Good fat/Bad fat?

julieh391

My daily fat is set at 41g, and I'm noticing I go over that pretty quickly with things like olive oil and avocados. How do you balance good fats and bad fats? To me 1/2 an avocado is not at all equal to a cheddarbest sausage (which I had at a party yesterday and noticed was similar.) Should I be worried about going "over" on my daily fat grams even though 90% of the time I'm eating good healthy fats and not potato chips and ice cream? Advice please!

julieh391

bump. anybody?

jg627

Trans fats are poison. You probably already know that. Fat is more calorie dense on average, so it is cost effective to cut fat to cut calories. You don't have to worry about going over that much unless you are hungry at the end of your calories. The problems with high fat only comes when in a calorie surplus, since no biosynthesis is required in order to store fat as fat. You need fat for a lot of things though.
Also, cutting saturated fat in order to lower cholesterol when you don't have abnormally high cholesterol can be a deadly idea. Just wanted to throw that in there.

julieh391

Makes sense. Any other input, anybody? I'm just wondering if the little prediction that says "If everyday were like today, you'd weight ___ in 5 weeks" is accurate considering when I'm going over with my fat it's good healthy fat. Or is that more just based on my calories (which I'm always under by about 100.) I don't own a scale and only weigh myself every few weeks, so I'd like to know if that prediction is accurate. Just curious.

Kennkaru

Makes sense. Any other input, anybody? I'm just wondering if the little prediction that says "If everyday were like today, you'd weight ___ in 5 weeks" is accurate considering when I'm going over with my fat it's good healthy fat. Or is that more just based on my calories (which I'm always under by about 100.) I don't own a scale and only weigh myself every few weeks, so I'd like to know if that prediction is accurate. Just curious.

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the "If every day were like today" estimations. Just focus on hitting your calorie goal and macros, and consider setting them yourself rather than having MFP set them for you.

twinmom01

I eat a ton of fat in any given day - olive and coconut oil, avocados, fatty fish, etc...

I don't eat processed foods so no worries about any sort of trans fat...

I do watch my carb intake and keep it below 100 grams a day...

Fat is more calorie dense so you can expend a bunch of calories on small amounts of food...I bulk it up - like my go to snack as of late are 100 calorie packs of Wholly Guacamole - I will eat it with a whole red pepper or a big handful of baby carrots...getting a lot of food for under 150 calories with good for you fats, vitamins and minerals and lower carbs.

dansls1

I don't see any information on how long you have been doing this and progress so far, but the question you are asking is ultimately one your body will answer for you. If you are losing and the only thing you are seeing is that you are over in fat but not total calories, it is probably ok. I struggle with my fat % more than going over on actual g - but have lost over 35 lbs in around 3 months, so it must not be horrible.

bunny1006

bump for later

KristyJoy123

What I do, is I set MFP to track Fat, and Saturated Fat. I obviously try to avoid Trans Fats all together. I aim to stay under on my saturated fat but don't worry too much about the other Fat category, because I know most of it is coming from "good" fat sources.

secretlobster

The fat itself isn't really the problem (although as has been said, trans fat is poison)...
When someone makes a distinction between fat from "good" sources and fat from "bad" sources, that doesn't make the fat itself good or bad, it's just an indication of the other things you're getting WITH the fat. Even if cheddarwurst and avocado had the same amount of the same kind of fat, that wouldn't make them equal foods.

UponThisRock

On the trans-fat issue, I'd say that man-made trans fats from the hydrogenation of vegetable oils that are bad for you, and I wouldn't go so far as to call them "poison."

As far as naturally occurring trans-fats in things like beef, hell, CLA is sold as a dietary supplement...

Mercenary1914

My daily fat is set at 41g, and I'm noticing I go over that pretty quickly with things like olive oil and avocados. How do you balance good fats and bad fats? To me 1/2 an avocado is not at all equal to a cheddarbest sausage (which I had at a party yesterday and noticed was similar.) Should I be worried about going "over" on my daily fat grams even though 90% of the time I'm eating good healthy fats and not potato chips and ice cream? Advice please!

Never worry about going over fats...if you are eating clean..only worry if you are eating fried foods and such....

