Weight loss; percentage fat/protein/carbs

Question
I gained a lot of weight while caring for my husband who has Alzheimer's.  I am now determined to lose it.  I have returned to exercising and strength training.  I have also been reducing my calories.  I am 58, weigh 160 pounds and am 5'5", pear shaped.  I would like to get down to at least 130 and then see from there.  I have high cholesterol--April 21, 2004
Cholesterol 256   HDL 83   LDL 146   Triglycerides  133.   I have been trying to eat close to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables and keep my calorie count to 1800 or below. I am also hypoglycemic and get spacey if I don't eat some protein fairly regularly.  Most of my carbs are from whole grains.  But I am not matching the recommended %ages.  Usually my fat percentage is closer to 10-15 than 30 and my protein %age is too high--more like 20 percent. I think I would feel better with a bit more fat in my diet but don't know how to do that sensibly.  Any suggestions? I use Valusoft's Master Cook Deluxe program to calculate nutrition since I can enter recipes I like and it has a meal plan that will calculate nutriation by meal and by day.  I see this as a long term project. Is my calorie goal per day low enough? Laura  

Answer
Laura,

First, the best way to gauge if you are eating the "correct" number of calories a day is by what your weight is doing.  Are you losing weight?  Do you feel hungry all the time?  It could be helpful if you knew your resting metabolic rate.  Then, conceivably, you could calculate the number of calories you should be eating.  However, the final determining factor would be; are you losing weight? and do you feel hungry all the time?  If you are losing weight at a reasonable rate (I feel 1 pound a week is reasonable) then your calorie intake is good.  If you are losing weight too quickly (say, more than 2 pounds a week) and you feel hungry all the time, you may not be eating enough.  If you are not losing any weight, you may be eating too many calories.

If you wish to increase your fat intake, try to add an unsaturated fat.  Unsaturated fats are found in oils (canola oil, olive oil, etc.), fish and nuts (anything that is not from an animal, coconut or palm oil).  Animal products (meats, dairy, etc.) contain saturated fats and will probably increase your total cholesterol and LDL.

Everything else you are doing sounds very healthy.  It is obvious that you are taking this very seriously and have been doing your homework.  Keep up the great effort.

Best wishes.

Todd
www.lipid-clinic.com

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