eating fat
I’m discovering that I need more fat in my diet.
I didn’t set out to do super-low-fat because I don’t believe that’s necessary or healthful. A reasonable goal would be 30 percent calories from fat, but I haven’t been getting that because I haven’t been eating much meat or much in the way of peanut butter, cheese, or eggs. Also, because I get in a rush, I’ve been tending to grab fruit rather than spend the time to make salad–and thus I haven’t been getting my olive oil either.
20 years ago when I had a brief fling with bodybuilding competition, most people thought the best way to drop fat pre-contest was to eat as close to zero fat as possible. That’s what I did–and I felt like I was starving all day long, although I was also eating literally all day long. The weight came off, but I was miserable.
These days I’m finding that my small, lowfat meals aren’t holding me very long. (After eating, say, 250 to 300 calories of something like soup and pita bread or oatmeal and yogurt, I’m ravenous again in 90 minutes.) So I’ve got to start eating more cottage cheese, eggs, olive oil, nuts, and meat.
I probably also need more protein for satiety. I haven’t been trying to reduce my protein intake (that would be dumb, as I’m lifting weights three times a week), but my new focus on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains has in effect reduced my protein consmption.
So I’ll make these tweaks to my reduced-calorie regimen and see what happens. Today is a maintenance day. What joy.
