How to transition from low-fat/high-volume to higher-fat/lower-volume?

Pootler74

I have my macros set at 40/30/30, but I'm really struggling to get 30% fat. This is mostly because I (think I) need a high volume of food to stay full, so I tend to avoid anything calorie dense. I resent the calories things like whole milk costs and use skim or 1%, eat lean meat and reduced fat cheese, instead so I can eat more of them, and still leave room for more of other things, like wine or chocolate.

I eat mountains of fruit and veg. Which works wonderfully for dieting, but I'm afraid that being so used to large portions of low-cal food, I'll tend towards eating large portions of more calorie dense food when I start maintenance. At some point, I'm going to have to figure out how to move away from volume eating and have smaller portions so that I can maintain my weight loss without dieting.

The trouble is that I'm worried that if I experiment with eating lower volume and higher fat, I'll be hungry, or will think I am, and it will trigger binges. However, I also have a history of various eating disorders, so at the moment I am actually experimenting with incorporating my trigger foods (ice cream, fries, cheesecake and so on) into my diet so that I can ultimately eat normally.

I've been working on cooking with oil instead of spray, having butter now and then and adding things like avocado and nuts. But still nowhere near enough to fit my macros.

Has anyone else made the transition successfully? Any tips on how to incorporate more fat but not feel like I'm sacrificing other things for it?

JossFit

It seems to me like you are taking things at a good pace; slowly incorporating more of those calorically dense foods rather than just jumping straight into a higher fat diet.

Doing too much at once can leave you feeling hungry or mentally unsatisfied, so your approach is exactly what I would recommend to my clients... one thing at a time.

I see no reason that you NEED to reduce the amount of veggies you are eating. Most people don't get nearly enough.

Francl27

I'm a lot in the same boat, honestly. I don't sweat it if I'm a bit under on fat.

Alligator423

I think you're doing a great job by making small changes slowly to your diet and seeing how it goes. As for incorporating more fat, I'd say try to incorporate some things into your diet that are a bit creamy or "indulgent." Doing that helps me get some fats in my diet and not feel like I am dieting. e.g. yesterday I had a cup of broccoli cheddar soup as part of my lunch.

Pootler74

I'm not too worried about eating too little fat, as long as it's over 20%. Except that I'm hoping that more fat = slightly less saggy skin when I'm done.

It's more the volume of food that I'm worried about, perhaps that I'll eat the same volume of food, but more calorific, and put weight on again.

I'm sure it ties into my previous ED mindset, even though I've done amazingly well recently in having a sensible, balanced attitude towards food. Maybe I need to trust myself a bit more that I CAN find balance now.

Creamy things are an excellent idea! Added Haagen Dasz to my online grocery order. They ran out and delivered frozen yoghurt instead! Gah! But I'l certainly look for more things like that. Any suggestions for what that might include? I guess the calories have to really be worth it to make me eat them.

tebbertrevalee

Francl27 wrote: »

I'm a lot in the same boat, honestly. I don't sweat it if I'm a bit under on fat.

dogsarebears

I also tend to be low on fat because i don't eat much meat. The food that works best for me for adding fat is unsalted almonds. I find if I eat a serving of almonds slowly for a snack and wait a bit after eating them I feel decently satisfied and don't feel the need for more volume in my stomach. Salted almonds make me want to eat more, so I tend to avoid these, but I could also see that someone might like those as a replacement for less healthy salty foods.