Eat Fat and End Diets

Like many people in the United States, I spent most of my adult life on a diet. Sometimes the diets would "work" for a little (I would lose weight), but the process sucked. I was always hungry and fixated on my next meal. This lifestyle was so difficult to sustain that I was constantly on the lookout for the true answer to effortless weight maintenance.  Fortunately, in my quest for the next best diet, I found Eat Fat Get Thin and The Primal Blueprint. Thanks to Mark Hyman and Mark Sisson, I learned that fat is actually our body's preferred energy source. The Standard American Diet emphasizes utilizing glucose for energy, which often equates to empty calories that leave you hungry, with your body producing too much insulin. Too much insulin equals inflammation; too much inflammation equals disease. 

I had been dietary fat phobic since high school. Staring a primal meal plan was a revolutionary shift for my brain and my body. As I explain in My Story , after experiencing a slightly difficult phase of giving up grains and sugar, my body quickly learned how to use fat for energy. I felt amazing! One of the best parts was how absolutely delicious and satiating my meals were. Since making the transformation I haven't once felt lose-my-mind hunger, which was a daily occurrence when I followed other eating plans.  

If you are thinking about making the transformation to burn fat for fuel, consider all of the scrumptious foods that will help you easily release weight:

♥ animal fat (bacon, steak, fatty fish)

♥ full fat dairy (aged cheese, whipping cream, butter- avoid if your body has a hard time with dairy)

♥ avocados

♥ nuts (macadamias are my favorite!) 

♥ olive oil (and olives), coconut oil, avocado oil

However, not all fats are equal and there are some dangerous ones to avoid. Highly refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils (canola, soy, safflower, sunflower) are unstable; they oxidize easily, forming free radicals that wreak havoc in our bodies. Manufactured trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) are also toxic, increasing the risk for a variety of chronic diseases. They are found in most baked goods and prepackaged snacks. Examples are margarine and vegetable shortening. 

Here is the caveat:  if you are not ready to give up grains and sugars you probably won't see results. You need to deprive your body of glucose so it can learn how to use fat for energy. 

Once you become fat adapted and lose the taste for sugar, I bet you will really enjoy this treat: