RobCamLIVE from London http://robcamlive.com ICQ# 13642876 Email: rob@robcamlive.com

My low-fat diet

If you are thinking of losing weight, you need to cut down on fats and calories. You should be aiming to eat less than 1500 calories (kcal) a day, and less than a third of those should be fats or sugars.
This is how I did it (in conjunction with an exercise programme) - it's a bit extreme, and may not be right for everyone, but it was right for me at the time! I still follow some of it when I'm not dieting - and I do occasionally indulge when I am. It's all about quantities and frequency - a pizza once a month won't kill you! The guilt may though....

Breakfast
I've never been one to eat breakfast - the last thing I want to do when I get up is eat. So I must confess I don't eat breakfast every day. Or most days infact.... but when I do, I often go for something which has been a favourite of mine for ever - the bacon sandwich. Not too healthy? well.... Rinse and slice three mushrooms, and pop them in a plastic dish in the microwave for 1 minute on full power. Get 2 rashers of medium cut "rindless" back bacon, I prefer smoked - cut off all the rind you can see on it, and grill it untill it's ready. Then using a couple of sheets of kitchen roll, soak all the fat off it so it's quite dry. While the bacon is grilling, put a wholemeal pitta bread in the toaster on low heat. You're warming it up, not toasting it - it should still be soft when it comes out! When it pops up, take a sharp knife and split it open along one edge, and gently open it up so it's like a pocket. Add the bacon and mushrooms, and eat it. If you trim the bacon completely, it's only about 100 - 120 calories per sandwich, and it's filling!

Alternatively, a couple of slices of toast or toasted pittas (with no butter or margerine) with a spread like Marmite or Honey is good too. When I'm working I tend to have breakfast at work - either two slices of dry wholemeal toast with nothing on them or some fruit, an apple and a banana is typical.

Lunch
Lunch is a difficult one - if like me you're at work at lunch-time, you're at the mercy of the canteen or local shops unless you take something in with you. The canteen where I work cooks everything in a deep-fat frier - even the salads - so eating there is out of the question. A good quick snack to make to take in with you is a couple of low-fat bagels, with some low-fat cream cheese - such as Philadelphia lite, and a slice of smoked salmon. The bagels have enough bulk to fill a hole - and quite tasty too.

Another one that's quick to knock up is a pitta bread with tuna (in brine) and sweetcorn - NO mayonaise!!!! If it's desperately dry for your taste, you can get low-fat dressings - although most of them tend to taste like paint.... or if you're having a full meal later, a couple of apples, an orange and a banana will fill a hole until later.

Dinner
Dinner - the end of the day, just before going to bed - and the lowest fat intake of the day. I always tried to eat at least three hours before going to bed, but often it just wasn't possible. But I'd have a meal of a cooked chicken breast (I buy the packs of 6 "healthy eating" skinless and trimmed breasts, cook them all and keep them in the fridge) shredded (using 2 forks on a plate) and mixed with a bowl of plain boiled rice. To add some flavour I mix in garlic granules, corriander, and sometimes medium madras curry powder. An alternative (for a bit of variety) is using a tin of tuna (in water) instead of chicken.

Also, I keep packets of frozen mixed veg in the freezer, and I'll do a baked potato in the microwave (for speed - you can bake it if you can be bothered) and microwave some mixed veg when it's done. Then scoop out the insides of the potato and mash them - mix with the vegetables and put them back in. Ok, there's too much for it all to go back in, but you can have some on the side of the plate! I usually add a little (a little mind) tomato ketchup. Low in fat, high in carbohydrates....

Or a chicken breast diced (or a tin of tuna in water) in mixed salad is quite nice too.

Occasionally I'll grill a fish and have it with some rice and a bit of salad - but I grill it with the skin on and don't add butter or oil - I just discard the skin before eating it.

Drinks
Water. Oh, and tea and coffee - with SKIMMED or soya milk. But not too much of it later in the day - I tend to get through 50% of my caffeine intake in the first 3 hours of the day. I don't drink any within 3 hours of going to bed or I can't sleep. But that's drifting from the point slightly.... I avoid fruit juices, because despite being reasonably healthy, they tend to be quite high in calories, and most of them have added sugar. Unless you're rich enough to buy the totally fresh stuff. Which I'm not.

Alcohol is banned. Totally. Sorry....

Snacks!
Well, no matter how determined you are to stick to a diet, and how guilty you feel if you break it, everyone snacks sometimes. (I tell myself this to make me feel better about doing it - but I'm sure it's true....)

