Jump to content

fat adapted?


Recommended Posts

The last few days I've been working on eating less fruit/dried fruit, and getting more fat and protein in all of my meals.  I know that one of the goals of the Whole30 is to become fat adapted.  I'm a little confused on how this works.  I always though that eating very low-carb was required to get your body to burn primarily fat.  So, I'm curious…if I'm still eating a serving of sweet potatoes, some berries, maybe an apple or banana each day, will my body continue to burn carbs as its primary fuel source?  How strict does one have to be to see the physical and psychological benefits of fat adaptation?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Conventional wisdom about eating very-low carb in order to efficiently burn fat is broadly over-stated. Eliminating the tons of carbs most people eat through bread, pasta, donuts, bagels, etc. and replacing them with starchy veggies is a plenty big enough change to induce your body to learn to burn fat more efficiently. Lots of us are good fat burners while eating one to three servings of starchy veggies per day. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Hi smflower, I think you might be confusing ketosis with fat adaptation.  Ketosis requires extremely low carb and is difficult to get into and stay into.  Fat adaptation requires that you eat to the Whole30 template which automatically reduces the amount of quick burning carbs that your body might be used to.  Fat adaptation isn't JUST burning fat for fuel but the process of your body being able to access fat for fuel in the absence of easy carbs. 

 

Around 3+ hours after their last meal, a non fat adapted person may generally get "hangry", have blood sugar crashes, get shaky and weak, have violent mood swings that are fixed immediately by eating something high in sugar.  

 

Around 4-5 hours after their last meal, a fat adapted person might start to feel the signs of hunger, stomach growls, start thinking about food etc.  This person would not crash, would not kill their coworker, would not get shaky and panicky.  This fat adapted person can access their body fat stores thereby allowing their body to continue to regulate their blood sugar until such time as a meal is available.  

 

A person eating at least one serving per day of starchy veggie plus the other 6-9 cups of veggies that we recommend per day plus a serving of fruit or two is not going to get into ketosis but they can certainly be fat adapted and that is ultimately the goal.  

 

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Hi smflower, I think you might be confusing ketosis with fat adaptation.  Ketosis requires extremely low carb and is difficult to get into and stay into.  Fat adaptation requires that you eat to the Whole30 template which automatically reduces the amount of quick burning carbs that your body might be used to.  Fat adaptation isn't JUST burning fat for fuel but the process of your body being able to access fat for fuel in the absence of easy carbs. 

 

Around 3+ hours after their last meal, a non fat adapted person may generally get "hangry", have blood sugar crashes, get shaky and weak, have violent mood swings that are fixed immediately by eating something high in sugar.  

 

Around 4-5 hours after their last meal, a fat adapted person might start to feel the signs of hunger, stomach growls, start thinking about food etc.  This person would not crash, would not kill their coworker, would not get shaky and panicky.  This fat adapted person can access their body fat stores thereby allowing their body to continue to regulate their blood sugar until such time as a meal is available.  

 

A person eating at least one serving per day of starchy veggie plus the other 6-9 cups of veggies that we recommend per day plus a serving of fruit or two is not going to get into ketosis but they can certainly be fat adapted and that is ultimately the goal.  

 

:)

 

Hi!  So my boyfriend forwarded me this thread since I've been worrying about eating too much starchy veg (specifically sweet potatoes..) and I wanted to just check in.  I've been eating probably 1 large sweet potato or so daily for the first several days of my January Whole 30.  I usually cut several up and roast them in EVOO with spices, then eat a little with meals, so I'm not usually eating a whole one at any given meal.  Is that in line with becoming fat adapted?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Hi!  So my boyfriend forwarded me this thread since I've been worrying about eating too much starchy veg (specifically sweet potatoes..) and I wanted to just check in.  I've been eating probably 1 large sweet potato or so daily for the first several days of my January Whole 30.  I usually cut several up and roast them in EVOO with spices, then eat a little with meals, so I'm not usually eating a whole one at any given meal.  Is that in line with becoming fat adapted?

 

Thanks!

You should be fine. We actually do recommend that most people get at least one fist sized serving of starchy veggie per day so you're on track.  Starchy veggies should not be equated with quick burning carbs like sugars. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a side note as a former ketosis/low carb person, I have also found that without grains and dairy, my carb tolerance is much much higher than it was when I did Atkins/Low Carb and was in ketosis all the time. Atkins was better than SAD for me, paleo was better again and Whole30 turned it up to 11 :)

 

It may seem strange, but inflammation interferes with a lot of functions in the body and low carb actually often contains a lot of inflammatory stuff (artificial sweeteners, small amounts of grains). Whole30 also has a lot more nutrients, so your body "runs" better when it's getting all that other fuel (vitamins, minerals etc from veggies) it needs.

 

Don't be afraid of starchy veg. Sweet potatoes, plantains, yum! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@graceeatsclean are you going 4-5h between meals without difficulty?

 

Maybe?  I eat M1 around 7:45, and M2 around 1:00 but have been sipping a cup of bone broth around 10:30.  M3 is anywhere from 6:30 to 8, but I typically workout at around 5:30 so I also have a pre-WO at 4:30ish and post-WO 6:30ish.  I rarely actually go the full 4-5 hours.  But I haven't gotten shaky or weak between meals, I just get generally hungry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I rarely actually go the full 4-5 hours.  But I haven't gotten shaky or weak between meals, I just get generally hungry.

Then the question is could you go the 4-5hrs.

Maybe you want to start taking yourself out of the comfort zone, have the bone broth with meal one, ditch the preWO & see how you go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Then the question is could you go the 4-5hrs.

Maybe you want to start taking yourself out of the comfort zone, have the bone broth with meal one, ditch the preWO & see how you go.

 

Thanks for the suggestion!  Today is a rest day, so I won't even have to think about pre/post-WO meals.  I had m1 at 7:30am, and it's 11:20a now and I'm just starting to feel the need for something.  Not crazy hungry, but getting there.  So that's almost 4 hours and I'll probably wait another 45 min or so before taking lunch.  So I guess the answer is yes, I can go 4-5 hours :)

 

Tomorrow I'll try doing my run without a pre-WO meal and see how it goes.  

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...