Being Fat Adapted: Shift Your Focus Away From Food

The only thing I love more than food...

Is not worrying about food.

I use to constantly think "what am I going to eat next" - even right after finishing a meal!

I use to waste so much time deciding where I was going to get food next... "do I want Jack in the Box, Panda Express, pizza, leftovers, or a healthier option like Subway?" 🤦‍♂️

I can even recall times when I would be in a meeting, doing focused work, playing with my kid, and I would all of a sudden stop, get up, and walk to the kitchen because I had to eat RIGHT NOW. #hangry

Ever been there? Are you currently there? Is that snack in the next room just calling your name?

Imagine never having those intense gotta-have-it-now food cravings. What would you do with that extra brain power? Who would you be with that extra brain power? What would you do with all that reclaimed time?

What shifted it all for me was fat. Delicious, undamaged, healthy fats. There's plenty of research on this topic on the Internet and I'm not here to regurgitate that info.

What I am here to say is, as someone who used to munch every couple of hours, I accidentally go whole days without food...with no dips in energy, no brain fog, no cravings, and no hanger. Specifically for me, this is because of the Bulletproof Diet. Adding good amounts of healthy fats into your diet can not only give your brain and body efficient fuel but also keep you satiated longer and reduce hunger. Eventually (by also reducing carbs & sugar) what will happen is your body will learn how to run off stored body fat for energy. This is called being Fat Adapted. So when it's 5:30 pm and I'm just getting out of a sales meeting (that I killed, btw) and realize "huh, I haven't eaten today. I guess I should eat something soon" that's because for the first half of the day my body was burning my stored body fat for fuel.

Being able to read your body and be aware of what it's communicating with you is key when figuring out if you're fat adapted (& in life, that's actually very important. Know what your body likes and doesn't like). You can get urine/breath tests (I'm skeptical to those) to determine if you're in ketosis as well as blood test strips (which get expensive) but this post isn't necessarily about being in nutritional ketosis - it's about being fat adapted, which in my opinion, have some different properties. Here are 4 free ways to determine if you're body is fat adapted:

1. You can skip meals without hanger and/or snacks (not ABSOLUTELY NEEDING food)

2. No intense hunger pangs/grizzly bear living in your stomach

3. Crave fatty foods (like butter) instead of craving carbs/sugars

4. Clean smooth energy mentally and psychically, throughout the day

When fat adapted there are 3 main sources of fuel: Burning the fat in the food you eat, burning stored body fat, & you can even effortlessly switch to carbs/glucose if you need/want to. I do that 2 days a week - cyclical ketosis - I'll eat anywhere from 100-200grams of clean starches (these are on the 2 days a week I work out/sprint). Since my body has been fat adapted I can then, effortlessly, switch back into ketosis within 24 hours (with the help of Brain Octane Oil) and ride that wave for the next 5 days. That's just what works for me and a lot of people - you experiment and learn what works for you.

Pretty cool, right? You don't have to follow the Bulletproof Diet, that's just what works for me, but I would like to invite you to start adding healthy fats to your diet. Also, before you do anything, be sure to always consult with your doctor ;). Let's be real, though, if you're reading this you probably already eat healthy fats/experiment with ketosis. Which leads me to ask: what do you do with the extra time you don't spend thinking/dealing with food? How do you feel now that you don't focus on food 24/7 and can actually be present and focus on the task at hand? Would love to hear your experiences! Leave a message in the comment box or DM me on Instagram. That's a good place to go if you're new to this and would like some inspiration to healthy fat meals and such, I post a lot of my foods on Instagram - among other things.

💜 Steven