Trying to not be afraid of eating fat

oneoftheseyesterdays wrote: »

Hi!
Like many, I suffer from focusing on "low/no fat" foods. I recently saw a nutritionist and even though I thought I knew everything about dieting she told me to add more fat in my diet. So I've been doing that this week, and I've been going over in my fat but staying in my calories. it makes me a little nervous just out of habit of not eating this much fat (peanut butter, whole milk yogurt, avocado) but at the same time I'm excited because I'm actually full and satisfied with my meals and I'm not starving an hour after breakfast because of my low-fat yogurt and banana. I'm also staying within my calories versus eating twice as much because I'm so hungry.

Anyone else have success with eating more fat? What are your go tos?

Thank you! I'm not sure

Yep, I can confirm, eating fatty foods but staying within your calorie limit helps with weight loss. Have been doing it with desserts for a while now.

I stopped worrying about fat and I stopped being hungry all the time. When I tried to avoid fat, I'd be starving every night and would have a hard time controlling that level of hunger and would end up snacking on stuff that made me gain weight, or at least kept me from losing. It sounds counter-productive but only because we were misinformed for decades.

I don't do well at all on a low fat diet (hungry all the time, cravings, low energy). My favorite sources of fat are avocado, coconut (butter or oil), mayo, olive oil, and nut butters.

I'm with you. Fat makes me feel full in ways even lean protein can't.

I was the same. I was completely on the low fat bandwagon for years. No butter on toast with just a bit of jam. Zero fat yogurt. Powdered skim milk.... Those were my slowly gaining years.

I did a LOT of reading and research when I started exploring higher fat. Seeing that fat is good for healh let me lose that fat fear.

Now I eat a low carb high fat diet. I'm on the other extreme. I feel better than ever.

Eating fat does not make us fat. Its eating TOO much in general of anything that does that.

Those of us in or near our 50"s remember the 90"s well. The constant drumming in the head seemed non-stop.(To me) Along with Talking Heads Or were they the 80"s? Anyway .... yup had this issue for months and it can be a difficult hurdle. Keep at it with baby steps. I'm over it now and put fats on stuff like a champ!

I remember seeing reduced fat peanut butter. And looking at the label. And realizing that it was 'increased sugar' peanut butter. And grabbing the full-fat version.

I'll admit, for some foods, like mayo, I look for the lower fat versions, but I cook with olive and grapeseed oils. And unless the original recipe is something 'swimming' in oil (I recall finding a Hungarian potato recipe that called for 2 cups of oil for a 4-serving recipe and it was for simmering/stewing, not deep-frying), I'll mostly use what's called for. In most of the recipes I make, that's 1-2 tbsp for 4-6 servings. With very few exceptions, having the full-fat version isn't a deal-breaker. (I'd say coconut milk is one of them; I'll use the light unless there's a very good reason for the full-fat version. Since my mother never cooked with coconut milk when I was growing up, I don't have anything to compare my recipes to, so I don't notice a taste discrepancy.)

When it comes to dessert, I look for low-cal recipes, which often means that some of the fat has been switched out or was never there in the first place. (Strawberry sorbet=strawberries, water, sugar, and lemon juice). But that's more about making dessert once a week and not wanting to make a calorie bomb if it's not for a large gathering. I look at the overall calories, try to keep them below 250, and usually, that means less fat. But a recipe was, say, 175 calories per serving, of which 90 came from fat? If it tasted good, I'd make it frequently.

I think the fat scare of the 70's, 80's, and 90's is going to take a very long time to die out. It's said that the scientific consensus usually advances when outdated ideas die out along with the authorities that defend them.

Last year, I quit my primary doctor of 10 years for giving me crappy outdated dietary and exercise advice. He was happy that I made major improvements in my weight, controlling my diabetes and cholesterol, but he was not happy that my lifestyle changes included low carb high fat. (A couple of years ago he prescribed I do 100 sit-ups a day to reduce stomach fat).