I’ve seen a lot of posts on our FB group recently about “getting back on track”, “fasting”, “seeing the scale move in the wrong direction”.
Hey! Do you need a small push or something to rev-up weight loss again? Well, here it is. If you follow this, you will see excellent results.
Am I telling you or encouraging you to do a Fat Fast? No. I am just telling you what it is and sharing my ideas about how it works for me and why it may work for you. I am logging my food experiences for you. It may make perfect sense to you and you may think that it is something that you have zero interest to try.
Yeah for biochemical individuality!! I do me and you do you.
Isn’t it funny how when you decide to eat in a certain way for just a few days, people go insane and tell you how “unhealthy” it is and how you are risking your health. But, it is fine to eat the Standard American Diet (SAD) which tells us to fill up on corn, grain, rice, and beans.
Sure, it’s fine to eat like crap on the weekend and consume Doritos and Oreo cookies and French fries but the second I discuss eating salmon, eggs and spinach for a few days, people are in an uproar. Funny.
Have you heard about it yet? The Fat Fast! This is like a compromise from typical fasting. It is as close as you can get to fasting, without doing a true fast. It is a technique to achieve a quick loss on the scale. It will get you into ketosis quickly. It helps with hunger and cravings.
The fat fast can be used in two situations:
- Breaking past a 2-week stall or plateau
- Inducing into ketosis, or fasting more comfortably or more quickly
It is very simple. You know how when people fast, they drink just water, black coffee, bone broth, and herbal tea? Well, during a fat fast, they eat only food which is high in healthy fat and protein. It originates from doctors who want their patients to fast but they fail. The fat fast is a compromise over a true fast or a step to help people get off the carbs and get ready for a true fast.
If you are having trouble with a traditional fast or with intermittent fasting, this is something you can try.
There are a lot of people who are interested in intermittent fasting or in following a lower-carb diet or a ketogenic lifestyle. When they make an honest attempt to try, they quickly get derailed because they are seriously craving the foods which they are trying to eliminate from their diet … CARBS!!
They try to go longer periods between meals but they are unable to get past the first few hours because their tummies are rumbling and they are feeling desperate to eat. There are situations where people are having serious health issues and all they want to do is a traditional fast for a specific amount of time to allow their bodies to heal. How can they move past this sugar/ glucose/ carb roller-coaster and feel better in order to introduce a short or a longer fast?
Fasting is a powerful tool. It enables us to decrease insulin levels and then at the same time regain a good insulin signaling …. and it happens very quickly.
Enter the Fat Fast.
You can compare a Fat Fat to an extreme version of a ketogenic diet. You are trying to keep the carbs as low as possible while ramping up your fat intake and keeping protein at a minimum. Compare your fat fast to a regular fast whereby there is a start and a finish. It is a tool that you can use. It is a temporary state or a strategy.
A Fat Fast is meant to be for the short term only. It can be introduced for 3 to 5 days. You want to be sure to consume “healthy fats” during this period of time. Remember, this is a strategy to be followed to get you to a “better place” where you are not craving so many carbs or in preparation for a true fast.
This is a tool to enable people to get back on track after consuming too many processed and refined carbohydrates or to get ready for regular intermittent fasting. This can help to enter fat-burning mode while experiencing less uncomfortable side effects i.e., belly rumbling and migraines/ headaches.
It is just another tool in our tool-box on our journey to health and wellness.
The original Fat Fast was introduced by Dr. Adkins in his first book in 1972. People were encouraged to eat four to five little meals that were high in fat throughout the day. In the newer, more modified Fat Fast, people are not limiting their calories but they are eating only the recommended foods and they are seeing great results.
They are losing a bit of weight, feeling better and having an easier time to get rid of the carbs in their diet. We have to remember that eating carbs, will raise your insulin levels. Eating only fat keeps insulin levels very low. Low insulin levels mean that we feel less hungry throughout the day.
So how do we get the Fat Fast right?
First of all, you want to eat until satisfied. Fill your bariatric pouch until satiety. Your appetite will decrease quickly and you will be able to eat less food without feeling hungry. Remember, we want to control our hunger and not be eating all day long so that should be one of our goals. This is a strategy to help you get there. Don’t eat when you are not hungry. Listen to your body.
Doing a short fat fast is not something dangerous. It is a SHORT fat fast. It has a beginning and an end. You will get everything you need for those few days from the fat fast because the foods that you eat are going to be quite nutrient-dense. You don’t have to worry about lacking protein because the fat fast contains foods which are naturally high in fat AND protein.
So what the heck can you eat on a Fat Fast??
Here is my personal list.
- Eggs
- Fish
- Avocados
- Olives
- Lettuce, leafy greens, zucchini, celery, cauliflower
- Herbs and Spices
- Butter, olive oil, avocado oil
- Cream cheese.
- Mayo (made with a healthy oil)
- Nuts and Seeds
The list of foods on my personal list is very short. This makes my life easier.
I don’t do substitutions. I don’t switch salmon for chicken or lettuce for corn.
If you do not like the foods on the list, then my Fat Fast will not be for you OR you can create your own version. These are the foods which I personally use.
If this was called the “onion soup fast”, I would not do it because I hate onions.
If you don’t like salmon, then swap it for chicken. Don’t email me and ask permission. I wouldn’t eat something I don’t like. I would find a substitution.
Here are some samples of meals and snacks:
- Scrambled, baked or fried eggs
- Deviled eggs or egg salad and avocado
- Salmon with Spinach
- Green salad with olives and cucumbers
- Black coffee, tea, water, bone broth
- Zoodles (Zucchini noodles) with a sauce
- Celery topped with cream cheese
- Zucchini topped with tomato sauce and cheese baked
- Tuna with mayonnaise on lettuce leaves
- Cauliflower rice with a cream cheese sauce
I suggest making a one-day food plan and to follow it for 3 days. Easy peasy … your own personalized 3 day fat fast. Or you can give mine a try and let me know how it goes.
This is how I eat for 3 to 5 days when I Fat Fast:
- I will have eggs and mushrooms for breakfast
- I will have tuna with mayo on lettuce leaves for lunch
- I will have salmon and cauliflower rice for dinner
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions. And, if you join me on a fat fast, let me know how it went for you and what your results were like.
When I feel my eating is out of control, it generally means that my life is unbalanced in another area. I try “health hacks” as a means of grabbing a hold of other parts of my life. It is a way for me to scan other areas and correct them. I don’t like staying stuck.
Give my fat fast a try, and share your results with us.
Healthy Hugs,
About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
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