I use to hear the saying, ‘you are what you eat!’ If you stop and think about it… that can be a true saying. Generally if a person eats high-fat foods all of the time (as well as live a sedate lifestyle) he or she will gain weight! Teenage girls will say healthy eating is veggies and other rabbit food. They see the movie stars and runway models that give Twiggy a run for her money, and think, being very skinny is ideal. The picture below is Nicole Richie at the MTV Video Music Awards 2006.
Picture from NicoleRichieFan.com at http://www.nicolerichiefan.com/pictures.html
I think Nicole Richie is a very beautiful woman and I also think she is very under weight! I have a step-daughter that is always worried about getting fat. So I wish Nicole Richie the best of luck dealing with common perceptions of health.
I just reviewed a video on youtube.com where a Dr. Jonny Bowden is speaking to fat intake. The video seems to be injecting common sense into the issue of buying low-fat foods, only to double the caloric content (hence turning any excess calories into fat anyway). Here is the video:
I am starting to use moderation (I can finally focus - this year) as the yardstick I measure all things diet. While it is true that a high-fat diet coupled with low activity can lead to obesity, that is not the problem! When one is speaking of proper nutrition, the whole diet and exercise routine has to be taken into account. For example, if I were to eat the tasteless, high-priced low-fat foods, I would not enjoy eating as much, be poorer, and more prone to falling off the wagon so to speak, often.
Here is the straight info - fat has 9 calories per gram, carbohydrates and protein have 4 calories per gram. So does it make sense to lower the intake of fat and increase the intake of carbs and protein? I think so as long as you are not losing site of the goal. The goal is to get all of your needed nutrition in a days eating that will add to your health.
I would not suggesting starving yourself or cutting out fat in your diet for a host of reasons that I will go into later but let me say if you do... you will be on the weight-loss roller coaster and make the fad diet (read yo-yo dieting) industry rich until you figure out a safe, effective way that works for you!
As you are formulating a method that can work for you, keep in mind you don't have to give up your way of life... meaning if you like pizza, you can still eat pizza occasionally in moderation. I think moderation is going to be the key to finding a method that will work for you.
I think that folks ought to be eating a well-rounded diet that is not too restrictive in any area. If you are at all worried about vitamins, take a multi-vitamin. In the end, whatever you do, you will have to decrease your caloric intake and increase your activity level somewhat to have the best chance for the "lifestyle" change all of the diet books are raving about. Eat a healthy, sensible (for you) diet that you can stick with, and I think you can be successful in this endeavour!
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