Its the age-old dilemma: how to lose weight without feeling deprived? For many of us, food is much more than fuel. Food is social, because we eat with others much of the time, and especially on festive occasions. Food is also comfort it can even be entertainment, both in terms of its preparation and its consumption. Finally, food is also about family and culture. We may take pride in preparing family dishes, things that we remember a grandparent making, dishes that we ate as children. Asking people to give up on any of these pleasures is a very difficult thing.

An alcoholic can give up drinking by just never taking a drink again its hard, but at least its simple and clear cut. A person who finds himself addicted to food, and dealing with the accompanying weight problem, does not have the option of just giving up eating, because we all have to eat in order to live. That makes food addiction and weight problems a particularly difficult situation to deal with for some people.

Heres one solution that has worked for many of us keep on eating your favorite foods at the appropriate times, but prepare lower fat versions of them. If you have a choice between adding a fat an adding extra flavor with spices or herbs, always choose the flavor over the fat. In this way, you can avoid feeling deprived, you can maintain good nutrition, and you can preserve the social aspects of food and eating that are so important to us all. You can lose weight and lower your cholesterol level at the same time.

Its easier than you think, especially with all the products available nowadays. For example, if you have a penchant for ice cream, there is no need to feel deprived just buy ice milk or frozen yogurt, and enjoy. Most of us cant even tell the difference between these foods. The point of ice cream is that its cold and sweet and creamy, and either of the lower fat substitutes fills this need just as well.

If youre cooking meat, just be sure to buy leaner cuts. Thats a great way of cutting fat and cholesterol in your food. Use just a little bit of olive oil for cooking, on a non-stick pan. Chances are, youll never miss the fat content. You can also substitute 1% milk for 2% or whole again, most people cant tell the difference, though skim milk is too thin to be used in many recipes.

If you like omelets or quiche, you can avoid consuming excess fat and cholesterol by using only the egg whites. If that seems wasteful to you, dont worry is it possible to buy egg whites in a container, so that you dont have to throw away yolks. There is low fat cheese on the market to add to these dishes, but unlike some low fat products, it tends to be rather flavorless. Dont use these if you dont like them. Instead, buy a high quality, very flavorful cheese parmesan or asiago, or blue cheese if you like it and just use a tiny bit. If the flavor is strong, a little will go a long way.

Thats true as a rule of thumb a little flavor goes a long, long way. For example, if you add a lot of salt to the water when cooking pasta, youll need less sauce and cheese to have it taste good. Instead of putting butter on popcorn, try soy sauce it gives it extra flavor, and some moisture, which is important. Many of us, when trying to cut out butter, find unbuttered popcorn too dry to be palatable. Soy sauce eliminates this problem, and some people end up preferring it that way.

None of these measures, taken on its own, is a weigh loss miracle. However, if you use all of them consistently, you will end up losing weight almost guaranteed. The important thing is to be consistent. You have to use these measures all the time substitute flavor for fat at every meal. Over time, you will benefit from better health and weight loss without feeling deprived, or eliminating the pleasure that you get from your food.