For beginners, getting that fat macro up is both important and very difficult. We have been taught our whole lives that fat is bad, but now you are starting an eating pattern that says the more fat the better. How do you balance that? It was a major struggle for us when we first started, but I can guarantee two things. 1. getting more fat on keto isn’t difficult. 2. like everything in your new lifestyle, it will take a little planning and work.
THE BASICS OF GETTING MORE FAT ON KETO
If you search this subject online you will get an abundance of food items that are high in fat, low in carbs, and appropriate to help get that fat macro up over the 70 to 75% we are aiming for. Things such as avocados, nuts, olives, and coconuts are popular solutions. Our blog today isn’t going to take that route, I would like to show you a practical way to plan out your meals in a manner that won’t require throwing a hunk of coconut on the side of your plate.
Don’t get me wrong, all those foods are part of how we do things and make life easier. But if you are constantly eating them as side dishes you will quickly tire of them and be back to where you started. The incorporation of items high in fat is the key to sustainable keto.
A SAMPLE KETO MEAL
When we sit down to do our meal plan, we start with the protein most times. For this example, we will use chicken. We have decided to take the chicken and cook it in the air fryer with some salt, pepper, and garlic.
Now we move on to the side dish. Some zucchini noodles would be nice. In this case we are going to cook them down a bit in some chicken broth and add some green pepper for texture. This is a great meal and something I would eat any day of the week. It’s very high in protein and low in carbs, but also low in fat. Your body is now running on fat if your doing keto, so we need to get that number higher.
In this case we turn to our list of ingredients that are high in fat. The easiest thing to do would be throw some high fat cheese on the side and call it good. But that’s a cop out for what could become a very good meal. Instead let’s run with the cheese idea.
If we take some parmesan cheese, cook it down with other high fat ingredients like cream, butter, and cream cheese we suddenly have an alfredo sauce five minutes away. Chicken and zucchini smothered in an alfredo sauce is a delicious meal we have time and time again.
TO GET MORE FAT ON KETO KEEP IT SIMPLE
I know this heading contradicts what I was saying about planning, but what I mean is, don’t stress yourself out when it comes to getting that fat. If you can’t work olives or coconut into your meal, seamlessly go with any of the cheese sauces or a homemade hollandaise. If you’re not feeling that have a high fat salad dressing or dip your veggies in a full fat nut butter.
Speaking of butter. You can slather that on anything. One of the major myths of keto is everyone puts butter in their coffee. Not all of us do, but it is a great way to up that fat number. For me, taking a hardboiled egg in the morning and soaking it in butter and pepper is a great way to enjoy my meal and spike my fat counts.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO GET MORE FAT ON KETO
This entire blog has been one big recommendation, but truly it comes down to planning. Start with your protein, move to your side, and see where the fat fits in. Once you’ve been on the keto train for awhile that fat number will become part of the meals you make without even having to think about it.
Always remember, one of the benefits of keto is we get to eat the “forbidden foods” our doctors and parents banned from the house. Eggs, bacon, butter, and heavy cream were blacklisted for causing the obesity pandemic. It turns out sugar was the true villain. So, take back our healthy fats and add them to every meal.
Bill
