I have been struggling to lose this extra little bit of stomach fat that I have to let my abs show. I've been lifting weights for a year, with short run sprints in-between every 2 sets or so. But, I'll start with the beginning...
I made some big mistakes. During swim season (on my high school team) I continued with my lifting regiment, but I was only taking in around 700 calories a day. Way too little since I burn almost all that off in practice. I was also eating 0-5 grams of fat a day. I got sick really fast, and didn't figure out what was wrong until after swim season 5 months later. Long story short, I now eat 2200 calories on days that I exercise, and 1800-1900 calories on off days.
I eat plenty of protein, carbs, fruit, veggies, fish, and white meat. I know how much of these I need to continue gaining muscle mass, and burning fat off. Now I know it will take time with my diet plan, but I have no idea how much fat I should have to lose fat mass, because you can't burn fat unless you intake some amount of fat.
I am 165 lbs., 17 years old (almost 18), 6'2", and if you need to know anything else PLEASE let me know. What I want to know from all you nutritionists is, how many grams of fat do I need in a day to lose fat?
Comments (6)
The following comes straight out of my Exercise Physiology text book:
1) Consume less than 10% of calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 mg/day of cholesterol, and keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible.
2) Keep total fat intake between 20% and 35% of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.
3) When selecting and preparing meat, poultry, dry beans, and milk or milk products, make choices that are lean, low fat, or fat free.
4) Limit intake of fats and oils high in saturated and/or trans fatty acids, and choose products low in such fats and oils.
If that makes sense I hope it helps. The main thing is #2 and #4, if you stay in the right range of total fat and stay away from saturated and trans fats you'll be fine.
@C_UNIT42@xanga -
okay, cool. thanks a lot. you're the first person to actually answer my question. how many grams of fat would 20% of a 2000 calorie diet be? I think I know, but I want to make sure I did my math right.
@dayscue4 - it would be 400 grams, but it doesn't mean thats how many grams of fat you should have. look on the label where it says calories, somewhere next to that it should say fat calories or calories from fat. if the fat calories are more than 20-35% of the total calories, its too much. ya know what i mean?
@C_UNIT42@xanga -
ooh, alright. I get what you mean. Thanks
whats up with your profile pic?
@organicallythin@xanga - mine? i just thought it was a funny picture. it was during a swim meet over the summer