Are you counting fats?

Forgive me if this has been covered but I need some advice. I am 15 months post-op and have done very well, losing 173 pounds. I still would like to lose a bit more, maybe another 25 pounds. My weight loss has slowed considerably so I decided it is time to re-think a few things. One is my water intake. I know that I need to drink more water and less coffee, but it is a struggle for me in the winter as I am so cold all the time the last thing I want is cold water. I have vowed to change this and for the last couple of days have done pretty good at increasing my water. Well the second thing is my diet, so I plugged into fitday and spent a little bit of time trying to figure out how to modify foods. Well to make a long boring story short, I was shocked at my fat intake for the day. My calories were OK,

for some reason my post was cut in 1/2... less than 1600 but I am embarassed to admit how much of it was fat calories!!! Maybe it was just a bad day to add things up, I had an ounce of pecans and alot of cheese. I will continue to log my foods and see where I might need to make some changes, but I was just wondering where others stand as far as fats in your diets. I feel great about the weight that I have lost and really wouldn't care if I didn't lose another pound but I am afraid that my diet might be getting a bit too rich, I'm afraid that I have switched from being a carb junkie to a fats junkie. 358/185/160 Hugs Wendy

I count everything. Due to insulin resistance, I need to keep my calories and carbs low in order to lose/maintain weight. Unfortunately, a low carb diet is usually higher in fat intake. I try to make it at least 'healthy' (as possible) fats (nuts, low-fat cheese, lean meats, etc.). Yesterday was not a great example of my daily diet...of my 688 caloric intake, approximately 288 of those calories were from fat grams and only 260 were from protein grams. I usually try to keep protein intake at 50% for the day, totals carbs at 20 or less per day and the fat intake usually varies from day-to-day. Obviously, what you have done thus far has worked for you! Weight loss naturally slows down about this time post-op, especially when you have already lost the bulk of your excess weight...those last pounds are the hardest to lose IMO. Even my thin friends that have never been more than 10-15 pounds overweight are always trying to 'lose a few'...I guess we really are not all that different from them after a certain amount of time...surgery just gives us a level playing field. ~~Sherry

Hello, Great job on the weight loss! I too noticed that I had alot of fat cals and realized it was from cheese. I switched over to part skim mozzarella and 2% cheddar and that did help. For the most part I don'****ch my fat intake, just my carbs and calories. Hope you see the scale moving soon. Hugs, Bridget

I just bought cheese on monday too, darn it. Well next time it will be lowfat. I do pretty well with keeping my carbs low, I am just going to have to get better abou****ching my fats. Thank you. Hugs Wendy

I do count fat grams, and in that amount of calories from fat...I am a calorie counter. I have often held my breath while observing the daily food log of many on the main board...to a lesser extent those on the grad board, because the food choices, albeit high in protein are many times very high in fat. I figure we all have to do what works for us, but it makes me a bit nervous about long term success. Sounds like you have found a tool that works for you! Great going. Continued success, Karen

I haven't been but I think I am going to have to start, logging my food and counting fats, that is... One thing I struggle with is when I eat out and can't get nutritional info for the foods I order, I go bonkers trying to figure it out!!LOL Thank you Hugs Wendy

You don't have to go bonkers trying to figure out what you order! If you are counting calories (and fat) on fitday then you are measuring your portions (cup, tsp, tbsp, etc)...right? At the same time you are becoming aware what portions look like...right? I do not use fitday. I use a small paperback that I carry around with me and a small spiral notebook (from the dollar store). The paperback is a very comprehensive calorie and fat gram guide that details the portion size, calories, fats, proteins. I write my foods down as I eat them and count the calories/fats at the same time. BTW, have been doing this for 5 years...hate every minute of it...love the awareness. I know what it takes for me to lose/gain/maintain. When I want to indulge I know to adjust my calories and fats. There really is no magic. The awareness is the key for me. So don't go bonkers...start sooner than later and eventually you will become good at estimating when you are eating outside the home! Karen

I definately do count fats and try to keep it around 30% of my daily calorie intake. I do eat nuts but no more than I can hold in my closed hand in a day. or 1TB of peanut butter. I use the 2% cheeses to keep the fat intake down. I hate the fat free ones and rarely will use refined commercial fat free products. Most of them taste awful and I am not in this to suffer eating nasty food. I use regular salad dressings, but very sparingly. I really do try to focus on foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. I try to keep most of my fats from healthier sources such as the small serving of nuts, use olive oil in cooking, avacodos once in a while, salmon. When I got the south beach diet book I was happy to see I was already following it, mostly phase 2 , occasionally stray into phase 3. It is definately a healthy plan if you read the book and follow it.

I do have the South Beach books, I got 3 of them at a thrift store for about $10.00, such a steal. I will pull them out and see if I can get some tips. Thanks Hugs Wendy