Counting Fat Grams vs Eating Healthily

Lollydolly....there is no shortcut at all....our eyes simply do not do the job right ...keep to between 25-30 grams of fat per day and up to 1500 calories....then you will be sure you are doing it right. In time you will get to know the limits in this regime as well....but honestly weighing and counting are the way to go. Buy yourself a Collins Calorie Counter which will also give you the fat content of foods as well. Some of us have Nutri scales which, when you put in a code, will also tell you fats and everything you want to know.Whilst the code list is endless to speed things up I made a chart of my most used foods and that is easier to look up and after a few days you get to know the numbers of some of the foods anyhow.

All the best.

Nutri scales sound good, thanks for that quill-drill :D

Was just hoping there was a way to keep it loose. The problem is that I cook from scratch mostly, and trying to keep tabs of everything I add to food is a nightmare!

Anyone out there had any success without counting?? Anyone at all! :wink:

I also cook from scratch after a brief encounter with the usual low fat alternative ready meals which I found not to my taste.

It is very time consuming at the start but you will find you quicken up after a while. Stick with it. It works!

I only started myself last Thursday but I am beginning to think I will have to start counting fat grams (although I have felt fine so far). I had homemade chicken and vegetable soup for tea with 2 hot dogs which I thought was ok. After I had eaten it I thought I would have a look at the label on the sausages pack and was horrified to see that 2 grilled sausages (tesco finest pork and bramley apple) contains over 26 grams of fat!! Unbelievable! I will definitely check before I eat anything again!!

i cook from scratch mostly, always have due to having an allergy to onions (pain in the butt!!) but when i first got put on the blues i looked at the fat content in everything and it didnt take long to know what i could and couldn't eat and now 3 months in a can reel off how much fat is in most of the things i make, it sounds like hard work but it really isnt and its a good habit to get into.

sausages unfortunately are very fatty, i have found low fat ones (about 3.5g fat for 2) in asda but they are packed mostly of rice and cereal and in my opinion taste nasty (needs half a bottle of ketchup to disguise taste!), if you like pork then sainsburys 'be good to yourself' smoked bacon is only 0.4g per rasher and they taste lovely!

Sparkles...thanks for the bacon tip....will have to wait until I travel to a Sainsbury's to get that too....you've been great at giving us tips..sadly S'bys....not around here.

All the best.

Hi, i havnt been counting and have cooked from scratch most days choosing lean meat, it works out a little expensive but its the only way if you want good results. Turkey is good and its cheap and no one has noticed. Im lucky that i work in a supermarket so i get all day to look at labels and ive been on countless diets so i refer to the books they gave me. I have made a few rules for myself though, no pastry, no sausage, no choc, no crisps, no booze and just 2 slices of bread a day! Im only on week 2 so its early days for me too, best of luck!

Hi Carlyn,

That all sounds good, and similar to what I've been doing so far.

Do you mind me asking if you've weighed yourself yet, and if so have you lost anything?

Good luck to you too hun :D

Thanks loads to everyone else for answering... keep 'em coming if anyone else has anything to add, or any handy tips. It's all very appreciated

X

Hi,

I dont count calories or weigh anything. I just follow the rule of only using ingredients that are under the 5g of fat and sugar per 100g.

It was a bit of hassle the first shop i did as I had to look at every label, but you only do it once and now I know what i need to buy.

I have autiomatically cut down in terms of portion sizes as I always have the recommended pint of water with each blue tablet so that fills up my tum.

I have now lost over four stone so it definitely works for me!

Sasx

Hi lolly i have weighed in and i lost 10 pounds the first week but i did do loads of excercise too in fact i did it all cleaning,walking, gardening and overtime at work and it was hard. This week i have experienced the wrath of the blues as i treated myself to chinese and suffered for 2 days so dont bother or choose wisely (dont have chips like me). I eased up a little this week and chose to eat the bulk of fat for my evening meal and i did see the oil its gross but fascinating too. Im not sure im doing it right but its what works for you! I just want to be 12 stone i started at 14.7 which is way to big for my 5.5 frame. keep going and remember youre not alone!

Wow, 10 pounds is an amazing weight loss Carlyn! Well done girl, you'll be a skinny minny soon.

Thanks again to all that have replied. Sounds like people are doing things their own ways and all still seeing success so I guess it's a case of finding out what works best for each person individually.

If anyone else has anything to add in to the mix then please do... otherwise, chat to you all later.

Cheers x L :D

The most amazing thing i have found is quorn!! So low in fat (most things) and high in protein and makes life easier. I use the frozen 'mince' for bolognaise and i swear you cant tel the diference! My family are big meat eaters and i have fooled every one of them, and now they have all switched :-) the sausages are gorgeous and only 1.6g of fat! they also do a peppered steak and a minted lamb grill that are yummy, especially with a big pile of veg as evening meal, i like to use the birdseye frozen steam bags. makes life easy!

hey just wanted to add my opinion-i havent been weighing or calorie counting, just watching the fat content of food. ive been sticking to 5% fat or less and it seems to be working. i can fit into trousers i previously had to lie on my bed to zip up!

i was at a meeting today with people i hadnt seen for a while and they commented on my weightloss-it felt good, especially as ive only been on the blues for 3 weeks. im due my first official weigh in next thurs and for the first time in my life im looking forward to stepping on the scales!

i agree quorn is good. i dont like meat but quorn is tasty (especially in sauces, my fav is chilli) it's also filling and can be cooked from frozen.

ive also discovered \"mug shots\" they're like cup a soups but they're pasta, cous cous or noodles. theyre low fat and great for taking to work as i do a lot of running around to different places with my job so taking a lunchbox isnt easy.

ive also found ryvita minis are a good substitue for crisps and go ahead yoghurt breaks are good for chocolate cravings.

hope everyone continues to do well. im sure it'll be worth it!

Hi I am just starting back on these after a break and last itme I didn't count cals or fat - just stuck to less than 5% fat in any food. They worked so i am back. I think if you started to plateau then look at cals and fat. Remember to exercise as it speeds it all up.

K

I watch fat content - I won't eat anything with more than 4% fat. So far I've lost 6 stone 12 in just 11 months. At about 6 stone ,weight loss plateaued and so I bought an exercise bike and loss has now gone back to previous months average. I even take a tab with really low fat meals even thought were told we don't have to do so but it stops me cheating and eating the wrong thing later on. Must admit that it was trial and error in the early days to find out what works for me. Everyone is different but our goal is the same and how we get there isn't important but getting there is. Good luck everyone.