Of course, there are instances where you can make good ingredient substitutions, by choosing lower-fat versions of foods that won't negatively affect the outcome of your recipes—meat and dairy products come to mind (say, skinless chicken breasts, low-fat sour cream, to name two). You can also add flavor to foods by experimenting with herbs, spices, fat-free broths, juices, wine, salsas, and so on.
It's also good to know which fats are better for us than others. We can't and shouldn't cut fat completely; we need fat in our diet to be healthy—just less of it, and healthier varieties. Think olive oil, canola/rapeseed oil, avocados, walnuts, flaxseed, and wild salmon instead of butter, shortening, chips, and steak.
- Good Fats, Bad Fats
- 20 Ways to Cut Fat in Cooking
- Frequently Asked Questions About Eating Low Fat
- Misconceptions About Fat
The bottom line is: you shouldn't feel deprived when you choose to eat low fat, nor should you 'feel hungry all the time,' as some critics suggest you might. Think of it more as taking control of your eating habits. If you're used to eating big portions, you might feel a bit hungry as you start to rein in your unhealthy habits. But eating lower-fat foods, replacing simple carbs with less refined, whole-grain products, and including plenty of fruits and vegetables, shouldn't leave you feeling hungry at all. But if you do feel a bit hungry, as we all do from time to time, no one says you can't snack between meals when you eat low fat. Instead of reaching for the cookie jar or your favorite candy bar, opt for more nutritious snacks rather than high-fat, sugary ones. By nutritious, I mean things like baked crackers, an ounce of almonds, an apple or pear, some low-fat yogurt, or a bowl of whole-grain cereal.
If anything, changing your eating habits should both empower and inspire you, by enabling you to find creative and healthier ways to prepare your foods. Adding a little zest or zing to your food needn't keep you in the kitchen any longer than before. I mean, how long will it take to broil some lean chicken, pork or fish and add a fresh or even jarred salsa on top? Microwave some whole-grain rice and add some veggies on the side, and you can have a simple, flavorful meal on the table in under 30 minutes.
Cutting fat can make you healthier so long as you don’t increase portion sizes or increase your intake of sugary or highly processed foods to compensate. You also need to keep moderately active—even if it means something as simple as walking the dog at a faster pace and a longer distance, or climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Some people think that exercising will make them hungrier. That's not necessarily the case. If anything, I find exercise suppresses my appetite for a while, so long as I keep hydrated.
So take a long hard look at your diet, and see where you can make changes for the better, so you can eat and live more healthfully
Here are some tips and suggestions from other About.com food sites on reducing fat and eating healthfully:
