Low Fat Diet To Loose Weight? (Female)

[AustenJ]

Fatty tissue is constantly being regulated by a number of factors but mostly metabolism. Even when glycolysis is active, as in burning carbs for fuel, the body is burning a small amount of fat.

The best way many of us have found to get really lean and ripped is to avoid fat, even saturated fat, as much as possible. Dropping daily fat intake to below 5% will be the way to go. Over the course of a few weeks the rest of your excess fat will be gradually released and consumed, and not oxidized like during the massive release of FFA's that follow ketosis.

Hi Sladerunner,

I'm trying to lose weight by eating low fat (less than 10g per day).

Should I stay under a certain calorie limit?

Some info about me: 25y/o female, 95kg, 176cm tall. Pulse ~65, sometimes lower.

Also does anyone have recommendations for supplements during the low fat diet? I will try to stick to it for 6 weeks. I don't want to take too many supplements if possible. I started taking lysine HCL a few days ago because of stomach pains/digestion problems and it seems to have helped, although that might be because I started eating low fat at the same time.

Thanks!

 

[managing]

Hi Sladerunner,

I'm trying to lose weight by eating low fat (less than 10g per day).

Should I stay under a certain calorie limit?

Some info about me: 25y/o female, 95kg, 176cm tall. Pulse ~65, sometimes lower.

Also does anyone have recommendations for supplements during the low fat diet? I will try to stick to it for 6 weeks. I don't want to take too many supplements if possible. I started taking lysine HCL a few days ago because of stomach pains/digestion problems and it seems to have helped, although that might be because I started eating low fat at the same time.

Thanks!

Tried low fat and found I couldn't keep glycogen stores up. Broda Barnes claimed high rate of success with 50fat/30protein/20carbs (fruit mainly) @1300 calories (regardless of person). He argued that the carbs were enough to keep glycogen replenished (ie, prevent ketosis), protein was low enough not to require thyroid supp (if otherwise sufficient) and the fat provided calories needed. He seems to disagree completely with the premise that dietary fat leads to body fat.

????????

 

[sladerunner69]

Tried low fat and found I couldn't keep glycogen stores up. Broda Barnes claimed high rate of success with 50fat/30protein/20carbs (fruit mainly) @1300 calories (regardless of person). He argued that the carbs were enough to keep glycogen replenished (ie, prevent ketosis), protein was low enough not to require thyroid supp (if otherwise sufficient) and the fat provided calories needed. He seems to disagree completely with the premise that dietary fat leads to body fat.

????????

From my experience and most other individual in this community it seems like the opposite is true, but there is definitely some variability from person to person. Low fat intake has always been necessary to stave off bodyfat for me.

 

[managing]

From my experience and most other individual in this community it seems like the opposite is true, but there is definitely some variability from person to person. Low fat intake has always been necessary to stave off bodyfat for me.

What mix of calorie sources? Barnes says that high protein/low fat requires supplemental thyroid, mainly to avoid constipation. And that hi carb/low fat lead to weight gain.

 

[sladerunner69]

Hi Sladerunner,

I'm trying to lose weight by eating low fat (less than 10g per day).

Should I stay under a certain calorie limit?

Some info about me: 25y/o female, 95kg, 176cm tall. Pulse ~65, sometimes lower.

Also does anyone have recommendations for supplements during the low fat diet? I will try to stick to it for 6 weeks. I don't want to take too many supplements if possible. I started taking lysine HCL a few days ago because of stomach pains/digestion problems and it seems to have helped, although that might be because I started eating low fat at the same time.

Thanks!

Yes I recommend low fat if you are trying to lose weight, and at 95kg I think it's definitely a smart idea. As a bodybuilder who loves the obsession and challenge of dieting (and bodybuilding is 80-90% dieting btw), here is my advice:

