What? This doesn’t make sense, surely eating fat will make me more fat right?

Actually, this is wrong. Eating more unsaturated fat can actually lower cholesterol and lower your fat levels. The big learning curve on this subject is exactly which type of fat we should eat and which type of fat we shouldn’t eat. Simple, right?

First, the good fat. We should be eating more of these types of fat;

Unsaturated Fat Food Types – The Good Guys!

Look for monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat

• oily fish such as salmon, fresh tuna and mackerel
• avocados
• nuts and seeds
• sunflower and olive oils
• olives
• peanut oil
• peanut butter
• sesame oil
• pumpkins seeds
• flax seeds
• soymilk
• tofu

Unsaturated Fat Food Types – The Bad Guys!

Look for saturated and trans fat foods

• lard (no surprise there!)
• butter
• cheese
• whole fat dairy products (milk, cream, yoghurt)
• ice cream
• chicken with the skin
• coconut oil
• margarine
• Candy or sweet/chocolate bars
• pastry, cookies, cakes, pizza dough, doughnuts and muffins
• Fried foods such as chips, French fries, breaded/battered fish, chicken nuggets, scampi
• packaged snack food, crackers, popcorn, crisps, corn fires

General Rules Of Thumb When Eating Fats

• keep your total fat intake between 20 and 35% of all your calorie intake (there are some great phone apps such as Tap & Track which allow you to do this)
• Look for the good guys and replace the bad guys in your diet, limit your saturated fat intake to a minimum using the list of food types above
• Get used to reaching for your nuts! Nuts and avocados are becoming regulars in my nutrition plan, I suggest you find some nuts you like or get used to them, the same goes for avocados. Oily fish is also a great source of Omega 3. I’m lucky as I like all types of fish but I also understand that fish is not for everyone.
• shake the misconception of ‘eating fat makes me fat’, so long as you stick to the good guys, you can become ripped while eating a moderate amount of good fat

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