Yesterday I had my usual spaghetti squash and meaty marinara sauce lunch with some blackberries and pineapple. It was delicious (as always), but I was hungry at 4:00pm.
I have this problem where I still "get hungry" in the late afternoon. I'm usually pretty good in the morning, never growling for lunch until around noon. I eat breakfast between 6:30 and 7:00am every morning so that's a solid five and a half hours when I rarely give food a second thought (this is phenomenal, by the way, I love not needing to snack all the time).
But more often than not that late afternoon "tea time" rolls around and I feel peckish. In an effort not to snack, I instead end up eating a relatively early dinner, then I'm fighting off the urge to have a late evening something because I "get hungry" again before bed.
I wondered, if I can make it six hours after breakfast, why can't I after lunch?
The simple answer is: fat.
So today just for kicks I plopped a big spoonful of ghee on my pre-made spaghetti squash lunch before packing it in my lunchbox. I included pineapple and berries again for continuity and went on my merry way.
Lunchtime came and I sat outside in the sun and enjoyed my food. The type and volume of food was basically the same as yesterday (still super yummy), but the satiety level was way up because of the extra ghee. I also made a point of eating the fruit mid-meal instead of eating it last.
I bet you want to know if I was hungry at 4:00pm today.
The simple answer to this is: No, I wasn't--and that's even despite having exercised and expended more energy today than yesterday.
What does this mean for me?
EAT MORE FAT*.
It takes constant reinforcement because I'm still a little brainwashed to fear fat, but it really makes all the difference between being fully-satisfied by a meal and wanting to graze a couple hours later. I mean, which would you rather rationalize calorie-wise (if you're thinking in terms of calories, which I never do anymore either--also awesome): maybe a couple hundred calories in fat added in the form of something delicious like ghee, avocado, olive oil, egg yolks, coconut oil, etc. or probably several hundred calories in spontaneous, most-likely processed convenience food-like snacks to "tied you over" until the next real meal?
I'd rather have the fat. Hands down. Especially since I'm cooking my meal and I can be really deliberate and purposeful about what and how much I'm using.
*It's necessary to clarify that there is a spectrum on which we lie when it comes to appropriate fat consumption. Your current physical state (i.e. body fat vs. lean mass percentages), your daily level of activity, hormonal balance, etc. will all influence where you are on that spectrum.
I believe I am becoming what It Starts With Food refers to as "fat-adapted", meaning my hormones are in the right proportions to begin burning my fat stores for sustained low-level energy rather than needing a constant influx of glucose from my diet (i.e. snacking).
This doesn't happen overnight. In fact, I have no idea how long it truly takes (it may be much longer than 30 days). But I get the sense it's starting to happen to me. By eating well-balanced meals that include the appropriate amount of healthy fats, I'm training my body to use that to get through the day. So instead of overwhelming my system with glucose that may ultimately get stored as fat (thanks, wonky hormones)--by eating fat, I'm actually burning fat!
Mind = blown.
So far, my psychology is still trying to sabotage that nice plan to burn fat by demanding a sweet snack when I don't really need it. The sugar dragon doesn't let go easily. But feeding it fat rather than sugar shuts it up temporarily.
So you can bet I'm going to keep being liberal with ghee in the skillet at all times. I will not hesitate to put avocado on anything and everything (let's be real--is there any food that isn't improved by avocado?). Coconut milk, coconut oil, cashews, almonds, oh my! And bacon! All the bacon.
The possibilities are endless and delicious. Here's to letting go of my fat fears and falling in love with fat freedom.
No comments:
Post a Comment