Question:

I am a male 6-foot tall and 180lbs. I upped my protein to 180 grams a day and lowered my fat intake to 35 grams a day but I am gaining more weight now than I was before dieting or eating clean with no change in diet. Any advice on eating habits I should have or why this is happening?

– Taylor F.

Answer:

Sorry, Taylor – My crystal ball is a little foggy since your full diet and exercise routine aren’t described. So many things could be coming into play… alcohol, low physical activity, less sleep, undereating, and/or poor meal timing and volume. Perhaps make a list of the changes you’ve made to identify what you might have been doing before that was helpful and prevented gain.

I suspect your intake of 35 grams of fat may be a bit low. Fat at meals slows digestion and increases satiety, helping to reduce appetite. For reference, with a 2000 calorie diet, 60 grams of fat provides 27% of your total energy, well within a desirable heart-healthy weight-maintenance diet.

Look at where your calories are distributed. Giving up snacks between meals might make sense to reduce calories, but not if eating larger meals from rebound hunger is the result. Breakfast should be a larger meal than dinner unless you work out at night or keep late hours. I’d also suggest you look at how you eat, not just the grams you eat. See our article on Think Your Way Thin.

– Debbie J., MS, RD