How To Reduce The Fat In Your Diet

The average American consumes way to much fat in their diet. Fast food is loaded with fat as is much of the snacks we eat every day. And it's not just adults that are eating too much, our children are as well. The average American gets at least 40% of their daily calories from fat. The recommended range is between 20-30%.

When people decide to cut back on fat they start looking in their grocery store for snacks that are marked "low fat". Unfortunately research has proven that this is not the best decision. Several studies have shown that people who eat low fat snacks actually eat more at each sitting than they would if they were eating the full fat variety. This may be because we feel like we can have more if it's healthier for us. Also these snacks are loaded with extra sugar and sodium just to make it taste as good as the non fat counterpart. If you're going to snack try snacking on fruits or chips that are baked instead of fried, instead of cakes and cookies. If you decide that you really want a snack that has a lot of fat then have a smaller portion. And don't eat these snacks every day. These kinds of foods should be a treat, not an everyday thing.

Cut back on frying foods. Recipes for fried chicken, French fries and crispy fish can be changed a little so you can bake them in your oven instead of frying them, and still get them nice and crispy.

When choosing meats at your grocery store, opt for buying chicken instead of beef. Turkey is another great option. But be careful if you're buying ground chicken or turkey. Many times those products actually contain more fat than beef because the skin is ground along with the meat in adding to its fat content. If you're buying beef choose lean portions. For hamburgers don't buy anything that is worse than 80/20. That should be the fattiest that you go. For steaks and roasts you can trim off some of the fat before cooking. Avoid high fat meats like bacon, sausage, hot dogs and salami. These foods should be eaten only occasionally.

Be aware of fat that may be hiding in our every day foods. Salad dressings and sauces can contain an astronomical amount of fat. Also adding milk and cream or whipped cream to your coffee or lattes can add up to a large amount of fat. Have you heard the saying "There's an app for that"? Well there is an app you can purchase for your iphone or ipod that helps you keep track of the food and calories you consume each day. All you have to type in is the food you're eating and its portion size and it does the calculating for you. It keeps track of all your calories and fat throughout the day and also the vitamins and minerals that are in your foods. By the end of the day you will have a record of how much you've consumed and a clear vision of how you can make better choices the next day.

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