A toasted pitta with marmite or honey (NO butter!) is a good one - or with any other low-fat topping. It's not a bad idea to have something in the fridge designed to snack on - like some low-fat cream cheese or some cherry tomatoes, spring onions and a cucumber - then you can fill a pitta with cherry tomatoes, spring onions and cucumber - it tastes a bit like a kebab and is really quite healthy. Or spread a thin layer of cream cheese on a pitta. Not as healthy but tasty, and quite filling. You could also keep some Celery in the fridge to nibble at - it actually has negative calories - it uses more calories to eat it than it gives you!

No-no's....
Ready meals, even ones that claim to have half the fat - half the fat of what?!!! Also tinned stuff like curries, meats in sauces, baked beans, fruits in juice, custards, dairy products like rice pudding.... all these things have lots of added sugars and fats - and the claim that all the ingredients are natural doesn't mean it's low fat.... sugar is a natural ingredient - most fats are natural....

The rule of thumb is "be cynical" - if it looks like it tastes sweet or has lots of sauce or is heavily processed, it's not low fat. Things that claim to be low fat, look at the calories and carbohydrates - if they're high, then all the fat will come from the carbohydrates and are just as bad as a high fat content. If they don't list the fat/calorie/carbohydrate content, they're high in all of them.

Reality
You won't find genuinely low-fat low-calorie pre-prepared foods. They don't exist. If you want to have a curry, make it yourself. It's not hard. It will taste different to the tinned stuff, but it will still be tasty, and you can also put the stuff in it you like and create your own unique flavour. I often experiment in the kitchen led by gut feeling - and have never yet made something inedible. Maybe a few things that I've decided not to try again - but it's a case of trial and error. It's also cheaper and ultimately more rewarding - and you know exactly what's in it, so if it's fattening you only have yourself to blame!

Rigidity
I did stick to the diet quite well - there were obviously times when I couldn't - when I was out, or visiting the parents (my mother can't cook anything without a generous helping of lard thrown in) but the key is to eat in moderation - if you know something is fattening then don't eat too much of it. Don't have a pudding / desert.... and if you have a drink, have a glass of wine rather than a can of beer. But as I said, I was no angel - and found myself buying 10-packs of Snickers bars and the odd box of chocs.... but I was also exercising daily, so I'd have some chocolate after an exercise session - or a couple of hours before a session. Not all the time mind - just every once in a while. I could have lost the weight faster if I had stuck to the diet rigidly, but I'm only human....

Site written and designed by

http://prosite.cc

My low-fat diet
If you are thinking of losing weight, you need to cut down on fats and calories. You should be aiming to eat less than 1500 calories (kcal) a day, and less than a third of those should be fats or sugars. This is how I did it (in conjunction with an exercise programme) - it's a bit extreme, and may not be right for everyone, but it was right for me at the time! I still follow some of it when I'm not dieting - and I do occasionally indulge when I am. It's all about quantities and frequency - a pizza once a month won't kill you! The guilt may though....

Breakfast	I've never been one to eat breakfast - the last thing I want to do when I get up is eat. So I must confess I don't eat breakfast every day. Or most days infact.... but when I do, I often go for something which has been a favourite of mine for ever - the bacon sandwich. Not too healthy? well.... Rinse and slice three mushrooms, and pop them in a plastic dish in the microwave for 1 minute on full power. Get 2 rashers of medium cut "rindless" back bacon, I prefer smoked - cut off all the rind you can see on it, and grill it untill it's ready. Then using a couple of sheets of kitchen roll, soak all the fat off it so it's quite dry. While the bacon is grilling, put a wholemeal pitta bread in the toaster on low heat. You're warming it up, not toasting it - it should still be soft when it comes out! When it pops up, take a sharp knife and split it open along one edge, and gently open it up so it's like a pocket. Add the bacon and mushrooms, and eat it. If you trim the bacon completely, it's only about 100 - 120 calories per sandwich, and it's filling! Alternatively, a couple of slices of toast or toasted pittas (with no butter or margerine) with a spread like Marmite or Honey is good too. When I'm working I tend to have breakfast at work - either two slices of dry wholemeal toast with nothing on them or some fruit, an apple and a banana is typical.

Lunch	Lunch is a difficult one - if like me you're at work at lunch-time, you're at the mercy of the canteen or local shops unless you take something in with you. The canteen where I work cooks everything in a deep-fat frier - even the salads - so eating there is out of the question. A good quick snack to make to take in with you is a couple of low-fat bagels, with some low-fat cream cheese - such as Philadelphia lite, and a slice of smoked salmon. The bagels have enough bulk to fill a hole - and quite tasty too. Another one that's quick to knock up is a pitta bread with tuna (in brine) and sweetcorn - NO mayonaise!!!! If it's desperately dry for your taste, you can get low-fat dressings - although most of them tend to taste like paint.... or if you're having a full meal later, a couple of apples, an orange and a banana will fill a hole until later.

