Why do we need dietary fats?
We need adequate fat to support hormone regulation, cell signalling and the absorption of many nutrients (vitamins A D E K are fat soluble vitamins).

Fats are calorie dense, we get substantial amounts of energy from smaller portions of fats so just be mindful how many fat sources and how much you are including in your meals.

• Benefits

  • Our body needs healthy fats for brain cell formation, cells in our central nervous system, for absorbing a lot of vitamins and minerals.

• Portion sizes - Not tracking

  • Look at your thumb roughly from the tip to the base. Generally 1-2 thumbs sized portions of dietary fats at meals, however the thumb size can be more generous for whole foods (avo, nuts, seeds, fish) when compared to liquids (oils).

• Portion sizes - Tracking

  • We recommend setting fats at a minimum of 20% of your calories. If you are using the FNC Diet Builder you will see how to make sure of this. Otherwise, take your daily calorie aim and multiply by 0.2. That gives you your minimum calorie aim from fats. Divide that number by 9 and you have your minimum grams of fats per day for health. Going above this minimum is not an issue, provided you are keeping an eye on total calories. This means that if you are focussing on your total calories and protein, then your fats and carbs can be dictated by your personal preferences and individual goal.

• Ideal sources

  • Plant based: nuts, seeds, avocado, olives, olive oil

    Marine based: cold water fish, salmon, mackerel, sardines

    Some animal sources: some fats from meat, eggs and dairy

• Timing

  • Try to consume healthy fats with meals that are at least 2 hours before your training. Fats are fairly slow to digest, can sit in the stomach for longer than carbs. This can be useful at times, however before training when we want to feel comfort, fats might not be the best choice.

• How to prepare it

  • Most fats don’t need much preparation but can enhance the taste of meals. This can be useful when expanding your plant intake, using some olive oil for salad dressings, avo, nuts and seeds for salads, some cheese sauce for veggies, however just be mindful of how much you are adding.

Q: If I eat more fat will I burn more fat?

Yes, it’s true! If you increase the amount of fats within your diet your body will indeed increase the amount of fat you burn. 'You burn what you eat'!

BUT! Fat loss and fat burning are NOT the same thing. 

For body fat loss, a calorie deficit needs to be present over time. After calories and protein have been matched, the ratio of carbs and fats doesn't really matter. If you are eating a lot of fats, you may be eating too many calories to reduce your body fat and may even increase it. So whilst you might be burning more fat, keep the perspective that it’s all relative to how much you are eating overall and energy balance.

Nuts and nut butters have a lot more fats than protein. Fat dense foods are also Calorie dense foods. 1 gram of fat = 9 Calories.

We need to eat fats for our health but portion sizes have a big impact in weight loss.

It might be easier to use spoons and cups to measure, however it's more accurate to use a kitchen scale. That little extra effort whilst dieting could be the difference between progress and no progress.

Bacon is another popular food which is often actually higher in fats than protein.

For a fat loss / weight maintenance goal, consider how often you are eating bacon:

Eating often > choose something leaner

Eating rarely > move up the spectrum to the point where you will enjoy the taste/experience the most