If you've gotten this far... maybe you do have the right stuff!

So many make Low Carbing their New Year's Resolution... for a few days. They don't know about the transition our body makes from burning sugar, to burning fat. They cheat right away because they miss "treats," not understanding that the cravings go away if we don't feed them. But if they hang in this far, they still might be making Newbie Mistake #1: the FEAR of FAT.

FAT is our friend.

Yes, I know WebMD and your own doctor and your friends and your mother and that weight loss show on television all tell you that fat is what made us fat. They tell you they know how we can lose weight. And you've tried and tried and it doesn't work.

Maybe you're like me, and you've started to wonder if they are wrong. They are!

If, like me, you counted calories and avoided fat and exercised like a fiend and nothing good happened; stop doing what doesn't work. I lost sixty pounds without exercising (because of a bad hip.) And I did it by lowering carbs and eating more fat. (And I have the low triglycerides and great blood sugar readings that show this works better than low fat.)

So ignore that advice that never worked. And I mean ignore it all, completely, and reset your head. For decades now nutritional science has been derailed with a wrong theory that never has worked. If it worked, we wouldn't be in the middle of an "obesity epidemic," would we?

After struggling for decades I now have a slim, happy, productive body. And I've kept the weight off for going on eight years now. Others on this board have even more dramatic stories!

So don't fear fat. Add it to every meal. When you are hungry, it means your body needs MORE FAT. I lost and I maintain at 80% fat. (If you aren't tracking, you don't know what you are doing, do you?) Your own percentages may vary, but the biggest mistake everyone makes, starting out low carb, is still listening to bad advice. Don't reach for the skinless chicken breast and the low-fat salad dressing. Don't fry without the right oil and don't run away from butter.

Fat helps your body burn fat. There's your answer.

Eat fat to reduce the "low carb flu"

Just saved the bacon drippings from this morning's breakfast. Great for sauteeing my green beans tonight!

I have a lovely jar specifically for bacon fat...
Amazing stuff, it is.

i have been into a lot of salads with warm bacon dressing, lately..

Pilot gal- you too? My new fave is to fry 2 slices of bacon, remove the bacon once done, in the hot pan add a little vinegar and ez sweets to make a dressing and then wilt some spinach in the hot dressing/pan. Top with the bacon, a sliced egg and a touch of chopped onion for flavor. I could eat this every night!

How do you make your dressing?? What type of greens do you use for your salads? Thank you!!

I so agree I know that when I eat the full fat dressings and have my heavy cream in my coffee my scale shows better results the next day and those days are when I'm fuller too!

I am still struggling with the calorie thing thou - should I reduce my calories? But that means watching the fat also - that doesn't make sense!

Joylorene, are you tracking your foods? I tend to eat too few calories, not on purpose, but because I just eat to hunger.
I have to add fat in order to up my calories, and not mess up my metabolism, which is already unsteady.
I try to take in about 60% fat, and less than 30 carbs.

After low carbing off and on for close to ten years I am finally getting it! Of course I am guilty off being more off than on, and sadly I am guilty on being a tuna and vitamin tablet zero carb, low fat eater. For a long time.
I am now 6 kilos over the weight I was before I started Atkins ten years ago.
I have bought a tub of coconut oil today and am ready to really banish the low fat eating that I did for the ten years prior to the last ten years.
* must get a copy of the art and the science.....
Any advice anyone wants to gladly kick my way, I'm really to digest it. I didn't worry about fat for much of my low (except when I was on tuna and diet soda with a babybel and a vitamin tablet diet, so I need to become informed about adding additional fat to my diet.
Cheers for this thread, timely for me.

OMG!!! I have done LC like that before, I thought I was doing it right then wondered why I was not losing weight, I thought that Babybel, tuna and diet coke were perfect!!
I went and did a bit of shopping today and bought some cream (I am going to make butter with half of it) and avocado, some salad leaves, full fat mayo, and all the ingredients for Oopsie rolls! I am getting some coconut oil at the weekend.
I am going to be spending a lot of time reading through the newbie threads, I obviously missed something the first time round and want to get it right this time!

The first time I tried LC was about 6-7 years ago and I did exactly what you did...zero carb, high protein and very low fat. I did lose weight but 3 months in developed kidney issues. In retrospect, I really didn't understand LC at all even though I had skimmed through Atkins. My daily intake was almost pure protein and I ignored drinking water...I stuck with drinking just coffee.

The doctors scared the h*ll out of me and blamed my kidney issues on LC eating so I gave it up and gained all the weight back. I now believe that my eating habits at that time did cause my kidney issues...I was dehydrated and eating lots of protein.

I now believe that if I had followed LC correctly, as in EAT FAT and DRINK WATER, I would not have had the issues I had.

My advice to all newbies is, if you decide to eat this way, DO YOUR REASEARCH! Make sure you truly understand the 3 keys to LC eating which are high fat, moderate protein and controlled carb intake. That is the winning combination and you won't know if you are meeting that combination unless you track what you're eating, at least for awhile so you get a sense of what you need to be eating to reach those ratios.

Yes! Eating 70% or more of calories as fat is the way to go. It keeps me buzzing along through the day and I can go for at least 5 hours without eating, and that includes snacking. I used to have to eat at least once every two hours because the carbs were keeping me so hungry.

I lost 30 pounds so far without exercising and eating high fat. I purposely didn't exercise because I wanted to know once and for all if it was possible to lose weight without exercising. Let's face it: during the dead of winter and a month after Jan 1, who feels like de-icing their car and driving to the gym to spend an entire hour on the elliptical all for the sake of losing weight?

Now this year, I would like to do some fun stuff outdoors. I know I'll enjoy it more since I'm not packing on the extra weight.

Great job! where are you getting your fat from? So far I have just been doing the full fat dressings and heavy cream

Full confession: I am a butter snacker (see thread in General Low-carb).

When I cook my eggs, I have 4 yolks and 3 egg whites with HWC cooked in butter and bacon grease. I eat salami, cheese, full-fat greek yogurt, and a limited amount of almonds and cashews. I also pour HWC in my coffee. When I eat ribeye steaks, I eat from the outside in. The first thing I go for is the chunks of fat.

I'm contemplating going over to the Russian store and getting some salo (smoked pork fat). That would be a great addition to my fatty diet.

Last night, I made deviled eggs with plenty of mayo. I think I scarfed down 5 eggs in one sitting, lol.

There are so many sources to get fat from because that's the way nature intended us to eat.

So 70 /20/-10 is how you got to look so hot? Not being weird, but seriously, you have my body and I want it back. I might have to stalk your journal to see what that looks like in terms of food amounts and sources.

Yep! I have been thriving off of a high-fat diet for the past year with barely any vegetables. I also drink at least a cup of coffee each morning with heavy cream. I know, I know I should eat more veggies, but my stomach doesn't agree with them a lot of the time.

My upper limit for carbs is 50 grams, but that's when I'm feeling VERY generous like around the holidays or something. My normal level is around 30 grams. Other than that, I stick with real food and avoid shakes, bars, or any other weird foods out there

You can have my body! Just stick with it for a year and you'll be soo surprised.