Daily fat allowance

[swish]

Hi atomic, a few of us have been wondering how much fat we should be having each day? Will too little fat or calories stop us from ovulating? Thanks

[Mochagirl]

I want to know this too! I've been aiming for 20g of fat per day but have been having a lot of trouble meeting that, and I've also seen elsewhere that 20g of fat is unhealthy even if you're trying to lose weight. Help!

[Indira]

I've also seen elsewhere that 20g of fat is unhealthy even if you're trying to lose weight. :suprise::worry: I eat 7 g of fat on an average day eating my rice and pasta dry, maybe I should upp that too? It would be good to know how much we should aim for.

[swish]

Wow indira, I definately think that's too low!

[zanacal]

Wow that is low!

OK, I've done some sums! A moderate fat restriction diet means 20 to 30 per cent of calories come from fat. If you're eating 1200 calories each day this comes to 27g to 40g. A very low fat diet means calories account for 20 per cent or less of your daily intake - anything below 27g is very low fat. With a 1200 cal diet 20g of fat means 15% of calories from fat, which is considered very low fat.

[zanacal]

PS - if you want to calculate what % of your calories have come from fat, take the grams of fat you've consumed multiply it by 9 and divide it by the total amount of calories you've had.

I had a couple of 'naughty' treats today - a cake and an individual pie with squirty cream - and my figure still only comes to 18%!

[Indira]

OK, I think I´m going to have butter or oil and parmezan on rice and pasta and see how my fat and protein intake is that way.
I don´t use Fitday because my foods and amounts are so different not living in the US, so it´s also possibile that I didn´t calculate my fat intake well just going by info on the packages. Thanks for your research zanacal.

[zanacal]

I just go by the packets too Indira. Good luck finding the right balance x

[Mochagirl]

Thanks for the info, zanacal. Maybe I shouldn't beat myself up if I eat more than 20g. Maybe 20-30g is a more realistic goal considering all our other dietary restrictions?

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks for the info, zanacal. Maybe I shouldn't beat myself up if I eat more than 20g. Maybe 20-30g is a more realistic goal considering all our other dietary restrictions?

Yes, I think 20-30 g is fine. I don't want anyone to even worry about or think about fat, really. There is too much other stuff going on that you're tracking and monitoring. If you cut out most sources of visible fat (like butter on bread or cooking oil), on a 1500-1800 cal diet, you WILL be lowering your fat intake dramatically without expending any effort whatsoever.

Also, fats can be a good source of calories on the girl diet if you are having trouble getting enough calories. A pat of butter here and there (even thoguh it's a visible fat) is a good way to up your caloric intake without having to increase protein. My belief is that protein sways "harder" than fat and I dont' want anyone to waste away to nothing, so I would much rather see you guys eat two pats of butter a day (adding 200 protein-free cals to your diet and around 20 g fat) than try to eat more pasta/bread/dairy, which have sodium, protein, and other nutrients.

Of course the very best option is just to eat extra fruit for calories in lieu of the butter but there is room for a little bit of both!

[atomic sagebrush]

:suprise::worry: I eat 7 g of fat on an average day eating my rice and pasta dry, maybe I should upp that too? It would be good to know how much we should aim for.

In the short term, this is fine. Your body can manufacture everything it needs from your body fat for several months. Only after several months would this fat intake affect you negatively.

[atomic sagebrush]

Wow that is low!

OK, I've done some sums! A moderate fat restriction diet means 20 to 30 per cent of calories come from fat. If you're eating 1200 calories each day this comes to 27g to 40g. A very low fat diet means calories account for 20 per cent or less of your daily intake - anything below 27g is very low fat. With a 1200 cal diet 20g of fat means 15% of calories from fat, which is considered very low fat.

Thank you so, so very much, you are a marvel! VERY helpful.

[atomic sagebrush]

OK, I think I´m going to have butter or oil and parmezan on rice and pasta and see how my fat and protein intake is that way.
I don´t use Fitday because my foods and amounts are so different not living in the US, so it´s also possibile that I didn´t calculate my fat intake well just going by info on the packages. Thanks for your research zanacal.

I have been quite unimpressed by Fitday, esp. on their sodium content. It was quite unreliable and had things like plain white rice listed as 40% of the day's sodium, which is just nonsense.

[atomic sagebrush]

Hi atomic, a few of us have been wondering how much fat we should be having each day? Will too little fat or calories stop us from ovulating? Thanks

Too little fat/cals CAN stop a person from ovulating, but not at the levels at which we are eating. 1500-1800 calories with 20-40 g of fat is fine and although it could possibly reduce your fertility in the long term, that's what we WANT it to do. Reducing fertility slightly is our goal because that may be what sways pink.

[atomic sagebrush]

I want to know this too! I've been aiming for 20g of fat per day but have been having a lot of trouble meeting that, and I've also seen elsewhere that 20g of fat is unhealthy even if you're trying to lose weight. Help!

So taking Zana's advice here, if you guys really feel the need for a number to aim for, let's call 20% our minimum goal and 30% our maximum goal. If you are superheavy and have a lot to lose, you may want to drop down to 15%.

So on a 1500 cal a day diet (rounding up a bit just for ease):

15% fat would equal 200 calories from fat a day, 25 grams of fat
20% fat would equal 300 calories from fat a day, 35 grams of fat
30% fat would equal 450 cals per day of fat, 50 g of fat

On an 1800 calorie diet

15% fat - 270 cals, 30 g
20% - 360 cals, 40 g
30% - 540 cals, 60 g

Thanks for another great thread that improves the info for everyone.

ETA - just like with protein, there is NO need to count the tiny smidgeons of fat present in fruits and veg. Don't even bother. If strawberries have 1 g of fat, don't even include that in your day's total. (exception would be avocado which you should not be eating anyway.)

[Mochagirl]

Thanks both zanacal and atomic - I feel much more free now that I'm not worrying as much about fat. The thing is, even on the days when I felt I overindulged in fat, I still only had about 30-40g, so I think you're right that it's almost impossible to have too much fat when following the rest of the diet strictly. I think I've gotten very good at restricting protein and sodium, and it was really only fat that was concerning me, so now I feel much more relaxed (which is a good thing, right?)

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes! :agree:

[Mochagirl]

I have been quite unimpressed by Fitday, esp. on their sodium content. It was quite unreliable and had things like plain white rice listed as 40% of the day's sodium, which is just nonsense.

I agree - I no longer trust any of their entries unless I check them myself. I create custom foods on it using nutritional information I find on food packages or from other online sources - that way I know it will be accurate. They seem to assume that everyone adds tons of salt to all their pasta and veggies!

[swish]

Thank you!!! I use butter on toast and my pasta so I'm sure I get all the fat I need from that

[atomic sagebrush]

I agree - I no longer trust any of their entries unless I check them myself. I create custom foods on it using nutritional information I find on food packages or from other online sources - that way I know it will be accurate. They seem to assume that everyone adds tons of salt to all their pasta and veggies!

Yeah and since it's so wonky on the sodium, it makes me wonder about how reliable the rest of it is. That is smart that you create the custom foods on there. Does anyone know, is it possible to create any kind of "network" or friends group on Fitday that we could just sign into and then share our nutrition info? That way we would know we could trust each other's data.

[Mochagirl]

I have no idea whether or not you can do that, but it would be a good idea! I've entered so many custom foods that they're pretty much all I use now.