My fat target per meal is 17%.  Each meal should not exceed more than 30% fat calories.

Question:  If a meal's total fat GRAMS is 4.5g, yet the total fat CALORIES is 40%

(i.e., lean cuisine's spaghetti with mushrooms and basil), is this something I can still eat since the calories are low?  Which takes precedence - the fat GRAMS or fat CALORIES?

I just started TODAY and feel like I'm screwing up already and it's pretty disheartening.  So far I'm having trouble getting the entire 17% fat gram target per meal (most is 9%),  yet exceeding the 30 % fat calories per meal.  Does this make sense to anyone and if it does, can you pls enlightment me?!? 

I had no time to stop and eat today so I drank a slim fast which had only 6 fat grams but a whopping 50% fat calories!  So for now I guess it's just a waiting game to see if I get the "effects" tomorrow!!!

If there's anyone out there who can help me with this dilemna ASAP, I'd sure appreciate it!

Thanks in advance.      Casey

I think you are getting confused in the grams and %.  Your weight, height and age go together to give you a calorie and fat gram total for each day, and fat gram for each meal.  Worry about daily calories and fat grams per meal or snack.  The % is just a guideline, 30% of your daily calories should be fat calories.  We all need fat and Alli can't work if you don't have it.  Look at the menus on the meal planner and that should help you get a better handle on it.  Most of the diet frozen dinners should be fine, just see what you need to or can add to get your totals to what they should be.

I tried to do very low fat at first and have had much better results since I added in some low fat instead of all fat free products. 

Thanks for your quick reply.  You are right, I have the grams and % confused.  I did understand initially that it's the daily calories and fat grams per meal/day  - yet not to exceed %.

What's messed me up is reading in the Companion guide, pg 22, paragraph 2  - "The best way to stay on track is to choose foods with less than 30 % of their calories from fat".  Page 33 - " Start choosing meals with less than 30 % fat".  They keep emphasizing the %.

I do eat low-fat but the problem I've run into is the fat grams are still low yet the % is high (which will cause T.E.).  How are you meeting your fat gram target without exceeding the %?  Are you doing the alli menu?

I originally planned on doing the alli menu even tho I hate to cook but I will be traveling next week so I won't be able to do the alli menu, tv dinners will be easier for me instead of risking eating out at this point.  The only tv dinner I found with less than 30% had only 6 fat grams.  That's a whole meal so there's no way I can get my target of 17%.  If I eat more, then the calories go up!   

If I concentrate mainly on  the daily calorie and fat gram amd not the %, my chances of going thru the t.e are greater, are they not?  Sorry about all the questions but appreciate your response.

Spectra03,                                                                                                                          I think that you are still confused.  Just eat the calories per day and fat grams (not %) per meal that you are alloted . My allocation is 1600 calories per day and 17 grams of fat per meal. I am allowed 58 fat grams (not %) per day, I guess to allow for a fat gram (not %) or two for my snacks. When I reach either one of these limitations, I am through eating for that day.  By the way, the percentage of fat has nothing to do with TE's. just the total fat grams eaten when you take Alli.  I have done well by just ignoring the fat % and just looking at the fat grams & calories for the food that I eat.                                                                                                    Hope this helps,                                                                                                           Linda

Linda,

Thanks, your reply does help tremendously! I guess I'm reading too much into all the info. I'm just having so much difficulty because I have been on low-fat  for a couple of months now and I'm lucky if I get to 30 grams a DAY, much less per meal.  I just can't eat that much mor, but I guess I'll have to.   

Casey

 Casey,

 Focus on some of the things you are succeeding at!  I think I great way to do this with respect to diet is to take advantage of the Nutrition Log alli provides on the website.  At first, I had a lot of trouble meeting my calorie and fat targets; I kept undercutting them.  Once I realized that I could add my own foods to the nutrition log, things got much easier.  I don't have time to cook, but I tend to buy the same frozen and/or refrigerated meals regularly, so I took the time to pile them up and define them.  It really helped, not only in helping me meet my targets, but also in showing me what nutrition information I needed to pay the most attention to with regard to alli.  Don't worry too much about those percentages; if you hit the overall targets per meal and per day, the percentages will come naturally.

 
Good luck and don't forget to pat yourself on the back for those accomplishments.  As long as you didn't have a Big Mac with Supersized fries, I really don't think you screwed up!

 
Holly
 

Holly,

Thanks for the encouraging words.  I'm getting a better understanding now as I have actually used the nutrition log already and logged in the food I ate today and added some that was not in the original list.

 I've been on a healthy low-fat/low cal for almost 2 months now and lost 9 lbs,  so I guess I just couldn't wrap my brain around having to eat more cal and fat after I had worked so hard to lower them!   I think I went into info overload and the more I read, the worse it got! 

Casey

listen heres what i eat- its fast cheap and filling

special k bar 60 cals no fat  coffee in the morning take pill

lunch - cambells chicken noodle soup any soup from cambells is great they have 60 cals or less, add crackers if you want i dont eat the crackers

dinner chicken salad or a plain salad go ahead use ranch dressing youve only consumed what less than 400 cals today and no fat

If you need more food than that to get by i would suggest getting phetermine its prescribed to help supress youe appetite it works but its expensive and you have to apy a ditetian doctor to get the prescription.

But why be a piggie how do you feel after you eat to much? guilty and your body feels over stuffed-

I MAY BE HUNGRY, BUT I LOOK GOOD, QUOTE BY CARMEN ELECTRA

Thanks for the B/L/D tips. 

I took phentermine years ago and lost alot of weight, but won't take it anymore cause of the effects I felt and my high blood pressure.   I'm stimulant and caffeine sensitive, that's the reason why I can't use dexatrim, drink regular coffee, etc. 

I'm on 1600 cal a day, but I'm going to go down to 1400, or maybe even 1200 cals.  1400-1600 is soooo much more than I'm used to.