Ok -- Wow -- Did I make a MAJOR error somewhere learning about this plan? I'm on day four. I've been reading about this fitday.com thing so i decide to enter in everything I've eaten today. I ate 1809 calories and 108 GRAMS OF FAT! There's gotta be something wrong with that! (the fat grams I mean)

I've been using Part-skim ricotta cheese, part-skim mozzerella cheese, 2% Cheese sticks, FF Coffee Mate, PB with just peanuts/salt......

56% of my calories came from fat????? Yousa! Am I just in culture shock? Maybe this is ok. Saturated Fats were 18% so maybe, it's not that bad? I just can't believe that!

I did have a lot of nuts today and eye round steak for dinner so maybe........but wow that was just really an eye opener!

I know this isn't a low fat plan, so to speak, but well, maybe tomorrow when I eat chicken for dinner instead of steak it'll be better.

I feel Great -- not weighing myself til Monday (1week).

Anyone know if that amount of fat grams is unusual? Thanks!

Post some menus so we can see what you've been eating. You are supposed to only have one serving of nuts/seeds per day (including PB), so if you're eating more, that's probably part of it. Also, you should be eating about 4 1/2 cups of veggies every day - not just a lot of proteins. This isn't a low carb diet, after all.

I didn't know that there was something wrong with that! Mines always between 44% and 60% for fat and with protein at about 27% on average. The fats I eat are "good fats". Plus, I do eat a lot of veggies & only have 1 serving of nuts. I think it's okay, but maybe I'm wrong. The fat should probably be closer to 44% w/ about 65 grams of fat. There aren't any exact measurements, though, are there?

Not exactly, but a well balanced diet should not be disproportionately high in any of the main caloric areas: carbs, protein, and fats. If you find you're getting, say, 60% of your calories from fat on a regular basis, then you may want to rethink what you are eating. Even good fats are still fats, and eating too much will hamper your weight loss.

I don't obsess over it, but I shoot for around 1/3 of my calories from each area, give or take a bit.

I have to admit that fitday stresses me out a little, especially when I see what proportions of my calories come from fat (Some days at first I'd get 60 or 70 percent... yowsers!) The site has helped me work on my menus a little bit, though, especially, as H-Ko said, to try and get a good 1/3 1/3 1/3 balance between fat, carbs, and proteins. It's still a work in progress, but I'm improving a lot.

Hi, Here's what I ate yesterday:

Bkfst -- Omelet: 2 eggs with about 1/3 cup spinach, 2 tblsp feta cheese, 2 slices canadian bacon, coffee w/ff coffee mate/splenda, 1 8oz glass V8

snack -- 1 mozzerella cheese stick

Lunch -- 2 slices of fresh mozzerella (regular) with roasted peppers

Snack -- 30 pistacchios and 1 ricotta creme (pms week! and still hungry from that tiny lunch I had on the run!)

Dinner -- 1 6oz eye round steak, broiled, no fat w 1 cup steamed broccoli, 1 large salad w/cucumbers, red onion, peppericini, 1/3 cup feta cheese, lettuce, green peppers, w/Mediterranean Vinegrette Dressing (regular oil/vinegar type NSA)

Dessert -- 1 ff nsa chocolate icecream pop w/2tblsp Smuckers All Natural Peanut Butter and 2 tblsp ff cool whip (that was awesome!)

Well I can see here that the dressing I'm eating which is delicious and NSA is very high in fat (26 grams even though only 4g are saturated).

Also - I guess I'm overdoing it on the peanuts.

Any other suggestions here? Thanks in advance!

Diana

H-KO: thanks, I'm going to rethink my menu and try for that. Too bad though the high fat stuff was replacing my sugar cravings! LOL I know...I know...

Demeter: Thanks, I guess I shouldn't have started this the week before I'm due......LOL I'm going to keep going though, I don't care how much I lose this week, I'll rework the menu and keep going. Maybe I'll even do 1 more week on phase 1 just in case. We'll see. Thanks again!

