I eat cheese on everything- eggs, sandwiches, salads, vegetables, burgers, pasta, everything! I'm starting my diet in a few days, and I wanted to know how much I should cut out?

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Michael Collins: I enjoy cheese too, all different types. However, I pay careful attention to when and with what I'm eating it with. The reason is that cheese is a very concentrated source of calories.

 

The first thing you need to do is work on eliminating the starchy carbs from the diet before you take out the cheese. Starchy carbs would include the bread on your sandwiches, the bun from your burgers and the pasta. Those starchy carbs will simply impede your fat loss, while including a small amount of in your diet can actually help make your dieting easier. I'll get to that in a moment.

 

You mentioned sandwiches, burgers and pasta in your list.  Consider having the sandwich without the bread. Keep the cheese on the burger and have some lettuce and tomato instead of the bun. Pasta? You don't need it at all.

 

 

How can cheese help you burn fat?

 

Cheese can help you burn fat because a high percentage of it's calories come from fat. Fat can help you on a diet because it gives you a feeling of fullness rather quickly after eating (resulting in less calories consumed at that meal). It also satiates you longer- meaning you're not hungry as often. Finally, fat helps stabilize insulin release, so that you don't hit low blood sugar levels.

 

You know you've got low blood sugar when you've reached that state of “I've gotta eat!”. You've been there before, haven't you? That's the starving feeling you get when you haven't eaten in 5 or 6 hours, and nothing else in the world matters except getting some food! In this state of mind, are you likely to choose healthy foods, or sugary, high calorie foods?

 

Right! Sugar- laden, high calorie foods!

 

So, you see, cheese can be helpful in your dieting journey.

 

2 more things to consider:

 

1) When you're eating cheese, always pair it up with a good amount of protein and when possible, fibrous vegetables, which are phenomenal for fat loss.

 

2) As with anything else, don't go overboard and eat a ton of cheese. It's been said a million times, but it applies here- Moderation! Cheese is relatively high in total calories, even in small quantities. 

 

When you start your diet, the first thing to keep an eye on is total calorie intake. Make sure you're taking in less calories than than you're burning each day.  So, for now, just take out the starchy carbs and leave the cheese in your diet.  Dieting is so much easier when you can eat the stuff you love.

 

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 Michael Collins