Fat Grams

[FallenFaerie27]

I'm on a 1500 cal-a-day diet. I'm 5'2", 253 lbs. I was wondering if anyone knew the best goal for fat grams. I'm not sure how many I should have a day. I made out my menu for today & got 24 fat grams. A friend told me that that's a little too high. Is it?

[lucky]

In terms of weight loss, I don't think it really matters since the bottom line is calories in vs. calories burned.

In terms of general health, though, it really has more to do with the KIND of fat you are consuming rather than the amount. There is a big difference in the fat found in potato chips and the healthier fats of olive oil, nuts, etc.

Personally, I don't pay very close attention to my calorie distribution since I am eating healthily enough to know that most of the fats I consume are "good" fats. A good rule of thumb, though, is 40% carbs, 30% proteins, and 20% fats (that's 50 grams for a 1500/day diet) making up your total caloric intake.

As it happens, when I eat on plan I almost always fall somwhere in this range give or take a few percentage points. Which is another reason I don't pay a lot of attention to it - if I do what I know I'm supposed to the details seem to take care of themselves.

[timmyshawn]

I'm 5'2 and 205 and doing 1400-1600 calories a day and 47 grams of fat or less each day. This number is actually a couple of of grams lower than what the doc gave me.

[aphil]

24 fat grams for 1500 calories a day is NOT too high. A level of 20%-30% of your diet as fats is better, as jawsmom stated.
Fat is essential for the body, and a diet too low in fat can cause dry skin, dry brittle hair, and other side effects.

[abigi7]

I am just starting a low fat diet cause I have tried the low car. and no way I am not that much a meat eater. If anyone could give me some good books to research I would much aprreciate it. I weigh 277 and am only 5'3" so I am very obese and need alot of help. Also I have articifal(sp) knees and can not do a lot of excerises with jumping and running aded to it so if someone has any ideas please let me know. I plan on posting alot and keeping in touch. Thanks for reading my post.

abigi7

[lucky]

abigi, water aerobics, bike riding, swimming, yoga, pilates, etc. are all low impact workouts that will give a great workout.

[MrsJim]

I am just starting a low fat diet cause I have tried the low car. and no way I am not that much a meat eater. If anyone could give me some good books to research I would much aprreciate it. I weigh 277 and am only 5'3" so I am very obese and need alot of help. Also I have articifal(sp) knees and can not do a lot of excerises with jumping and running aded to it so if someone has any ideas please let me know. I plan on posting alot and keeping in touch. Thanks for reading my post.

abigi7

As I (and lots of other folks) found out back in the mid-90's, and as has been stated by Aphil and Jawsmom already - you can eat 'low fat' or 'low carb' and STILL gain weight - because bottom line, it's CALORIES that count.

And again as has been stated - there are healthy fats that are essential to keep your body running smoothly (think of it as taking the car to Jiffy Lube!). Back in 1996 or so, I went on a vegan diet - it was about as fat-free as you could get (and low-calorie as well, since I was basically living off steamed veggies, oatmeal, plain baked potatoes, brown rice and limiting myself to one piece of fruit a day). Sure I lost weight - but I also noticed my hair thinning out, my skin becoming dry and flaky no matter how much lotion I applied, and generally just feeling blah.

There are LOTS of good books out there - you might want to check out The Way to Eat (the author has a regular column in O Magazine), or Body for Life For Women.

As far as exercise - again as jawsmom stated, there are lots of exercises that don't require running and jumping :)