Fat or Calories??

Jill asks: "Before I got pregnant I had lost 60lbs. I always checked the fat grams in food. Now that I'm trying to lose weight again, I've been checking calories more than fat. What is more important to check to lose weight??"

My answer is one that will probably make your life more difficult, depending on how and what you eat every day. To truly focus on health and weight loss you need to look at calories, however, you need to break down those calories into three parts: Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates. I can even break those categories down into parts:

Fat-saturated fat, monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats
Carbs-fiber, sugar, whole grain

Before I scare I you away from this by making everything sound too complicated, let's focus on the aforementioned groups of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates. Feel free to skip to the last paragraph of this lengthy blog post for a quick answer. Although, I promise that once you understand the long answer, things will start to come naturally to you when making food choices.

Fat is essential to your body. You NEED fat. Buying fat free and low fat foods is not something I suggest. Often times, in order to alter a food to the state of being fat free or low fat, the food needs to be processed and altered chemically. Bad!

A few exceptions to this rule are: Buying cheese made with 2% milk. This makes the cheese NATURALLY lower in fat. No chemicals added. Buying yogurts or milks with lower fat. Again, this is a natural process of eliminating fats in those dairy products.

I would stay away from prepackaged goods that are lower in fat. In fact, throw away the packaged goods altogether if you can, or limit them to one a day.

When looking at your caloric intake, my suggestion is to get about 20% of your daily calories from FAT. GOOD FAT.

Good fats include: Olive Oil, Flax Oil, Flax seeds (also high in fiber!), nut butters, avocado, fatty fish (Salmon, tuna, Mackerel--also carry a high punch of protein!)

Fats to avoid or use VERY sparingly: Butter, margarine, lard, vegetable or hydrogenated oils, shortening.

So, aim for 20% of calories from fat.

Moving on to Protein. If calories were a clique of friends and it was just you hanging out with Protein, Carbs, and Fat, Protein would be your best friend of the bunch. Protein is especially important for those that are working out as protein is the muscles' milk. Eating lean proteins will help keep you fuller for longer periods of time which will help keep your appetite and urge to snack at bay. There are mixed opinions about how many of your daily calories come from protein but I personally aim for 50%. Other schools of thought say that 30-40% is acceptable, which I am sure it is for most people that aren't performing demanding physical training. Find out what works for you in this regard. Start playing with this percentage for a week or two and see what your body likes best.

Great lean proteins
Just like fats, there are protein sources that are better for you than others. Lean protein sources are: Beans/Legumes (also contains high fiber!), egg whites, skinless chicken (Skin contains a lot of unhealthy fats), skinless turkey, lean ham, fish, lean beef (at least 90% lean), bison, venison, and tofu.

There are also many great tasting protein supplements on the market. Different types of proteins are absorbed in a different way by your body. Protein from whey and eggwhites are quickly digested and absorbed by your body. This protein makes an excellent recovery protein for your muscles immediately after working out. Casein protein is slowly digested and absorbed which is a great way to stay full for a long time or before you go to bed. Cottage cheese is a source of this protein with staying power.

Bad evil proteins
When I tell you that protein is your best friend, this does not include bacon or fatty meats such as ground beef with with a fat to lean ratio of 70-30%.

Finally, let's talk about Carbs. The word CARB became a bad word in the late 90s are early 2000s. Atkins was super popular and was working for so many people. Until those people took a bite of bread. Somehow taking one bite of bread would add the 20 pounds that they lost on Atkins back to their body. Carbs are a good thing. But again, there are good carbs and bad carbs. I aim to get 30% of my daily calories from carbs, GOOD CARBS! Again, depending on what works for you, the recommended daily caloric intake from carbs ranges between 30%-50%.

Good carbs
Great sources of carbohydrates come from whole grain and whole wheat breads and pastas, quinoa (which is a super food that includes protein), sweet potato, fruits, many veggies, brown rice, beans (again, also includes protein and tons of fiber), and oatmeal.

BAD NAUGHTY CARBS
Anything made with white flour, refined ANYTHING, white rice, enriched pasta (or anything enriched for that matter, and sugar.

So, to summarize, you should be watching your calories. You should aim to get your calories from Fat (20%), Protein (40%) and Carbs (40%). Seems so hard to track calories let alone adding this to the equation, right? I will help make it easy for you. Create yourself a free account at www.fitday.com. This site is a great way for beginners to start tracking their calories and to see where they are getting their calories. Thousands of foods are already loaded into their database and you also have the option of adding foods. Using this tool for a few weeks will show you where your deficiencies are.

Finally, I bet you are wondering just how many calories per day you need to consume to lose weight. Well, that varies for everyone based on lifestyle. The goal is to eat less than what you burn, but not by too much. Restricting calories too much can often have the reverse effect and force your body to go into starvation mode, hanging on for dear life to every calorie you consume, rather than burn it off like our bodies are made to do. You will also be very fatigued on a diet that is too restrictive. The website I mentioned above can help you figure out what your needs are when you create your profile.

No diet/fitness article would be complete without the recommendation to check with your doctor before you start any diet or exercise program.

I am happy to answer any questions any of you have so keep 'em comin!

Lex.