Happy Sunday purples! It is an absolutely perfect day here on the beautiful Gold Coast today and I hope that it is the same wherever you may be reading this from. I promised to tell you all about a different eating plan that I have been trialling and so that is the topic of my blog today – finally!! So…..is it possible to train your body to burn fat for fuel? Let me tell you a story……
For a long time I have known that my body reacts very badly to white starchy carbohydrates, so for years now I have steered clear of things like rice, pasta, bread, cereals and potatoes on a daily basis. I absolutely loooovvvveeee all of those foods, but unfortunately they like my hips, thighs, tummy and butt waaaayyyyy too much! I have been on the weight loss journey for almost my entire life and so I have tried many different things. I have learned a lot and I continue to learn every single day. As I learn new things, I quite often try them out and am continually tweaking and improving my lifestyle as I go. A concept that I came across in my travels a little while ago is that the body gets fuel or energy from various sources. Firstly, your body will use carbohydrates for fuel, then if there is no carbohydrate left, it will burn fat and lastly protein. So I figured if I want to get rid of fat on my body, which is what so many of us are aiming for, then I need to find a way to burn fat for fuel rather than carbohydrate. Upon doing more research into this, I discovered what is called the Keto eating plan.
What is Keto? It’s a way of eating where you keep your carbohydrate intake at a really low level, keep up a moderate protein intake and increasing your fat intake. It’s really quite logical when you think about it. If the body burns carbohydrate for fuel in the first instance and fat second, it makes total sense to reduce the carbohydrate intake as much as possible so that the body then has to burn fat instead. Once your body is in a state of “Ketosis” which is when the body is burning fat for fuel, then it will continue to burn fat until it gets carbohydrate again. So the less carbohydrate you eat, the more fat you burn and the even more exciting part about that is that when it runs out of fat that you have consumed, what is it going to burn next? Your body fat of course!! How exciting is that?!!
I have been following the Keto eating regime for probably about 6 weeks now. It really isn’t that much of a change for me, because my carbohydrate intake Monday to Saturday was already really low. The only carbohydrates that I eat on a daily basis are fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy and a little bit of sugar in my coffee plus a little bit of chocolate after dinner a few times a week. All the other carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, alcohol, etc, I usually limit to once per week anyway, and usually on a Sunday. I did have to change a few things during the week, such as lowering my fruit intake, cutting sugar out of my coffee and adding in coconut cream instead which I actually prefer now and adding in more healthy fats. However, the hardest part for me was having to go 4 weeks without my weekly treat! I got through it though, and now I can still have my wine on the weekend if I want, as long as I don’t go overboard.
So what is the verdict? Well I have to say that I haven’t got it totally worked out yet, but I do think that it has been a positive change for me and I can feel positive changes within my body. I still have to tweak it a bit to get it working the way I want for me, but it’s like anything new – it takes time, but as long as we persevere we get there in the end. By far the biggest thing that I have found is that most of the time, due to my increased fat intake, I don’t feel hungry. This is absolutely massive for me. Quite often you don’t realise how much you feel something until you don’t feel it anymore. Not feeling hungry anymore made me realise that in the past, I almost always felt hungry and it’s not because I wasn’t eating enough. As I said before, I have tried pretty much everything over the years. I have tried the high protein. I have tried the low carbohydrate. I have tried the low fat. You name it, I have tried it. I always tell people to eat healthy carbs, protein & healthy fat with every meal thinking that the protein is what kept you fuller for longer. It does keep you fuller for longer compared to carbohydrates, but the healthy fat is what really keeps you fuller for the longest. Quite often these days, I am not hungry when it is time to eat and when you are someone who has literally felt hungry every single day for 41 years, that is such an amazing thing!
Anyway, I hope that this has been helpful for you. There are lots of health benefits to eating the Keto way. One very important one is that it produces Ketones which is fuel for the brain. I would definitely encourage you to do your own research and learn a bit more about it.
Have a wonderful week everyone!
Shari
Xoxo