Too much fat at one meal?

[JLHoward]

Hello! 

Day 1 of Whole30 here. I read the textbook but actually applying it to life is a different story. I'm confused as to how much fat at one meal is too much. The recipes in the textbook seem to use more fat than the guidelines state. A few questions/examples:

-If I make pumpkin soup with a can of pumpkin, full fat coconut milk, veggies, and 2 tbsp cooking fat, doesn't that include all of the fat I should be eating at one meal?

-If I make a salad with lettuce, chicken, veggies, and homemade compliant ranch dressing, isn't the dressing the fat (aka should I not add nuts and avocado?). 

-If I have chicken, veggies, sweet potato and put clarified butter on the sweet potato and veggies, can I still add a sauce made from olive oil onto my chicken?

I thought we had to keep fats to 1-2 tbsp at each meal, so my assumption is that we shouldn't have more than 2 tbsp of dressing on our salad, and no more than 2 tbsp clarified butter on our veggies, correct?

Any clarification would be much appreciated!

[SugarcubeOD]

Your timing is impeccable - Melissa wrote an article about this just today... see if it helps

https://whole30.com/dear-melissa-is-there-such-a-thing-as-too-much-fat-on-whole30/#wholesome?vgo_ee=RebQ0hMM2XCbcJ41OalDGAA3SuMkJhmkGexv49sZvNU%3D

 

[JLHoward]

Yes, it is helpful, thank you. It's just hard to grasp eating multiple fats at one meal. I'm following the meal template for portion sizes, but for me, I'm wondering if it actually does all "even out in the wash." I don't eat seafood, so my main proteins have been chicken, turkey, pork and ground beef, and I eat eggs for breakfast with spinach and sweet potatoes cooked in ghee. So while other Whole30ers may be having less fats at one meal due to having fish, I feel as though I am limited by that option. If I have a salad, I add chicken, tomatoes, pecans, avocado and oil/vinegar for the dressing. I made a few Whole30 recipes (i.e. beef chili, Melissa's sweet potato hash, and the Almond butter chicken noodle bowl posted on the Whole30recipe instagram). Those have been my dinners so far, and my lunches have either been leftover dinners, or salads. I know Melissa's article said to look out for indicators that you've been consuming too much fat, and I haven't experienced any of those side effects, so I guess I just have to get used to eating more fat than I'm used to. I'm just hoping to lose weight and change my composition at the end of this, and I feel as though the amount of fat I've been eating might hold me back from losing as much as I would like.