How much fat should I eat if I am obese?

(Sean Redmond) #1

Hi friends,

I have at least 30 kg to lose. As I have so much weight to lose, should I be careful with the amount of fat I eat? Can you eat too much fat?

Regards,
Sean

(bulkbiker) #2

Your main aim should be reduction of carbohydrate down to an absolute maximum of 20g per day or less.
After a couple of months of that then sit back and have a think… but you might find that one strategy will be enough to lose you a whole heap of the weight you want to lose.
It’s quite hard to eat “fat” per se so just have protein and fat meal combinations of the more fatty cut of meat with green veg if you like that.
Have eggs, bacon, fish, butter, cream but cut out any starchy food. It really is that simple… then see how you get on.

#3

Yes, people can and do gain weight on keto, any lifter that has bulked on keto can attest to this…BUT it’s typically not something you need to be overly anal with either. I’d say don’t shy away from it, but don’t go out of your way to get it in either. By default you’ll be eating fatty foods, you’ll get enough fat in for your body to be good in most cases. Ketosis is driven by lack of carbs not the high fat intake.

(Marianne) #4

Weight is so relative. Some people have less than that to lose, but I would say the majority of folks on the forum have/had that much or more to lose. I had 80 lbs (36 kg) to lose (currently 30 lb.). You are in good company.

If I could tell you anything, it’s to relax and just start. Read the newbie and “tips from the oldies” sections. Don’t stress about it. You will see over and over most of these basic premises:

  • eat no more than 20 g carbs/day, and keep as low as you can;
  • eat clean food (meat/veggies);
  • google the nutritional values of the common foods you eat the most - eggs, bacon, cheese, butter, cream, meat, broccoli, etc., just so you know the number of carbs that are in them and also how many fat grams.
  • Use one of the online calculators to learn your daily fat macro. I am not one for counting macros, but in the beginning until you have some idea of how much is in what you are eating, I’d say you want to meet or even exceed your fat macro.
  • Eat three good meals a day (for the first 2-3 weeks), even if you never did before. The day will come quickly when your body just doesn’t want to eat that much or as often, then eat twice a day or even once a day - but don’t go hungry.
  • Don’t be concerned about calories! It will work itself out.
  • I would advise not eating in between meals. I think if you need snacks, you aren’t eating enough at your meals.

Don’t obsess about how much you are losing or how fast; it will happen. Just believe and relax. There is no “perfect” way; you have to find what is sustainable for you using these principles.

Sounds like a lot, but these are pretty easy premises to grasp and follow. Good luck.

(Cristian Lopez) #5

I[quote=“gingersmommy, post:4, topic:92610”]
Don’t be concerned about calories! It will work itself out
[/quote]
Don’t track calories but don’t be ignorant that if you eat more than you need, than you will gain weight. Still don’t stress about it as keto suppresses appetite, this and many other factors that indirectly make you eat less with out trying. Ketosis will only amplify your fat loss along with making your health worth a bar of gold. And don’t forget about your goals, your chasing better health through weight loss, chase results not ketones. This was something that changed my views when I applied that theorem to myself. Let me elaborate, assume your eating a meal and your about to be full, you have salad, chicken, and melted butter left on your plate. In this case, eating the salad and chicken first ,then seeing if you want the butter is your best bet for your results. This isn’t the best example but what I’m trying to say is that if you got enough fat in, and your still hungry, going for the higher volume (veggies,meat) is much better than taking in an extra amount of fat with the hope the promised ketone production from all the fat you consumed will amplify your weight loss rather than being in ketosis + enough fat consumed.

#6

My quick summary of keto is “Minimal carbs. Adequate proteins. Fats as needed (for satiety).”

Early on, you may get cravings and hunger pangs. These are pretty much just the body having a “temper tantrum” because it’s not getting the carbs (and sugars) that it’s used to. If you do get hungry, feed that hunger some fats, some proteins, but as few additional carbs as possible. It’s OK to go above a calorie goal early on, because you want to make keto sustainable. Once you get fat adapted, such hunger should go away, or at least be reduced, because carbs and insulin are no longer creating a false sense of hunger.

But, yes, you can eat too much fat. Being in ketosis is no guarantee of weight loss.

(Scott) #7

Start with getting carbs low <20g net. It takes some time to get the hang of that and get through carb withdrawal. You will still be a month or two from fat adaption but it will come. During this period focus on eliminating snacking between meals. If you are hungry between it is a sign you may want to increase fat content in the meal prior to a hunger craving. I would say at about three months in you can start playing around and adjusting your ratios if you don’t see results you are looking for. I think many try to change to many things at the start of keto. I am more of a ease into it guy and take things more one at a time than all at once. You have a lot of levers to pull carbs, fats, protein and exercise but only two hands. Pull the carb lever first and then start pushing the fat.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

It’s a good question, and the answer might seem a bit complicated, not to mention counter-intuitive.

The primary fat-storage hormone is insulin. If we eat a lot of carbohydrate, it keeps our insulin level up and prevents the excess fat in our fat tissue from being metabolised. To get our insulin low again, we need to cut our carbohydrate intake drastically, some people more, some a bit less, but everyone needs to get down below the level that stimulates too high a level of insulin in the bloodstream.

Carbohydrate has the most effect on insulin secretion. Protein has some effect, depending on what else we are eating, but it doesn’t stimulate insulin the way carbohydrate does. This is good, because protein is essential to our diet. But where are our calories going to come from, if we cut back on carbohydrate? Well, the answer is fat, because fat has such a low effect on insulin that we can ignore it, for all practical purposes. And we want to be eating a sufficiency of calories, because if the body thinks there’s a famine going on, it will cut back on energy expenditure and hold on to its fat reserves.

So the key is to eat enough protein and fat to satisfy our hunger. The body then can set our appetite to a level that will allow us to use both the fat we eat and some of the excess stored fat we happen to have hanging around. People generally find that they lose more excess fat when they eat more calories, especially more fat. Weird, I know, but that’s how the body works. But it’s not likely that we will ever eat too much fat, because it is calorie dense (twice the calories per gram of carbohydrate and protein), and very satisfying.

Some people find that protein is a bit more satisfying than fat, while others find the reverse, so you may have to experiment a bit to find the proper proportion. Also, polyunsaturated fats are great in small amounts, but too much of them causes inflammation, so stick to sources of saturated and monunsaturated fats, such as butter, tallow, lard, bacon grease, and the like, and avoid vegetable oils, for the most part. The good oils are the fruit oils: avocado, coconut, and olive.