I still don't get the fat guidelines

[befabdaily]

I see these all the time:

all oils - 1-2 thumb sized portions

all butters - 1-2 thumb sized portions

olives - one open heaping handful

coconut flakes - one open heaping handful

nuts and seeds - one closed handful

avocado - 1/2 - 1

coconut milk - between 1/4 and 1/2 of one 14oz can

What exactly does this mean? Should I be basically eating as much fat as is in this list (from varied sources) each day? Or should I be adding one item from this list as my fat to each meal? Or something in between?

[Derval]

As far as I understand it, each of the items above count as 1 portion of fat, and that each meal should have 1+ portion.

[EllieBellie]

I take it to mean that those each roughly equate to one serving of fat. As in, half an avocado - in fat portion terms - is roughly equivalent to 1-2 thumbs of butter.

I usually make sure I have at least one serving of fat with each meal, so at least a thumb of dressing or a heaping handful of olives. However, I don't stress if I happen to put two or three servings of fat if the meal or recipe calls for it.

Mostly, I find it helpful to see the relative proportions of fat. I'm close to going off the rails on coconut milk or nuts, for instance, it gives me pause to consider that I am consuming an awful lot of fat from a relatively small serving size.