How can I keep track of how much fat I consume?

In general, there is so little fat in naturally occurring fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans that if you eat a diet consisting primarily of these foods, and if you eat according to the guidelines of Eat More, Weigh Less program, then you don’t have to count calories and deal with complex formulas. You don’t even have to count grams of fat, unless you eat a lot of commercially prepared foods which may be higher in fat than you think. If you want to be more precise about keeping track of how much fat to consume. Here’s how:

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company issues tables that list the so called ideal body weights. (Insurance companies are in the business of predicting who is going to die pre maturely, and they use body weight as one of the forecasters of early mortality.) Keep in mind that these tables are not very precise. First, the tables are reissued every few years. The table issued in 1983 has heavier weights than the one issued in 1959, and that may not be to the advantage of your health. Second, there is a wide range of “ideal weight” based on frame size. Third, and most important, these charts do not take into account individual differences in physiology and metabolism.