There have been quite a few posts this July on how to add healthy fats to your diet if you're afraid of fat. Afraid? Of fat? It's not our fault; it's been drilled into us. We know better, and still: That little avocado makes us cower. Tell me if this sounds familiar:

• We know that fat in the mouth does not equal fat on the tush.
• We know healthy fats help our nails and hair grow long.
• We know that a gram of fat has 9 calories. And calories count.
• And fats, well...it's sort of like dating a bad boy. It's just one date but...will I be able to restrain myself on the second date?

Fat is not a good thing in excess (neither is sunshine, lollipops, or bubble baths). Fat is exciting and sexy.The ultimate bad boy. But can you drive that bad boy into the sunset, like Olivia Newton John and John Travolta at the end of Grease?

More importantly, can you have avocado and salmon AND WEAR the cat suit and heels that Olivia rocked? Sure you can. 

And for our wrap up with July's coaching client, Julianne, here's how she did it:

1. "Avocado and salmon are easy for me mentally." So eat them. Yes, have the guac (skip the chips); maybe put some on your enchilada. Salmon is delicious and easy. Roast it. Grill it. Keep smoked salmon as a staple in your house. Keep canned salmon and make salmon burgers. Salmon, avocado. Have them every week. 

2. "Nuts are calorie dense, so that’s always been scary." Yep it is. But you're not eating candied nuts by the handful; you're sprinkling sesame seeds on your salad, grinding pine nuts and walnuts in the food processor with handfulls of basil for a pesto, toasting hazelnuts to top your sautéed green beans. It's ok; it's just a little.

3. "I was in a cooking rut, but I didn’t realize how much it was affecting my attitude and my families’ attude. This month was an adventure." If you're living a low-fat lifestyle, denying yourself delicious healthy fats, embracing them will be like going on a fantastic date after a long dry spell. Easiest way to makeover a bland low-fat lifestyle is to add healthy happy fats.

4. "The satiety thing. I'm not looking for snacks at 10:30 at night anymore." Of course not. You're fat and happy now. In all seriousness, fats help with satiety. I'd rather eat one good meal than two mediocre ones (and so would you!).

5. "I'm trying to embrace fats as a good thing. On an intellectural level – yeah sure, they're good. I was hoping to be able to learn some new patterns. Once we made a plan, that was helpful – I was just checking off my list. " It's the bad boy trap again. You know you'll like it, but isn't it bad for you? Can you control yourself? Yes. Follow the recipes and menus that Julianne did, just one fat at a time, and you'll have better tasting, more satisfying, simple food that you will enjoy. It's good and it's true. Just ask Julianne!

Thanks so much for following Healthy Fat month; tomorrow begins a new series of coaching sessions for August during which we'll go...VEGETARIAN!

By: Yael Drinkle

As a former fat-avoidance fanatic, the biggest change I've made since trying to add more healthy fats into my diet is looking less at nutritional information and more at the ingredients listed when I’m grocery shopping. Not only am I eating more healthy fats as a result, but I've also stopped eating processed foods and eliminated almost all artificial sugars. (Though, I sometimes still have the occasional diet soda.) 

When I go grocery shopping, I look at the ingredients on the label, and as soon as I get into things I can't pronounce, I put the product away. I'm not afraid of ingredients that add a bit of extra fat, as long as the products is healthy—and it's now very obvious to me just how unhealthy low-fat and fat-free products can be.

I'm looking at fats differently and recognizing the good fats versus the bad ones. Basically, I've realized that natural is good and artificial is bad.  I feel like a whole extra section of the grocery store has been opened to me, and I'm enjoying eating new things that I had been staying away from. 

Hummus is my best friend right now. I make it at home and experiment with different ingredients. Roasted garlic and red pepper hummus is my favorite.  I'm also eating a lot more nuts and avocado. My lunch bag looks completely different these days, and I always get comments from my office mates about how healthy and delicious my lunches look.

Since participating in 12HH, the conversation of fats comes up a lot with friends. Hearing healthy friends talk about the amounts and types of fats they eat has given me the confidence to get over my fear of fats. I've learned from other people what fats they eat and which ones they avoid and why. I’ve learned to embrace fats because not only are they delicious but they can be good for you, too. And I feel good! I never thought I could feel this healthy from eating the foods I'm eating now.

Want your kids to eat veggies? Just add anchovies, garlic, and olive oil. Really.

So I'm being a bit glib, but it's no joke; the American crutches that get kids to eat are crunchy coatings and melty cheese. If it's cheesy and crispy, you know the kids will eat it. But since we're talking healthy fats, it's time to take those crutches away.

For Julianne's Focus on Healthy Fats, we're working with fish oils, seed and nut oils, and avocados. Not exactly music to the ears of a 2- and 5-year-old. And though Julianne has agreed that she will be the focus this month, she can't help but despair when her kids send her back to the kitchen to make peanut banana sandwiches while she and her husband are enjoying salmon burgers.

