How Much Fat
 

I've been trying to follow a Keto diet for two weeks. In frustration I bought "A New Atkins For A New You". I see how much protein I should eat daily but I can't find how much fat to have each day. I'm 5'5". Help!

In NANY, there is an insert box that gives guidelines on fat...titled "Savor Not Smother" which gave some amounts.

But the % of fat is not fixed, unlike the now popular Keto Calculators you will see elsewhere that list 70-75% fat.

You do NOT Eat that amount IF you are trying to lose weight. You want fat to come from your Body Stores, and should eat dietary fat only "to satiety" ... just the amount of fat (and total food for that matter) you need to avoid hunger on this diet. I was a patient of Dr Westman, an author of NANY, and that wasn't clear to me until I saw him some time after starting the diet in that book.

Phinney and Volek also have great visuals about how it should work by phases and the typical % of both body and dietary fat.

Here are the graphs from Art and Science of LC Living and the Adapt website, both good resources, within an EXCELLENT article on the topic, Don't Force the Fat from LowCarb RN. Keep it simple to start, you don't need to track anything, Kelley has good links to other sites on that topic.

https://lowcarbrn.wordpress.com/201...-force-the-fat/

Janet, thank you for the link and the great article. It makes so much sense. It's just what I needed. I can see now why I'm losing so slowly, because I've been trying to get in the Keto recommended amount of fat and never getting to the recommendation.

I recall the chats but didn't really read the article before. I can totally relate to this...



I believe this happened during this period. I had lost a significant amount of weight and "found" my maint level by eating too much fat to loose weight. I didn't really gain, I didn't really loose weight either.



This is a good illustration of why, for me, it's a really good idea to investigate hunger. It turns out I can eat at the drop of a hat for enjoyment. It's taken a while to turn away from those opportunities and just not eat. This has been one of the harder things I have learned and it takes practice, the rest is easy :)

Eat until you are not hungry. When you are not hungry, don't eat - something like that.

Thanks for adding that Thud, that stall point is where so many give up rather than learning more about their own hunger signals. Until recently Dr Westman didn't use the word fast, as that would likely scare many of his obese clinic patients, but he always talked about "meal timing". Are you really hungry for breakfast? Or for three full meals? Or need that mid-afternoon high-fat snack?
He also suggests the Japanese principle of Hari Hachi Bu, or eat until you are 80% full, just enough to feel full but not stuffed. Especially hard for Americans where restaurant portions and our perception of a "normal" plate/amount of food is so distorted.

Amarillo, happy to help. Another Westman saying to clarify the fat % is his "using your on-board pantry" line. You have thousands of calories that have been stored on your body to use for the next famine, so the time is now to tap into that pantry. A short FAQ video on Macros here (#9) https://www.adaptyourlife.com/dr-westman-faq/
The amount of fat you eat depends on how much body fat you need to lose, but the Adapt pie charts in the first article do give good estimates by Phase.

I have Maria Emmerich's new Ketogenic Cleanse book from the library and thankfully she too makes it clear that for weight loss part of the 80% fat comes from your body...and gives actual suggested percentages.
15% protein
4% Carbs
49% dietary fat
31% BODY FAT

Great article Janet! thanks for posting the link! It does make sense.

Yes, Janet thanks for this, and wow, Thud123, that's an impressive graph.

Thanks Squarecube. It's only in hindsight that I can see that as a "stall" now. Self induced perhaps. Eat enough fat to squash hunger. Too many carbs (for me then around 30 or so) induce hunger and I squashed that by more fat so... to many calories - hardly any of them from carbs.

Thanks Thud - I was thinking I need to watch calories also. I noticed I can eat WAY to many calories and still keep pretty low carb (under 30 per day). When I do that I don't seem to lose.

I wouldn't worry too much about not loosing, If you're keeping it that low I'm convinced there are changes happening on the inside that are beneficial. I guess the bottom line is don't starve yourself in the name of loosing weight. That is my opinion.

It is hard in the beginnning to learn what the phrase "With a LC diet, you do NOT count calories, but Calories DO count" really means for you. The induction diet done properly will get you to the point you no longer have cravings and hunger is a muted signal only when your body needs fuel. Listening to your hunger signals (and not the clock or social cues) will naturally result in consuming fewer calories while your body gets its energy from stored fat. If by two weeks you are still having cravings for carbs, are still hungry and consuming lots of calories, then you may be eating too many carbs for You, or maybe eating hidden carbs. The 20g level is one where just about everyone experiences that reduction of hunger and calories.

Thanks Janet and Thud!
I will need to relook at what is on induction - I was just trying the "under 20 carbs".

For one, there are no LC tortillas on induction. :lol: Well at least on my version of Induction, even in NANY. If you squeeze in all those 15g of Foundation Vegetables carbs (you do not have to), here is no room for fake breads at the induction level. I love NANY for its science and used it succesfully for months, but the book has a long history of editing, and "standing on the shoulders of giants".
It is not what Dr. Westman uses in his clinic for obese and diabetic patients, you can read about that here, note post #69: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=471186

Thank you for the link!!!

It makes perfect sense. I have been gaining and losing the same pounds over and over. I have a lot to lose and have been eating 100g or so of fat. Maybe thats my problem....

Thanks :)

Dr Westman videoed a FB Live last week on the topic of "Macros", trying again to make it clear if you want to lose weight you only eat enough fat "to satiety". https://www.facebook.com/AdaptYourLife/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Also check the Tips and Stalls forum here. Removing dairy has helped some break through a stall. http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=14 THe 10 ways to break a stall is an old interview with Dr Westman.