No-Fat Diet & Weight Loss

Losing weight on a no-fat diet is not a healthy approach to weight loss. Your diet should cut some fat from the foods that you eat, but some amount of healthy fat is necessary in our diets. A better way to lose weight is with a balanced low-fat diet that eliminates enough calories to lose one to two pounds per week.

Weight Loss

• Cut 500 calories from the total amount of calories needed to maintain your current weight. This results in one pound of weight loss at the end of a week. Adding exercise to your weight loss regimen increases this number even more. Do not try to lose more than one or two pounds per week for a long-lasting result.
  Eliminate trans fats from the foods you eat when you are cutting calories. Check the ingredient labels for items such as hydrogenated oil and partially hydrogenated oil. Food manufacturers use trans fats as preservatives to increase the shelf life of the product.
  Reduce the amount of saturated fats in the foods you choose as well. Saturated fats are found in animal protein and dairy products. Eat red meat only one or two times per week. Red meat contains more saturated fat than lean sources of protein.

Healthy Fats

• All diets require some fat to give your body the proper nutrients that it needs. Include good sources of fat such as olive and canola oil. Use these fats to replace saturated fats found in butter and polyunsaturated fats in corn and vegetable oil.
  Omega-3 essential fatty acids found in oily fish like tuna or mackerel are vital for good health. Include fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids in your healthy weight loss diet. You can also use flaxseed oil or nuts to include omega-3 essential fatty acids in your diet. Fish oil supplements take the place of fish in your diet if you do not enjoy eating these fish for your meals.

Low-Fat Products

• Be wary of low-fat products that replace the fat with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients. Include low-fat dairy products in your diet for calcium and vitamin D. Low-fat dairy products also decrease the calorie count in a low-fat diet for weight loss.
  Instead of purchasing low-fat or fat-free processed snack foods, choose foods that are naturally low in fat to snack on. Raw vegetables and fruits are a healthy alternative to these processed foods that provide very little nutritional value to your diet. Fruits and vegetables have vitamins and minerals that the body needs for good nutrition.