But here's what's worked, and it's surprised Julianne: Caesar Salad!

When I mentioned Caesar to Julianne, she immediately pumped the breaks: that's the first thing "to go" when every dieter starts down the low-fat path. Magazines always publish "can you believe it?" stories about the caloric Caesar, and it's buh-bye restaurant Caesars, hello low-fat Caesar dressing at home! 

But not during healthy fat month! When I wrote You Can Trust A Skinny Cook, I experimented with all kinds of low-fat fats. In fact, I wrote a whole tip about when to use low-fat mayo (see tip below), and when to use the real deal. This dressing could not work with anything less than the real deal. And now, with wonderful olive oil and canola mayos, we can get those healthy fats in our Caesar dressing (plus, anchovies! Click here for more on anchovy's benefits...). I shared the recipe with Julianne, and I'm sharing it with you (recipe below). 

Here's Julianne's feedback:

By: Jackie Parmeley

Getting the Parmeley boys to eat healthier has certainly been a challenge, but I believe that we have made some progress.

The first suggestion I put in place has been to add healthy fish to our meal plans. My goal has been to add fish once a week. There have been some successes and some failures. I prepared Skillet Filets with Cilantro Butter that got four thumbs up. Wooo hooo! The favorites file is now one recipe bigger.

The next week, I tried Citrus Salmon with Garlicky Greens. Instead of making the salmon in the oven, I used the grill. Personally, I thought it was yummy, but the boys? Three thumbs down. Lesson learned: keep the fish very mild! My goal is to continue serving fish at least once a week and keep looking for recipes to add to the favorites.

Another suggestion by Cooking Light was to stretch meat further by using more veggies. I made Vegetable and Steak Fajitas with “Killed” Jalapenos (minus the jalapenos—too hot for our palate). I brought the fajitas to the table with the intent of letting the boys put their own together. I didn’t realize how adept they are at eating around the vegetables! The meat was gone and all that was left was veggies. Lesson learned: if I want the veggies to make it to the plate, I better put them there! I plan to keep adding in meals with more of a stir-fry feel, replacing some of the meat with more veggies.

This leads to another one of Cooking Light's suggestions: Go meatless. This is HUGE step for the Parmeley boys. If there is no meat, that makes it a side dish! What I would like to do is continue cutting down the amount of meat for a while longer before I take the meatless leap. But we’ll get there!

All in all, this has been a great experience. Finding healthy alternatives to the high saturated fat meals in our diet has been a challenge made so much easier with the help of Cooking Light. With their simple-to-implement advice and wonderful recipes, I have already put some small changes in place without upsetting the apple cart too badly. Overall, I know that I am going to continue looking for healthier recipes and meal plans for my boys. Thanks Cooking Light!

A lot of people I know claim there's not much to like about anchovies. They’re wrong, but that’s their opinion (misguided as it may be). Of course, most folks base their anchovy perceptions on the shriveled, grey salt-bombs that can ruin an otherwise perfectly acceptable pizza. But I’m not here to advocate for the robust simplicity of a grilled, fresh anchovy or even the zestful nuance of the vinegar-cured Spanish boquerone (white anchovy). *

Nope, this month is all about healthy fats, and fresh or cured, anchovies are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. And while an aversion to anchovies themselves is perhaps a defensible position for many, it is not a position which is as easily upheld when the conversation extends to the category of “things made with anchovy” (e.g. Caesar dressing or Worcestershire sauce). And one of my favorites in this category is the classic Green Goddess Dressing, developed at the Palace hotel in San Francisco in the 1920s as a tribute to the West Coast production of the popular play, The Green Goddess.

As with Caesar dressing, anchovies provide Green Goddess’ vigorous backbone, but the overwhelming flavor is—as its name implies—the herbs. It’s multifunctional as well. Of course, it’s a salad dressing, but it can be used with crudité or smartly (with its tarragon profile) as the base of a chicken or crab salad. And as a bonus, many modern variations, like our Avocado Herb Dressing, replace some of the mayonnaise with avocado which makes it  that much better for trying to incorporate heart-healthy fats into one’s diet.

*OK, maybe just a little bit of advocating. If you like anchovies or are even on the fence (if there is such a thing in the world of anchovies) or like to try new things just once, do yourself a favor and seek out the white-fleshed boquerone. The vinegar curing gives it a vibrancy on the palate and a tenderness of texture far removed from its canned brethren. To consume one is a surprisingly similar experience one might have while eating—oh, I don’t know—a tiny, tangy piece of fish.

I'm starting to think that Healthy Fat month is my favorite Healthy Habits month of all. It's like Christmas, my birthday, and a big old Thanksgiving feast rolled up in one. I'm having a blast thinking about what healthy fats Julianne can add to her diet. And while I'm thinking of her, she's thinking about adding those healthy fats to her children's meals. It's like a guilt-free food frenzy.

