Fat = Full???

So as some of you may be aware I read and watch a lot about nutrition, diet, exercise, and weight loss. Lately I have been reading a LOT about Ketogenic diets, particularly extreme ketogenic diets. These are super high fat, super low carb, and compared to us relatively low protein surprisingly. Some of these guys that do this are ripped too. Sort of defies logic but I am intrigued by this at the moment. Anyway one of the common themes in the material I have consumed is that they all claim to be able to go long periods without eating, not being hungry, and also not affecting their metabolism. Again defies logic. Anyway many (might even be all) drink some sort of fat in their coffee in the morning. Some use coconut oil and some use grass fed butter (which is supposed to be really good but I can't bring myself to do it, just not ready to drink 2 tbsp of butter). 

This morning I opted to put somewhere between 1 and 2 tbsp of coconut oil in my coffee with some stevia. As long as you stir before you sip it is really good if you forget and the coconut oil pools at the top its a bit thick but not unpleasant and you won't forget more than once or twice. All in all pretty tasty. Not as good as cream, but all in all passable for a decent cup of coffee.

So here's the catch. I only ate half of what I normally would eat for breakfast after a work out. I am completely satisfied and have absolutely no desire to eat the rest of my breakfast. The only thing that changed is the coconut oil in my coffee. This is my 2nd day of this but yesterday I drank the coffee after my breakfast so I didn't pick up on the fullness but today it was very noticeable. So maybe these guys are on to something.

Even though coconut oil is a saturated fat, it is a medium chain triglyceride which requires no digestive processes to prepare it for fuel so medium chain triglycerides (MCT) are ready to burn. So if you are on a low carb diet and your body is using fat for fuel which hopefully for all of us we are in that mode, then this a great way to get some pre-work out energy. Just keep in mind that fat is 9 calories per gram versus 4 for protein and carbs.

JUST TO BE CLEAR I AM NOT SUGGESTING ANYONE TRY THIS AT HOME! Just reporting my findings, which are very raw at this moment, I may be up 5lbs on the scale tomorrow morning, we will see.

When I did Atkins, that was the only approach that kept me full.  I typically ate 20 or fewer grams of carbs a day, and if I remember correctly, my typical caloric intake was around 900-1000 calories, and I had very little hunger -- unlike WW where I wanted to eat the wall.  

Overall, I think that prepared me well for my VSG, since I learned a lot about what NOT to do when introducing carbs back into my diet!

Hi Keith,

I wanted to just add a little bit of information to this that might be helpful for some that think that fats=satan! :)

Fatty acids are an essential nutrient. Meaning that our bodies are required to take them in, in order to survive. When we don't get enough fatty acids (or other essential nutrients for that matter) our body can go in to starvation mode even if we are technically getting enough calories in general. The types of fatty acids that we consume are equally important. Medium chain Triglycerides, more omega 3s found in fish, flax, chia, grass fed beef/butter, etc, are things that our good for us.

You can find comments online about how the U.S. and other first world countries tend to be overfed and undernourished, and that is one of the MAIN reasons why we get overweight. When you don't give your body what it needs it has to go in to protection mode and hold on to whatever nutrients that it can - via obesity, to make sure that it survives. When you start giving your body the actual nutrients it needs it can start releasing some of that extra weight naturally because it just doesn't need it anymore.

I am not a professional in this field by any length of the imagination so I am probably WAY under qualified to be sharing all of this. But I also do a lot of nutrition research and I want to share the intriguing things that I have learned that can help people to be the healthiest that they can be.

I haven't had my surgery yet, but when I do I plan to continue embracing a ketogenic style diet that has adequate healthy fats, moderate protein (80-100 grams) and low carbohydrates.