Just started counting calories. I'm only like 5 foot and weigh 255 pounds. I'm shooting for 1300 to 1600 calories a day. Should I also count my fat grams?
Any advise would be great.

Hi,
I am a calorie counter from way back. I have lost 40 pounds this year. I stick with about 1300 calories, 1400 for the weekend. I also keep under 30 grams of fat. I eat what ever I want and feel satisfied and not deprived. I don't use any diet food anymore either accept for FF salad dressing. Best weight loss I have ever had and painless.
Good luck
Nancy

The bottom line of losing weight is calories in vs. calories out. More important the the AMOUNT of fat in your diet is the KIND of fat in your diet. Saturated fat should be limited. But polyunsaturated and monounsaturated are quite healthy. You'll find them in olive oil, nuts, olives, avocado, and the like.

kittiebaby -- when I started I didn't think about fat much, but once I began logging my food in nutridiary, I found that it tracks fat too (along with a lot of other stuff!), and now I do pay attention to fat (along with fiber, and iron and some other nutrients). It's easy enough to do!

One way to think about it is that the nice thing about reducing fat (which is 9 calories/gram), is that eating less of it increases the amount of carbs and protein you can eat (4 calories/gram) without increasing your overall number of calories. So you can really fill up on fruit and feel full without going over your calories limit.

I agree with jawsmom that saturated fats should be limited (as should trans fat, but that can be harder to measure, as they manufacturers don't yet have to put it on labels... (is that right?) ). For example, I often choose to cook with olive oil rather than butter because the "fats" are better in olive oil.

I think you'll find that at 255 you should lose on 1300-1600 (esp if you are exercising too). You may want to allow yourself to stay on the higher side of that range for now and drop it down a little as you lose. I personally eat more than that (now 1900 on average) and lose, but everyone needs to find their point.

I am glad that a lot of the snack food is being changed from all the bad fats. I love a little single serving of the wheat thins with a wedge of laughing cow cheese about 3 in the afternoon. Only 135 calorie snack. But you are right that the botton line is calories in and calories out. I swear by this. I am 54 and not working so I have the luxury of going to Einstien bagels almost everyday. I meet friends there. I have a pumpernickel bagel with light cream cheese on the side. If you ever saw the amount of cream cheese they put on a bagel you would fall over. I get three servings out of the amount they put in the cup. Its 1.99 for the bagel and cream cheese. You can't buy a frozen meal for that. I only put a tablespoon on each half and save the rest for the next day. I also get a fruit cup. So the meal is about 320 for the bagel, 70 for the cream cheese and 50 for the fruit cup. I eat this at 11 and make it last until 12. I read two newspapers and a book. So its like breakfast and lunch. For me it works. I have something I like.
I have also learned to choose the most bang for the buck. A hamburger or sandwhich goes down in seconds. Stick with somethiing cheewy like bagels, pita bread, salads, and saver it. I also allow myself 40 good and plenty a day. I eat them in 5 at a time. Takes the edge off the sweets and its cheewy.
Anyway, good luck.
Nancy

hey thanks everbody for the wonderful advise. Reading other people's experiences are great!

As you adapt your habits to eating less calories, you'll probably find that you avoid fat without even thinking about fat grams. Foods with high fat content have a lot of calories, and aren't very filling. Just stay focussed on the calories, and the fat will follow.

Thanks for the reply. I also was wondering is there a certain amount of carbs to have a day. Do you watch your carbs?

Personally, I try to eat as many carbs as possible. But I don't watch my carbs. I am using Fitday.com, and according to their graphs I get 54% of my calories from Carbs, 29% from Fat, and 17% from Protein. I'm a runner, and carbs are important for fuel and recovery.

I think there are as many answers to the carb question as there are people in the forum! Some eat a lot, others a little. Many people try to avoid "white" carbs in processed foods (white bread, white rice, etc). I think it depends on what your goal is. A diabetic trying to moderate insulin will have a very different answer than a runner.

I'm neither of those. I try to limit fats (most days I'm around 20%), and get in another 15-20% from protein, and by default that leaves carbs for the rest. I've started eating more fruit and somewhat less "white" carbs, but carbs are not where my focus is, per se.

I think that it's recommended that 30% or less of your calories come from fat. Additionally, you should try to eliminate trans fat from your diet as much as you possibly can. And saturated fats should come to 10% or less of your total calories for the day.

(Even if you don't want to 'count' the fat per se, start reading labels on packaged foods. There will be a "calories per serving" and also a "calories from fat" listed. Try to buy foods where the calories from fat is at least 1/3 of the total calories per serving and you should be doing well.)

I don't worry about percentages of fat, carbs, etc. For me, just the thought of finding foods that fill me up within my calorie limit for the day pushes me to be creative in finding foods that are low fat, low in sugar, etc. I ate vegetarian for over a year at one point and have retained an attachment to some veggie options which I heartily recommend since you can have some meat analogues (vegetarian meat substitutes) that are not only lower in calories, but lower in fat and without any transfat (BTW, I'm seeing a LOT of food labels now that DO break out transfat along with saturated fat). E.g., one of my morning staples is Morningstar Farms' breakfast links (sausage). Both Morningstar and Boca have sausage & hot dog alternatives (as well as corn dogs!) and then there is a hamburger substitute that you might like to play with as you reach a point of modifying some of your casserole recipes (like--try it in chili). Plus, ya know, all the veggie burgers (I do NOT think they're the same as a hamburger darn it, but if you eat out at restaurants, most now have a veggie patty available to toss in a hamburger bun which makes a good option for lunch with a salad).

Just my two cents.....

I have never been a vegetarian, but have been really happily surprised by how much I like some of those veggie burgers! Esp the spicy bean burger by morningstar! I agree, it's not a hamburger, but really tasty! And my husband likes the veggie sausage.

This next item DOES have meat, but we've really liked the Ball Park Fat Free hot dogs! They are tasty and DO substitute for hotdogs -- and only 45 calories each!!

Oh! I haven't seend the FF hot dogs! I'll have to look for those--great idea. There are vegetarian hot dogs, but I definitely recommend the TVP (textured vegetable protein) ones over the tofu ones (tofu ones=big yuk LOL).

I might check out that spicy bean burger too--I don't think I've tried that particular flavor. Toast 2 slices of that 40 cal bread and add a spicy bean patty and some condiments--not a bad substitute for a burger (which doesn't mean that once in a while I won't have the real thing....but it's nice to have alternatives for "every day" use!).

I agree -- much better alternatives! And I have seen a number of these options at restaurants. Nice change. I'm making a point to tell restaurants I appreciate these options when I see them.