Applying the concepts of "Fat Head"-did it work?

rat70

I haven't seen FatHead but I have read "In Defence of Food" by Michael Pollan and since then, my husband and I decided we would not use any low-fat products. His basic rule is Eat food (by which he means 'real' food). Not too much. Mostly plants. He also rejects the Lipid Hypothesis (that dietary fat is leading to disease and obesity) and advises to avoid any food that makes a health claim! He does not advocate tracking individual nutrients rather that we should focus on eating real, whole foods. This is approximately what I am doing and I am losing weight. Having said that I do not have a huge amount of meat and dairy in my diet but I happily add full-fat fetta to my salads, I have a half cup of whole milk on my muesli for breakfast, for example. I also make my salad dressings from scratch with oil (Flaxseed or Olive). I do not eat to fit in with a nutritional plan or to get a certain amount of this or that. I eat a lot of fruit and vegies, a small amount of meat and dairy and whatever fat comes with that. I keep within my calorie allowance eating a satisfying variety and quantity of food which is as little processed as possible without 'diet' foods or artificial sweeteners - and I still eat real chocolate! These are guiding principles and I don't expect to be 'perfect' (not anymore!)

So far that, and increasing my exercise, has worked for me. If it stops working, I'll change what I am doing. Good luck in making the changes you want to make. It is all an experiment with everyone having to find the right balance and principles that work for their own body and situation with an awareness that things do change over time.

leilahh

It works. I've lost 25 lbs so far eating high fat, moderate protein, and low carb (around 50g a day of carbs). More importantly, I feel great!

Pebble321

Interesting... must check out "Fathead".
Like Rat, I'm a fan of Michael Pollan too - my main focus these days is to eat "real food" - ie relatively unprocessed. I do still eat some processed snacks (hard to give up, though they are reducing, in favour of almonds, fruit, veggies etc) but we cook all our meals from actual ingredients and include olive oil, avocado, cheese, sundried tomatoes in oil, meat, salmon and other stuff that is quite high in fat.
I do get fat free natural yoghurt and skim milk but that is because I find the full fat versions very rich and prefer the taste of the fat free versions.
I don't stress too much about macros, I'm really mainly focusing on real unprocessed food as much as possible and on learning about portion sizes and how much food is right for my body.

LaJauna

I loved, loved, loved this documentary! It is so empowering to see that I can eat high fat foods and not have my health be effected in a negative way, as a matter of fact it actually improved my health! I did make me mad that I had been fed a load of whoooey for so long about fats being "evil". I now live on a controlled carb/high fat/ moderate protein way of eating and feel like a million bucks, am never hungry or have out of control cravings and I love to eat!

Haven't seen Fathead. Is it on Netflix streaming? Anyway, I agree with you...the SAD was making me fat, and we have been lied to for so long about fat. Now, I feel like I have a little secret that the majority of the world doesn't get! Hee hee...

Yes, I watched it on Hulu and my BFF watched it on Netflix streaming. So you can find it both places. I recommend everyone watch it. It is life changing. Here's to fat, may we all eat our way to healthy bodies!

LaJauna

Remember that fathead wasn't all about avoiding carbs. Instead it was mainly pointing out that you can eat crap if you want, as long as your calories are tracked and controlled based on your goals. I think fathead would have been even better if he had completely disregarded macros and focussed on just calories, as well as taking it to Sperlock who needs to be taken down a peg or two.

The movie is advocating a low carb lifestyle, high in fat and moderate in protein. The film maker kept his carbs under 100 carbs a day. I don't think he was concerned about his calorie intake at all. Maybe you should watch it again. I think I will as well.

TK421NotAtPost

He generally stayed around or just under 2,000 calories per day. For a person of his size who did all that walking, that is most definitely a caloric deficit. Also, his carb level seemed to fluctuate between 80 - 120 carbs per day, which I think is moderate to low carb....but probably not ketogenic.

chrisdavey

That's not keto for sure.

I am sitting here eating my full fat natural peanut butter. I liked this movie

LaJauna

He generally stayed around or just under 2,000 calories per day. For a person of his size who did all that walking, that is most definitely a caloric deficit. Also, his carb level seemed to fluctuate between 80 - 120 carbs per day, which I think is moderate to low carb....but probably not ketogenic.

