The myth of the low-fat diet

I am walking, talking, eating proof that introducing fat back into your diet will not mean that you'll need to book two seats on the aircraft on your next trip abroad.

Eating a very low-fat diet is (quite bluntly) a fabulous way to bollocks-up your metabolism and ensure it is very hard to adjust to 'normal eating', if you ever again have the inclination or capacity to do so. Other than that, there is so much stuff around now to say that it is a very poor choice of diet for those wishing to slim, such as reported by FOXNews.

It has been over two months now that I began my journey, gave up food restriction and began to 'taste the freedom' of eating exactly what I wanted. I haven't put on any weight. I have learned that if I stay in tune with my body, I don't overeat and I don't need as much 'bulk' as I used to (because I was trying to fill up since my diet was so low in fat).

I don't eat lard, horrible fatty processed meats (I don't eat meat at all) or anything I consider 'harmful' fat (hydrogenated oils). But I eat lots of cheese (yum), nutritious oils (like yummy hemp seed oil), full-fat milk, butter and other products I used to avoid like the plague (like taramasalata). And let me say it again, I haven't put on weight.

Linda Moran, who wrote 'How to Survive your Diet and Conquer Your food Issues Forever', said to me in a recent interview we had for an article I was writing, "Eating low-fat - which is another way to alter the food instead of oneself - deprives your body of needed fats and oils that house both flavor and vitamins, thus leading to a state of deprivation that can only be quieted by overeating."

And what I've found is that if I increase the fat content of my meals, I can actually decrease the size of the portion (some of them are now teeny tiny meals - but not always!), and still remain full for a reasonable (normal!) period of time.

This means I'm getting away from the dieters' mentality I used to have of trying to bulk up as much as possible in food, to avoid being hungry later. I inevitably was hungry, because though I ate large amounts, it ultimately didn't satisfy.

So, as they say, you learn something new everyday, and I've certainly managed that over the last few months.