Fat - how much is optimal for WL?

[TX_Bayou]

I tried Atkins a few years ago and I realize now that I never really understood the importance of fat in this woe. I tried to keep it low and I believe that was one of the things that made me stall and eventually quit.

This time I want to understand better how much fat a person should consume. I see folks here adding cream and coconut oil to their coffee for that purpose. Can anyone break down to me the ratios of fat/protien/carbs?

[Kisal]

I think it's different for every person. I know I can't handle as much fat as some members here consume regularly, but I don't go to great efforts to limit my fat intake, either. I just try to make sure my daily intake shows low carbs, moderate protein, and fats equal to or slightly higher than protein.

[jschwab]

Fat is really important for keeping emotions on keel and for neurological functioning. If I feel like I am losing my edge, I up the fat - but only animal fats. This doesn't work with vegetable fats at all.

Janine

[MizKitty]

Can anyone break down to me the ratios of fat/protien/carbs?

Mine are running around 70/25/5. I'd like to get the fat up to about 75 and the protein down to 20 (wihout raising my calories, which average about 1600) and see what that does for me. I'm working on normalizing my blood sugars as well as losing weight, and Dr Bernstein says more dietary protein than we need is converted to glucose.

[Froggiebro]

I don't track the ratios, but I make sure to add fat in when ever I can. If I don't get enough fat, the weight loss slows.

[diemde]

I think it's different for everyone. I don't track anymore since I've been doing this for so long, but when I did track, I got about 60-65% fat.

I think there are multiple ways of looking at food composition. I don't focus on fat at all. I focus on keeping carbs reasonably low compared to how I used to eat. So 10 to 15% is fine with me. And my second focus is on protein. While I don't try to eat a specific percentage, I try to eat protein with every meal. I do this primarily because I want to retain my muscle mass. So for me, it's more important to get a lot of protein in than fat. I eat 20-25% protein routinely. I'd actually like to get the protein a little higher, but that's hard to do.

I don't do anything extra to add fat in... whatever is needed in food prep, or whatever I enjoy, like cream in my coffee. I use Coconut Oil, but just for cooking, so don't intentionally add it to stuff.

[ValerieL]

I never went out of my way to add fat, but I was never afraid of it, either. I used full fat dressings, made whipped cream for my strawberries, used cream in making crustless quiche. For me, at least, adding fat was not necessary, and frankly wonder if adding fat that way might not have slowed my weight loss.

[TX_Bayou]

It sounds like it's an individual thing. I'm going to have to experiment and see which types of things help me lose more on particular days.

I experimented this last week with cooking all my food on Sunday and not eating out for the most part (3 lunches out). This coming week I should eliminate all eating out since that doesn't seem to work very well for me.

I'm going to watch carefully which foods give me the greatest return in weight loss.

Thanks for sharing your experiences!