Made popular by Dr. Atkins, a high protein, high fat diet has been touted by many diet gurus as a quick way to jump-start your weight loss. First, though, you should keep a few considerations in mind such as your caloric needs, the general guidelines of the diet and the possible problems and challenges that come with such a diet.
How Many Calories Do You Need?
Before jumping into any diet, it's best to calculate how many calories you need daily. While there are a variety of ways, you can get a ballpark figure by first determining how often you work out. If you are mostly sedentary, meaning you sit at a desk for most of the day, multiple your weight by 14 to find your estimated daily allotment of calories. If you are moderately active, meaning you exercise for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week, multiply your weight by 17. If you are very active, meaning you rarely sit at work and exercise at least for an hour, 5 days a week, multiple your weight by 20. Keep in mind these are ballpark figures. Your height, genetics, gender and other factors matter. See the Calorie Calculator (Resources section) for more information.
The Diet
Once you find out how many calories you need, break up your diet in the following percentages: 50 percent fat, 35 to 40 percent protein and 10 to 15 percent carbohydrates. In theory, when you reduce carbs, this puts your body in a state of ketosis, where your body is forced to use fat to burn for energy. When relying on high fat and high protein foods, it's important to bear in mind that lean protein sources are the best. Although this is a high fat food, you really only want to get unsaturated fat, which can be found in plant sources like avocado and nuts, which are relatively low in carbs. Of the carbs allowed, you must choose those from vegetables and whole grains. Avoid refined grains, added sugars and most fruit in general.
Considerations
The American Heart Association has warned against high protein, high fat diets, and says Americans get too much protein in their diets as it is. While the AHA approves that whole grains are encouraged, it stresses that the average person only needs 50 to 60 grams of protein daily. Not only is too much protein taxing on your kidneys, but any weight loss you experience is mostly due to water, not fat. Additionally if you do not take care of avoid saturated fats, this can increase your risk for heart disease. Lastly, diets that restrict foods are hard to maintain long-term and make dining out difficult.
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