How to Calculate Daily Fat Intake

Consuming fat does not always equal inches on your waistline. Although the inclusion of healthy fats in one's diet is a vital step towards weight control, it is important to carefully monitor the types of fat and amount of fat calories you digest. Calculating your daily fat intake is a simple process that will guide you to better manage your weight.

Things You'll Need

• Scale
• Calculator

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Instructions

• 1

  Educate yourself on different types of fats. Take caution that most of your daily fat intake is sourced in "Good Fats", those that are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fats lower total LDL levels (bad cholesterol), while increasing your body's HDL (good cholesterol); they can be found in nuts, canola and olive oils, oatmeal, freshly popped popcorn, avocados and a variety of other foods. Polyunsaturated fats include Omega 3 fatty acids and also lower your LDL. They are found in salmon and other seafood, corn, soyfish and sunflower oil. Avoid "Bad Fats": saturated fats and trans fats. The former, primarily found in meats, dairy and eggs, raise total cholesterol levels and LDL. Trans fats are the most dangerous types of fats; they were invented by scientists to extend the shelf life of numerous products found in grocery stores worldwide, and are also in french fries, fried food and many packaged products.

• 2

  Get an accurate reading of your weight. After learning about and deciding to control your fat intake, weigh yourself in the nude as a motivation to take control of your weight; weigh yourself in the same way every week.

• 3

  Know that each fat gram contains 9 calories. With this number, you can calculate exactly how many of your daily calories are sourced in fat. As a general rule, 25% of your daily caloric intake should be derived from fat if one hope's to control or lose weight. For example, if a product's nutrition label reads the item contains 12g of fat and 200 calories: 12*9= 81.
  Thus, 81 calories out of the total 200 are sourced in fat.

• 4

  Use the following chart, issued by the Dietary Guidelines of America, to further check your recommended daily fat intake:
  Total calories per day Saturated fat in grams Total fat in grams
  1,600 18 or less 53
  2,0001 20 or less 65
  2,200 24 or less 73
  2,5001 25 or less 80
  2,800 31 or less 93