Hello everybody,

I've been cutting for about a month now, and when I've been grocery shopping lately, I've been looking for new fat-free products in the isles. That means that I've bought fat-free everything - and I enjoy the products! That means fat-free mayo, fat free 1000 island dressing, fat free sour cream, fat free hot dogs, and low-carb ketchup (much less sugar)... :D

Is all of this okay?! To stretch it, what about for instance Red Vines? They are supposedly fat free as well... Where should I draw the line? I am of course watching all the macronutritients and am always close to 40/40/20 with around 2000-2200 cals a day.

Any thoughts about these products?

Much of this fat free stuff may indeed be fat free, but contain hidden carbs. I recently saw a low fat peanut butter in the grocery store, yet it had 5x as much carbs per serving as regular peanut buter. For salad dressing you can't go wrong with olive oil and red wine vinegar or one of Newman's Own brands.

Low fat peanut butter usually has about the same amount of calories as the regular stuff because they add more sugar. But you didn't ask about that.

They've recently done studies that show that the nutrients in vegetables are not absorbed properly unless you take them with fat. So olive oil and lemon juice is a better choice than fat free salad dressing. Or throw some walnuts or soy nuts on your salad.

Most fat free products are loaded with sugar to make up for lack of taste. IMO I would rather have the fat in the system than the sugar.

Most fat free products are loaded with sugar to make up for lack of taste. IMO I would rather have the fat in the system than the sugar.
But what if there is only 1g or 2g of sugar? And what is a hidden carb?

But what if there is only 1g or 2g of sugar? And what is a hidden carb?

Added starches (fillers), sugar alcohols, glycerine. These type products are usually subtracted from the total carb grams on the product label to give the consumer the total "Net Carbs".