Diet and Amount of Fat

My normal diet consists of around 15-20 grams of fat a day. I have always bought lean meats like 98% fat free beef, tuna, chicken breast, and I never eat fast food. I have ate this way for years thinking it was low fat, so it must be healthy. I still found myself overweight probably from overeating carbs like bread, pasta, etc.

(My question is can a lowfat diet stall weight loss because it seems like I can't lose any fat by reducing my calories to around 1800.) I workout 3-5 days a week. I am a male and weigh 198lbs, trying to get to around 160. Is my lowfat diet hurting my weight loss efforts because I read the body hangs onto fat if you don't eat enough fat. Or is this just a myth?  

Some fats are good for you.  Stay away from trans fats (hydrogenated oils) and most saturated fats.

The fats found in olive oil, canola oil, avocados, and many more (feel free to chime in people) are actually really healthy for you.  You should be aiming for 15-25% of your calories to come from fat.

Fat gets a bad rap from the low-fat diets from a few years back... same way carbs get a bad rap from the Atkins diet.  You need a good ratio of carbs-fats-protein.  Everyone is different, I personally go for a 40-30-30 type... but my carbs are usually between 40-55% of my calories, fats are 20-30% and protein 20-30%.  This varies in those ranges on any given day depending on what I eat or if I'm eating out, etc.

Thanks I will try to get at least 20% of my calories from fats. Has anyone lost a great deal of weight on a low fat diet as I am curious if they are as successful?

Actually, these are the current guidelines with regard to fat in the average American's diet:

Current dietary guidelines, including those of the US government [Dietary Guidelines (USDA/DHHS, 2005), Dietary Reference Intakes [reference DRI macronutrient book], National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP, 2001)], American Heart Association (AHA, 2206), American Diabetes Association (2006) and the American Cancer Society (2006), are all relatively consistent with respect to dietary fat. The emphasis is generally on encouraging the consumption of diets moderate in total fat (25% to 35% of calories) and low in saturated (<7% of calories) and trans fatty acids (<1% of calories), with the balance provided by unsaturated fat, either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. The actual recommendations among organizations differ slightly, largely dictated by their intended goals. In all cases the guidelines/recommendations couple the dietary advice with that for physical activity, with the intent to encourage achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Are you sure you are only eating 15-20grams of fat That means less then 10% of your calories are coming from fat, I'm not even sure if that's possible. I don't eat meat and I get more fat then you. Maybe you mean saturated fat? I think all this obsessing with percentages isn't really helping anymore. Eat whole foods, nothing processed, whole grains, lots of vegetables. Do something active every day and it will be impossible to be fat.  

Well, I'm a guy who went from 207 down to 165.  My target throughout my weight loss was 50% carbs, 30% protein, and 20% fat.  That seemed to work for me.  On the 1500 to 1800 calories I was eating in that period, that would work out to 300 to 360 calories from fat, = 30 to 36 g of fat per day (approximately).

I eat lean ground beef (not extra lean), tuna, chicken, etc, and the closest I get to fast food is Subway, with carefully selected sandwiches and condiments.  I don't know what I did differently than you. 

Clint