We've learned a lot this week. Here are Julianne's responses to last week's healthy fat dishes (I'm highlighting the best parts):

Salmon with Hoisin Glaze (and Snow Peas) 

"Well, my husband George and I both loved the salmon - very flavorful.  And the snow peas were amazing!  My daughter dutifully ate her sample of salmon, along with the rice, but both her and my son declared that the snow peas were "too spicy."  Ah well!  We'll try again with another tactic :)

I have a feeling that, when it comes to my children, they would be perfectly happy getting their healthy fats from a handful of nuts.  Leah especially enjoys grabbing a handful of mixed nuts and trying out the different flavors.  Frankie, being younger, has only recently starting eating nuts (since you never know about allergies, and they can be a choking hazard for little ones), but he seems to like them.  So I may start packing more trail mix, with nuts, as a snack for them."     ---Julianne

By: Tiffany Vickers Davis

You would think that in summer's hot months I would have no problem controlling my love of fats like heavy cream and butter. But, in fact, I can always find ways to use them, even when lighter fare is on the menu.

Summer has so much flavor on its own that I don’t want it covered up by the fats of butter and cream. I want them enhanced! So "use sparingly" is my motto these days.

Some of my favorite enhancements include: a touch of cream on my sun-warmed strawberries, a dab of butter in my fresh field pea succotash. By a “touch” and a “dab,” I mean one tablespoon or less. The richness of these fats will come through and add a new dimension to the sweetness of summer’s best!

Try our recipe for Spinach-and-Strawberry Salad and notice how the small, but elemental, amount of feta cheese rounds out the dish and boosts the flavor of the strawberries, fennel, and spinach!

Tiffany

Julianne wants to gain weight. And she wants to figure out a healthy way to do it.

When Julianne was in high school, she was, as she calls it, a "practicing anorexic." Now, a mother of two, she has spent the last 20 years successfully dealing with her body image issues. But unfortuantely, Julianne acknowledges, "That's my coping mechanisim; I tend to restrict."

And, like so many of us, Julianne grew up in the low-fat 80s. "I have it in my brain: fat is bad," she says. Which is why she was eager to be July Healthy Habits Coaching Client, where we will focus on adding healthy fats to the diet.

When Julianne and I reviewed her family's fridge and favorite meals, here's what we found: low-fat milk, light butter, reduced-fat salad dressing, meats, cheeses, deli stuff. Her children love mac and cheese (ok, they love anything with cheese), and breaded meats.

Do you see a trend? Julianne is restricting the healthy fats like olive oils, while eating meats and cheeses, which tend to have more saturated fats. I'm a fan of skim milk on the cereals, but Julianne was missing those healthy fats that you get from nuts, seeds, nut oils, fish, and avocados.

This week, Julianne decided to:

1. Add a salmon recipe (her husband LOVES salmon, but she isn't sure how the kids will react). She's going with Salmon with Hoisin Glaze.

2. Add more nut and seed oils (she already has sesame oil in the house, from a past Cooking Light recipe, and she loves it). I'm encouraging her to use a good extra virgin or sesame oil as a finishing oil, not a cooking oil -- something to just drizzle on at the end for extra flavor. The recipe above calls for sesame oil, so she'll be adding two healthy fats with one recipe.

3. She loves creamy dressings of the light variety; I've asked her to find a dressing that uses avocado as a main ingredient, so she'll add a healthy creamy fat. She's selected the Avocado Herb Dressing from this Roasted Corn and Radish Salad.

Check back next week, let's see how these recipes go over with her family. Better yet, join in and try these recipes along with Julianne.

Tell us: Do you have a favorite healthy fat recipe we can try next week?

Eat like you mean it!

Allison

Eat more…fat…you say? Now this is a healthy habit that should be easy to embrace, right? Turns out the nutrition gods are talking about healthy fats. And healthy doesn’t mean the mozzarella and pepperoni that weighs down my pizza. Though you may find this mantra confusing after surviving the 80s and 90s, when all fats were eschewed in favor of sometimes calorie-laden, fat-free “healthy” snacks. (Confession: I probably ate my rapidly expanding weight in fat-free cookies back in the day.) In the constantly evolving nutrition world, the fat=bad equation has become lousy math.

Turns out that fat is good for you--when it’s the right type. Healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats can lower bad cholesterol and aid in satiety (and sanity, if we’re talking guacamole). That means it’s perfectly preferable to grill up some wild salmon instead of opting for yet another boneless, skinless chicken breast. So I’ve got to change my way of thinking: a tiny bit of almond butter on an apple or swirled into my oatmeal. Hummus or pesto at the cookout instead of dairy-based dips. A few crushed hazelnuts to crown my ice cream cone. The list goes on, and the options get tastier. Now this is a delicious switch I can deal with. Fat is no longer my enemy. In fact, we've become friends with benefits.

What’s your favorite way to embrace the return to healthier fats?