-Use a food tracker like livestrong.com/cron-o-meter, especially if you are new to this or haven't had much success before.
-keep fat calories under 15% total calories for good results, or under 10% for dramatic results..... or as close to 0% calories as you can (this can be tough)
-Keep your metabolism as high as you can. Get your pulse up to 80-90 beats per minute. How? Food and supplements...
-Food: consume plenty of sugar. Eat fruits, drink nonfat or 1% milk, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Never go hungry, because that is a signal that the stress hormones are becoming prevalent and this will actually cause your body to STORE fat because it is going into red alert starvation mode. There are plenty of examples of people tryign to lose weight by starving and it is NOT smart. You will damage your metabolism, and multiple body systems by going the starvation route and a full recovery will be difficult. The trick is to lower calories a bit and to switch the foods to pro-metabolic foods. Eat manly sugar and protein. liver, oysters, eggs, lean meats, shellfish, eggs, are all good to have about once a day. If you wan tto add some starch like potatoes, rice, taro, tapioca, yams, that is fine in my book but I would try to focus mainly on sugar. I also like lowfat yoplait yogurts, rice puddings and horchata but be sure to watch the fat intake and not let it get above 15% your daily total, and have your total calories be about 2500.
-There are plenty of supplements that will boost your metabolism and help you burn fat. The most effective ones in my opinion are going to be niacinimide, which is well respected in bodybuilding circles for this purpose, aspirin which you can read all about on here, and taurine. I would take all three of these. Start slow on aspirin as it will take a while for your gut to adjust to it, and don't take more than 1gram a day dissolved in warm water UNLESS you are taking vitamin k2 because this can cause stomach bleeding for some people. I have made that mistake myself and it caused extreme stomach discomfort and diahrrea for a few days. You can also try taking all the fat soluble vitamins like A and D etc because those will likely provide some benefit if you are not getting adequate supply from foods.
-Do you sit under an incandescent bulb? I use a 500w pool bulb or some 200wheatlamps and sit at them while I am in my room on the computer. It can be kind of a hassle at first but try doing it for 10 minutes three times a day and I can absolutely guarantee you will see and feel a significant difference. I now sit inf ront of my heatlamp in my tighty whiteys at every opprotunity I can. Consider this no-effort fat loss, that has plent yof other health benefits. It will also help you feel calm and energized, it's really great.
- If you want to excercise I recommend 30 minutes of weight training, with HEAVY weights like squats, presses, power cleans, or whatever machines you want really, as long as you are using heavy weight and pushing hard for 5-10 reps and going to COMPLETE failuire of your muscle. Doing 50 reps of curls with tiny weight like I see so many women do is like doing practically nothing. Lifting properly will not make women bulky, it will not happen unless you are on steroids because it is testosterone that gives you huge muscles not the act of lifting. Having more muscle means you can eat more calories and not get fat!

Hope this large amount of information I just hurled at you can help! Feel free too shoot some questions at me if you want...

 

[whodathunkit]

@AustenJ:

You might want to take a look at another thread where a (formerly!) overweight female member did very well with weight loss and low fat-low cal:

THE BEST Of TIMES, THE WORST Of TIMES

This is a great thread full of strategies and very helpful in the detail as to what she did to be successful and why. I'm still working my way through it.

I just started very low fat Peat style a few weeks ago and am learning that very low fat for an extended period of time does carry with it a set of challenges, which I'm experimenting with addressing. That thread above is probably the best help I've found, even though I'm only halfway through it at this point. I'm planning to stay with very low fat Peat style for at least another month. I have a goal of losing 30lbs. We'll see what happens.

That said, I do have experience with more episodic approach to very low fat (like 10 days at a time), so I know very low fat can be a very, very good approach for improving liver health and losing weight. The other approach is not Peat-y, though (starch based, very calorie restricted, and tougher to do), and so I'm trying this. IMO any very low fat eating style is not a lifestyle but an intervention. Key thing to remember is not to let it go on to the point where you really feel like crap...sometimes you gotta eat. Plus, breaks can be really beneficial.

 

[AustenJ]

Thank you all for the detailed replies! I have been on super low fat for the last 3 days and it's pretty hard but I will try my best to stick to it - I noticed that my under eye circles have gotten quite a bit darker over the last day and I am getting enough sleep - does anyone know what would cause that?
I will get onto those supplements Sladerunner.
I want to get down to 68-70 kg (lose about 25 kilos).

 

[managing]

Thank you all for the detailed replies! I have been on super low fat for the last 3 days and it's pretty hard but I will try my best to stick to it - I noticed that my under eye circles have gotten quite a bit darker over the last day and I am getting enough sleep - does anyone know what would cause that?
I will get onto those supplements Sladerunner.
I want to get down to 68-70 kg (lose about 25 kilos).

