Hey guys,

Yet another question I'm curious to hear the answer from other chickies!

The thought I had of the day was this: I've changed my eating habits over the course of losing over 140 lbs (with more still to go). Vegan, vegetarian, low (starchy) carb, etc.

Now, I'm trying to eat FAT. I've already read Mireille Guiliano's "French women don't get fat" before. I'm currently reading "The Fat Fallacy" by Dr. will clower and its a little dated (paperback published in '02), but definitely one of those books that "makes sense."

I haven't been to France in years, but I'm trying to eat French-style... meaning eating higher amounts of fats, no (or little as possible) processed foods and in smaller amounts. (*For the time being.)

Over the years, I've gone the route of counting calories, eating frozen prepacked meals, weight watchers, etc etc.

So my question of the day is this:

what works for you guys over the long haul of losing a lot of weight-- eating larger amounts of foods that are low fat or smaller amounts of food that are high fat (both within acceptable caloric amounts in order to lose weight)?

~ tea

I haven't read those books, but I seemed to have come to the same conclusions as the books you read. At least for me, eating a relatively low carb, higher protein and fat works better-eating mostly whole foods, however (I try avoiding processed foods). I keep track of my macro nutrients and I tend to be about 40% protein/30% carbs/30% fat. Since I count calories, ultimately it probably doesn't matter, but as your book suggests, I find controlling my appetite and staying within my caloric budget is easier when I eat higher protein/fat than if I eat high carb.

I LIKE fat. It's good for your body, and it's good for your brain.

Anything in excess is bad. Eating too much protein is bad, eating too many carbs is bad. Just like eating too much fat is bad.

I would rather have a slightly higher amount of fat in my diet than lower. Of course, as long as it comes from "good" fats.

High fats don't work for me. Being the calorie snob that I am, that big ole' 9 calories per gram for fats as opposed to the 4.5 calories per gram that carbs and protein has, I shy away from *most* fats. I need/want/require very voluminous foods, therefore since I get waaaay less volume with fats, it just doesn't work for me. I do eat fats, because they do have their benefits, but I keep them to a minimum. And the fats that I eat are strictly the good ones (95% of the time or better) - nuts, olive or canola oil, avocado, salmon.

I do eat some processed foods, but that is also kept to a minimum. Again, the calorie snob thing. The foods I make are waaay tastier and more voluminous (healthier too) then most processed foods. The processed foods I do eat I believe are fairly healthy and I just can't (won't?) ignore the convenience factor - canned beans, canned tomatoes, canned tuna, yogurt, Fiber One cereal......

For me, following any single person's *diet*, such as the French thing-y also doesn't work for me. I had to devise my own unique plan, customized just for moi'. C'est lie vie.

I try to aim for the Zone percentages: 30% protein, 40% carbs, 30% fats. This is while keeping to a calorie target.

During my main period of weight loss, looking back at my FitDay stats, my average overall was 21% protein, 40% carbs, 34% fats. (That doesn't add to 100 because FitDay separates fiber from carbs, so presumably the other 5% was fiber.) However, at that time I wasn't paying attention to the percentages--that's just how they came out.

Jay

Why either/or? Personally I like to eat a wide variety of foods. I couldn't do without high fat foods like nuts, avocado, fish (mostly herring and mackerel because I'm cheap, but salmon once a week), olive oil and natural cheese (not the processed/fat free junk), which help keep me sated so I don't have to snack between meals. But low fat foods are equally delicious and provide fiber and other nutrients, as well as added bulk. I guess you can say I follow a Mediterranean-style diet, which includes all of the above.

Most of my days seem to be around 30% fat without any particular effort at controlling macro nutrients.

What works is keeping your calories in check, whether it is fat calories or not. For me though, I am a fan of not adding much fats to my diet and eating a whole foods diet. So I get some fats but not a lot. Common fats I get are olives, olive oil, avocado, etc.

tea - I seem to need more fat than typical. And as Robin mentioned, that's a pain to balance when calorie counting. I come in closer to 35-40%, and olives, avocados, nuts and seeds make up a huge portion of my snacks. It does cost me on volume, but I rarely get hungry. Must have some Eskimo in me somewhere, I guess.

I am pro fat. Like everyone else, I think we all go through a bit of trial and error to find what works for us.

I eat tons of avocados, I eat nuts-not snacking, but ingredients in my recipes, I use fats to cook with (including butter), avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil.

I eat full fat dairy-yogurt mostly.

I have found, for me, that I rarely can finish a full container of yogurt.
I'm not as hungry when I keep the fat that food naturally comes with.

I find the scale stalls when I have been eating out or have processed foods.

We all have things that we watch for, for me, I don't watch numbers like calories, fat/carbs, etc. I veer away from additives, artificial ingredients, dubious origins, etc.

My body seems to know what to do with whole, organic foods.

Over time, I moved toward more fats. I'm vegetarian, and I have a hard time thinking my avocado and olive oil and nuts are unhealthy . I am more full with more fats. My hair sure seems to like the healthy fats.

If I eat whatever I feel like eating (within reason) I eat very low fat (and most of the fat I do eat is unhealthy stuff).

But I found that forcing myself to eat more (healthy) fat reduces my carb cravings, so I've been doing that lately. "More fat" for me, though, is still only about 25-30% of my calories from fat.

I eat healthy fats every meal. I have done this from the beginning and find that it helps me stay full and feel satiated. If I have lots of healthy fats in my diet I am not tempted (really, I swear) as I walk through the bakery at the market. The times I have cut way back on my fat intake--are the times I have my worst problems. I stick to MUFAs though.

I so completely agree with your statement. Cut and dry this is exactly what I have experienced.

Hi hon!

I find that higher protein and higher fat make me feel fuller faster than low-fat foods. However, as high-fat foods are calorie dense, the volume I get to eat is less.

So I think this will depend on your style of eating. If you are a volume eater, and need big amounts of food to feel satisfied, then higher fat choices may not work so well (i.e. is a handful of cashews "enough" for you?).

IF you are training yourself to recognize when you are full (i.e. you can have a handful of cashews without trouble cause you can stop yourself cause you KNOW that a handful is enough and you WILL feel full), then eating what you like in the appropriate amounts will come naturally after a while.

For me, I have to portion control consciously but have little trouble doing so. If I don't portion control, though, regardless of what kind of food it is, I can easily overeat. Heck, I can eat entire BAGS of cashews while watching TV if I'm not consciously portion controlling. But I WILL be satisfied with a small handful.

Tricky stuff, huh? Like trying to get to know and read your body signals from scratch...



Kira