How can I possibly get enough fat? Or does it even matter?

It matters in the long run, you do have to have a certain amount of fat in your diet. Avocado is a good source, as well as the aforementioned nuts and full fat dairy.

Eating more fat (9 cal per g) will make it harder to stay under 1200. Perhaps you need to reassess your daily goal?

Dietary fat is an important part of the diet, and going too low on fat is definitely no good...

that being said, some people perform better on lower fat diets, and others function better on higher fat (and lower carb) diets. There are actually various genetic factors that may determine how you respond to dietary fats vs. carbohydrates.

If you want to add more fat into your diet, it's important to make sure that you don't exceed your calorie needs, as fat is quite calorie dense. I suggest that if you add more fat into your diet, compensate by decreasing your carbohydrates/sugars.

Nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, high quality fatty fish (such as salmon) are all excellent sources of healthy fats.

Try to do it gradually...maybe a few nuts here and there, or an occasional fattier cut of meat, no need to go crazy.

Monitor yourself...if you change your diet and you don't feel good, gain weight, or whatever, adjust accordingly. Self-discovery is a very important part of the journey. Self-experimentation is key!

Hope this helped!!

Dan

Thanks, all. I'm just worried that with full fat dairy etc. it'll be difficult to stay under 1200 calories/day and feel full. But I guess I do have some junk in my diet that I could replace with avocados and dairy! Nuts seems to contribute to the protein problem, though.

There is no protein problem. At 1200 you are almost certainly not too high on protein, especially if you are also high on carbs. You can think of the protein number from MFP as more of a minimum.

Thanks, all. I'm just worried that with full fat dairy etc. it'll be difficult to stay under 1200 calories/day and feel full. But I guess I do have some junk in my diet that I could replace with avocados and dairy! Nuts seems to contribute to the protein problem, though.

There is no protein problem. At 1200 you are almost certainly not too high on protein, especially if you are also high on carbs. You can think of the protein number from MFP as more of a minimum.

This. Protein is a minimum goal, as is fat. Carbs should be a max goal. Unless you are eating an absurd amount of protein (and at 1200 calories, that's effectively impossible), you can't eat too much. Don't worry about busting on sugar either. As long as you are under calories and over on protein and fat, you're fine.

I'm on a high fat intake diet as arranged w/my doctor for my specific medical conditions.

I drink "bulletproof coffee" for breakfast: 1 cup of coffee, 2 tbsp grass fed butter, 1 tbsp coconut oil, and vanilla flavored Stevia. It packs 320 cals, 0 protein, 0 carbs, and 36 grams of fat.

I don't eat anything else for breakfast, but honestly I do not feel the need to anyway. I get hungry daily around 11 - 12ish; in time for lunch.

My target is between 1200 and 1300 and I manage to hit it just fine. I do stick to lean cuts of meats for the rest of the day and avoid nuts and dairy to ensure my fat doesn't go too high.

Good luck!

Thanks, all. I'm just worried that with full fat dairy etc. it'll be difficult to stay under 1200 calories/day and feel full. But I guess I do have some junk in my diet that I could replace with avocados and dairy! Nuts seems to contribute to the protein problem, though.

There is no protein problem. At 1200 you are almost certainly not too high on protein, especially if you are also high on carbs. You can think of the protein number from MFP as more of a minimum.

This. Protein is a minimum goal, as is fat. Carbs should be a max goal. Unless you are eating an absurd amount of protein (and at 1200 calories, that's effectively impossible), you can't eat too much. Don't worry about busting on sugar either. As long as you are under calories and over on protein and fat, you're fine.

For eating only the bare 1200 minimum, this is the best advice you can get. However, IMO, with only 25 pounds to lose, you've set your goal too aggressively. One pound a week is slow, steady and, most importantly, maintainable. If you really want to stop yo-yoing, stop looking for the fast way out. You could definitely eat a little more, especially protein and fat. Check this out and all the links it references:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

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It's pretty important to make sure you are getting the recommended amounts of fats and protein into your diet. I find little things like cheese and mayo/horse radish on sandwiches to be a great way to get them into my diet.

You just have to balance out your diet better...it sounds like you have a very carb heavy diet (noun) if you are constantly going over there but under fat and protein.

Also, I would suggest tracking carbs as a whole rather than sugar as a subset unless you have some specific reason for doing so like diabetes or another medical condition.

Also, I wouldn't worry at all about going over on protein...it is difficult to have too much protein.

Ultimately, calories are what is most important here...but I'd definitely suggest making efforts towards balancing your diet and getting proper nutrition which includes dietary fat...truly getting optimal nutrition on 1200 calories is pretty difficult though, it's a pretty paltry calorie goal and just about as aggressive as you can get.

Add coconut oil to your diet. It is high in fat and has lots of health benefits . I add a tablespoon a day to my coffee. It is 120 calories, but I always feel super energetic after drinking it.

I think it's delicious - especially with the vanilla stevia (I use Sweet Leaf brand drops). I was skeptical. You have to blend it somehow (I use an immersion blender); otherwise, you are drinking a cup of coffee with grease on top. Oh, and it has to be unsalted butter, of course. I've made it with salted - it's drinkable, but it's much better with unsalted.