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Post by psisar on Jun 8, 2005 5:33:09 GMT -5
I've been wondering about this for months now. I know theres approx. 3500 calories in a pound of fat, and a person's daily intake should be about 2000 calories and <70 grams of fat per day (average) to maintain weight. I know, obvously, how much calories you burn during the day opposed to how many calories you consume determines how much weight you'll lose. One thing I never really got though was how fat comes into the equation. I know theres trans and saturated fats, but I mean in general. Theres some foods that will be "fat free" and still have 150+ calories per serving, but then theres food with 90 calories per serving and let's say 2.5 grams of fat per serving. Basically I'm wondering which is better to track, fat or calories? I base my diet for the most part on calories, but try and consume under 20 grams of fat per day.
Is it better to sacrafice higher calorie food for food containing no fat, or is it better to go with lower calorie food with some fat content in it?
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Post by abrannan on Jun 8, 2005 6:23:09 GMT -5
Small correction for those who don't know (I know psisar does) it's 3500 calores per POUND of fat, not gram. There are 9 calories in a gram of fat. (carbs and protein are 4 calories per gram for comparison)
To answer your question, watch both calories and fat. Saturated fat is bad, monounsaturated fat is bad, trans fat is bad, polyunsaturated fat is good. Making a food "fat free" and adding a bunch of sugar to it instead is bad (and a LOT of "fat free" foods out there do this).
Your body does need a certain amount of fat and fatty oils in your diet. Fish oils are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are quite good for you, but if you're strictly looking at fat content, salmon looks like it's bad for you (it's not).
But if I were given the choice, I'd pick the 90 calorie/2.5g fat item (and count those 2.5 against my fat count for the day) over the 150+ calorie item. Your plan of watching calories first and trying to stay under a certain fat level is a good one, and you should stick with that if you can.
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Post by psisar on Jun 8, 2005 8:47:11 GMT -5
Small correction for those who don't know (I know psisar does) it's 3500 calores per POUND of fat, not gram. There are 9 calories in a gram of fat. (carbs and protein are 4 calories per gram for comparison) Oops, my bad... I'll edit that in a sec. I always thought it would be a better idea to consider calories because I understand them more, I suppose. I ALWAYS read the nutrition information before I eat something, and pretty much if it's more than 120 calories per serving, I don't eat it. Or eat half the suggested serving, whatever. Thanks again for the info  |
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