[MrsJune]

Hi everyone. Me and a friend of mine are wanting to start on a low fat/low calorie diet. I need some help with menu planning and recipes. I would love any advice!! Thanks

Kayla

[funniegrrl]

There are two good websites you might want to check out ... www.fitday.com allows you to plan a menu and track what you eat every day. Also, www.ediets.com guides you through the process of creating a plan and provides you with full menus, recipes, etc. for the week. Fitday is free; I think you pay a small fee for ediets.

Also, you might want to go to www.room42.com to calculate your caloric needs. You want to cut your calories, but not too far, or else your body will slow down and refuse to lose after a while because it thinks you're in a famine.

[niksa]

I suggest also checking out Healthy Choice/Smart Ones/Lean Cuisine as supplements to your plan. They're super easy if you're in a pinch!

[dixiedog6]

Thanks for the link to the metabolic calculator. What a rude awakening. At 1200 calories, I can only safely loose 1/2 pound per week! I guess slow and steady wins the race.

[Bluvsu2]

Thanks. I am trying to stay between 1300 and 1800 a day. I am using fitday.com to record everything.

[KidzRN]

I love Fitday and ordered the $8 home copy it is very good...I just had to abandon the Atkins diet due to developing GERD from too much fat!...I have 25lbs to loose and want to go back to low fat low cal eating ....exercise....seems to me this is by far a healthier lifestyle...

[Amberlyn]

Hi there!

I've been on a super-low-fat diet for eight weeks now, medically induced right now but I plan to stick to it after that's over with. I don't (can't) eat more than about seven grams of fat a day. I'm not on any calorie restrictions, so I just try to keep those down every chance I get.

There's a book that's been a tremendous help, it's called The Busy People's Low-Fat Cookbook. Each recipe has seven ingredients or less, and I haven't found one I don't like. They're all quick and easy, and there aren't a bunch of weird ingredients you've never heard of. Also, a copy of The Complete Book of Food Counts is WELL worth the $8. It's portable - I keep mine in the car.

Other than that, the best advice I could give is to watch your labels like a hawk. Things you'd never expect to have fat, sometimes do. For instance, I just went to the store today looking for pizza sauce for a fat-free recipe. I only found one kind that was fat-free. You really have to watch that, and make sure you multiply correctly. A label may say only one gram of fat, but watch the serving sizes carefully. They can trick you.

My saving graces have been I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (only the spray kind is fat-free), Bumble Bee fat-free tuna salad, Frosted Flakes, fruit cocktail, baked potatoes with fat-free sour cream, Healthy Choice & Lean Cuisine meals, fresh and canned veggies, and some excellent fat-free chocolate frozen yogurt I found for those times when you just really need a chocolate fix. Many fruits and vegetables have fat - look them up in your Food Counts book before you buy.

I find after eight weeks on this diet, the things I was craving so much at the beginning don't even really appeal to me. I would've killed for a big piece of pizza, but now it just sounds greasy and disgusting. Your system will adapt if you give it a chance to.

Good luck!!

[mompen]

Kayla,

You are so right!

Slow and steady does wins the race.

[xJOANNE]

dont keep the fat too low. you know some manufacturers think we're stupid or something. have you noticed that the calories arent any different? like the regular one is like 130 cal. and the fat free one is like 130 cal. why? the sugar content. dont be fooled. sugar is like fat. low fat isisnt that hard. you can have a pizza slice here and there but yeah. not too bad!! see you laterrr

[srmb60]

Light Done Right Italian dressing, Ultra Low Fat Coolwhip, egg whites, romaine, celery, broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, spinach, green beans, green tea, soy cheese, fat free yogurt, textured vegetable protein .... I don't worry at all about too little fat. Some sneaks in my diet when I'm not looking.

[QuilterInVA]

Too low a fat diet can also cause you to lose your hair!

[aphil]

Yes-a diet too low in fat can cause hair loss. You want to eat healthy low fat diet-but your body needs more fat than you think.

A good guideline is to eat around 30% of your calories from fat. An easy way to figure this is to eat 3 grams of fat for every 100 calories you eat each day. (a gram of fat has 9 calories...so 3 grams of fat is 27 calories-or 27% of 100.) So if you are eating 1400 calories a day...then 42 grams of fat each day is 27% of your caloric intake.

A low fat diet contains more fat than you thought, huh?

When you go TOO low...it can cause hair loss, dry skin, and other problems. Fat also contributes to a feeling of satisfaction in your stomach-making it more likely that you will stick to your eating plan for life.

Eating 10-15 grams of fat a day is way too low for any extended period of time. That is only 30% of your diet if you are eating about 400 calories a day! If you are on a medically induced plan from your doctor-that is fine-but when you progress the fat grams will probably be bumped up to a more moderate level. For most of us-keeping it around 30% is the best way to go. Hopefully after a while your doctor will up your fat grams some but keep a watch on your calorie level.

Calories are a big part here. You simply have to burn more than you take in each day with a reduced calorie diet. If you eat 5000 calories a day-you are not going to lose weight-it doesn't matter if you are restricting fat, or carbs, or whatever else you may be restricting. I think reducing fat is a healthier eating style-one that I follow myself-but you still need to eat a certain amount of fat to avoid problems-and follow common sense. A fat free popsicle and a naturally fat free strawberry are not nutritionally equal. (As much as I wish they were!)

There are also different fats...some which are beneficial to the body, and some which are more damaging-like saturated fats and trans fats-so it is good to read labels and choose your allowed fats wisely.

Good luck to you all on your low fat eating plans!

Aphil