Saturated fat makes flabby and fat.

After being made to imagine what the body does with saturated fat (after watching one of those BBC programmes),  I cut it out of my diet (and from Stuart's diet as well).  This was no easy task I can tell you because saturated fat is EVERYWHERE!  The UK Government Food Standards recommends a maximum amount of 30g of saturated fat per day for a man and a maximum of 20g per day for a woman (children should eat less than this).  Ingredient labels that reflect a saturated fat content more that 20g per 100g is considered high and low is considered 3g or less per 100g.

So, at about the same time I started exercising on a regular basis I stopped eating saturated fat.  The results were spectacular.  Not only did I start waving goodbye to flab, my risk of heart disease decreased.

Here are the main culprits I eliminated from my diet:

1. Cakes, pastries, pies, processed meat products (like sausages), biscuits (this includes savoury ones)
2. Cheese (only low fat cottage cheese in small quantities allowed) 
3. Cream in any form including ice-cream
4. Crisps
5. Butter, lard or ghee
6. Sweets including chocolates
7. Coconut oil, milk or cream or palm oil

These were the first steps I took towards better health.  Pretty easy huh?  Every time I am presented with saturated fat in any form I just imagine plastering it onto my hips, thighs, arms, neck etc and that puts me off it immediately.  It is so easy to put it on but it sticks like crazy and to get it off again is a mission; not to mention what damage it may do to the body. 

Eating food that is bad for health is just not worth it, in spite of what advertisers have to say.  I never believe  ads, I always read the the ingredient labels and if the product is not up to speed I don't touch it.  We mostly eat fresh food that I prepare myself; this way I know exactly what goes in to the dish.  It is also easy to make delicious dishes using low fat substitutes so we don't have to eat gruel to stay healthy!

Diana Elsmere