Why You May Be Undereating Fats Without Realizing

When you think about the objectively healthy foods that are part of a good diet, you'll come up with things like lean meats and fish, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, and whole grains.

From a micronutrient perspective, these foods contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. From a macronutrient perspective, they contain high-quality protein, slow-digesting carbs, and fiber while keeping total calories under control.

Fats often get lost in the shuffle.

At this point, health enthusiasts know that fats aren't bad for you. Quite the contrary, fats are essential for optimal health and hormone function. Vitamins A, D, E, and K rely on fats for proper absorption. Also, testosterone is synthesized from fats and cholesterol.

What macro-conscious lifters are typically concerned about is how calorically dense many fat sources are. Rather than count out their almonds or measure their peanut butter, they would just rather not eat it at all. Without realizing it, this leads to potentially consuming fats at a suboptimal level.

If you're wondering how much to consume, a good rule of thumb for fat consumption is to multiply your body weight by 0.3. This is the total grams of fat per day you should aim for. There is wiggle room to shift your fat and carb consumption from here, but it's a good starting point.

All it takes is a simple behavior shift to change this. You don't have to measure the peanut butter, you just have to change your attitude toward food choices.

Chicken thighs have more fat than chicken breasts. Strip steak contains more fat than London broil. 93% lean ground turkey has more fat than 99% ground turkey. All of this with comparable protein.

While it seems obvious, most people don't even consider these options. There is a mental block where you just automatically gravitate toward plain old chicken breast every time. But if you struggle to get fats into your diet, these are the easy substitutions you can make. They objectively taste better too.

Getting enough fat doesn't require an overhaul of your entire diet. Small, deliberate swaps add up fast, and the foods that get you there happen to taste better anyway.

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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 4:18 PM.