Healthy Fats

  Fair warning, this is going to be brief tonight....
  I have been on a hunt to find foods I can eat that will increase my calorie intake but will follow my nutritional requirements so it does not make me sick. It has been one hell of a search! I am not fairing so well on this journey.
I keep trying though. Yet, despite the fact that I am frustrated and exhausted and ready to scream.... I keep searching.
  One thing I do know is I keep following an almost no fat, low sugar and high protein diet. It's made up mostly of fresh fruits and vegetables with protein shakes.  There are not many calories in that and I can't consume a lot at one time. So, now working on those alternative foods that I avoided until now. I promise I am not losing my mind but I have to add healthy fats to my daily routine. Yes, apparently fats can be healthy!
"Your body needs it in order to function," says Barbara Roberts, MD, director of the Women's Cardiac Center at the Miriam Hospital in Providence and author of How to Keep from Breaking Your Heart. "Fats help you absorb vitamins A, D, and E, and they are vital for your nervous system." It is explained in the article The Big Fat Truth: Why Non-Fat Isn't the Answer on fitnessmagazine.com, where the different types are broken down.
  Helpguide.org is a nonprofit website that also had a great resource called Choosing Healthy Fats that said it really well,  "The answer isn’t cutting out the fat—it’s learning to make healthy choices and to replace bad fats with good ones that promote health and well-being." I really like the portion that broke down cholesterol. After suffering from life threatening high blood pressure I know now that I was not properly educated on the changes I needed to make.  "Research shows that there is only a weak link between the amount of cholesterol you eat and your blood cholesterol levels. The biggest influence on your total and LDL cholesterol is the type of fats you eat—not your dietary cholesterol. So instead of counting cholesterol, simply focus on replacing bad fats with good fats.
●Monounsaturated fats lower total and bad (LDL) cholesterol levels, while increasing good cholesterol (HDL)
●Polyunsaturated fats lower triglycerides and fight inflammation
●Saturated fats may raise your blood cholesterol
●Trans fats are the worst types of fat since they not only raise your bad LDL cholesterol, but also lower the good HDL cholesterol"
  I have found some ridiculous information of theories in my research but one I choose to believe was on Good Morning America in their special 13 Things Experts Won't Tell You. I choose to believe it because though I have never ever craved chocolate before,  lately I have been wanting that creamy,  silky,  sweet substance to dance on ummy tastebuds.  LOL! Well, it says that daily doses of cocoa (low in sugar) can help from your waistline. If a sacrifice of eating chocolate is required to make myself shrink..... then I will be happy to do so!  Hehehe.
  Ooops, my apologies,  I have deviated from my original intention of talking about healthy fats. Fitday.com has an article Why You Should Eat Fat to Lose Weight that is brief but to the point  "While fats can aid your weight-loss plan, moderation is still key. At nine calories per gram, fat has more than double the energy of carbohydrates and protein, which contain just four calories per gram. Since weight loss ultimately boils down to calories in versus calories out, eating too many fatty foods can spell diet disaster. The smart way to lose weight is to pay attention to calories while eating whole, natural foods. Most women lose weight on about 1,500 calories per day, while men will lose weight eating about 2,000 calories per day--and you probably won't feel hungry with those numbers. Get your fats from plant sources, and cut out saturated and trans fats as much as possible. Just don't feel guilty about using a splash of olive oil in your stir-fry or snacking on a handful of almonds"
  While there were 20 other sites I found the I read through, I didn't list them all here. I wanted to keep this one simple tonight. Everyone is different so I am not about to go into details about quantities or what you should be doing.  I only suggest that you read. Several sites touched on the fact that obesity has skyrocketed about the same time we started increasing our consumption of "low fat" products. Some speculate it's because of the increased sugar and salt used to fill in for the lack of taste when the fat is removed.  I am not the expert but I am thinking of giving this a try.  I have nothing to lose at this point. So, I see a bunch of avocados and almonds in my near future.... and some Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate miniatures in the near future.  Sorry to disappoint, I am sticking with healthy.  No crap food, even in the attempt to increase my calories. Nope. 
  Now, off to search recipes and find my teenage daughter's chocolate stash.