Yes indeed, Fitday can be verrrry eye opening to see what percent of your intake is FAT.. The USDA 2005 dietary guidelines recommend total fat intake for adults to be between 20-35 % of calories... HKOs 1/3 approach is a good one. Here's an excerpt on the USDA guidelines on fat...

* Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 mg/day of cholesterol, and keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.
* Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.
* When selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products, make choices that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free.
* Limit intake of fats and oils high in saturated and/or trans fatty acids, and choose products low in such fats and oils.

DBR, here are some thoughts... continue to use low fat cheeses, but do cut some of them...although tasty, it looks like you are eating a whole lot of cheese that can definitely add up to high fat cals.
PB is limited to 2 Tsb per day and is considered one nut serving we are allowed only one serving of nuts a day. So you need to eliminate one of your nut snacks. . Nuts though are a good fat, you know what they say about tooo much of a good thing.

It looks like you are did good with veggies... Try to add more lean proteins.. like legumes, maybe roasted chickpeas instead of cheese..As a ROARING meat eater.. I haveta watch how much I eat.. even the good cuts are high in sat fats.. Look to more chicken and fishes..

It's trial and error to get the "right" ratio of fat/carb and protein ..but FITDAY is an invaluable tool to help you tweak and educate yourself on where your cals are coming from !!

hope this helps!

Thanks to everyone for your help - I'm going to look for the fat free cheeses (right now it's part skim or 2%). Without carbs I just don't know what else to eat. Of course, chicken will be better than beef, I'm sure. ABout the beans. I love beans, all kinds of beans, here's the problem, they trigger cravings for carbs for some reason, maybe because I'm so used to eating them with rice or tortilla chips or pasta. I'll try adding them to my salads, I didn't think of that til just now, but I might wait til Phase II to add them in.

Schatzi: Thanks a bunch! I split my nut's today -- I used 1/2 at lunch time and will use 1/2 after dinner (7 almonds with salad and I'll use only 1 tblsp w my dessert tonight). Thanks again!

DBR,
Thanks for bringing this up! I didn't know I was doing anything wrong either. Those Atkins people have it so easy!
Thanks Schatzi & H-ko for the tips.
My salad dressing, I'm sure, has a lot to do with it, too. I could probably cut out some of my cheese, too. I was just happy that the carb pie of the graph was just a little sliver!
Now I know how to be OP, for real!

Yes, an easy way to get in lean proteins like beans is tossing them in salads, I love kidney beans and put them in my salads.
I happen to love Chili, and get alot of beans in that way... and woulda thunk tofu would be a tasty alternative too.. I had it crumbled up in place of beef . I also love greenbean/onion and bean salad... 3 bean salads.. l

See how you do with beans being a carb trigger.. and surf the recipe section for lots of alternatives... oh and low fat pepperoni baked in the oven is divine!!

Try this recipe http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...99#post1104399 Braised Kale with Black Beans and Tomatoes. It is easy and full of veggies. I even added spinach to it for extra veggies.

You guys are GREAT! Thanks -- I'll try the pepperoni thing. And I'll try the bean thing. I just can't eat chilli though without a huge chunk of bread or at least pita so I'll wait til Phase II for that one!

But the 3 bean salad sounds great as a side dish for me! Thanks again so much!! I love this site!!!!!

Diana

I agree - watch the nuts, and cut down on the cheeses - especially the regular ones. Part-skim mozzarella is fine, but look for reduced fat feta and lowfat ricotta (if you aren't already using them). And as Schatzi said, even lowfat cheese can add excess fat if you eat a lot - and its the undesirable saturated fats, too. And it looks like a different dressing would be a good idea!

Don't feel badly about what you've already eaten - as Christina said, it's a work in progress! You might consider making a big batch of Mamacita's veggie soup (maybe add some white beans to it for substance, if you like) - soup is a terrific diet aid, and it is a good way to add more veggies.