Dinner	Dinner - the end of the day, just before going to bed - and the lowest fat intake of the day. I always tried to eat at least three hours before going to bed, but often it just wasn't possible. But I'd have a meal of a cooked chicken breast (I buy the packs of 6 "healthy eating" skinless and trimmed breasts, cook them all and keep them in the fridge) shredded (using 2 forks on a plate) and mixed with a bowl of plain boiled rice. To add some flavour I mix in garlic granules, corriander, and sometimes medium madras curry powder. An alternative (for a bit of variety) is using a tin of tuna (in water) instead of chicken. Also, I keep packets of frozen mixed veg in the freezer, and I'll do a baked potato in the microwave (for speed - you can bake it if you can be bothered) and microwave some mixed veg when it's done. Then scoop out the insides of the potato and mash them - mix with the vegetables and put them back in. Ok, there's too much for it all to go back in, but you can have some on the side of the plate! I usually add a little (a little mind) tomato ketchup. Low in fat, high in carbohydrates.... Or a chicken breast diced (or a tin of tuna in water) in mixed salad is quite nice too. Occasionally I'll grill a fish and have it with some rice and a bit of salad - but I grill it with the skin on and don't add butter or oil - I just discard the skin before eating it.

Drinks	Water. Oh, and tea and coffee - with SKIMMED or soya milk. But not too much of it later in the day - I tend to get through 50% of my caffeine intake in the first 3 hours of the day. I don't drink any within 3 hours of going to bed or I can't sleep. But that's drifting from the point slightly.... I avoid fruit juices, because despite being reasonably healthy, they tend to be quite high in calories, and most of them have added sugar. Unless you're rich enough to buy the totally fresh stuff. Which I'm not. Alcohol is banned. Totally. Sorry....

Snacks!	Well, no matter how determined you are to stick to a diet, and how guilty you feel if you break it, everyone snacks sometimes. (I tell myself this to make me feel better about doing it - but I'm sure it's true....) A toasted pitta with marmite or honey (NO butter!) is a good one - or with any other low-fat topping. It's not a bad idea to have something in the fridge designed to snack on - like some low-fat cream cheese or some cherry tomatoes, spring onions and a cucumber - then you can fill a pitta with cherry tomatoes, spring onions and cucumber - it tastes a bit like a kebab and is really quite healthy. Or spread a thin layer of cream cheese on a pitta. Not as healthy but tasty, and quite filling. You could also keep some Celery in the fridge to nibble at - it actually has negative calories - it uses more calories to eat it than it gives you!

No-no's....	Ready meals, even ones that claim to have half the fat - half the fat of what?!!! Also tinned stuff like curries, meats in sauces, baked beans, fruits in juice, custards, dairy products like rice pudding.... all these things have lots of added sugars and fats - and the claim that all the ingredients are natural doesn't mean it's low fat.... sugar is a natural ingredient - most fats are natural.... The rule of thumb is "be cynical" - if it looks like it tastes sweet or has lots of sauce or is heavily processed, it's not low fat. Things that claim to be low fat, look at the calories and carbohydrates - if they're high, then all the fat will come from the carbohydrates and are just as bad as a high fat content. If they don't list the fat/calorie/carbohydrate content, they're high in all of them.

Reality	You won't find genuinely low-fat low-calorie pre-prepared foods. They don't exist. If you want to have a curry, make it yourself. It's not hard. It will taste different to the tinned stuff, but it will still be tasty, and you can also put the stuff in it you like and create your own unique flavour. I often experiment in the kitchen led by gut feeling - and have never yet made something inedible. Maybe a few things that I've decided not to try again - but it's a case of trial and error. It's also cheaper and ultimately more rewarding - and you know exactly what's in it, so if it's fattening you only have yourself to blame!

Rigidity	I did stick to the diet quite well - there were obviously times when I couldn't - when I was out, or visiting the parents (my mother can't cook anything without a generous helping of lard thrown in) but the key is to eat in moderation - if you know something is fattening then don't eat too much of it. Don't have a pudding / desert.... and if you have a drink, have a glass of wine rather than a can of beer. But as I said, I was no angel - and found myself buying 10-packs of Snickers bars and the odd box of chocs.... but I was also exercising daily, so I'd have some chocolate after an exercise session - or a couple of hours before a session. Not all the time mind - just every once in a while. I could have lost the weight faster if I had stuck to the diet rigidly, but I'm only human....