Life Changing

Fat Adaptation.  

It has simply been a life changer for me. 

What is fat adaptation?  Fat adaptation is a way of eating that encourages your body to use its own fat as fuel rather than sugar.

Disclaimer:  I am not a scientist.  I am not a doctor.   I am a woman who has educated herself on what it takes to shed her body fat.  Just because this works for me does not mean it will work for you.   

Macronutrients

Let's start at the beginning.  There are three types of foods, or fuels, you can consume and they are called "macronutrients."  They are:

• Protein
• Fat
• Carbohydrate

Protein consists of the building blocks of most parts of your body.  Your skin, hair, nails, blood, organs, bones, enzymes, hormones and muscles are all made of proteins.   Protein consumption is essential to humans, as our bodies cannot create all the component parts of protein on our own.  You must consume protein!  Examples of dietary protein are animal meat, dairy products, eggs, nuts and some beans.

Fat consists of, well, everyone knows what dietary fat is.  Examples include butter, cream, olive oil.  Believe it or not, fat is an essential nutrient for you to eat.  There are some types of fat that our bodies require that our body cannot produce on its own.  This is true for even the most obese people among us.

Carbohydrates are compounds that include grains, sugars and vegetables.  The body breaks down most carbohydrates into glucose, or sugar that the body can use to feed its cells.  Glucose is the primary fuel source for all the bodily functions for those people who eat the standard American diet (SAD).

For many people, myself included, this has led to a lifetime of obesity.  Why?  Because every time you eat carbohydrates, your body is swamped with glucose.  If you don't immediately need all of this energy, that glucose is stored as body fat.   If you eat carbs at every meal, every snack, every day, every month, every year, many people will become obese.  They can't help it.  Their bodies are not capable of processing all the sugar.  

It doesn't have to be this way.  Your body can get it's fuel from a different source.   All of that stored body fat can become the fuel your body needs.

How can you make this happen?  It's really simple.  Eat less than 25 grams of carbohydrates per day.  Period.  That's it.  This change will cause your body to adapt to burning body fat as fuel.  This is fat adaptation.  It is also called a ketogenic diet, or LCHF (low carb high fat).

Cut the junk

You will need to cut out all processed foods, all grains and all sugars.  You must go hardcore.  Purge your refrigerator, cabinets, pantry and freezer of these offensive foods.  For a great beginner primer on what to eat and, more importantly, what not to eat, Vinnie Tortorich, a celebrity personal trainer, offers an excellent free resource entitled, "Intro to NSNG."  You can find it here: Intro to NSNG

Fat adaptation can have many benefits besides weight loss.  In fact, this way of eating has been used for decades as a treatment for epilepsy (Epilepsy Society recommended diet).  Personally, I have experienced a drop in blood pressure, a drop in A1C levels, and an increase in energy.  Of course, I've also dropped a lot of weight.  After seven months of being fat adapted, my body has shed seventy pounds.  This is mainly due to the fact that by cutting out most carbohydrates, my cravings for them have disappeared.  This side effect is absolutely priceless and has enabled me to keep going without much effort.

Our ancestors likely were fat adapted.  Humans only ate when they found food - they went days without it.  They certainly did not have three meals and two snacks per day.  They did not constantly deluge their bodies with sugar, as the SAD does.  They survived without sugar and thrived.  Our existence here today is evidence of that, right?  So it makes sense that many of us would likely benefit from a similar way of eating.  I am just one example.