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The Straight Diet

Week 4: Good vs. Bad: Fats & Proteins
Last week you started cutting calories and you should now be on the path to losing a healthy 1-2 pounds per week.
This week you'll start to separate calories into good ones and bad ones. While all calories can make you gain weight,
there are some calories that can also cause serious negative as well as positive health effects. Your goal should be to
maximize those healthy calories while reducing your intake of unhealthy ones.
Fat can be separated into two different categories: saturated and unsaturated. Basically, saturated fats are bad and
unsaturated fats are good. Saturated fats can be found mostly in animal sources such as milk, cheese and meat (and
coconuts). Even if you weren't on a diet, limiting saturated fats a must.
Completely eliminating them isn't necessary. Switch to low fat or fat free versions
of these foods. Unsaturated fats come mostly plant sources and fish. These fats
have been shown to be healthy for your heart and reduce the risk of
cardiovascular disease which is very prevalent in the developed world.
You should already be limiting your total fat intake to 30% of your total calories.
Your goal for this week will be to separate fat into unsaturated and saturated
sources. You will limit your intake of saturated fats to 10% of your total intake
20% will come from unsaturated sources.
Total Calories
Total Fat (30%)
Saturated (10%)
Unsaturated (20%)
50 grams
16 grams
32 grams
Some forms of protein are associated with high amounts of saturated fats. Good sources come from meat that is low in
saturated fat. Some examples are lean cuts of beef, chicken, turkey and fish. Soy is also a good source of protein and
healthy for your heart. Low fat and fat free versions of dairy are also great sources of quality protein. Your second goal
for this week is to eat protein that is low in fat.
Copyright 2007