HEY, YOU GUYS! WAIT FOR ME!!!!!!
In the spirit of our founder, who shall remain nameless, here is a synopsis of what we're doing in this thead:
Hi!
This challenge is all about fat! Well, losing it by eating it, that is!
Here are some of the basic tenets:
You're eating more fat than the standard Atkins or PP diet, in grams, than normal. Adding extra fat to meals and snacks. This can mean, based on 60-70g of protein a day and 20 g total carbs, between 70 and 80% (or even more) of the total calories per day as fat. Of course, those on higher protein and/or higher carb grams will see different percentages.
Some sources of extra fats are: butter, lard, bacon grease and other animal fats, olive oil, coconut and other vegetable oils, mayo, cream cheese, hard cheese (count the protein toward your total), nuts (count the carbs toward your total), avocados--use your imagination. Just remember that any fat that contains animal protein needs to be counted toward your total, and any carbs need to be counted toward your daily total.
The protein levels are up to you. In general, if you don't exercise or exercise lightly to moderately, you're eating less protein than the standard Atkins or PP diet. This is because you should only eat enough protein for maintenance and repair of body tissues. You don't want any protein hanging around for use as fuel. Fat is the primary fuel. (Those who are into heavy exercise/weight training may need to eat more protein for repair/maintenance.)
Count only animal protein toward your daily total. Another way is is to add a 10g "buffer" to your protein need, and that 10g will cover the extra plant proteins, which are not complete proteins and don't count toward your daily total. (If you're vegetarian/vegan you will need to take extra care to ensure your proteins are complete, as incomplete proteins won't be used to rebuild the body properly.
Don't eat less than 60g of protein a day, most days. Everyone, even the very sedentary, needs a minimum of 60g protein most every day.
The carb levels are up to you. Some people find they do fine on higher carbs, some on very low carb. The majority of people do high fatting on a carb level between 10 and 30 grams a day. You can use total carbs or net carbs, it's up to you.
Expect higher calories eating this way. It's Ok, and is part of the plan and the solution for weight loss. Who likes a low-cal diet anyway??? Not me.
This website,
The Optimal Diet, offers a good explanation of how and why the high-fat diet works and gives one method for calculating your protein need per day in the higher fat situation. Also information can be found in this
Wikipedia article.
There are many other protein calculators online, such as the ones
here, and
here, and protein power and the protein power lifeplan also offer estimations of protein need, however keep in mind that these calculators are probably not taking into account the higher fat situation, and are assuming that some protein will be converted to fuel.
Use your best judgment when figuring your protein need--and never go too low. You can always adjust it up or down as needed.
That's it. Pretty simple.
Many find that HFing will get the scale moving when nothing else will.
Welcome and stop in to lurk or post anytime!