How much fat do I need to eat?

[Elizellen]

Originally Posted by Elsie150

My 1 cup romaine, 1 oz cucumber, 1 oz tomato, 2 T(.8 carb per T) garlic dressing salad has me at 85% fat.

That is because the veggies are low in calories and so work out at a very low percantage of your overall intake. If you are not eating any protein with this meal/snack then perhaps have less dressing - maybe only one Tablespoon with that amount of salad, I bet that would change the proportions appreciably.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by Elsie150

Would love to hear more discussion on this. My first week I was concerned that my calories were to low as they were well below my BMR. This week I am trying to work on getting my fat down as it is averaging in the 70's. I will admit 4 oz of chicken and a cup of green beans doesn't sound like the wonderful meals Atkins promised us we would be eating but I am interested in hearing about other balanced meals.

Marinate the chicken with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil and a teaspoon of minced ginger root and stirfry it with a clove of garlic and the green beans---you'll have something that will rival the gloppy, gooey stirfries at Chinese carry outs.

Or saute the chicken with oil and minced shallots. Add a tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley or tarragon. And serve it with the green beans.

My 1 cup romaine, 1 oz cucumber, 1 oz tomato, 2 T(.8 carb per T) garlic dressing salad has me at 85% fat.
Hope others post to this!

Okay, if you have a fitday account, plug those numbers in and add 3 ounces of any cooked meat you like (tuna, chicken, beef, pork). You'll see the fat % will decrease. Add another 1 ounce of the meat and the fat % will decrease even more. That's why Dr. Atkins said to eat combinations of fat, protein and carbs with your meals.

It only takes very little changes in the amount of fat and protein we eat to see large changes in the percentages.

[not2late]

Here's another example of a meal:

1 cup romaine lettuce shredded
3 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced cucumbers

With a dressing of
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

The total calories for this salad is 268 and the fat/protein/carb percentages is 91/3/7

The protein is low so you decide to add a hard boiled egg to this salad.

The total calories is now 345 with the percentages of 85/9/6.

So you decide to add 3 ounces of roasted turkey breast, no skin. The total calories is 477, and the percentages is 68/28/4

What happens if you think you are eating "too much" fat and decide to use only 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the dressing? The calories decrease to 357 and the percentages look like this 56/36/6. Using 1 tablespoon less of olive oil caused a 12 percentage point drop in the fat percent.

What happens if you use 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil? The calories are 417 and the percentages are this 63/32/5.

Look how much 1/2 tablespoon of fat changes the percentages! Again, if you think 1 tablespoon of olive oil is "alot", then measure it out with a standard cooking measuring spoon to see what it really looks like. In the book, Dr. Atkins suggests really measuring the foods because one person's "2 tablespoons" might really be 1/4 cup or a 1/2 cup. And as you can see, these little measuring errors can have a big impact on your calories and percentages.

What happens if you think you to eat "alot" of meat during Atkins and decide to use 5 ounces of turkey for this salad?

The percentages for the fat and protein change dramatically: 59/37/4. Total calories increase greatly too: 617. So how do you correct that? Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil for a total of 2.5 tablespoons. The percentages become 66/31/3.

Just remember 3 ounces of meat is approximately the size of a standard deck of playing cards. So, 2 playing decks is about 6 ounces, alittle less than 1/2 pound.

The other fun thing to do is to measure out a "normal" portion of protein that you would eat in your pre-Atkins days, to see how much you were eating "alot" back then....

[loser4life]

I am glad I saw this post! Thanks for posting it! I was afraid I was eating too much fat... but today my percentages are 4/29/68. I think thats good right? yeah for ADBB members! You guys are full of great info!!!

