Lost weight, scared of fat!

Question
Hi Richard!  I picked you to answer my question because like you, I lost a great deal of weight.  I'm a 38-year old female, 5'2" tall, and last year I lost approximately 140 lbs, going from about 265 lbs to 125, via a low-fat diet and a six-day per week exercise program.  I feel terrific and am thrilled to have gone from a size 26 to a 4.  However, in the last couple of weeks I've noticed that I have terrible cravings and realized I was undereating for a maintenance level, so I'm trying to up my calories a bit (I was at about 1200 to lose, but did the BMR calculation for maintenance and saw that I should be taking in about 1700, which is really hard for me to do).  That said, I'm wondering if I'm getting too little fat in my diet.  I take flaxseed oil supplements because I try to avoid eating anything more than 10-15% fat.  Yet the supplements don't seem to help my carb and sweets cravings, which I don't give in to but which torment me to no end.  My husband tells me I SHOULD have some good, unsaturated dietary fat in ADDITION to the flaxseed supplement, like that found in peanut butter and olive oil.  I do love peanut butter and miss it terribly!  I'm just so terrified of gaining any weight back that I don't know what is and isn't safe to do.  I'd be grateful for any advice you can offer.

Answer
Hi Keri. YES, YES, YES... you need to have HEALTHY fats in your diet. I recommend the 40/40/20 rule which says you should get 40% of your calories from lean proteins (chicken, turkey, fish, etc.); 40% from good carbs (whole-wheat bread, sweet potatos, brown rice, fruits and veggies, etc.); and 20% from healthy fats.

You mentioned flax-seed supplements... what about buying actual flax-seed oil and putting it on your salads? Olive oil is great for you. Peanut butter is fine as long as it's NATURAL peanut butter (the only ingredient should be PEANUTS). I also love NUTS like walnuts, almonds, cashews... just be careful because even though they're healthy for you they're very calorie-dense. It doesn't take many walnuts to add up to a few hundred calories.

See my web site for more suggestions on healthy fats:
http://ricksweightloss.com/diet/foodtypes/fats.asp


Also... don't forget that if you cannot live on a LOW calorie diet forever. You're going to have to find a good maintenance level for yourself - one that you're not going to be having constant cravings - or else your body will start yelling at you. You'll be hungry all the time and (in my case) become cranky and miserable. My wife says, "why don't you just go eat some chocolate!" when I'm going low-cal/low-carb.

Personally, even when I'm eating to lose weight, I still make sure that I have one HIGH-calorie day every 4 days to prevent my body from entering starvation mode. Still eat healthy, but add 1000 extra calories to your diet one or two days a week. It helps to kickstart your metabolism... because remember your metabolism will actually slow down if you're not eating enough, or frequently enough.



I hope this helps you. BE HEALTHY!

Richard Rost
http://www.RicksWeightLoss.com

P.S. As a disclaimer, I'm not a doctor or health professional. Please seek the advice of your doctor before implementing any of my recommendations.  

1. Prev:Weight Loss Question
2. Next:Losing 2.5 kg for kickboxing fight