Women often shy away from red meat due to its fat content, but by choosing lean cuts you can get your iron while still maintaining a low-fat diet. Two good nonmeat sources are lentils and iron-fortified breakfast cereals. Before turning to supplementation as your source, check with your doctor. Better to increase your iron intake with 2 to 4 ounces of lean meat a day. But this fat-free frenzy has a downside.
Many people think that because a food is fat-free they can eat as much of it as they want.
Many of these foods are loaded with sugar and calories, so gorging on them will cause weight gain. To get your vitamin E, eat plenty of whole grains, and try to use small amounts of vitamin E-rich oils, such as corn oil or walnut oil, for cooking or on salads. Check food labels for calorie amounts even when you're buying fat-free foods. References Liz Applegate, Ph.D., is the Nutrition Editor for Runner's World. She is a member of The National Triathlon Training Camp Elite Team, and teaches at the University of California at Davis.