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
