Do I eat ALL fat macros?

#1

Hi all. I’m 8 days into keto and loving it. Lost 12 pounds already, started at 240. Goal is 190.

It’s a pretty easy & straightforward diet, but I’m confused about fat intake. I use an app to track my macros. It says my fats should be 157 grams daily. Should I be consuming all the fat grams? The goal is to lose body fat. I’ve heard that if I eat all the suggested fat my body will burn the fat from food. I’ve also heard that I should eat less of the suggested fat and use what’s left in case I get hungry. Needless to say I’m completely confused and have no idea who to listen to.

Any experienced keto folks care to clarify this? Thanks in advance.

(Lazy, Dirty Keto 😝) #2

Just worry about keeping carbs under 20g/day, and eat fat/protein to satiety :blush:

#3

Thank you for the response. Just worried eating all that fat will stop loss of body fat.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

The ketogenic diet is (1) keeping carbohydrate under 20 g/day, (2) eating a reasonable amount of protein, and (3) eating fat to satiety. Satiety means “the state of being satisfied or having enough.” In other words, when you are hungry eat, when you stop being hungry stop eating, don’t eat again until you are hungry again.

If you keep carbohydrate low, you will keep insulin low, which will allow you to burn off excess stored fat. If you keep protein reasonable, your muscles will not be metabolized for energy. If you eat fat to satiety, you will get enough calories without stimulating insulin secretion (yes, eat fat to lose fat). Even in a low-carb context, your body will not let you lose weight if it thinks there is a famine going on, which is why we recommend eating to satiety. Your body spent 2,000,000 years developing your hunger and satiety hormones and refining how they work, so you don’t have to count a single calorie, unless that’s how you get your jollies. (Seriously, some people do.)

#5

Another good rule of thumb is to eat about 20-40 gms per meal. Check out Dr Eric Berg you tube. He has tons of info to educate on keto and intermittent fasting, too.

#6

Meaning 20-40 gms of fat per meal

#7

Understood. So I’m still too hung up on the numbers basically. And keeping insulin low is the main goal, and some extra fat intake can only help.

Count Calories? Never heard of him.

#8

I think its ok to look at your targets and a good way to track what you are doing. But there are some easy ways to figure it all out while you are learning. It’s a process and sounds like you are off to a good start. I have some other calculation on fat grams just have to locate it. Will post when i find it

#9

Cool. Thank you

(Little Miss Scare-All) #10

Dr. Berg hates my colon. 10-12 cups of leafy greens a day made me want to sleep for 19 days straight.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

If I ate that much roughage, I’d be up you-know-who’s creek, both literally and figuratively.

(MooBoom) #12

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/t/keto-is-this-easy

@Juice wrote a really great summary for newbies and I reckon you’d benefit from it.

#13

I think he suggests 7 cups, still a lot and I can never get in that much. Im good if I can do 4 or 5 cups of salad. I do find adding greens in a smoothie helps get in the healthy stuff.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #14

He says minimal 7, and other vids like his Keto Hack vid says 10-12.

(Jane) #15

Personally I thing Mr. Scientologist Dr. Berg is a quack, but YMMV.

@ChipChipperson - no need to eat your fat macro if you aren’t hungry.

Carb macro is a max. Protein is a min. Fat is a floater to keep you from being hungry. If not hungry - DONT FORCE FAT. Your body will start burning its own - especially once it gets good at it when fat-adapted.

Eat enough fat at your meals that you aren’t hungry until the next one. Snacking is the debbil

(Alec) #16

Does he ever provide clarity on what micronutrients exactly we cannot get from eating meat and fat? I just don’t buy this vegetables are required thing. My understanding is that we can get everything we need from meat and fat, especially fat from meat.

(Little Miss Scare-All) #17

Yeah all I can say is I felt terrible eating that much veg.

From memory, which is admittedly woeful, he doesnt compare the nutrients between meat and plant. What he does say, which at the time made sense to me, was the potassium in the leafy greens, and there’s certain components that aid the liver in detoxifying itself, and the chlorophyl which binds toxins and does much of the same.

So he’s coming at it from a liver-support kind of way.

(Alec) #18

Does anyone know if this has any validity?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #19

I have no idea about any detoxifying properties of chlorophyll, but it is a decent source of magnesium, since chlorophyll is a porphyrin molecule with a magnesium atom at the center. Why we can’t get enough magnesium from the meat we eat, however, would be a separate question.