Eating too much fat?!

(Pamela Sydney-Bussey) #1

I’ve only been on Keto/fasting for 19/20 hours for 5 days, and using Ketostixs to check.
I’m immovable on 1.5 and whilst I know I should give it much more time, my worry is that I am eating too much fat. Last night I looked at my pork chop’s fat, olive oil on my salads etc., and just feel slightly uncomfortable. I would love to hear from such experienced people such as yourselves.
Other than that I am strictly to plan (can I eat lots of raspberries?) and not secretly eating anything.
I’m doing the plan of not getting on the scales at al.

#2

What is much fat for you I wonder…

I am the one who regularly overeats fat. I try to minimize my fat intake since I went low-carb 13-14 years ago and I am still not successful… Still better than at high-carb, it’s something… And it gets way better if I am successful at minimizing dairy. I try to do that too nowadays. And minimizing protein too. I can overeat nearly anything, I blame my constantly overeating past.

So, for some of us, yep, we need to be very careful with fat. For others, not at all and some people undereat fat.

But it may be just your idea about much fat. Pork chop is quite lean, even the fattiest slabs (at least here but probably everywhere. it isn’t one of the fattier cuts!). It can’t give you overly much fat. Salads rarely are drowning in oil either… I suppose you are uncomfortable with a decent amount of fat and you should change that. But I can’t be sure, of course, without numbers - not like I would know your actual needs there. Some people truly need a ton of fat to function properly. It is our main fuel on keto, almost the only one, even. Protein has other uses, carbs are low… Fat is for energy, not exclusively but close enough. And we are big land mammals, warm-blooded and everything, we need plenty of energy.

It’s another thing when you get proper energy intake but the fat percentage is too high and you feel physical discomfort. Or you don’t enjoy your food due to the fat. I simply would eat more protein then if I can and if it doesn’t raise protein way too much. Even though we don’t get much energy from some protein intake increase, it still changes our food, it easily makes it way more easy and pleasant to eat.

It depends :slight_smile: It’s possible if lots of raspberries mean to you what it means to me. It’s so flavorful, a little goes a long way… It’s quite low-carb so pretty much fits but there is your other food, your personal ketosis carb limit… If it fits and it is worth it for you, enjoy it :slight_smile:

Good luck and best wishes!

(KM) #3

Welcome!

The absolute simplest answer is that when just starting out on keto, no amount of fat is too much fat. Fat is satiating and fat is fuel. “Keto”, short for ketosis, is a metabolic state in the body that occurs in the absence of carbohydrates, in which the body begins burning fat (your fat or your food’s fat), so technically the only thing you can get too much of is carbs.

The recommended limit of carbs is about 20 per day in order to achieve ketosis. At that low level they do add up, so it’s important to check the carb content of all your foods at first. This limit is not set in stone, it will depend on your own body, but it’s a good starting point.

There is disagreement about whether to count “net” or “total” carbs. Net carbs are what’s left after you take away fiber and sugar alcohols and resistant starch, and the reason a lot of processed “magic” foods are listed as having practically no carb content at all. It’s safer to go with total carbs in most cases.

Raspberries are a good fruit choice on keto, but they’re not “free”. A cup has about 15 total carbs and 7 net carbs. (The extra carbs in raspberries are the seeds, which probably aren’t going to add anything problematic, so I think it’s safe to call it 7 grams per cup.)

When you’ve been doing keto for a while, maybe a couple of months, you’ll start to fine tune what works best for you. Some people do best on high fat, some people do better on high protein. Some people find that a carnivore “all meat” diet makes them feel best, some people simply avoid added sugar and processed foods.

It can be hard to wrap your head around the idea that fat isn’t bad for you and it’s not what makes you fat. Be patient, and give yourself permission to enjoy your new way of eating!

(Marianne) #4

Welcome! Keep up the good work!

My suggestion is to ditch the ketostix. They can be off by a lot and trick you into thinking you aren’t in ketosis or “doing this right.” If you keep the carbs under 20g/day, you will be in ketosis. Your metabolism will have switched from carb burning to fat burning. Don’t be afraid of eating fat. Fat, especially in/on meat, is the best kind of fat. Butter is your friend. If you like blue cheese, you might want to try making your own bc dressing - very simple: heavy cream, worchestshire, lemon, salt, blue cheese. I use a hand mixer to whip it all up. Delicious and uses healthy fats. Enjoy your new way of eating. Keto is the simplest “diet” I’ve ever been on. We can actually eat and eat well!

Please keep us posted on your journey.

(Pete A) #5

That’s what you ought to do. And less than 20 carbs.

Nice job!

PS why “lots” of raspberries how about 5? :slight_smile:

#6

It’s not exactly true for everyone, some people get physical problems if they eat too much fat while they still easily can eat it (as there is too much fat and protein for everyone, we just don’t and maybe even can’t eat that much. I never felt bad due to eating too much fat in grams and the same for protein, I had other reasons to go lower). Sometimes it’s the percentage. Even I had problems when I ate a too fatty carnivore diet in the beginning (the amount was lower than what I normally had and liked but all the fat in so little volume… it felt wrong for a while). So we should listen to our body. But normally yes, I agree, a newbie should just stick to keto, enjoy the diet if possible, no worries about macros (but keep carbs low and fat high enough and protein should be in some decent range too. but if one doesn’t track, try to eat whatever feels right and hope for the best). Finetuning and extra things should come later if needed.