For me that correlates very strongly to glycogen stores. And when I tried VLF, my glycogen depleted rapidly and was difficult to replenish.

 

[thegiantess]

Yes I recommend low fat if you are trying to lose weight, and at 95kg I think it's definitely a smart idea. As a bodybuilder who loves the obsession and challenge of dieting (and bodybuilding is 80-90% dieting btw), here is my advice:

-Use a food tracker like livestrong.com/cron-o-meter, especially if you are new to this or haven't had much success before.
-keep fat calories under 15% total calories for good results, or under 10% for dramatic results..... or as close to 0% calories as you can (this can be tough)
-Keep your metabolism as high as you can. Get your pulse up to 80-90 beats per minute. How? Food and supplements...
-Food: consume plenty of sugar. Eat fruits, drink nonfat or 1% milk, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Never go hungry, because that is a signal that the stress hormones are becoming prevalent and this will actually cause your body to STORE fat because it is going into red alert starvation mode. There are plenty of examples of people tryign to lose weight by starving and it is NOT smart. You will damage your metabolism, and multiple body systems by going the starvation route and a full recovery will be difficult. The trick is to lower calories a bit and to switch the foods to pro-metabolic foods. Eat manly sugar and protein. liver, oysters, eggs, lean meats, shellfish, eggs, are all good to have about once a day. If you wan tto add some starch like potatoes, rice, taro, tapioca, yams, that is fine in my book but I would try to focus mainly on sugar. I also like lowfat yoplait yogurts, rice puddings and horchata but be sure to watch the fat intake and not let it get above 15% your daily total, and have your total calories be about 2500.
-There are plenty of supplements that will boost your metabolism and help you burn fat. The most effective ones in my opinion are going to be niacinimide, which is well respected in bodybuilding circles for this purpose, aspirin which you can read all about on here, and taurine. I would take all three of these. Start slow on aspirin as it will take a while for your gut to adjust to it, and don't take more than 1gram a day dissolved in warm water UNLESS you are taking vitamin k2 because this can cause stomach bleeding for some people. I have made that mistake myself and it caused extreme stomach discomfort and diahrrea for a few days. You can also try taking all the fat soluble vitamins like A and D etc because those will likely provide some benefit if you are not getting adequate supply from foods.
-Do you sit under an incandescent bulb? I use a 500w pool bulb or some 200wheatlamps and sit at them while I am in my room on the computer. It can be kind of a hassle at first but try doing it for 10 minutes three times a day and I can absolutely guarantee you will see and feel a significant difference. I now sit inf ront of my heatlamp in my tighty whiteys at every opprotunity I can. Consider this no-effort fat loss, that has plent yof other health benefits. It will also help you feel calm and energized, it's really great.
- If you want to excercise I recommend 30 minutes of weight training, with HEAVY weights like squats, presses, power cleans, or whatever machines you want really, as long as you are using heavy weight and pushing hard for 5-10 reps and going to COMPLETE failuire of your muscle. Doing 50 reps of curls with tiny weight like I see so many women do is like doing practically nothing. Lifting properly will not make women bulky, it will not happen unless you are on steroids because it is testosterone that gives you huge muscles not the act of lifting. Having more muscle means you can eat more calories and not get fat!

Hope this large amount of information I just hurled at you can help! Feel free too shoot some questions at me if you want...

No matter how women lift weights they WILL get bulky if they haven't lost excess fat. Muscle will build, but the fat and skin sits on top of it causing the bulky look. As a woman, I would recommend losing the fat first and then getting into weight lifting.

 

[managing]

No matter how women lift weights they WILL get bulky if they haven't lost excess fat. Muscle will build, but the fat and skin sits on top of it causing the bulky look. As a woman, I would recommend losing the fat first and then getting into weight lifting.

I understand why you would say that, but the truth is building muscle leads to fat loss (muscle mitochondria will actually burn the fat adjacent to it). I can see that bulkiness to a slight degree might happen, but better in long run.

 

[Gl;itch.e]

No matter how women lift weights they WILL get bulky if they haven't lost excess fat. Muscle will build, but the fat and skin sits on top of it causing the bulky look. As a woman, I would recommend losing the fat first and then getting into weight lifting.

