[Fat Melanie]

Just wondering, is this a huge factor in the diet or do I just count calories and make better food choices? (That's what I've been trying to do.)

[chick_in_the_hat]

I aim for 30% of calories coming from fat....(40% from carbs, 30% from protein.) It's pretty easy to track if you are using FitDay. For me it seems like a healthy balance.

on 10 pounds lost so far!!!!

[Cassie501107]

I am keeping my fat below 25-30% as well. I had 38.5 grams of fat yesterday, which was 18% of my 1,800 calories.

[KimberlyinMN]

To figure out the number of fat grams to aim for, multiply your daily caloric goal by the percentage of fat you'd like to consume and then divide by 9 to get the grams.

For example, I aim for 30% of 1860 calories.

1860 daily calories x .30 = 558 fat calories / 9 = 62 grams of fat

Kimberly

[Heather]

Based on recommendations from the American Heart Association and other such institutes, I also aim to keep fat about 20-30% of my calories -- though I try to do that over time (say a week), rather than worrying about going over once in a while. I use nutridiary to track everything.

Also, some fats are better than others. I try to limit trans fats (though do eat some microwave popcorn with it), and increase the fats in olive oil and fish. This week I've eaten a lot of salmon (5 times I think!), so while my fat intake for the week sits at 31% I know that a lot of it is from the fish, and don't worry about it so much.

I've found that I've changed over time, as well. WHen I first started I just worried about portion control, then started counting calories, and then keeping track of other pieces of the puzzle so to speak.