Eight foods that could ruin your diet

Fat doesn't make you fat! It's actually something your body REQUIRES to function, which is why people who torture themselves with low fat diets struggle with hunger. Fat IS more calorie dense than carbs and protein, but it is also a lot more filling and in smaller amounts. I've just shed over 3.5 stone without hardly any effort and definitely no hunger problems by cutting out refined flours and sugars and starches--THOSE are what will make you fat, feel bloated, and hungry. Instead I eat fresh veg, plenty of meat (with the fat still on it!), full fat dairy products, whole grains, nuts, seeds, berries, etc. I use butter or olive oil to cook in and as long as you are handy with cooking and have a bit of imagination in preparing dinners, it never gets boring and the weight falls off. The ONLY fat that is bad for you, is Trans Fat. It has no nutritional value whatsoever.

There's too much talk of weight loss with 'minimal effort'.  A big reason for weight gain is our modern sedentary lifestyle of sitting in front of computers, TV's and video games and not moving.  Get out and walk the dog, play sport, learn to dance - whatever, just get moving.

Eat less, move more and everything in moderation. Simple.

I'm with you both on the fat issue.  It seems if you stick to just meat, fish, dairy, fruit & Veg, you won't go far wrong.  However, I need to eat branflakes (a lot of) to keep my pipes clean, which isn't a problem in itself, even with full cream milk (I can't stand watery milk) but I've just read above that granulated sweetener is as bad as sugar, and I load up with the stuff.  On cereal, in tea and coffee....... etc.  Heeeeellllpppp!!!!!!

There are two things totally missing from this list!

 

1) Alcohol - a good night out puts on more pounds than the full english you have the day after!

 

2) Bread - why is this missing from the list! It is worse than most on this list. It is a cheaper option to fill up on bread, rather than fill your plate with "more" veg or healthier options etc! Even brown bread (which I tend to eat much more of that white) helps put on the pounds. I can catagorically say, if I cut down on bread, I'd lose weight no problems!

 

Another pointer for MSN....Milk? Whole milk is better for you than skimmed milk. The Doctors and Health Visitors specifically state to give your child "Whole Milk" and never Skimmed or even Semi-skimmed! Should we all go against Doctors advice, after all there is a huge problem with Child Obesity at present! Or is milk not a huge problem? I have Whole Milk now simply because of my child! It's unfeasible to buy two lots of different milk, especially as Whole milk is more consumed than what would be of Semi-skimmed/skimmed (in coffee etc) - isn't there supposed to be a problem with "waste" in our society! People can not win!

Sugar is the main culprit in any dietary issues, and this includes hidden sugar and complex carbohydrates. It causes blood sugar to rise and insulin to be released to reduce the blood sugar. When the adrenal glands detect this they release cortisol, which causes glucose to be released to raise the blood sugar again - and (unless about to engage in exercise) the excess gets stored as fat. The adrenal/cortisol mechanism is the reason why stress can also cause weight gain.

To prevent these blood sugar fluctuations it is important to include protein, carbohydrate and fat at every meal - as other people have said, fat doesn't make you fat, as long as it doesn't contain tri-glycerides, and as long as unstable fats (oils) aren't heated to high temperatures so that they become rancid and release free radicals.  

Also, whole milk is better than skimmed or semi-skimmed because it contains more vitamins. (Though it is debatable whether any cows milk is good for humans, as it is intended for calves! I have oat milk on cereal and think it goes much better with it). Food should be eaten as close to it's natural state as possible, and in the right proportions, and the carbohydrate content should come as much as possible from vegetables (fruit can play havoc with your blood sugar and cortisol levels too, due to the fructose in it so always needs to be balanced with protein).

But although sugar is bad, it is better than artificial sweeteners, which are positively toxic!