How to Lose Weight - Eliminate Trans Fat

Losing weight is one of the most difficult challenges that I have ever faced. I know it seems like such a stupid thing to say. How can it be so hard to lose weight? That question comes from all the folks out there who have never had a weight problem or faced the scale two moths before their 20th high school reunion.

Weight loss is one of those things that is hard to achieve because we are literally surrounded by any type of food, in any quantity we wish. Food is everywhere and a good portion of that food is not healthy food. There are a lot of foods available today that contain large amounts of trans fat.

What Are Trans Fats?

Trans fats are contained in liquid vegetable oil that has been commercially processed by adding hydrogen to make the oil more solid. Trans fats are just another name for "partially hydrogenated oils" which is the name that will show up on those nutrition labels now on all food items. Little was known about trans fat until the 1990's when researchers discovered the negative health effects.

Because so little was known, trans fats became very popular and were put into wide use by restaurants. The production process to make this unhealthy vegetable oil is inexpensive and it also allows the oil to be stored for a long time. These trans fats also make the foods very tasty and create a desirable texture that consumers really like. until just recently, most commercial kitchens and fast food restaurants used frying oil containing trans fat in their deep fryers.

Trans Fats Have A Devastating Effect on Your Health

One of the toughest things for anyone to do is to change a habit. Well, if you're going to limit the potential for heart disease, stroke, and even certain types of cancer, you're going to have to change your eating habits. It's really just that simple. Trans fat does some really bad things to your body. Studies have shown a link between the consumption of foods containing trans fat and coronary heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Other evidence suggests trans fat may also cause cancer, obesity, liver dysfunction, and even infertility. Trans fat is bad and it's in just about all fast foods.

When I first started to lose weight, I remember one of the first things I did was to stop going out to eat lunch at a fast food place. I was so surprised at how well I felt after just a few weeks of stopping my consumption of all that fatty food. When I started to learn more about trans fat and what it was doing to my body, I was floored. Some of the foods which I ate on a regular basis contained trans fat like doughnuts, cookies, pastries, pie crust, biscuits, pizza dough, crackers, shortening, and margarine.

Get Educated About Trans Fats and Start Losing Pounds

The best thing to do is become educated and aware of the substances being put into your body. If you must eat out, ask for nutrition information first and give that info a chance to soak into your mind. I think you'll discover that certain foods may not be the best choice for eating healthy and losing weight.

Decide today to start eating better and making better choices about the food you eat. I know it's hard because there are just so many choices available and it's available all the time. Try and ignore those late night pizza ads or the ads for the taco place that's open until 2 a.m. Commit to losing weight. Make your first step by quitting the fast food. You'll be surprised at how much weight you'll lose by just doing that. Eat right, eat less, and you can lose ten pounds in one week.

Source: American Heart Association, Face the Fats, Ban Trans Fats