Twelve Years of Rust: I've Finally Reached the OVER-DIET Problem

I'm pretty certain this is the furthest I've gone on any diet. Four months in, and still doing it. I think it's a nice thing to look at a typical meal plan in my old ways and a meal plan today and notice the huge difference...I've figured out what things are heavy in fat and calories so I should avoid, what things are good for me (Pretzel Sticks are the best snack food. 28 pretzel sticks are 110 calories, 2 grams fat. Lots of carbs too).

But I'm noticing that I've finally gotten TOO far on the diet. I'm having trouble eating up to 40 grams of fat a day now. It's easy to see the problem if you look in my fridge. Fat Free might as well be on the outside of the fridge. I've got fat free mayo, fat free shredded cheese, fat free meats, fat free bread, fat free yogurt, fat free ice cream. Cutting out fats is a good thing, but I'm cutting out so much, it's actually getting bad on my nutrition. This was reflected in my bloodwork. I'm really low on HDL Cholesterol. The tips to raise this level are exercise, diet, give up smoking and drinking, and add in more oils, peanut butter, etc to your foods. Except the last one, I've already done all those. And if I add in those oils/peanut butter, my fat jumps WAY up and then I struggle to stay under my daily limit.

So, here's my plan of action. Now, the doctor didn't mention HDL to me at all. I'm thinking he knew I was exercising and dieting, so he ignored it for now. But I would bet that number won't come up much with more diet and exercise. So, for one thing, I started taking a multi-vitamin. Niacin is known to help raise HDL, although I'm taking it in a small dose in the multi-vitamin. My dad mentioned someone he knew went on heavy dose of Niacin and got hives all over, so let's stick to the multi vitamin for now. I'm also SLOWLY adding the reduced fat things back into the diet over fat free. Tonight, I used just 93/7 turkey instead of 99/1. I'm also trying to add in real eggs when I make egg beaters for breakfast. We're getting "farm fresh" eggs from my in-laws now (Thank you btw, they are delicious!), and I know eggs have good fat in them, so if I add one and then use 2 egg beaters, that adds in some fat while not going crazy.

I just find it funny/somewhat proud that i've done so well, I've now got to ADD fat into my diet. Like tonight, eating a cup of pudding after dinner because I was under on all my totals. Oh woe is me, I have to eat some awesome pudding. :)