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Week 2: Eating enough fat
Hey guys! So this week I made a fatal error - one that I'm sure every newbie to the keto diet has done and why so many give up. When starting the keto diet, the key thing in my opinion is to make sure you are eating enough fat. I was pretty busy this week and didn't track my food or pay attention to the amount of fat I was eating. For 2 days I was lethargic and couldn't focus. I went back and entered my meals for the days that I missed and come to find out I was not eating enough fat. To feel great and be successful on the keto diet you should aim to eat 70-80% of your calories from fat - the amount of fat varies from person to person depending on the amount of calories you are eating. I know for me, because I eat on average 1,700 calories/day, I need to eat around 150 grams of fat/day. The easiest way to calculate how much fat to eat (at least in the beginning) is to track your food/calories on MyFitnessPal.com (follow me @ SimplyFatFueled86).
Why is healthy fat so important on a keto diet?
If you have been on a high-carb diet for most of your life, your body is conditioned to using carbs as energy. Switching to a keto diet trains your body to use fat as it's primary source of energy. However, this switch doesn't happen over night. Your body needs time to adapt and during this time it is important to feed your body the energy source you want it to use. Once you are adapted to using fat as energy, you will efficiently tap into your stored body fat as fuel - ultimately burning body fat and losing weight. So what are the best foods to eat that are healthy and high in fat? Great question!
Healthy Fat Options:
- Eggs
- Oils (Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, MCT Oil). Avoid vegetable oils.
- Fatty Fish - Salmon is a great source. I enjoy canned tuna with mayo on a regular basis.
- Butter
- Nuts and Seeds (almonds, macadamia, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.). Check the label on your favorite nut/seed and make sure to fit the net carbs into your carb total. Nuts like pistachios and cashews are higher in net carbs.
- Avocados
- Cheese
- Full fat yogurt
- Full fat cottage cheese
- Fatty cuts of meat (steaks, ground beef, chicken thighs, bacon, etc.)
High Fat Meal/Snack Ideas:
- Bacon and eggs is a popular meal choice on the Keto diet. Just 2 eggs has 10 grams of fat and 2 slices of bacon has 7 grams of fat. With 17 total grams of fat, bacon and eggs are a perfect Keto meal. Cook the eggs in the left over bacon grease for an even higher fat intake.
- Almonds with a cheese stick is one of my go to snacks. An ounce of almonds has 14 grams of fat and a cheddar cheese stick has 9 grams of fat. This snack has a whopping 23 grams of fat!
- Taco salad with 3 oz ground beef (16 grams of fat), 1 oz full fat sour cream (6 grams of fat), 2 oz cheese (9 grams of fat) and 2 oz guacamole (8 grams of fat). This meal comes in at 39 total grams of fat!!!
- Fat bombs are also a good high fat snack choice. Try my Chocolate Peanut Butter Fat Bomb Recipe which have 12.5 grams of fat per serving.
There you have it guys - some healthy fat options and meal/snack ideas. I hope you find this information helpful. If there is anything you want to know more about, be sure to leave your questions in the comment section below.
Here are my body changes for week 2. I had about a 2 lb weight drop from last week, 3 lbs total; body fat % dropped 1%; waist is 1/4" small and lost 1" from hips. The 1" loss from my hips is probably water and inflammation reduction.
Stay tuned for my next blog: Are you in ketosis?
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