[Sveltesse]

Hi All. Have just joined this site to see if there were any tips! Wow! So much information!. I have been on induction for 13 days now and thought I would have lost more weight/inches. If i'm honest I have only lost 5 pounds (which I think was water retention anyway from TOM) and probably only about an inch if that from my body. I didn't realise I had to eat so much fat, i'm finding that a bit hard to stomach. Any foods high in fat already I can eat without adding spoonfulls of Mayo you can recommend? I bet lamb is a good one. I have only cheated on induction once when I put lentils in my homemade chicken soup! No fruit, very little veg so I can't understand my slow loss. I have DA's book so have read that but still to no avail. I must confess to my lack of water intake though, I have started to drink 2.5 litres of water in the last 3 days so maybe I will see a change then.
Thanks for reading all, and oh, should I therefore stick on induction for another 2 weeks minimum and see how I get on then? Obviously no alcohol either yet right?
HELP!

[Sveltesse]

And by the way Loser4Life, you look amazing! Are you sure you want to lose another 48pounds! You look fab since you've lost your weight. Happy dieting, wish mine was working for me! :-(

[Effie]

Originally Posted by Sveltesse

I have been on induction for 13 days now and thought I would have lost more weight/inches. If i'm honest I have only lost 5 pounds (which I think was water retention anyway from TOM) and probably only about an inch if that from my body.

During Induction, we typically lose 5-10% of our total weight loss goal. For you, needing to lose 28 pounds total, that's a loss of 1.4-2.8 pounds in the first two weeks. You've actually lost closer to 20% of your total! You should be thrillled!

Originally Posted by Sveltesse

I didn't realise I had to eat so much fat, i'm finding that a bit hard to stomach. Any foods high in fat already I can eat without adding spoonfulls of Mayo you can recommend? I bet lamb is a good one.

Eggs have a perfect percentage for Atkins, so you don't really need to add any more fat if you're eating eggs for breakfast or as a snack. Cooking your chicken or veggies in oil is another way to add in fat, or adding butter to your veggies. One of my favorite meals is chicken broccoli alfredo. The sauce is made with heavy cream, butter, and cheese. Needless to say, my fat percentages are frequently around 70%

Originally Posted by Sveltesse

I have only cheated on induction once when I put lentils in my homemade chicken soup! No fruit, very little veg so I can't understand my slow loss. I have DA's book so have read that but still to no avail. I must confess to my lack of water intake though, I have started to drink 2.5 litres of water in the last 3 days so maybe I will see a change then.
Thanks for reading all, and oh, should I therefore stick on induction for another 2 weeks minimum and see how I get on then? Obviously no alcohol either yet right?
HELP!

What do you mean by "very little veg"? You should be eating the 3 cups per day during induction. Either 2 cups of salad veggies plus 1 cup of other veggies, or 3 cups of salad veggies. If you haven't been eating all of your veggies, I would add them back in and see how if affects your weight. If you lose, you might want to move onto OWL, as the first rung is adding even more veggies. Many members move on to OWL to find their weight loss picks up (especially in the first week when you add in more veggies!).

Hope that helps, and Congrats on your first 5 pounds gone!

[Sveltesse]

Effie! There is hope! Thank you very much for you words, that chicken Alfredo sounds divine! Thank you, that's going to be my meal tonight!!!!

Happy dieting, Sveltesse x

[Elsie150]

Greetings!
Congrats on your 5 pounds lost. I think that is great. Especially because you were not doing it by the book. Some people who do may just lose that so you are doing good. Do read the book. Do go to the induction forum and read the stickies there. You can also post your questions there and will be more help than in this thread. More people will see it. Read the book. Make sure you get your vegies in...consider it a MUST. Minimum 8 cups a day(edited...should be 3 cups). Use www.fitday.com to enter your foods in..it really helps you know where you stand with your counts. Read the book. The first 2 weeks are the strictest but it helps break the cravings and gets your body ready for this journey. Take your measurements...IMPORTANT. Remember that you do have a smaller amount to lose than some of the others here so do not get discouraged by their weight lose...if you are following plan then it will come off. Here is a good website for some recipes. http://users3.ev1.net/~fontlady/index.html . Oh yeah...I almost forgot to mention...read the book. LOL!

See you in the induction forum.

[not2late]

You don't have to add spoonfuls of mayonnaise. Measure out what a tablespoon of mayonnaise really looks like and you'll see it's not "alot" at all.