Has anyone had success by counting calories and staying under a certain number of fat grams? If so, what is the ratio you strived for (calories:fat) or that worked for you? Can you have too little fat?
I've seen people post that they are trying to have no more than 20 grams of fat per day, but it can be quite different if your daily calorie number is 1000 rather than 2000, for instance.
By using this formula:
(Grams of fat/day x 9, divide that # by total calories/day and multiply that # by 100)
to get daily percentage of fat, today my total will be 18%. Is that too little to get consistent results?
Anyone who has had experience to share would be really helpful
18 fat grams is low. When I did fat gram counting, I was 1200 cals and 30 fat grams, and that was on the low end. Counting cals tends to cut fat, because once you realize how many cals are in your favorite steak.....
There could be danger in not getting enough fat in your diet.
The medical community say it is not dangerous,
but there are a lot of people who have gone almost zero fat and went on to develop gallstones.
The bile in the gallbladder is squeezed out when we eat fat, to help digest it.
If we eat no fat, the gallbladder doesn't squeeze and the bile just sits there.
That's when stones are formed.
So eat SOME fat. Unfortunately, there's no magic number of fat grams I can give you.
But 10 years ago, Weight Watchers had a fast start plan that was very low fat,
and I know a couple of people who developed gallstones while doing that plan.
I try for less than 40 grams of *healthy* fat per day. Too low of fat causes hair thinning, dry skin, and like watercolor mentioned gallstones...i can attest to that, after i lost 80 pounds, i also lost my gallbladder.
Just to echo what everyone else is saying, fat is crucial to biological function for a ton of different reasons. Your body needs fat and if it's not getting enough to "survive" it starts converting everything you eat into fat.
Also, healthy fats are important to keep you from feeling hungry. Fat doesn't make you fat, excess calories do (fat is just how energy is stored. Calories = energy). Also, fat and protein are broken down more slowly in the digestive tract than carbohydrates so pairing all the macronutrients at every meal helps you feel fuller for longer on less calories. Low fat diets are more of an attempt to slash calories than anything else. Keep your calories within your target and incorporate some healthy fats and you should be fine.
Last edited by rockstar87; 04-16-2008 at 01:51 PM.
I try to balance it all out..60-70 grams protein, 50-60 grams fat and the other 50% carbs maybe 200-250 grams...I've started running so I may start eating a little cleaner to show more definition but that has been my happy medium.
It's so hard sometimes to sort through the facts when things are so confusing! Fat doesn't make you fat, and fat isn't always stored as fat in your body. Your body burns the fat you eat just like anything else and uses it for energy unless you have too much--that's when it gets stored as fat in your body, but this is true of eating too much of anything, not just fat.
Just like eating a lot of cholesterol doesn't necessarily make you have high cholesterol. It's all so crazy
Personally, I don't count my fat grams. I read labels to make sure I don't intentionally eat any trans fats at all, and I buy lean animal products to limit my saturated fat intake. Other than that. I get lots of healthy fats--avocado, nuts, products fortified with omega fats (my bread, my butter, my peanut butter, etc.)...
When I first started calorie counting I kept my fat % at approx 20% of my calories (I lost on 1500, so that would be approx 33 grams of fat.) I felt sluggish, tired, my skin dried out, and I started losing hair by the handfuls. I upped my fat and these things fixed themselves.
I think kind of fat is more important then how much. For example, in the Mediterranean they typically consume 40% of their calories from fat. Almost all from healthy sources like olive oil. I'm sure you've seen all the books/articles that tout the healthiness of this type of diet.
I would aim for at least 25% of your calories to come from fat. If you go over that don't worry about it. According to the USDA 30% is ideal. For health, try to keep your saturated fat down and your poly & mono-unsaturated fats higher. Polys and Monos should be your primary sources of fat.
An EASY way to keep your fat under 30% a day is to have 3 grams of fat, for every 100 calories. This would keep you at around 27%. (There are 9 calories in each fat gram...)
If your daily calories are 1500, then your daily fat intake should be around 45 grams or less. Someone on a 1200 calorie plan would take in around 36 grams of fat per day.
I think that fat grams are important...but you have to have moderation. It is too extreme, in my opinion, to eat under 20 grams a day on a regular basis, and it also doesn't do you any good to only eat 10 grams a day-but to take in 3,000 calories, because calories DO matter in the end. Fat free doesn't always mean "better", because Coca-cola and jellybeans, while being fat free, are nutritionally void.
Calorie counting and Fat Gram counting?
