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Having trouble incorporating fats


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Day 4 here. All is well except having a tough go at understanding the right way to incorporate fats into my meals correctly. I've definitely noticed that while I'm full after meals, I quickly become hungry about 2 hours after-- my conclusion is a complete lack of fats in my diet. I really do mean that... outside of the fat in meats and some cooking oil, I have virtually no fat in my meals. 

 

I am a mega picky eater. So here are my two questions to rectify my fats issues: 

1) should I eat nuts/almonds each day? and if so how much?

2) could I incorporate almond butter occasionally? if so how much? (I know almond butter is a gateway drug to the deep darkness of almond butter fanaticism.. but humor me with what a healthy amount would be if I was able to resist the temptation to go to the dark side). 

 

I know choosing much healthier fat options is ideal and I'm open to those, but I also really need the answer to these two questions because right now it's either I have no fat or I risk implementing far too much since I'm uncertain about the quantity. 

 

Week one is quite the learning curve. I'm thankful for any and all help! 

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Of course you're hungry after two hours with no fats! Without fats, you won't have the necessary fuel to last 4-5 hours between meals. Your brain and your body need high quality fats as fuel.

If you want to see the benefits of Whole30, you need to follow the template and the template is clear about having protein and veggies and fats at every meal. And there are a WIDE range of healthy fats available to you! For example, my favorites are ghee (clarified butter), homemade mayo (which can become a variety of sauces), olive oil (in fabulous dressings), avocados and olives. And there's duck fat and lard and coconut and more.

Have one to two thumbs of fat at each meal (a half an avocado is a serving) or follow the handful guidelines about coconut, olives or nuts.

I'm confused as to why you want to frame your choice as EITHER nuts or almond butter OR no fat. That's simply a false choice. Nuts, while fats, are not your healthiest option, and almond butter has derailed many a Whole30 by encouraging people's sugar cravings. Nuts and almond butter should be your last choice, not your first. (And a serving of nuts is a CLOSED handful, which, believe me, is not very many.)

One of the challenges and benefits of Whole30 is expanding your food choices. Why not try a variety of fats (while you are trying a variety of vegetables and proteins)?

Please go back and look at the template and at the list of fats. And think about why you are doing a Whole30 and what positive changes you hope to see. Hopefully that will help to motivate you to try new foods and combinations and to preservere in your Whole30.

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 I generally eat 1 to 2 Tbsp of ghee, mayo or coconut oil at each meal.  If I eat avocado with my meal, I'll use a little less.  Make sure you are eating a template portion of protein and veggies and adjust the amount of fat you add to each meal so that you can go 4 to 5 hours without getting hungry.  It may take you a few days to figure out what your body needs.  

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Thanks for the help! The rest of my place follows the meal template.. I'm just having trouble incorporating the fats because, as I said, I'm a very picky eater. I will definitely use what you guys said, thanks for the help. I'm still unclear on how much almond butter is an okay amount, so clarification on that would be helpful. Even if that's a last resort, I'd like to know that if I do choose to use it, that I'm eating the correct amount. Thanks!

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Thanks for the help! The rest of my place follows the meal template.. I'm just having trouble incorporating the fats because, as I said, I'm a very picky eater. I will definitely use what you guys said, thanks for the help. I'm still unclear on how much almond butter is an okay amount, so clarification on that would be helpful. Even if that's a last resort, I'd like to know that if I do choose to use it, that I'm eating the correct amount. Thanks!

 

Serving size for nut butters is 1-2 thumb-sized portions. You could kind of put a glop on your plate and shape it like your thumb, and if it looks about that size, that's a good amount.

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I generally eat 1 to 2 Tbsp of ghee, mayo or coconut oil at each meal. If I eat avocado with my meal, I'll use a little less. Make sure you are eating a template portion of protein and veggies and adjust the amount of fat you add to each meal so that you can go 4 to 5 hours without getting hungry. It may take you a few days to figure out what your body needs.

How do you eat the fat if it doesn't "go" with your meal? I mean, do you just pour a tablespoon of ghee over sweet potato hash once it's on your plate? Or like with the coconut oil, do you just eat a spoonful? I'm not a fan of avocados so I'm trying to figure out how to add fat also.

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Both ghee and coconut oil go with everything in my opinion LOL.  And yes, I would pour a Tbsp of ghee or coconut oil or avocado oil (it does not taste like avocados) on my sweet potato hash.  It may take you a while to get used to it, but fat really does make everything taste better and it controls hunger/cravings.  Do you like olives?  Try eating half a cup of them with your meal.  If you drink tea or coffee in the morning, try stirring in a tsp or two of coconut oil.  The oil will float on top, but if you don't like that you can throw it in the blender for 30 seconds.

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cdemasters, I just want you to know I understand your picky problems. I don't like veggies. :) But I've been making myself eat them for longer than I've been doing the Whole30 so I can tell you that it does get easier to enjoy things you thought you'd never like. Just keep trying new foods and recipes with an open mind!

JulieP757--I despise olives, too! Lol. And since it's been a few years since I've tried them I will take my own advice from above and try them again. Who knows? Maybe I'll like them this time! But I will definitely give your coconut oil and ghee suggestions a try.

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How do you eat the fat if it doesn't "go" with your meal? I mean, do you just pour a tablespoon of ghee over sweet potato hash once it's on your plate? Or like with the coconut oil, do you just eat a spoonful? I'm not a fan of avocados so I'm trying to figure out how to add fat also.

I can't eat oils straight BUT I definitely am not afraid of them any more. I dip veggies in plain mayo. I thought I'd hate it because I'd spent so much time hating mayo but now I love it and I'm sad if o run out of mayo lol

I also love off guac at breakfast (I used to hate avocado and now I love it.)

For the hash, I'd probably use either mayo or compliant ranch. It can be done :)

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cdemasters, I just want you to know I understand your picky problems. I don't like veggies. :) But I've been making myself eat them for longer than I've been doing the Whole30 so I can tell you that it does get easier to enjoy things you thought you'd never like. Just keep trying new foods and recipes with an open mind!

JulieP757--I despise olives, too! Lol. And since it's been a few years since I've tried them I will take my own advice from above and try them again. Who knows? Maybe I'll like them this time! But I will definitely give your coconut oil and ghee suggestions a try.

 

If you've never tried them, look for Castelvetrano olives. I can find them at my regular grocery store, they look green but they don't taste like the typical green olives you might have tried before. They are a much milder flavor, and even though I'm not a big olive person (I can do kalamatas in recipes with lots of other stuff and can't stand green olives at all), these I will just eat straight from the jar.

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