Calories, Fat, Protein - what's most important?

[swayingforgirl]

Hi everyone!

I'm new here; recently started the LE diet and am having a hard time reaching my daily calorie minimum without going over in fat. I'm also regularly too low in protein without adding in a protein shake in the afternoon (I do eat meat, but not daily).

1 - is the protein shake okay (it DOES have other things added like glutamine, ALA, etc, so it might be too nutrient dense?)
2 - should I aim more to meet calorie needs or to keep fat lower? Or are both equally important?

I'm a dietitian, so this girl sway diet really goes against what I'm used to My traditional nutrient dense diet is probably the reason I have two boys...

Thanks so much!

[atomic sagebrush]

Are you counting fruit and vegetables for protein and fat?? If so, stop. They are free for protein and fat and many times when people can't stick in the limits it's because they're counting the pro and fat in fruit and veg. Count NOTHING in low carb veg, not even cals. They are free and unlimited.

Please give me a rundown of what you're eating and I can tell you what to tweak.

No, protein shakes with added nutrients are not ok. Smoothies without added vitamins are ok.

Protein, fat, and calories are ALL important. You need those things in a particular range to continue ovulating and get and stay pregnancy. So we can't really say that any of those things are less important than the others.

Please give me more information about what you are eating and what you think the LE Diet is meant to be. Many times people have assumptions about what the diet even is that aren't correct, and I can help you get it dialed in better. it's not an unhealthy diet when done properly so we can work this out till you're much happier.

[swayingforgirl]

Thank you for the quick reply!

For a brief background: I'm 34, 5'8", 124 lbs, and pretty regularly active (I prefer pilates and strength training, but have switched over to more cardio recently). Before the LE diet I typically ate a plant-heavy diet, meat ~3x/week (red meat only occasionally), 1 egg/day, and some dairy. I've been gluten free for ~15 years. I used to take a daily multivitamin, along with other supplements, but have cut everything out since starting the LE diet (except for magnesium and folate).

I still try to get a variety of foods on the LE diet, but here's what yesterday looked like as an example:

Breakfast: I slice GF whole grain toast + 1 egg + coffee (this gets me in the fat department because I add a LOT of half and half - I can't drink coffee without it...)
Lunch: 1 egg + 1 oz. goat cheese + 8 crackers + 1 rice cake w/jelly + 1 cup watermelon + 1 homemade chocolate cookie
Dinner: ratatouille w/italian sausage + 1/4 cup white rice

This all only got me to 1200 calories (45% fat and only 42 grams protein). The day before I didn't have any meat and got 43 gram of protein, but only by adding a protein shake (whoops).

I typically eat more beans than I have this week which will help bring up carbs and protein, but I have a hard time with the fat limits. Please don't tell me to cut out my half and half in coffee I can definitely eat less cheese, I only started eating it again recently.

Thanks again for your help!

[atomic sagebrush]

How many grams of fat?

[swayingforgirl]

Typically around 60-70 g per day

[atomic sagebrush]

If that's true and you're eating that much fat you need to eat more carbs. I'd also say let's up protein to 50-60 g and eat meat if you need it.

i'm ok with you continuing on at say 65 g fat as long as it's less than you WERE eating.