new and confused about fat

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lilyrosieposie3
lilyrosieposie3 Posts: 28 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello I hope someone can help me because I am confused. For years I have been going to diet clubs who recommend all dairy products should be fat free or virtually fat free.
so for the last 20 or so years I have been buying them.
when I track in my mfp diary, it says my fats are dangerously low.
Have the diet clubs got it wrong, or is there now a new trend saying fats are good.
I am a little apprehensive to swap as my cholesterol is slightly high. I have been buying semi skimmed milk and its taking me ages to get used to the creamy tsste.
Thanks for your help

Replies

  • mncdk
    mncdk Posts: 30 Member
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    Fat is an essential macronutrient, and you need at least 50 grams a day - most likely more, depending on your stats.
    50 grams is suitable for someone who's about 110 lbs.
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
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    Yes, in the 90s fat was evil. However, there has been no drop in obesity with people consuming all the fat free and low fat products.

    Now, according to some - sugar is the evil making us fat. Fat, carbs & protein are essential to a healthy diet. The link below may help you develop a plan that will be sustainable for you and help you begin to lose weight in a healthy way. Good luck.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • velvet_violence
    velvet_violence Posts: 51
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    I remember Susan Powter saying "fat will make you fat". Personally it was the key for me to eat bagels with reduced fat cream cheese, pasta with thin marinara, and breakfast cereal with skim milk. Heck, even candy can be fat-free. But I have slowly been increasing the fat in my milk because I almost only take it in coffee and I realized I was actually using up more calories by using "weaker" milk and putting so much in my coffee.

    Had a roommate several years ago who only drank whole and we bought separate gallons as I couldn't stand it. Recently I started buying grass fed milk and the whole is actually quite yummy. It seems the tide has turned on fat intake, though of course everyone should stay within target of their calorie goals, you can accommodate more milk fat it seems in the daily breakdown. Enjoy!
  • lilyrosieposie3
    lilyrosieposie3 Posts: 28 Member
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    Gypsyrunner thank you for sending me the link. Its very interesting

    Thank you all for your replies. It is all a lot clearer to me now
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    I tend to go for lower fat milk and dairy because I would rather save my fat for unsaturated fats like avocado and olive oil. Fat is an important macro nutrient but it comes in many forms and you need to eat a variety of different fats.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    1 - fat doesn't make you fat...a surplus of energy beyond what your body needs to maintain itself results in fat storage (long term energy stores)

    2 - fat is very calorie dense so some reduction in fat CAN help to reduce calorie intake...

    3 - do not go overboard on cutting out fat though as fat is a very essential macro-nutrient. It is essential to absorption of certain fat soluble only nutrients as well as hormone regulation and brain and nervous system function to name a few. Ironically when people get really low on dietary fat, they have even more difficulty losing weight because they mess their hormones up which in turn messes their metabolism up

    4 - Many no fat/low fat foods just substitute a **** ton of sugar for the fat to make the food taste good (this is not the case with milk and dairy)

    5 - There are many extremely nutritious foods like avocados and nuts that are full of fat...and other awesome nutrition

    I don't eat full fat everything...my yogurt is a non-fat variety and I drink 1 % milk...but I eat lots of nuts and avocados and I cook with olive oil and avocado oil and coconut oil and butter...I eat bacon and meat and cheese, etc. Basically I pick and choose where I want to spend my calories fat wise...but I don't avoid it altogether; that is a recipe for bad things.
  • segovm
    segovm Posts: 512 Member
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    Yeah there's always a boogie man in the diet world, some evil that is the root of all our problems.

    Sadly I think it just comes down to the fact that humans have never really had to deal with the possibility of unlimited calories before and it doesn't help that people make a ton of money ensuring that all those calories taste so good.

    The only real take away from it all for me is that highly processed food is something I am trying to avoid just because it tends to be processed specifically to make us be able to eat more of it.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    Eat mono/poly unsaturated fats.
  • lilyrosieposie3
    lilyrosieposie3 Posts: 28 Member
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    Thank you for replying. I love avocados and use olive oil in my cooking. So will continue to buy skimmed dairy and up my intake of avocados, nuts etc.
    Just another question I love carbs and tend to go over my allowance. Will this slow my weight loss down. I seem to eat under my calorie allowance. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you
  • RunnerStephe
    RunnerStephe Posts: 2,195
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    Eat mono/poly unsaturated fats.

    That's key there. Avoid trans fat at all cost. Saturated fat minimally. Eat lean cuts of meat. I tend to eat an egg or 2 a day, with whites. The yolk is considered fat, which won't mess up your cholesterol levels. Mono/Poly fats create good cholesterol.

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