I did something last night and now I want to know whether it is bad or not.

My daughter broke her arm just before my wonderful roast beef dinner was served, so I spent the night in the ER starving. I had only eaten 1100 calories by this point in the day. When I left the ER, I was so hungry, that I bought a small hamburger from DQ. Now, I know the hamburger is bad for me, but I still stayed under my set 1700 calorie limit for the day.

Is this okay? I mean, if I have a Bigmac but stay within my calorie limit, is it okay? Or is it bad because it's so full of fat?

Man, this can get confusing...

It's not the best thing you can do for your body, but it won't hurt either. As long as you stay within your calorie range, you shouldn't have a problem. If you were eating high fat foods all the time and your weight loss was stalling, then I think we'd say something different, but once in a while a high fat item won't hurt (so long as you stay within your acceptable calorie range).

Steen, life happens. Your body was hungry, you ate what you could at the time. You should try and lighten up on yourself a bit. Your kid broke her arm (I'm glad she's going to be ok), you ate a hamburger, you stayed within your calorie limit. Time to move on. There is no perfection only progress.

I would say that you did pretty darn well. You were at DQ and didn't get any ice cream or fries dipped in gravy. That sounds like a pretty good accomplishment to me.

In a similar vein, does having too little fat matter? When I am on target for calories according to DailyPlate, my fat is usually at about 45-50% of RDA. I know it can be bad to eat too little fat, but if weight loss is just calories in = calories out, why does it matter?

Too little fat may cause hair loss, brittle nails and 'nice little side effects' of a similar kind. Of course, we're talking good fats here. Trans fats can safely be left aside.

As for the burger? Like the others, I'll say that it was something exceptional, it doesn't seem like this happens to you everyday. If it's an isolated occurrence (something that doesn't happen, say, twice a week), and especially since you were still within your calories alottment, it's probably nothing that you should worry about, provided you 'get back on plan' (or whatever you wish to call it) right at the next meal.

And I hope your daughter will be better soon. Such circumstances, uhm, suck. :|

Is there any specific amount or % that constitutes too little fat? I mean, should I really be aiming for the fat RDA of 100%, or if I'm dieting should I be trying to stay under that? If so, how much under it?

The general rule of thumb I go by for fat is no more than 30% of the calories for the day should come from fat.

First, to Steen -- KimmieOne is right. Life happens sometimes and we do the best we can. That's not a bad choice under the circumstances. Just try not to let it derail you (that's where the troubles lie!)

Scenestealer, if we were only eating keeping weight loss in mind, then I guess it wouldn't matter how much fat we ate, but we have to remember that the food we eat serves to provide our body with nutrients too. And when we restrict calories, it can be hard to get the nutrients in. So, many people end up paying attention not only to calories but to other factors as well -- so they will be healthy and slim!

As for fat, I've read dietary guidelines suggesting fat can be up to 35% (I try to keep below 30%), but that you should also get at least 20% of your calories from fat. Fat helps absorb all nutrients you do eat, and Kery already mentioned other benefits.

Whoa, I just did the calculations (1g fat = 9 calories), and I am WAY under. In the past week, anywhere from 7-20% of my cals came from fat, which is definitely too low. I'll try to step it up today and throw some good fats (olive oil, peanut butter, etc) in there. Thanks for the info, Heather!