Reducing Dietary Fat and Taking Weight Off

"Taking it off and keeping it off" rests on two levers:

• Body weight can be reduced by increasing the number of calories used (exercise) and reducing the number of calories taken in.
• Cutting down on fats in the diet is an effective way to reduce calories.
• If you want to lose weight, eating right is only part of the equation — you also have to increase the number of calories used by increasing activity and exercising.

Practical low-fat food choices listed in the source:

• Choose more vegetables, fruits, cereal grains, and starches.
• Choose fish, poultry, and lean cuts of meat, and serve moderate portions.
• Trim fat from meats and skin from chicken before cooking.
• Eat less commercial baked goods made with lard, coconut oil, palm oil, or shortening.
• Eat less sausage, bacon, and processed luncheon meats.
• Use skim milk or low-fat milk; choose low-fat cheeses; use low-fat yogurt.
• Eat less cream, ice cream, and butter.
• Eat less food fried in animal fats or shortening.
• Eat fewer eggs or fewer egg yolks.

• Two levers: increase calories used (exercise) and reduce calories taken in.
• Cutting dietary fat is an effective way to reduce calories.
• Eating right alone is insufficient — activity/exercise is also required.
• Favor vegetables, fruits, grains, starches, fish, poultry, lean meats (moderate portions).
• Reduce baked goods with lard/coconut/palm oil/shortening, processed meats, full-fat dairy, fried foods, and egg yolks.

• negative-caloric-balance — the deficit these habits create.
• caloric-balance — calories in vs. out.
• fast-food-statistics — why cutting dietary fat matters at the population level.