You only need small amounts of fat to be healthy.

Years ago, I had a client who was truly ‘fat phobic’.  If she could detect any trace of fat in her food, she’d reject it.  She’d dissect a piece of roast chicken into tiny pieces, teasing out any specks of fat she could find between the muscle fibers, and she dressed her salads with straight lemon juice – never a drop of oil.  She did this primarily as a weight control strategy – she was a tiny woman and intended to stay that way – but she’d also heard that people need to eat fat.  So she was worried.  Was being this finicky about fat bad for her health? And – more importantly – did she really need fat in her diet at all?

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Another Monday is coming around, and you’re gearing up for another round of dieting.  Checklist in hand, you’re feeling in charge.  Tempting foods out of the house?  Check.  Bowl of fresh fruit on the counter?  Check.  Cut veggies placed front and center in the ‘frig?  Check.  But as you stride into work with your healthy homemade lunch, you’re faced with cinnamon rolls in the breakroom, a vending machine full of junk food, and a co-worker with a jar of chocolate candies on her desk.  Check, check and check.  

I once worked in an office where fresh doughnuts were delivered to the breakroom every morning – and this was a cardiologist’s office.   I don’t even like doughnuts, but it was still hard to resist a bite or two every time I’d go in to refresh my coffee.  Despite my protests that we were perhaps sending the wrong message, the doughnut delivery persisted, so I bought a little coffee maker for my office so I could avoid the lunch room altogether. 

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Food commercials on television push us to eat more than our recommended daily intake of salt, fat, sugar and calories.

Watching television can really be dangerous to your health. And it’s not just because we sit for so long – although that’s certainly part of the problem. A recent study revealed just how bad a diet could be if it were based entirely on foods advertised on television (and yes, there are people who actually eat like this).

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Just because foods have less fat, sugar, or calories doesn’t make them healthy foods.

Remember when carbs were the bad guys? The food manufacturers do, I’m sure. A few years back, when everyone was doing the Atkins thing, we were deluged with everything from the impossible-sounding low-carb bread to carb-counter’s chocolate fudge. Trouble was, everyone was too focused on the details – in keeping close tabs on their carbs, they lost track of calories. And many of them gained weight.

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