Which one are we supposed to make the most attention to? The calories or calories from fat? Thank you. Teresa

Calories. While watching your fat intake is important, for weightloss you have to consume less calories (not calories from fat) than you burn.

Calories overall are most important. Fat just happens to be packed with more calories so I find it useful to watch fat calories as well as added sugar calories (since sugar is very calorie dense).

i agree.. calories overall.. like this am , i fried my husband some bacon but i opted to have tuna ( packed in water) so i would be able to eat more thruout the day.. that bacon this morning would have taken loads of my daily cals for the day.. but it sure smelled wonderful lol

Yup. BUT...

there are more calories in fat than in protein or carbs.

The "healthy range" (varies from person to person & what you're trying to accomplish)... ensures that a person is getting a sufficient intake of essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. The recommendations are:

45% to 65% of calories eaten should come from carbohydrates.
20% to 35% of calories eaten should come from fat.
10% to 35% of calories eaten should come from protein.

But you have to find what works FOR YOU.

You can learn a lot by simply doing a google here & there. Read up! - there is SO MUCH info out there, it can sometimes be confusing. Also, coming HERE. As you probably have seen by now, the folks here are pretty diverse in how they handle their dieting needs, but I have learned that there are different ways to meet a goal, and some of them are RIGHT for me, & some others, not so much. So a lot of what you learn will be by simple trial & error.

Wow, okay that almost seems impossible. It would almost seem like I would have to work out all day. I am sorry, but I am fairly new to this entire weight loss stuff and have alot of questions. Let's say my daily calorie intake is 1600 which is what I am trying for. Well I walk on the treadmill for about 30 minutes or more a day, and on top of that am consistantly chasing my daughter around the house, doing housework, and I do a few other small workouts like sit ups, push ups, etc... What is the chance that I will start to lose weight. Maybe I am totally confused about this entire thing.

Here's a question. The calories from the meal I had for lunch were 250 but the Fat Cals were 350, is this a high calorie count for one meal?

EEEKKKK!!! Don't say the "I" word!!! (impossible!) Because it's NOT impossible!

Have you signed up to FitDay.com? or any other calorie tracking device? It can truly be a lifesaver. Because I can promise you that if you're NOT tracking your calories by one method or another, you'll be eating far more than you think you are. FitDay is easy to use & really will help. Give it a try (if you haven't already!) And remember - don't say the "I" word!!!!

....uh.... are you perhaps confusing calories with "grams"?

For instance:

1 oz serving size of raw almonds has

160 calories
130 calories of that 160 is from fat.

It has 14g of total fat
0mg Cholest
0mg Sodium
210mg Potassium
6g total carbs
3g dietary fiber
and 6g of PROTEIN.

How does the meal you just ate figure with these items?

I honestly have no idea what I am talking about... All I can say is I figured up with the dressing I used it was 490 Calories and 250 Cal from Fat ... This is with the chicken that was in the salad, but I didn't eat the chicken so Im sure that takes away some of those calories.

If you are eating 1600 calories now and you were eating 2600 calories before, then you'd lose weight. It really is very individual. But the basics is that if you are eating less then you will lose weight. It does take some trial and error.

Also 490 calories was for the entire salad? That is a bit much, I would definitely look at skipping the dressing or at least using very little.

I agree... SKIP the dressing & EAT the chicken! Much better!


Choose whole grain carbohydrates like brown rice, whole wheat bread and pasta, oats, and avoid refined carbohydrates like white rice and white bread.

Choose heart-healthy fats and avoid trans fats found in processed foods.

Choose high-quality protein sources such as lean meats and plant-based proteins instead of fattier cuts of meat.

You said: Here's a question. The calories from the meal I had for lunch were 250 but the Fat Cals were 350, is this a high calorie count for one meal?


This seems a bit confused, as your meal can't have fewer calories in total than calories from fat. Do you mean that the meal had 600 calories and 350 of those 600 were from fat. 600 calories is not an unreasonable calorie count for a meal, but having more than half of the calories come from fat isn't ideal.

It sounds like you're pretty new to this, so don't let yourself get so bogged down with facts and figures, and trying to figure everything out at once. Write down everything you eat, and watch the scale, make adjustments and learn along the way.

If math gets you bogged down, or you're worrying about getting a balanced diet, you might consider an exchange based diet to get started. hillbillyhousewife.com and tops.org both have explanations and examples of exchange based diets on their sites. They're other sites as well, but these two come to mind. They're all based on the exchanges developed in the 1950's for diabetic meal planning, but many diets use them as well (Weight Watcher's did until 1997).

Ditto to Beach Patrol!

And log your food! And look into fat free or low cal dressing. That salad is out of hand! My lunch today will be a giant spinach and veggie salad with 1/2 ounce of romano cheese and 4oz of shrimp with a little vinegrette: just over 200 cals.

The primary reason for avoiding fat is that it is far higher in calories than protein or carbs. You should have some fat, but the bulk of your calories should come from veggies, lean proteins and whole grains.