How much fat should I eat?
Dear GreenSmoothieGirl: How much fats do you take in a day? From what I gathered from your book, it looks something like: 1 tablespoon flax oil in green smoothie, 2 tablespoons coconut oil on lips and skin, a handful of nut and seeds for snacks in the afternoon. Am I right? I am about the same age as you. Would the above be too much oil in a day?
Answer: That’s an appropriate amount of fat for an active person in her 40’s. (Some of that 2 Tbsp. of coconut oil may be eaten–I couldn’t put that much on my skin–and I also might use a Tablespoon or less of extra-virgin olive oil for cooking dinner, too.)
I might eat a few hundred calories more than the average woman my age whose weight is healthy, just because I also work out hard and am really hungry otherwise0. I used to put everything I ate into a program called DietPower (about $35 when I bought it at dietpower.com). By programming in my workouts AND my food, and weighing every day, I was able to establish my EXACT metabolic rate. I learned that at 5’8″ and 135 lbs., I burn about 1600 calories a day. (I burn more and can therefore eat more if I run 5 miles, for a 500 calorie expenditure.)
I no longer count calories or worry about that at all. (Also, many whole-food items aren’t in the DietPower database.) I find that if I don’t eat any processed foods, addictions don’t exist, and I can eat how much I want, within reason. My friend Michelle says that she overeats anything (and uses oatmeal as an example–something she says she’ll eat four bowls of), but I don’t believe it. Not if you go OFF refined foods for a short time to eliminate those addictions. People not eating refined foods simply do not have a tendency to overeat legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables. That’s because they’re natural and don’t distort hormones and the other finely tuned systems in the body to create unnatural cravings.
When you eat only whole foods, you are tuning your body in to its needs.
Posted in: Exercise, Healthy Weight, Whole Food
Hi, Robyn —
Just learned about your mention of DietPower via Google Alerts. Pleased to see you’ve used our software and like it. You might want to spread the word that anyone can download DietPower FREE for 15 days — and that we now have a special price of $29.99 in honor of our company’s 20th anniversary.
Re your comment that some whole foods are not in our Food Dictionary: You can add such a food to the dictionary yourself in less than a minute, by keying in nutrition facts from the label.
Oops! Forgot to mention:
I’m DietPower’s founder and CEO, and you can download our program from http://www.dietpower.com.
Good health to you!
Terry
Hi Robin,
DietPower sounds interesting. I recently discovered a site called NutritionData that I think works similarly. It’s actually kind of neat to see a nutrition facts label for my green smoothies.
I was concerned however to learn that my breakfast today (green smoothie) and dinner (some chickpeas, an avocado, about 5 cherry tomatoes, a sweet potato and a big radish), amounted to 40g fiber! That’s not even counting the whole oat cereal I munched on earlier. I imagine some days it’s 50 or more.
I am often bloated, and eliminating poorly. I don’t really want to reduce my fiber intake, because I’d have to cut out my favorite foods. Should I drink more water? Is there a way to get less fiber without resorting to gross processed foods?
-M
Hello GreenSmoothieGirl! I’m in my 30s and have been taking 4 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil (VCO) daily for more than 2 years now. This doesn’t include the regular coconut oil/coconut milk meals my wife prepares at least once a week. My skin is softer than ever, my hair is dandruff-free and I have never been sick since.
Oh and I haven’t exercised for more than 3 years and my livelihood requires me to sit in front of the computer 95 percent of the time. Just my two cents.
Cheers,
CoconutOilGuy
http://www.coconut-oil-central.com
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