I'm looking back on my Fitday and I'm consistently not meeting my target intakes for fat. I need to increase my good fats without adding too many calories or taking away too much actual food, you can swap a giant tub of low fat yoghurt for a tiny tub of regular.
Other than nuts (just cannot believe how many calories you have to give up to have a tiny crunch on 2 tastleless things that stick in your teeth) and olive oil (I'm not sure you can begin to comprehend how much I hate olive oil, but I'd rather drink diesel) what is a decent way to add back a small amount of fat that is also a reasonable amount of food?
The problem with fats is that they're more calorie-dense than carbs and proteins, so you might need to give up a little bulk to get more fats. Are there other kinds of oils you like? Olive oil definitely isn't the only one. Canola oil, flax seed oil, and sunflower oil are all good ones. Nut butters are good too, and more flavourful than the nuts themselves, but those can be pretty calorie-dense (though very filling). Goose, duck, and pork also have monounsaturated fats.
How about coconut oil? It is a saturated fat (and solid or semi-solid at room temp), but is one of the few natural sources of "good" medium-chain triglicerides. Some research shows that coconut oil raises HDL and lowers LDL. And, in one study, waist circumference.
(MCTs go straight into the liver rather than into the bloodstream, and require more energy for the body to process).
Coconut milk is also tasty, and delicious in Thai curries etc. Get the full fat kind, though -- the low fat kind is the same stuff but with extra water added.
How low are your fats? As I remember, you are on a doctor-supervised VLC diet because you are bed-ridden. Fitday just scales down the exact same percentages, but that may not really work for a diet that is outside the usual range. As long as you are getting some fat, and you feel good, I wouldn't worry about it too much--though it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring it up to your doctor.
My Fitday is customised to my specific targets, so I know I am too low in fats even for an unusual diet. Forgot to mention that I'm allergic to fish, I have led such a fish-free life (whole family is allergic) that it never even occurs to me that anyone does eat it!
I don't like any kind of oil that I can actually see or taste, like salad dressing or something like that, it needs to be disguised fat that you can't actually immediately look at and go ooh that's fat, or anything you can squeeze out of your food using kitchen paper towels. Coconut milk sounds like an interesting idea, maybe even just buy a pint of 2% milk and use that sometimes instead of my skimmed.
I've dealt with this a bit myself. For me, it's the volume/fat trade-off that's an issue. I'd rather eat more food, with lower fat, than have a Tbs. of "good" fat from olive oil.
Upping the fat from dairy might help, although that's saturated fat, which might open another can of worms. Whole eggs? Which brings the cholesterol issue up.
I hear you on the nuts thing. I love nuts, and know they are good for me in portioned amounts, but would rather just eat more bulky food like veggies and lean protein. However, I've decided recently that I need to increase thse good fats in my diet, even if it means less volume of food some days.
In your case, I think avocado would be a great choice. Hopefully, you like them! Also, you might get more satisfaction from nut butters rather than regular nuts... A TBS of peanut butter has about the same calories as 15 almonds. Some peanut butter on celery might be a great snack? Also, flaxseeds are a good source of good fats. You can use them in recipes just like sesame seeds or get ground flaxseed and add it in almost anything. The ground flaxseed is actually better for you too, since the inside part of the seed (with all the good stuff) is already exposed. Otherwise, they can go right through you without ever cracking open all those good nutrients!
I would avoid trying to get extra fat from dairy products as they are generally the unhealthier saturated fats.
Need a little more fat