Agree. I like fat in my protein sources best for multiple reasons. People who overdo fat usually eat cream or butter GALORE, I mean it, not pork chop or salad but something really serious… That may not be right. Even if one is still hungry, it’s possible that protein or some micronutrient is missing, not just energy so fat may not help.
When I overdo fat, it’s very rarely fatty meat (but I can do that too), it’s usually non-satiating, low protein, high fat dairy and maybe even added fat. I never would think I ate much fat because I ate, like, pork chuck… That is a nice amount of fat even if I want to lose fat. Sometimes I manage to eat a lot of leaner pork and end up eating too little so I need to add fat - but if it’s not part of meat or egg, it’s probably not as good at satiating… I better eat some nice fatty meat. But these things are individual, we should figure out what works best for us. I do need leaner meat to balance out my dairy but I only can do it right if I eat little of both and focus on some properly fatty meat.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

I’m not grasping what your concern is. It sounds as though you are doing everything right. As long as your pancreas is producing any insulin at all, diabetic ketoacidosis is not a concern. If your ketones were 15, I’d say go to A&E immediately, but 1.5 is perfectly fine. Eat enough fat to satisfy your hunger, and then stop eating; you’ll be fine.

As we eat more fat, our metabolism increases, in particular fatty-acid metabolism. In addition, the body can waste fats and ketones, so “too much fat” is not usually a problem, unless you believe the people who tell us that arterycloggingsaturatedfat is going to kill us. Of course, it’s a mystery why they worry about that, when they also believe that keto is an unsustainable way of eating, and we won’t be able to stick to it for very long.

#STILLKETO #NOTDEADYET

P.S.–Do be sure to count the carbs in those raspberries against your 20 g/day carb limit, if you desire to remain in ketosis.

(Geoffrey) #8

I guarantee you are not eating too much fat. A little fat on a pork chop and some olive oil might only add up to about 1 tenth or less compared to what I eat.
Don’t over think this. Keep it simple.

(Brian) #9

One nice thing about the heavy animal based ketovore or carnivore type eating, it’s a lot less stressful for counting macros. If you’re still eating berries, yeah, you need to keep those kinds of things in focus and understand what they are and not overdo.

To some extent, fat can be self-regulating. If you’re eating too much, it probably won’t look or taste so good. If you are craving it, there’s a good chance you are not eating too much of it.

Also, cravings like that change. This week, you may crave fat and eat lots of it. Next week you may absolutely not want that much fat and not eating that much is just fine, too. The following week, you might decide you’re not hungry at all and do a 2 or 3 day fast just because you feel like it. And they you may be hungry again. Maybe don’t fight that, just go with it.

Our eating is not always as “logical” as we’d like to think. There are times when we’ll eat too little and our weight will stall, or eat too much and our weight will go down, and we’ll say, “Huh?” As smart as we think we are, some stuff just remains a mystery.

When you eat, just be mindful that it’s good food.

(Denise) #10

What do you recommend to see what your ketones are at marianne? I still don’t have anything to monitor ketones and am feeling much more interested now since doing so much more exercise??

Thanks for any help, from anyone on what to get to monitor my ketones, Denise :slight_smile:

(Marianne) #11

Honestly, I don’t think it matters. @Paul and others here I consider experts could probably tell you the reason why in scientific, layman’s terms. If you keep your carbs under 20g/day, you will be in ketosis (fat burning). I believe that is all that matters. Don’t think you aren’t doing this “right” only because you don’t have a number to tell you so. I think like the scale, a ketone reading can be very misleading.

(Marianne) #12

Actually after posting this, I went on our library system and reserved The Obesity Code. It’s been five years since I read it and I think a refresher is in order. Makes me feel so good about this way of eating and that I am really taking care of my body and taking charge of my health.

(Denise) #13

Oh I hope our library has that for my neighbor, as well as myself to read first just to see what all it encompasses :wink: Thank you for both your replies Marianne!

(Denise) #14

Not in my library so I went on Ebay and found one from a good “seller” and bought it. I can read it and then loan it to folks that want to be serious about learning :wink: I’ve heard of this book for a long time but never felt I needed it. I look forward to reading and sharing it especially with folks like one friend that is computer-illiterate :wink:

thanks so much for the reminder of this book by Fung!! Denise

(Denise) #15

What do you think of “The Big Fat Lie” @gingersmommy, or anyone elses input welcome as well :wink: ?? I may get that one too to loan out :wink: if it’s not in our library :slight_smile:

(Marianne) #16

I honestly think you will enjoy it. The science behind keto - and diabetes - is fascinating. What is really fascinating is that low carb eating is the bona fide, natural remedy for T2D, except people would rather continue eating the way they do and take metformin.

(Denise) #17

I’m sure I will Marianne enjoy the book and I had heard that before just in the last couple of days about type 2 diabetes and the very best fix for it is our nutrition meaning keto of course also I wanted that hard copy book so I could lend it to folks that are interested in doing something other than metformin for their diabetes sometimes I’m asked and it’s really hard when people don’t have any computer knowledge so the hard copy will really be good to own it’ll be here this Friday too thanks again Marianne