Eat More, Be Healthier, and Weigh Less

Eating a high-fiber diet need not be a chore. On the contrary, if you cut your fat intake, you can boost the amount of high-fiber carbohydrates you eat without increasing your calorie intake. The result? Not only will you be healthier and trimmer, but you'll be able to eat a significantly higher volume of food. If it sounds too good to be true, just take a look at the facts:

• One gram of fat contains about nine calories; a gram of carbohydrate only about four (although one gram of alcohol contains seven calories.) Fiber, since it is not digested by the body, contains no calories.
• Fiber fills you up and helps you feel full longer..
• The body tends to use carbohydrates as energy, rather than storing them as fat. Fat, on the other, more easily ends up on your hips and thighs.

     To put it another way, which would you rather have- two tablespoons of olive oil on your salad or a white meat turkey sandwich on whole-wheat bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mustard? The former contains 28 grams of fat and 240 calories; the latter about the same number of calories, but only about four grams of fat. Another example: You can have one ounce of potato chips (about 10) if you're willing to consume more than 150 calories and nine grams of fat. Or you can choose one ounce of pretzels (about 10 large twists or 50 stick pretzels) for 110 calories and less than one gram of fat. It's simple: Cut the fat, and you can eat more.

Figuring Fat Intake

Food labels provide the number of grams of total and saturated fat per serving along with the Percent Daily Value (% DV) based on a 2,000-calorie diet. But your caloric intake may be different. Remember, whether  you need to lose weight, gain weight, or just control your present weight, you should still consume no more than 30 percent of your calories from fat. And no more than one-third of this percentage should be from saturated fat.

     Based on your caloric intake, this cart lets you see at a glance how many grams (g) of fat you can consume to stay within the recommendation of 30 percent of total calories. The chart also displays the number of grams of saturated fat (Sat Fat) you should limit yourself to. (Numbers are rounded off.) But remember, these numbers represent maximum amounts; it is desirable to consume less.

Calories                               Fat(g)                              Sat Fat (g)

1,400                                   47                                      16

1,600                                   53                                      18

1,800                                   60                                      20

2,000                                   67                                      22

2,200                                   73                                      24

2,400                                   80                                      27

2,600                                   87                                      29

2,800                                   93                                      31

3,000                                  100                                     33