High fat intake also contributes to excess body weight, since a gram of fat has about twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates and proteins. When loosing weight, lower blood cholesterol levels or simply eat healthier, you'll want to limit total fat intake so, beside of counting calories, you should count your fat grams, too.
A low-fat style of eating is important for maintaining a healthy weight and loosing weight. The dietary reference intake for fat in adults is 20% to 35% of total calories from fat. So lets say, if you eating 1800 calories a day, that is your fat gram should be at 20 grams or less of saturated or hydrogenated fats. To be more specific, here is a website for daily recommended grams of fat and calories. You will need to calulate your BMI first. ( BMI calcultor and Fat Gram Recommend ).
Start eating at a variety of lower-fat foods to get all the nutrients you need. Watch your calorie intake and remember, "low fat" does not always mean "low calorie." Eat plenty of plant-based foods (such as grain products, fruits and vegetables) and a moderate amount of animal-based foods (meat and dairy products) to help control your fat, cholesterol, and calorie intake. Also, increase your physical activity to improve heart health and lose excess body fat.
To keep on a low fat diet, next time you go shopping check the label on the side or on the back of the package and read the Nutrition Label of how many grams of fat per serving. Stay in the product section, your vegetables, greens and fruits, they have less fat all around. When you do find all the low fat foods that you like make a list and take it with you so you don't get distracted from all the other high fat foods. Choose low fat foods like 1% or skim milk, skinless pountry and lean meats, fish and low fat cheese and spreads. You know what is good for you and what foods are bad, be SMART about it.
When preparing foods, trim all visible fat and remove the skin from poultry. Refrigerate soups, gravies, and stews, and remove the hardened fat before eating. Bake, broil, or grill meats on a rack that allows fat to drip from the meat. Avoid frying foods. Sprinkle lemon juice and herbs/spices on cooked vegetables instead of using cheese, butter, or cream-based sauces. Try plain, nonfat, or low-fat yogurt and chives on baked potatoes rather than sour cream. Reduced-fat sour cream still contains fat, so you must limit the amount you use.
When dining out, choose simply prepared foods such as broiled, roasted, or baked fish or chicken. Avoid fried or sautéed foods, casseroles, and foods with heavy sauces and gravies. Request that your food be cooked without added butter, margarine, gravy, or sauces. Request salad with low-fat dressing on the side. Select fruit, angel food cake, nonfat frozen yogurt, sherbet, or sorbet for dessert instead of ice cream, cake, or pie.
