We don’t want to be killjoys but we reckon you might not be aware of how much fat there is in the food you eat. You expect fried foods like chips to be fatty and deep-dish pizzas but it’s a bit of a shock to find out how much fat everyday foods like mince contain, as you can see from this totally revolting photo.

I recently made the Budget Meat Loaf that’s on the site in a Remoska (a really brilliant Czech gadget that works like a small oven) and this is the amount of fat that came off it. All discarded, thankfully.

We’re not saying don’t eat fat - you need a certain amount in your diet - just try and get it from foods such as olive oil and cheese that also have some health benefits.

Get rid of excess fat when you can - like frying off mince before you make a bolognese and grilling or roasting rather than frying sausages (or frying them in a non-stick pan with very little fat. We realise we don’t always practise what we preach here so may well be tweaking the instructions on our sausage recipes!)

It’s also worth buying products that have a lower level of fat when that doesn’t compromise the taste. (We don’t believe in low fat cheese per se but some cheeses - like Brie and Quark - are lower in fat than others and cheap sausages are much fattier than more expensive ones)

Basically it’s a question of balance. There’s nothing wrong with something like a pork pie for lunch, for example, but don’t then have pizza or fish and chips for supper the same day. A baked potato is fine but don’t load it with cheese and sour cream and follow it with a chocolate muffin

You also need to watch your portion sizes if you don't want the kilos to creep on. Again, it’s not that high fat foods are evil, just don’t eat too much of them. One scoop of ice cream instead of two, two sausages instead of three, not constantly nibbling at that piece of cheddar in the fridge . . .

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing: a crash diet or a constant calorie overload. There is a middle way.

End of lecture ;-)

 

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