Healthy Fats

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mellowadam
mellowadam Posts: 114 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello All,

Just wondering how you guys hit your fat targets or if it is really that important? I am set up for 50c/30f/20p. I'm consistently going over on carbs (mostly good complex carbs, very little refined) and coming way under on fat. I will say that I'm feeling pretty good eating this way. I have lots of energy, I'm sleeping great, no cravings for junk and I'm able to complete Beach body DVD's I couldn't complete last year. I use to be unable to do those work outs two days in a row because I would hardly be able to walk from soreness. Should I worry about my fat macro?

I get most of my fat from cooking with canola oil and eating cashews. I guess I could try avocados or a full fat greek yogurt. My high weight was 304 and my current is 200.3. I've been working at this for about five years now and have kept most of the weight off for over two years. So I'm maintaining a pretty huge loss but I'd like to shed some belly fat and about 15 more pounds to get to a healthy weight range. I'd like to be more flexible and maybe take up some sport again like running, yoga and golfing. I've been sort of stalled out and frustrated for the last year. YoYoing the same 10 pounds, etc.

Advice and constructive discussion welcome. Hope everyone has a good day. Thanks.

Replies

  • shaneozouf
    shaneozouf Posts: 59 Member
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    I would say that if you're having success (and feel good) doing what you're doing, then keep doing that. Your body is the best measure for whether you're doing something right or wrong. Sounds to me like your end macros are often 60c/20f/20p or closer to something like that? I have macro goals of 40c/30/30 and I find it hard to keep my carbs below 50%. I use some tricks to get my fat and protein up together (like sunflower seeds, which I have a mild addiction to).

    In my opinion, depending on what your workout, fitness, and weight goals are will decide how you should balance your fat and protein. For me, I try harder to hit my protein goals, I usually struggle to keep fat in check.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
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    Dietary fat is required for health - for example, it is required for the maintenance of your nervous system, as well as absorption of many fat soluble vitamins. I flipped through a few days of your dairy. I think 30-40g of fat is pretty low for you, you probably want to be aiming for 50g+.
  • baptiste565
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
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    Congrats on ur success. When i go ultra low fat (30grams) after a month i lose some libido. I lose alot of weight though.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Yeh - you need to reverse the carbs and the fats. Protein is about right.
  • mellowadam
    mellowadam Posts: 114 Member
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    Thanks for the input. I think I'll swap a serving of fruit for some nuts and maybe be a little more generous when cooking with oils. I cooked a curry with coconut oil for dinner that was pretty dynamite. I definitely don't want to screw with my libido or my internal organ health.

    From using the search function I've read through some old threads which basically say to focus on hitting grams of each macro versus percentages. It's actually much easier to say I need to get 20 more grams of fat today than to try and make 12% of my remaining calories come from fat. Just a different way of analyzing it but it clicked for me. Once again thanks for the tips.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
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    mellowadam wrote: »
    Thanks for the input. I think I'll swap a serving of fruit for some nuts and maybe be a little more generous when cooking with oils. I cooked a curry with coconut oil for dinner that was pretty dynamite. I definitely don't want to screw with my libido or my internal organ health.

    From using the search function I've read through some old threads which basically say to focus on hitting grams of each macro versus percentages. It's actually much easier to say I need to get 20 more grams of fat today than to try and make 12% of my remaining calories come from fat. Just a different way of analyzing it but it clicked for me. Once again thanks for the tips.

    Yeah, the percentages aren't a great way of going about it because there is a minimum amount of fat that you need to maintain healthy body functions. That's not going to scale as a percentage if somebody is on a low calorie diet! I think you should figure out the appropriate amount (in grams) of fat and protein for your size and activity, and then just make up the remainder of your calories with carbs.

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