Hello. My name is Lynda. I am 29, mother of four. August I went on a serious low fat diet. I have lost 30 pounds. I am in a stall. I work out aerobicly for 35 minutes a day, and lift weights twice a week. With the Holidays here, I am prone to cheat. Instead of diving into the Christmas cookies, I make due with fluff and pretzels, fireballs, and italian ices. I eat plenty of candy canes. This is my problem. I am eating candy. It is better than a fatty old cookie, but not good on the metabolism. What diets do you all follow?

Hi, Lynda!

I am a 34 year old mom of 2 so dang, you have double the trouble, double the fun!

I am wondering why you think candy is better than cookies. Actually, the fat in the cookie helps to stabilize some of the sugar from the candy. I learned this from a nutritionist a few years ago along with "the fat helps you feel more satisfied."

Maybe instead of eating candy (I'm having trouble with sweets as well), we could find out why we're eating at all. I know I'm under a lot of stress lately due to the holidays. Could this be what's happening with you as well?

Let me know and welcome! I'm new also!

Stress is something I have always had. More so now with full time college and the four daughters and one daughter with slight autism! but I do not think stress is why I eat sweets. I eat sweets just because I love them. The main thing I am guilty of is binging on fire balls. They keep my mouth busy while studying, in school and or watching tv. For me I think that is better than grabbing a fat laced cookie. With cookies and other pastries, I do not stop at just one.....
One thing I am working to do is eliminate the sugar i have, or minimize it. The only sugar I will consume is that which i put in my coffee, and the occasional piece of candy.

If you need something in your mouth, try sugar-free gum or hard candies.

It's smart to recognize what you may prone to binge on and avoid it. Aside from that, though, for something with fat being "worse" than something without, it's all about calories. If you can enjoy some fat-free candy every day and stay within your allotted calories without shorting yourself nutritionally, then good for you. I hope you're not cutting your fat consumption too far, however. Fat is not the devil -- it is an important nutrient our bodies need to function properly. If you don't get enough fat, your body cannot absorb all the vitamins it needs, and it can affect the functioning of certain systems. The reason that a lower-fat diet works is that it allows you to eat a satisfying quantity of food without a huge expendature of calories. However, unlike the fad diets of the 80s and 90s, cutting fat back to almost nothing is not a good idea, just like cutting calories back too far is not good for you.

There are various opinions on how much of your diet should consist of fat, but no one who advocates balanced eating would recommend less than 15%, and some go as high as 30%. I eat about 1500 calories per day and I average about 20% to 25% of that as fat -- that includes the fat in all my foods such as protein sources, as well as added fats. Of course I try to make sure my added fats are the healthy kinds whenever possible -- olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc.

i consume about 15 grams of fat a day. I am not starving myself, nor do I go hungry once. I do not binge on empty carbs and empty fats...I eat about one and a half meals a day. IT is all I need. Any more than that, I am full and bloated. I have low blood sugar, so I eat small things through out the day...for instance, I will have two slices of smoked turkey for breakfast. An hour and a half later, a handfull of cereal, and an hour and a half later an orange...by the end of the day, I have consumed about two meals worth. I enjoy fireballs as they keep my mouth busy,......
I do not really count my calories, and never did before when I lost 90 pounds..I eat little and exercize including weight training.....