Sunday, November 2, 2008

Burning the Baby Fat - Fat, the other Good Nutrient

By Teresa Brown

We live in a fat obsessed world where the perpetual battle to get rid of it from our diets and our bodies at all costs rages on. It's the "Darth Vader" of the diet industry and few are the ones who can resist succumbing to the delicious and addictive "darkside" of fatty foods. And thanks to the media, fat's reputation today as an essential nutrient has been put on the back burner. Fat is a neccessary nutrient to burn the baby fat and it's time to set the record straight.

Burning the baby fat requires that you lower your overall fat intake. Unfortunately, in our society the average person has a high fat diet and this can result in being at risk for several health problems such as cancer of the breast, colon and prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.

To be able to burn the baby fat more effectively, you have to significantly decrease your fat intake to a normal range. This can be done by making a couple of adjustments in regards to your relationship with food such as how you shop, cook and make the foods you eat. Changing your old food habits to healthier ones will help you lose the pregnancy weight faster.

Consumers today can easily monitor the amount of fat that they consume by reading the nutrition facts on products or the nutrition pamphlets provided by fast food restaurants and food companies. Also some restaurants have healthier menu selections to cater to people who are looking for healthier meal options.

Know your fats and be able to recognize the good, the bad and the ugly fats. The good fats are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (plant based oils from vegetables, legumes and fish oils) are to be the fats that make up 25 percent of your total dietary intake.The bad fats are the trans (partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated fats on the product label) and the saturated fats(animal products such as meat and dairy). Both must be eaten sparingly with only one percent trans and less than 10 percent saturated fat is the recommended amount. The ugly fat is cholesterol of which less than 300 mg is recommended.

Remembering to eat fat in moderation will keep your fat consumption in the healthy range. Naturally, some days you will eat more fat than others but being aware of what you are eating will balance out your fat intake. Because of this, a healthy diet focuses on the average fat consumption over a period of months or weeks instead of daily fat consumption.

In order to maintain a balanced diet, you need to eat more of the healthy fats and less of the unhealthy ones that can be detrimental to your health. Burning the baby fat requires cutting back on your calories especially the calories from foods laden with saturated and trans fats. Eat a balanced low calorie diet and increase your physical activity and watch the weight melt off. - 16003

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