What if I don't use the recommended amount of fat on a day?

MilliDenney

I have always done the WW's recommended 1 Table spoon of fat (any kind) per day.

I have been reading some threads and comments about the influence fat has on your body, e.i. not eating enough fat will make your body not USE any of the stored fat. I hope I have understood that right.

My food diary says I need 47 (grams??) of fat each day, and 1 Tablespoon doesn't get up to the 47. I had room for extra calories today so I added 1 Tbs olive oil to my snacks plan to go through my yogurt, I actually like that altho I don't feel I need it.

But before I really eat that, what if I don't make it to the 47 (grams?) on each day?

KateK8LoseW8

Being a little under sometimes isn't going to harm you. Try to meet the goal most days though. Incorporate nuts, avocado, whole eggs, and fatty fish into your diet if you haven't already to help boost your fat intake. Yes, they are more calorie-dense than other foods, but fat is indeed important, so try to leave room.

cwolfman13

You need more than a tablespoon of fat for proper nutrition. Just do a little research on the low fat/no fat diets of the '80s and '90s and how they've actually increased the risk of hear disease for those individuals because they aren't getting enough heart healthy fats to keep their HDL levels up.

If you're a little under, it's not biggie...but if you're seriously lacking in dietary fat, it can be a concern. About 20%-30% of your diet should be fat for proper nutrition.

endoftheside

Eggs, cheese, meat, and nuts are good sources of fat. I get most of my daily fat through my protein sources.

0somuchbetter0

How do you do that?? I just posted a few minutes ago that I go over on fat almost every day.

sympha01

Eh, once I cut way back dairy fats (to control the bad saturated fats in my diet), I found that I have to work a little to keep my dietary fat levels up to a comfortable proportion. My MFP fat goal is set to 30%, but I often find I'm struggling to keep it up to 20% (which is my personal minimum -- I think anything below that starts doing damage, for me anyway). I eat some peanut butter almost every day, and can usually add a bit of olive oil to whatever I'm cooking for dinner. If I plan the whole day out and I'm under, I can add a couple of squares of high-quality chocolate to round things out, though that's about half saturated fat and half unsaturated.

MilliDenney

I never have eaten fat free deliberately, I could not find the low fat yogurt I normally buy so I got the fat free version. Next time I will get the normal version, to make sure I make the fat amount I'm supposed to get.

I don't have that many calories on my daily menu but I'll have to pay extra attention to the fat. I cannot do it through my meat intake, I already am higher on my daily protein intake than I should be. And I'm not all that set on meat anyway.

I have adjusted my dinner and snack for today to make sure I cut down on the protein but added more olive oil.

Thank you all for your help, it is very much appreciated.

AnabolicKyle

fat is by far the most important Macro nutrient you really should hit the minimum

edit


hit your protein minimum also to help save LBM during a diet you should be eating double the RDA value

http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Increased-protein-protects-against-muscles-during-diet-and-weight-loss-say-researchers

the carbs dont matter, you can go under on that every day and live a perfectly healthy life

Swiftdogs

When I first started, I thought I was doing great hitting at or below my calorie goal. But I was WAY under on fat, and started having some skin problems and digestive issues. Now I try to get close on calories, fat and protein by balancing my mix of food. If I have beans one day, I have nuts for a snack instead of fruit, for example.

bcattoes

I sometimes wish I had this problem. I struggle to not exceed my fat goal by too much. I cook or dress most of my food in olive oil. it's tasty and heatlhy, but it does up the calorie count.

It's not going to hurt you to be under sometimes but 1 Tbs does sound like very little. Is that 1 Tbs of added fat, or total fat? A low fat diet does not prevent your body from using your fat stores. You can lose fat on a low fat diet, but as fat is a necessary nutrient, it is not the healthiest way to lose.

Here is a good article on fats, if you are interested.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/

bcattoes

I never have eaten fat free deliberately, I could not find the low fat yogurt I normally buy so I got the fat free version. Next time I will get the normal version, to make sure I make the fat amount I'm supposed to get.

I don't have that many calories on my daily menu but I'll have to pay extra attention to the fat. I cannot do it through my meat intake, I already am higher on my daily protein intake than I should be. And I'm not all that set on meat anyway.

I have adjusted my dinner and snack for today to make sure I cut down on the protein but added more olive oil.

Thank you all for your help, it is very much appreciated.

Dairy and meat (especially red meat) are the not healthiest sources of fat anyway. Not that you need to avoid these things, but generally vegetable fat is better - vegetable oils (especially olive oil), nuts, avocado. Or oily fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines.