of fat and 104 calories.

2. Dip, don’t drench. Have salad dressing served on the side so you can dip your salad in the dressing to get good taste without all the fat. Similarly, rather than having heavy cream, butter, or cheese sauces poured over your entree, have them on the side, and dip each bite. You’ll use less, and enjoy it more.

3. Careful with the condiments. It doesn’t take much of some “extras” to break the fat budget. A tablespoon of mayonnaise adds 10 g of fat to your sandwich, and a pat of butter adds 4 g. Try mustard, low-fat mayonnaise or horseradish instead.

4. Don’t be cheesy. Cheeses are full of nutrients, but, unfortunately, they’re also full of fat. Whole milk cheeses such as Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gouda, Gruyere, Brie, Bleu Cheese, Roquefort, American, Swiss, Edam and Feta contain from 6 to 10 g of fat per ounce. As any cheese lover knows, 1 ounce isn’t very much. If you like cheese, you’ll need to limit your amount or choose lower fat cheeses. Fortunately, many good tasting, low-fat cheeses are available. Look for products that have 3 g or less of fat per ounce.

5. Choose leaner protein sources. Select chicken and seafood more frequently. If you like beef, choose loin or round cuts, and trim all visible fat. For sandwiches, choose chicken or turkey breast, lean roast beef, fish packed in water, or many of the low-fat alternatives available at deli counters. Beware of poultry-based products, such as turkey franks, ground chicken or ground turkey. They are not typically low in fat.

6. Prepare foods differently. Rather than adding oil, fat or butter, use cooking sprays, wine, clear broths, and flavored vinegars. Rather than frying, bake, broil, barbecue, steam and poach.

7. Skip the fatty extras. When eating at restaurants, don’t hesitate to ask for items without the high-fat extras such as potato chips, french fries, and butter.

8. Increase fruits and vegetables. Having more fruits and vegetables is a great way to make your snacks low fat. As you decrease the amount of fat in your diet, you’ll appreciate the great natural taste of many fruits and vegetables.

9. Swap fat for sauce. When baking muffins and cakes, substitute applesauce for any fat ingredients. Exchange one part oil, fat or butter for one part applesauce.

10. Spice it up. Low-fat eating shouldn’t be dull and boring. Fat can make foods taste better, but it’s not the only way. Using herbs, spices, flavored vinegars, and salsas are great ways to add taste without fat. Be creative!

Just because you eat a low fat diet doesn’t mean that it has to be bland or boring. Plan to eat a diet of foods you like — a diet that you can stick to.

For more on establishing a healthy weight loss plan, take a look at my new ebook on how you can get lasting weight loss results. “The 10 Step Permanent Weight Loss Formula”. Get it HERE.

Be sure to check out my other healthy weight loss advice on Squidoo.com: click here.

Share This