That's right, you have to eat fat to lose fat. The misguided idea of cutting fat totally out of your diet is as smart as going on a crash diet.
That is, not smart at all. It might seem like a good idea at the time but it cannot work if you want to lose fat (or indeed if you want to live a healthy lifestyle).
Why not? Simply because without the right proportion of fats in your diet, your weight will plateau as your body goes into starvation mode.
Your body has to burn fat to function efficiently. When you cut down your intake of fat lower than your body requires, your well meaning body will slow down its usage of your existing fat deposits, stockpiling them against the bad times it thinks you have fallen upon.
Think something along the lines of "Gosh, I haven't received any incoming fat for awhile. I'd better hang on to what I've got and use it very sparingly till I get my next delivery."
You have to eat fat to lose fat. But how much and what type?
Your fat intake should be no more than 30% of your total calorie intake. 20% unsaturated fats and 10% saturated fats, maximum.
Most overweight people who want to lose weight have a diet rich in saturated fats, particularly highly processed deep fried food.
Because many of these food items are eaten as between meal snacks or as a side order of french fries with an otherwise balanced meal, people tend to get calorie amnesia about them, convincing themselves that they do not eat junk food at all.
Fatty deep fry is the most calorie dense of all foods so even though it might look small, every single item of deep fry is loaded with calories. They have shockingly poor nutritional value.
If your diet includes regular serves of deep fried items, you will suffer regular food cravings. The more you eat of this junk, the more you crave it, then you'll eat some more and put on some more weight. Not the look you were after.
If you can make a conscious and sustained effort to get off the deep fry and eat mainly unsaturated fats instead, you will kill your food cravings, have a healthier body and burn that body fat you hate so much.
Eat fat, but make sure it's the right fat for you.