Ughh. I hate this myth so much. This idea just never pans out in reality. Unless the hypothetical woman you are imaging is on drugs and intentionally gaining weight. Muscle built on women will generally be a very small amount relative to the potential amount of fat they have to lose. Your average weight woman could probably gain 10lbs of muscle but have 30-40+ of fat to lose. But having that little bit of extra muscle will pay dividends in the long run.

 

[managing]

Ughh. I hate this myth so much. This idea just never pans out in reality. Unless the hypothetical woman you are imaging is on drugs and intentionally gaining weight. Muscle built on women will generally be a very small amount relative to the potential amount of fat they have to lose. Your average weight woman could probably gain 10lbs of muscle but have 30-40+ of fat to lose. But having that little bit of extra muscle will pay dividends in the long run.

Agree completely, but I think you are missing her point. muscle gained is accentuated by fat over it. Thus looking bigger than it is. I still come to the same conclusion as you, just clarifying her concern.

 

[thegiantess]

Ughh. I hate this myth so much. This idea just never pans out in reality. Unless the hypothetical woman you are imaging is on drugs and intentionally gaining weight. Muscle built on women will generally be a very small amount relative to the potential amount of fat they have to lose. Your average weight woman could probably gain 10lbs of muscle but have 30-40+ of fat to lose. But having that little bit of extra muscle will pay dividends in the long run.

I could say the same about the myth you are perpetuating. Even a small amount of gained muscle, or having the muscles swollen post workout will make a woman with too much fat look bulky. I think the concern that women usually have is that they will all of a sudden look like a dude. That is definitely a myth, but bulky... Or stocky... Or whatever you want to call it--she will look that way unless she loses excess fat. I do agree that muscle gain is good in the long run, but if being lean is what any given woman is after, it be hooves her to lose excess fat first.

 

[Gl;itch.e]

I maintain if you are gaining muscle faster than you are losing fat you are doing something wrong or you are doing it intentionally via drugs etc. My own girlfriend took up powerlifting with me this past year. Training 3 days a week and not attempting to diet or lose fat at all she has changed her shape, fits clothes better and has lost maybe 1-2kgs of bodyweight total. She is healthier and sexier for it, not bulky or remotely masculine in the least.

 

[Stryker]

Yes I recommend low fat if you are trying to lose weight, and at 95kg I think it's definitely a smart idea. As a bodybuilder who loves the obsession and challenge of dieting (and bodybuilding is 80-90% dieting btw), here is my advice:

-Use a food tracker like livestrong.com/cron-o-meter, especially if you are new to this or haven't had much success before.
-keep fat calories under 15% total calories for good results, or under 10% for dramatic results..... or as close to 0% calories as you can (this can be tough)
-Keep your metabolism as high as you can. Get your pulse up to 80-90 beats per minute. How? Food and supplements...
-Food: consume plenty of sugar. Eat fruits, drink nonfat or 1% milk, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Never go hungry, because that is a signal that the stress hormones are becoming prevalent and this will actually cause your body to STORE fat because it is going into red alert starvation mode. There are plenty of examples of people tryign to lose weight by starving and it is NOT smart. You will damage your metabolism, and multiple body systems by going the starvation route and a full recovery will be difficult. The trick is to lower calories a bit and to switch the foods to pro-metabolic foods. Eat manly sugar and protein. liver, oysters, eggs, lean meats, shellfish, eggs, are all good to have about once a day. If you wan tto add some starch like potatoes, rice, taro, tapioca, yams, that is fine in my book but I would try to focus mainly on sugar. I also like lowfat yoplait yogurts, rice puddings and horchata but be sure to watch the fat intake and not let it get above 15% your daily total, and have your total calories be about 2500.
-There are plenty of supplements that will boost your metabolism and help you burn fat. The most effective ones in my opinion are going to be niacinimide, which is well respected in bodybuilding circles for this purpose, aspirin which you can read all about on here, and taurine. I would take all three of these. Start slow on aspirin as it will take a while for your gut to adjust to it, and don't take more than 1gram a day dissolved in warm water UNLESS you are taking vitamin k2 because this can cause stomach bleeding for some people. I have made that mistake myself and it caused extreme stomach discomfort and diahrrea for a few days. You can also try taking all the fat soluble vitamins like A and D etc because those will likely provide some benefit if you are not getting adequate supply from foods.
-Do you sit under an incandescent bulb? I use a 500w pool bulb or some 200wheatlamps and sit at them while I am in my room on the computer. It can be kind of a hassle at first but try doing it for 10 minutes three times a day and I can absolutely guarantee you will see and feel a significant difference. I now sit inf ront of my heatlamp in my tighty whiteys at every opprotunity I can. Consider this no-effort fat loss, that has plent yof other health benefits. It will also help you feel calm and energized, it's really great.
- If you want to excercise I recommend 30 minutes of weight training, with HEAVY weights like squats, presses, power cleans, or whatever machines you want really, as long as you are using heavy weight and pushing hard for 5-10 reps and going to COMPLETE failuire of your muscle. Doing 50 reps of curls with tiny weight like I see so many women do is like doing practically nothing. Lifting properly will not make women bulky, it will not happen unless you are on steroids because it is testosterone that gives you huge muscles not the act of lifting. Having more muscle means you can eat more calories and not get fat!

