help needed for low fat diet PLEASE

foreign_correspondent

Hello,

ok, I did very low fat for 2 years due to gallstones and pancreatitis - very painful, so wasnt tempted to stray even though I love my food!

What i did was find lots of really good low fat meals, as I said I love food, and couldnt live with not enjoying it!Read all the labels and look for the fat per 100g - lots of products say 'reduced fat' but its only a tiny reduction!

Top shopping tips -

Fry-lite spray- very non stick frying spray, you squirt it into the pan they fry as normal, but it adds very few calories/fat.

Very low fat mature cheddar style cheese - reduced fat cheses vary massively in their fat content, but their are a couple (asda/weight watchers i think) that is less than 5% fat fine in a cheese salad sarnie!

Hellmans very low fat mayo (lilac label) - not as good as the full fat, but not too bad!

Very lean minced beef (again, i know asda definitely do this) - great for spag bol, chilli, cottage pie etc - just make as normal, but use fry lite!

plain rice and pasta are v low in fat, just use tomato based sauces, not creamy! (and low fat grated cheese!)
Spuds! make mash with just a dash of milk and salt and pepper, or add yogurt, low fat creme freche etc if you prefer for creamyness!

Bread!

Very lean meat, or without skin chicken turkey etc - lean bacon too!

Fish! all (non oily) fish is low in fat! Tuna steaks are too!

Lots of fruit and veg - again, almost all of it is low fat! (except avocado!)

low fat yogurt, cottage cheese etc

Make great lowfat salad dressing - just runny honey, wholegrain mustard and balsamic vinegar! yum! (needs quite a bit of honey though to stop it being too sharp)

Low fat oven chips - make your own or asda!

Baked beans, tinned tomatoes spaghetti etc are all low in fat, as are many soups, or you can make your own soup! (lovely and very low fat!)

Sorbet or low fat ice cream, ordinary birds custard is low fat too (made up with semi skimmed milk!)

There are also some good low fat ready made pizzas, sponge puddings etc which are good for when you need a treat!

hope that helps!

broke_mary

just to let you know i'm on day 3 of the tablets and they are no way near as bad as i thought they were going to be. no problems yet with them and am eating loads only feel as if i'm missing out when the kids ask for easter eggs that unfortunately they still have 7 left had 10 to start with to many i know!!

thank-you for all of your help especially foreign correspondent with such a big list of tips.

mary

foreign_correspondent

No probs and good luck!

also, I just remembered, (as i am sitting here scoffing snacks!) that pretzels are low fat, as is salsa, and new walkers baked crisps arent below 5% but I think they are only about 7%

Japanese rice crackers are nice and tasty too (minus the peanut ones - i let my OH eat them for me!)

I reckon you do need to find replacements for snacks and treats for occasional attacks of the munchies!

If you go out for dinner, grilled lean steak (ask em to pick you a lean slice!) and salad with new potatoes is good, as are lots of grilled fish dishes, and at the indian tandoori chicken with plain rice and a salad is good! yum!

But you do have to get used to stressing to the staff that its very important that your food is low fat, and not served with any oil, butter or salad dressing... I have also had to send things back a few times cos they forgot but generally if you explain its for medical reasons people are pretty helpful about it!