Lean vs. Fatty Meat. Which Should You Eat?

There’s a few, BIG misconceptions around lean and fatty protein.

1. Excess body fat is bad so…dietary fat is also bad.
2. Bodybuilders eat lean meat/protein so that means it’s healthier.
3. Mainstream science says fat is bad for you.

The quick answer is all 3 of those statements are wrong!

📺 If you don’t want to read you can just watch this video instead.

Lean and fatty protein are both good for you. If health is your concern, you can and should eat both.

But if you’re looking for a way to cut your calorie intake to lose weight, this is where leaner, lower fat options can work in your favor.

In other words, your goals should determine what you eat. The same goes for exercise!

⚠️ If you’re not familiar with calorie intake and caloric deficits, see my previous article, “How To Burn Fat”.

1️⃣ Calories and Fat

If your goal is to burn fat and lose weight, you should have two goals in mind:

• Hit your daily protein intake while…
• Maintaining a caloric deficit

You could do this with fattier cuts of meat but leaner cuts make the process much easier.

Why? Fat (9 calories/gram) has more calories per gram than protein (4 calories/gram).

So if you had 1/2lb of ground beef with 4% fat, you get roughly 46g of protein (good) with 260 calories.

Compare that to 1/2 of ground beef with 15% fat. You get 44g of protein (good) but it comes in at 480 calories!

That’s an extra 220 calories for what’s basically the same amount of protein.

Remember, “Hit your daily protein intake while maintaining a caloric deficit.”

Lean protein addresses both goals — fattier protein only helps us with our daily protein goal.

The exact same logic would apply to any other food such as a high fat Greek yogurt and a low fat or fat free alternative. Keep the serving sizes the same between the two and the lower fat option will net you fewer calories because it lacks the additional calories from fat.

2️⃣ Trade-offs

Of course, this switch from higher fat to lower fat comes with some tradeoffs.

Taste is a big one.

Chicken thighs just taste better than chicken breasts. The same goes for yogurt or milk.

For most people, the fattier option just tastes better.

But viewed in a different way, the calories from fat that are no longer in your diet can be replaced with more food — focus on protein! — which can make dieting for weight loss more enjoyable.

Eat more food while still losing weight? That sounds very sustainable, right?

3️⃣ Fat is Essential

Let me be perfectly clear: just because fat is an easy way to cut calories from your diet doesn’t mean you should avoid fat entirely.

Humans love dietary fat which makes perfect sense because it is essential for optimal health.

Even bodybuilders who are cutting weight to single digit levels of body fat still eat fat. They just eat the bare minimum required to preserve their health…or what little they have left lol.

A common formula used to get an estimate is: bodyweight (lbs) * 0.3 = grams in fat per day.

So assuming you weigh 175lbs: 175 * 0.3 = 53g fat per day.

To hit a goal like this without tracking I cook with olive oil, eat eggs and yogurt regularly, while occasionally eating fish, avocados, and nuts.

🙋‍♂️ Got a question about dieting? Get in touch with me and I will be more than happy to help!

📺 Want a deeper dive into dietary fat? Watch this video!