Hope this large amount of information I just hurled at you can help! Feel free too shoot some questions at me if you want...

"on point"

id just like to add
do not underestimate a good sleeping pattern , it will help alot of reduce cortisol
when i started to go to bed much earlier in the night the fat stored around my abdomen literally fell off

taurine aspirin and vitamin e or better yet mitolipin are great for the transition from a high PUFA diet to low PUFA diet
or if the aspirin and vitamin e do not agree with you and you get stomach discomfort and midday fatigue give mildronate a try (500mg x 2 daily)

 

[AustenJ]

Thanks for all the replies! Today is day 4 of the HCLF diet and I find that I get dizzy even after a brisk walk so I have a teaspoon of honey which helps. I don't want to count calories too much otherwise I tend to give up - just taking it one day at a time (I'm a wuss!). I will order those supplements online and hopefully they will help me get through the 6 weeks.
Thanks again everyone for all of your help!

 

[whodathunkit]

@AustenJ, you also might try upping your salt intake a bit. If you're eating a bunch of fruit that can boost your potassium, which increases need for sodium.

Also consider the other minerals, particularly calcium and magnesium...but all of them could have something to add. Most of us coming from a SAD diet are deficient in almost all minerals, except iron. Although sometimes that, too. Not to go overboard, but try things to see if they make you feel better and alleviate the dizziness. Salt, calcium, and magnesium seem to be the "biggies" that give the most immediate effect if a person is even a little deficient.

Your dizziness might all about the depleted sugar and glycogen, or it could be electrolyte imbalance. Or maybe a little of both.

It took me a long time to get my mineral balance straight. I started working on that years and years ago before I ever heard of Peat. Salt loading helped me tremendously for a long time (for a number of years I drank salted water first thing upon arising), and I've found since I started Peating and intaking all this fruit I need more salt again.

Good luck!

 

[AustenJ]

Thanks for that - i've been having mostly black coffee, fruit, dried fruit and rice crackers + a piece of raisin toast (no butter). I don't like the taste of skim milk so I'm not really having much dairy. Today I tried a recipe for fat free potato wedges and added some extra salt. It's a bit hard for me to not have any fat but I will try my best to stick to it for 6 weeks for pufa depletion. Thanks everyone, I will let you know how things go!

 

[Steveig84]

Thanks for that - i've been having mostly black coffee, fruit, dried fruit and rice crackers + a piece of raisin toast (no butter). I don't like the taste of skim milk so I'm not really having much dairy. Today I tried a recipe for fat free potato wedges and added some extra salt. It's a bit hard for me to not have any fat but I will try my best to stick to it for 6 weeks for pufa depletion. Thanks everyone, I will let you know how things go!

looks very low on protein which is problematic for many reasons, this could be a reason for blood sugar problems when starting high carb, low fat, try adding low fat cottage cheese, quark, Gelatine shell fish and 1-2 eggs at least if you don't like skim milk. black coffee is probably not a great idea either. try to remember is low fat not no fat, a litte CO for potato wedges or a little butter on the raisin toast would be helpfull.

 

[AustenJ]

Thanks for your message - I'd say I'm having ~5g of fat just from the fruit but I will start having some gelatine for protein - I'm just doing extreme low fat for 6 weeks and then going back to regular fat/protein intake. Unless people recommend otherwise.