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Fat for energy and weight loss


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I've noticed that avocados, olive oil, and egg yolks give me a brain fog and make me sleepy. Almond butter and nuts are good, but I'd like to include fats in my meals that are optimal for weight loss. I read on here that a tablespoon of coconut butter is not ideal for this. Can you recommend which fats and what portion sizes will assist with this and not make me tired?

By the way thank you to those who recommended magnesium powder! I sleep like a baby!

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Where did you read about coconut butter not being an ideal fat?

If you're trying to avoid avocado, anything olive based and eggs, you still have lots of fat options.

- Anything coconut based: oil, butter, flakes, milk.
- Compliant bacon fat, duck fat, tallow, clarified butter, ghee. 

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I got it from Tom Denham's post here:

http://forum.whole30.com/topic/10180-is-coconut-butter-one-of-the-limited-nut-butters/

Olive based and eggs make me tired. Is there a fat that does not make you sleepy?

Ok, how I interpret Tom's post is not to eat coconut butter by the spoonful, as in directly out of the jar and into your mouth.  :) 

I suggest you test out some of the other fats I listed to see whether you have a better response to ingesting them. The Whole30 meal template has recommended serving sizes. 

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Why is that different than adding it to your meal?

What he is referring to is, I believe, standing over a jar of coconut butter and mindlessly continuously spooning it directly into your mouth, like a treat.  

 

If you add it to a meal instead (e.g., top a sweet potato with it), you're less likely to overeat it.

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Have you ever ate peanut butter by spoonful out of the jar?  

 

Basically what Tom is saying is don't replicate this type of behavior with a more healthy food choice.

 

The whole 30 is to help you repair your body but also to repair your RELATIONSHIP with food as well.

 

If you can have a spoonful of coconut butter and be done - fine.  But we would like to discourage binge eating type behaviors of the stuff.

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Did you have the coconut oil on its own? Did you feel tired at all before you ate? What do the rest of your meals look like? This is not something I've heard other people on the forum say they've experienced, so I'm not quite sure what to tell you. 

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I felt great before I ate it. They are all a palm size of chicken or tuna and about 2 cups of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and some other veggies. My fat will include half an avocado or tablespoon of almond butter. Sometimes I will have a handful of squash with meals. I eat the veggies first and I feel good and after about an hour or two I feel sluggish and another hour or two later it's gone and I can think clearly again. My sister did tell me this happened to her when she tried including fat in her diet.

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Good fats are unlikely to cause brain fog because our brains are made up of about 60% fat and so we NEED fat in our diets for good brain health.

Good fats are actually proven to lift that fog.

You say that the almond butter & nuts are okay - I'm guessing it's because they're a little more carby, and that's maybe what you're used to. You don't mention what day you are on but I'm guessing you're still in sugar burning mode. 

Are you eating much in the way of fruit? Snacking?

Are you on any medication?

How is your sleep? Are you particularly active?

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I haven't tried animal fat. I'm on my second whole 30, day 20. I'm not eating any fruit and I have a mini meal before bed or else I wake up at night starving. I was having trouble with sleep, but with magnesium it is perfect. I can go 4-5 hours without eating. The sluggishness seemed to last longer with the coconut oil than with avocados.

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You say that the almond butter & nuts are okay - I'm guessing it's because they're a little more carby, and that's maybe what you're used to. You don't mention what day you are on but I'm guessing you're still in sugar burning mode. 

 

 

The sluggishness seemed to last longer with the coconut oil than with avocados.

 

I think this ^ goes along with what jmcbn is saying.  There are zero carbs in coconut oil, and about 17 carbs in an entire avocado.

 

Do you want to post a few days of food ~ so that we can see the entire picture?  It could be that just a few tweaks are needed to get you feeling your best consistently.

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M1: can of tuna, tblspn of almond butter, 2 cups broccoli cauliflower, carrots

M2: Palm size of chicken, same veggies as M1, half an avocado

M3: Palm size of chicken, same veggies as M1, half an avocado

Mini meal: handful of squash and handful of nuts or half Palm size of chicken

I eat pretty much the same every day, sometimes I will have squash for meal one as well and add a couple nuts for M1 and M2.

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Ok, so you're not eating fruit, but you ARE eating starchy veg (carrots, & squash if we're talking something like butternut) at every meal - four times a day. I think this is probably more responsible for your brain fog than any fat is.

I'd leave the starchy veg for meal three only, and add in the likes of spinach, kale, cabbage, sprouts, bok choi, zucchini etc at meals one & two and see how you go.

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