Do you try to control your fat intake ?

[whiffey]

I always examine food for its nutritional content and try to keep below 5g fat per 100g (5%). If it's something I really like, e.g. corned beef, I will go up to 10%, but above that and I seriously question the wisdom. I have to make a serious exception in the case of the very occasional haggis ! How much do you read food labelling or do you just put everything straight into the trolley ?

[mccfluff]

morning whiffey, i read everything and tie my brain up in knots trying to work out the actual fat and calorie content of a say 220gram dish when they give you the breakdown per 250 gram. i try to keep my fat content as low as possible but some things i can't resist like salami so has to be an occasional treat.

[Donquixote]

It's not so much the fat content in general you need to worry about, but rather the type of fats present in the food. You need a certain amount of fats as part of a healthy diet. I eat quite a lot of fat really, but I'm very fussy about the types I'll eat. Most people have heard of saturated and polyunsaturated fats frequently mentioned in margarine adverts. The main thing is to steer clear of modified fats... there's something called trans fats (trans unsaturated fatty acids) or hydrogenated/partially-hydrogenated fats which are a serious problem.
Trans fats cause significant and serious lowering of HDL (good) cholesterol and a significant and serious increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol (major clogging of arteries, type 2 diabetes, and other serious health issues).
It' s been said that, whereas 'simple' fats form part of a controlled healthy diet, there is no room whatsoever for the intake of trans fats. Basically, it's a stealth killer.
Anything labelled with "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" oils/fats should be avoided like the plague.

[sunshine-kt]

I'm sort of obsessive with checking the calories and fat of everything I eat. Its now part of the routine of my life, I can't stop! I count how many calories I have in a day, and try to stick to under 2000 a day.