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.

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!