I'm my third week in on my new low-carb lifestyle and I have a question about fats. I read in my Atkins book that 1 tbsp is considered a serving of fat but it wasn't clear on how much fat you should have a day. I don't want to quit losing due to having too much fat or stall because I'm not having enough fat. I'd appreciate any input.

I think the best answer is to add fat to satiety, but often when starting out that satiety switch may be broken so having some guidelines help. Dr Westman, one of the authors of the book you have, has a new edition of his clinic diet with a limit of two T of "extra added oils" like olive and coconut listed. Fats naturally in foods like beef and eggs are unlimited. He has never supported the use of Bulletproof Coffee, etc when you have fat to lose, "your own on-board pantry" If you are planning to stay on induction, set the total carbs around 20-30g, protein around 80-100g and add T butter to the veg, olive oil to salad, but don't get into "fat bombs" or similar added fats at this point.

This article is good, and you can actually calculate some good guidelines for fat intake from the by phase fat loss "Examples"
https://lowcarbrn.wordpress.com/201...-force-the-fat/

And watch Dr Westman's FAQ answers on this similar article:
https://lowcarbrn.wordpress.com/201...-force-the-fat/

Janet,
Those are great resources that can benefit newbie and advanced beginner alike. Thanks for posting. Good luck Cincygal!

Thanks so much for the replies and the links! They were so helpful and did answer my questions. I've heard so much about getting extra fat with fat bombs and Bulletproof coffee, I thought maybe I was lacking in my intake of fat. I feel satisfied and don't have any cravings, so I'll just keep on doing what I've been doing.

I was starting to get confused about how much fat to eat because obviously I have plenty of it on my own body. So, although not being a counting kind of person, I gave in and started tracking my macros on MyFitnessPal.com.

I put for goals 5% carbs, 25% protein, and 75% fat. For 1400 calories (which is about all I can eat without adding extra fat) is 18 carb grams, 109 fat grams, and 88 protein grams.

So I assiduously tracked food (not easy when you make your own food a lot) for a couple of weeks and determined, first, that many days I don't make the 1400 calorie mark -- especially since I do intermittent fasting (there's no way I can eat that much in one meal). Second, I am pretty good at keeping under 20 carbs most days, but third, I usually do not go over either the fat or protein amounts.

I add fat when I cook, try and eat fattier cuts of meat, and I add butter to veggies, but I don't drink coffee with butter or coconut oil, or just pile on extra fat. But it does add up just by cooking, and sometimes I have to guess. Like I made turnip fries in quite a bit of oil, but then I blotted them on a paper towel -- most of the oil was in the pan when I finished, so I figured each serving was about a tablespoon of oil.

For me, the biggest problem is the amount of food I eat -- which isn't much. I have no desire to eat anymore than I do now, and I am following Diet Doctor and Dr. Fung and they suggest just not eating when you aren't hungry. If I add my exercise to the app, I am at a large deficit each and every day -- that deficit, unfortunately, does not show up on the scale (yes, I'm losing weight, but not THAT much -- I should be really, really, skinny based on CICO -- hahahaha!)

So I guess the point of all of this is that I am trying to figure out how much fat to eat, and am still not sure how well I am doing. You can try with the macro counting as well, as it does give you a lot of insight into what you are doing.

Excellent idea to help anyone get an idea of how much of their favorite LC foods fit into the fat guidelines of Atkins induction, Duke clinic, etc. The free version of MyFitnessPal allows customizing goals in 5% increments and the numbers Kat uses seem to be ones commonly used by women. Using it, you will see why there are limits on cream, cheese and mayo. sad but true.


GREAT! Not having cravings or even not being hungry and able to skip a meal now and then is how Dr Westman knows you are doing the diet correctly. So just keep on keeping on...empty the "on board pantry" first before you need to think much about macros and adding fat.

Yes to both. My satiety switch was broken from years of binge eating - I didn't know what real hunger or being full felt like. It's taken a while, but now I know.

Fat bombs & other added fats can be a real problem, especially if you don't know when to quit.