You are correct. I went back and re-watched the movie. The end of the film he is not counting calories and is eating an extreme/high fat diet and continues to lose even more weight after his fast-food experiment. I think he did the calorie counting so no one could say it wan't controlled enough.

martinah4

feel free to ad me as a friend and check out my journal. I loved Fat Head and I eat full fat everything. Most days I usually go over my limits MFP sets for me. I usually go well over my protein too, but as I'm losing weight, being active and don't want to lose muscle mass, many women need to up the fat and protein contents in their diets.

After watching the movie, I dropped 17 lbs in two months just keeping my carbs under 100g and eating full fat everything. Now that I'm lifting weights and doing intense circuit training, my muscles are retaining water to repair themselves and I gained 3-5 lbs back. Never the less, I keep losing inches and my upper arms are showing more muscle, even though the scale really hasn't budge off of 155-153 in two weeks.

After starting a low carb, high fat and protein diet, my acne disappeared! I thought I was going to be 40 with acne still. My face started to lose some wrinkles and I look much younger now. My energy level is up big time, and my joints don't ache, even after doing an hour of squats and lunges. I feel great.

Whoa...back up! Something you said made me pause. That thing about losing some wrinkles? I've been eating low-carb, real fat and protein, and got a compliment the other day on how my wrinkles on my face seem to be going away, and how my complexion looks great! I thought, "Whatever, can't you just say you've noticed my weight loss? That's the best you can do?". So, please, what is the connection between fat and wrinkles?

martinah4

That's not keto for sure.

I am sitting here eating my full fat natural peanut butter. I liked this movie

This has become my "snack" of choice: a tablespoon of Skippy All-Natural Creamy Peanut Butter! Nom, nom, nom...

martinah4

I loved, loved, loved this documentary! It is so empowering to see that I can eat high fat foods and not have my health be effected in a negative way, as a matter of fact it actually improved my health! I did make me mad that I had been fed a load of whoooey for so long about fats being "evil". I now live on a controlled carb/high fat/ moderate protein way of eating and feel like a million bucks, am never hungry or have out of control cravings and I love to eat!

Haven't seen Fathead. Is it on Netflix streaming? Anyway, I agree with you...the SAD was making me fat, and we have been lied to for so long about fat. Now, I feel like I have a little secret that the majority of the world doesn't get! Hee hee...

Yes, I watched it on Hulu and my BFF watched it on Netflix streaming. So you can find it both places. I recommend everyone watch it. It is life changing. Here's to fat, may we all eat our way to healthy bodies!

I think I'll try to find it and watch it!

minadeathclutch

it's very much like atkins. but his carb intake is much higher than atkins.

it works. its a good concept however if you go from eating 100gs of carbs to 400 .. you will probably gain everything back.

photorific

He generally stayed around or just under 2,000 calories per day. For a person of his size who did all that walking, that is most definitely a caloric deficit. Also, his carb level seemed to fluctuate between 80 - 120 carbs per day, which I think is moderate to low carb....but probably not ketogenic.

I think he did the calorie counting so no one could say it wan't controlled enough.

He actually counted calories to show that he lost more weight than conventional wisdom would state, based on calorie deficit alone. (He averaged 500 calories/day deficit which would total 3,500 calories/1pound per week loss, but lost more than 1 pound per week.)

chrisdavey

it's very much like atkins. but his carb intake is much higher than atkins.

it works. its a good concept however if you go from eating 100gs of carbs to 400 .. you will probably gain everything back.

if your protein and fat intake are constant then you are increasing cals by 1200/day so it is likely that weight gain will occur (if going above maintenance).

photorific

it's very much like atkins. but his carb intake is much higher than atkins.

it works. its a good concept however if you go from eating 100gs of carbs to 400 .. you will probably gain everything back.

if your protein and fat intake are constant then you are increasing cals by 1200/day so it is likely that weight gain will occur (if going above maintenance).

Plus - I think the point is to NOT go back to eating 400g carbs/day...

martinah4

OK, I watched Fathead--Loved it! The guy has a great sense of humor. It just confirmed that I'm doing my diet the right way! Just wish other people could be convinced! (follow the money)