What kind of meat are you eating? I enjoy bacon but then worry that it is too much fat

Can someone give me a few examples of how to increase the fat? I'm trying to lower my protein and increase my fat, but short of eating a stick of butter , I could use some ideas on how to better incorporate fat. I have this thing of coconut oil, and I don't know what to do with it. I've taken on more almonds and avocados, but there are some added carbs there.

I think macadamia nuts are a pretty high fat nut.

I have only just started to boost fat. I think I remember that fact from my low fat diet days.

Blasphemy! There is no such thing as too much fat when it comes to meat. Cooked bacon is about 70% fat calories. I eat bacon, but not every day because it tends to disagree with my stomach when I overdo it.

I think any kind of meat is good as long as you're not seeking out the leanest cuts like pork tenderloin or chicken breast. Also, any added fat is a bonus like putting béarnaise sauce over salmon.

Lastly, I don't think you should have to perfectly calculate your fat intake. Just be very opportunistic about it. If it's there, dig in.

IMO it could simply be a matter of what meat you are eating.

turkey breast meat, no skin, typically from the deli counter: 70% calories from protein, 16% carb, 14% fat.
turkey breast meat, no skin, as you might prepare it yourself in the oven: 95% protein, 5% fat.

chicken thigh, with skin: 58% fat, 42% protein.

salmon, broiled: 58% protein, 41% fat, 1% carb.

ground beef, 95% lean: 65% protein, 35% fat.
ground beef, 85% lean: 63% fat, 37% protein.
ground beef, 70% lean: 82% fat, 18% protein.

Fry up some higher fat beef patties and you have it made.

Great advice! I'll quit worrying about fat - old school thinking that's hard to stop

Yup! Don't worry- it will become second nature to you as you realize that you're fuller and your body leaner on a high fat diet.

One of the things that is just the most interesting thing about a high fat low carb diet is how it affects your waistline. As a teenager, I could easily get down in weight, but I specfically remember being about 160 as a kid and being flabbier than I am now. (Even at 135 I had a pudge, even though I was smaller.) Even at higher weights, you'll find you "carry" that weight better if you are eating a high fat diet.

If you try to do low carb and low fat simultaneously, you will feel like crap. And you'll probably lose more muscle than fat.

Good post! I absolutely agree that fat intake has to be your highest number. I had a hard time getting my mind around this fact too in the beginning but once I started tracking my food I quickly noticed that if my protein was high and my fat intake too low, I gained.

I think this is the hardest concept for LC newbies to wrap their head around because it is completely opposite of what is preached daily by the nutritional and medical experts.

If you're eating LC but still shying away from fats, track your food and try a week of lower fat and higher protein and then try a week with high fat and lower protein and see if there is a change at the scale.

Seeing is believing!

Wanted to emphasize this, because I think Patina is absolutely right. When we live in, and diet by, OMG THE DEADLYFATZ! it can be a real struggle to go low carb, properly.

For the last ten years I would not consider eating anything that was 99% fat free- purely because of the sugar and carb content. In those years I worried less about fat, nowadays I am starting to think about fat more- as in how can I get more fat in each meal.

yarralea, you bring up a really good point! If the food manufacturer's are removing all the fat out of their products so they can sell them as "healthy" foods then that fat has to be replaced with something to make the food more palatable. So no fat, more often than not, means more sugar and sodium to up the flavor so people will buy it. And just think of the processing the food has to go through to remove the fat and people don't realize that the fat removal processes chemically change the original product and usually the end product is actually unhealthy.

Low fat milk is a really good example of this.

I never actually thought of that before that no fat means higher carb and sodium but it makes total sense!

Hi all!

Just wanted to thank everyone in this thread. I joined this forum because I was following a very strict Atkins but started to slow, then gain. I did find a couple of things that I was doing wrong and tweaked then yet continued to inch up.

I saw this thread and realized that over the years I have developed habit around low fat that I wasn't even conscious of. Like I only eat chicken breast, I don't like skin, I only buy lean meats etc. I checked my food diary for the first Atkins week and noticed, because I was hungrier, I naturally ate a lot more meat and bacon!

So I experimented, I LOVE butter so I had it all I wanted. I was more generous with olive oil and when I had my greens I poured it on. I found myself FULL and wishing I didn't have to eat again! lol

But this morning I have my first weight lose since Jan 13!

Now here is my question, as far as burger goes, if you buy the hamburger with greater fat content doesn't it just cook off?

Thanks again! I'm going to keep upping my fat as I find ways and see how that works.

Elle

Depends on the cooking method how much fat will be lost on cooking, and also on the doneness.

Oh. Um. I put a couple pats of butter in the pan before my burger, and then the cheese. That way I don't distress over losing the fat in the burger. Then I chop bacon, fry it, throw in chopped onion (not too much if you are in the induction part) and then put in about 1/2 cup of chicken stock and then frozen green beans (or canned, drained, whatever). That way you are going to eat the fat from the bacon with the beans too.

Ha ha...DS just said, looking over my shoulder 'That's disgusting...how come you don't GAIN weight with that???'.

LOL Not like it's a secret my dear young man..quick, run to the bookshelf and read everything on the top shelf (Atkins '72, Atkins New, Taubes GCBC, Taubes' WWGF....etc.).