Eating too much fat!

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RedRaven49
RedRaven49 Posts: 52 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have found through MFP that my intake of fat is consistently more than I should be eating. I'm wondering if you have any tips about decreasing fat intake in general, for example, are low-fat substitutions a good choice?
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Replies

  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,779 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Low-fat products often have more sodium and sugar. I use some to cut overall calories in my day, but fat helps with satiety and going to the bathroom. Do you have a specific medical reason to be concerned about fat intake?
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,779 Member
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    BTW, many people on here see the fat macro as a minimum.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2015
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    How much fat is MFP setup for and how much do you go over? OR better yet, what are the percentages setup for and what does your typical daily calories look like at the end of the day based on all macros at these percentages..

    It would be helpful if you would open your diary for this thread..
  • betuel75
    betuel75 Posts: 776 Member
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    What are you eating that is high in fat? How about vegetables, fruit, lean turkey breast, chicken breast, tuna, egg whites, bread, oatmeal. These are all low in fat.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
    edited April 2015
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    How high is your intake? (Your diary's private). I've customised my fat to 35% and use it as a MINIMUM if that's any help.

    Edit: percentage isn't even a good example as we're all eating a different amount of calories - I chose my %age based on 0.4 g per lb bodyweight.
  • Charliegottheruns
    Charliegottheruns Posts: 287 Member
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    If you want to decrease your fat, increase your carbohydrates and protein. Sounds silly, but think of it that way.
  • HumboldtFred
    HumboldtFred Posts: 159 Member
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    I use fake butter from various brands as well as fat free cheeses, yogurts, and sour creams. I get most of my fats from olive oil and from whole eggs.
  • RedRaven49
    RedRaven49 Posts: 52 Member
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    barbecuesauce wrote: »
    Do you have a specific medical reason to be concerned about fat intake?

    I don't have any specific medical reason, I just find myself always going over the limits for fat, even if I have loads of everything else left at the end of the day.
    gia07 wrote: »
    How much fat is MFP setup for and how much do you go over? OR better yet, what are the percentages setup for and what does your typical daily calories look like at the end of the day based on all macros at these percentages..

    It's set up at 80, and I usually go over by about 20.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
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    They're not limits. They're minimums. Going over isn't an issue - going under is.
  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
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    Unless your fat intake is putting you over your calories, it's fine. I actually found that lowering my carbs limit and increasing fat (and protein) helped me feel fuller, thus stay within my calorie goal.
  • taentea
    taentea Posts: 91 Member
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    Same problem here. MFP gives me 40g/day and I keep getting around 60. The app I used before gave me 50g but I was still at 60. It's my magic number it seems.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    RedRaven49 wrote: »
    barbecuesauce wrote: »
    Do you have a specific medical reason to be concerned about fat intake?

    I don't have any specific medical reason, I just find myself always going over the limits for fat, even if I have loads of everything else left at the end of the day.
    gia07 wrote: »
    How much fat is MFP setup for and how much do you go over? OR better yet, what are the percentages setup for and what does your typical daily calories look like at the end of the day based on all macros at these percentages..

    It's set up at 80, and I usually go over by about 20.

    That doesn't make any sense.

    MFP limits are starting points, you can tweak them as you see fit. Calorie goals are absolute (but not necessarily correctly estimated by MFP). A rule of thumb can be around 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of fat pr kilo ideal/goal body weight. The rest you can fill with whatever you want. It's up to taste and satiety and preference.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    I keep my fats on the low side but definitely get more fats than carbs. I manually tweaked my number as well. I do use some low fat / no fat products as well but I do that to restrict the number of calories. Fat is good.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2015
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    RedRaven49 wrote: »
    I have found through MFP that my intake of fat is consistently more than I should be eating. I'm wondering if you have any tips about decreasing fat intake in general, for example, are low-fat substitutions a good choice?

    The main problem with being high on fat (if any) is if you are lower than you should be on something else. (Source of fat matters too, for nutrition, although people will disagree about precisely how.) I see you gave your fat grams, but it makes more sense in context--how many calories, what are you aiming for for protein and carbs, how low are you? What's the main source of the fat if you look at the diary?

    On the whole I think fat and carbs can be thought of interchangeably, assuming you feel good (sufficiently energetic, not too hungry). Some people do better with more fat, some do better with more carbs. But I wouldn't increase fat percentage at the expense of protein, assuming you have a reasonable protein goal.

    80 grams is a pretty high fat goal (like I said, that's not necessarily bad), so either you have a high calorie goal also or you've already modified your macros. If the latter, it would be worth letting us know how you set them, as that might help give context, again.

    Assuming you decide you want to lower your fat, I personally like 1% and 2% dairy as much as full fat, so eat that. I don't really use any other lower fat substitutions (and I didn't eat full fat dairy before trying to lose weight, although I did experiment with it after to see if I found it more filling, but for me it's not).
  • midnightblue59
    midnightblue59 Posts: 7 Member
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    My fat intake is always high, too. Seems like it's mainly because I grab almonds for my snacks - everything else can be in line, but the fats go over.
  • Lexicpt
    Lexicpt Posts: 209 Member
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    My fat intake is always high. I eat a lot of eggs, nuts, avocado and fish. As long as you are still within your calories for the day, I don't see a problem.
  • Leana088
    Leana088 Posts: 581 Member
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    The numbers set by MFP are minimums not maximums.

    If you're that concerned, give me some of your fat, I could use it! Just keep the calories that come with it ;)
  • midnightblue59
    midnightblue59 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks for the advice!! I wasn't too concerned since it was coming from a source with protein and insignificant sugar. Just a little weird to see almonds recommended as a good snack option, then have them blow the fat category out of line.
  • DirrtyH
    DirrtyH Posts: 664 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »

    80 grams is a pretty high fat goal (like I said, that's not necessarily bad), so either you have a high calorie goal also or you've already modified your macros. If the latter, it would be worth letting us know how you set them, as that might help give context, again.

    This. For me, going over my fat goal means I'm at around 50-55 grams.
  • 1shauna1
    1shauna1 Posts: 993 Member
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    I don't worry too much about the fats; I love avocado! But yes, as suggested, you could tweak your settings or stop eating foods higher in fat (but really why would you want to; they're delicious!).

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