You are right to think avacodos being a healthy fat..it is...I personally only focus on Protein and Carbs...because I have pretty much a clean diet...my high fats come from lean chicken and fish, Natural Peanut Butter, Almonds ..and that's about it. really.

docktorfokse

You may also want to customize your goals, since I noticed MFP tends to automatically set high carbs and low fat/protein.

teagin2002

it depends on what you are trying to do. If you are trying to lose weight you want to get less of your energy from fats and more from complex carbs (whole grains, fruits, veggies so you can get enough vitamins and minerals too) and you do want to eat enough protein to sustain your current muscle mass depending on what you do for a workout. If you are lifting heavy, then more protein to help rebuild those muscles and sustain them.
The theory here is fat converts to fat easier than carbs do, so it is best to consume less fat.
Keep in mind our body still needs fat, it is what keeps our skin soft, hair shiny, and padding for the bottom of our feet among other things. If you are trying to lose weight lower your fat% to 20~25% of your daily calories.
There are many ways of losing weight successfully, this is just one, and I hope I answered your question

teagin2002

My daily fat is set at 41g, and I'm noticing I go over that pretty quickly with things like olive oil and avocados. How do you balance good fats and bad fats? To me 1/2 an avocado is not at all equal to a cheddarbest sausage (which I had at a party yesterday and noticed was similar.) Should I be worried about going "over" on my daily fat grams even though 90% of the time I'm eating good healthy fats and not potato chips and ice cream? Advice please!

Never worry about going over fats...if you are eating clean..only worry if you are eating fried foods and such....

You are right to think avacodos being a healthy fat..it is...I personally only focus on Protein and Carbs...because I have pretty much a clean diet...my high fats come from lean chicken and fish, Natural Peanut Butter, Almonds ..and that's about it. really.

I agree with this if you are eating clean
http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/what-is-clean-eating/

jjs22

I hit my target weight loss of 45-ish pounds for one simple reason : I did NOT cut out fat.

From a biochemical point of view, all that matters in losing weight is that the calories you eat each day are (slightly) lower than the calories you burn.

But people are more complicated than test tubes. What REALLY matters is that over the long term, day-in and day-out, the food that you eat has to be SATISFYING. I don't hear that enough around here, so forgive me for repeating it : Eat food that SATISFIES you. For me, the basis of truly satisfying food is fat.

It is true that a gram of fat has many more calories than a gram of carbs. But so what ? What you need to pay attention to is how you feel 1 minute, 10 minutes, or 60 minutes after you eat something. My personal experience with eating carbs (especially simple carbs like sugar, but also complex carbs like bread and pasta) is that they taste really good while I'm eating them, but after I'm done I just want more. In my book, that is the opposite of satisfaction : if it merely creates more craving, then over the long haul it is really a "net dissatisfaction".

For me, the opposite is true for protein and _especially_ true for fats. My personal go-to meal for true satisfaction is still a juicy (i.e., fatty) steak. I've learned that I don't need to eat 20 oz ribeye to be satisfied; I can eat a 6 or 8 oz ribeye (along with grilled fresh veggies), and that wonderful, contented feeling of having eaten an awesome meal is still there. As long as my net calories are in balance, I don't get any pesky cravings later on.

As far as fats being good or bad for you, there are a couple of things that are super-important to know.

1) Trans fats ARE bad. These are molecules that have never existed in nature, and our bodies do not have a reliable way of distinguishing them from from the wide variety of natural fat molecules which are absolutely essential to life. Scientists are beginning to identify specific problems (cancer, developmental disorders) caused by specific individual trans fat molecules, but there are many (hundreds, thousands ?) of such molecules and each one needs to be studied separately. Or we can just stop eating them.

2) Most other fats are fine. America has gone through an "anti-fat" era that was never based on legitimate, conclusive scientific evidence. Our bodies require fats for survival, and are quite well equipped to handle fat as a source of calories. Refined carbohydrates, OTOH, are relatively new on the dietary scene. Most of the "diseases of civilization" (cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, tooth decay) were quite rare before cheap refined carbs became available to the masses.

jg627

On the trans-fat issue, I'd say that man-made trans fats from the hydrogenation of vegetable oils that are bad for you, and I wouldn't go so far as to call them "poison."

As far as naturally occurring trans-fats in things like beef, hell, CLA is sold as a dietary supplement...

True. Naturally occurring trans fat is going to be in all meat, but in trace amounts. It's that hydrogenated vegetable oil, but get this, they don't have to label that as trans fat (and they usually don't). Always remember to read the ingredients. Poison may have been a little hyperbolic, but still, try to avoid that stuff if you can.