Because I’m a health coach, people assume that my health routine is much more complex than reality.
I stick to the basics: lots of sleep, water, eat home-cooked meals the majority of the time, stay pretty active, have amazing people in my life and spend my days doing meaningful work. And, Carlos and I laugh at least 10 times a day.
This daily lifestyle enables me to consume minimal sugar, never emotionally eat or be pre-occupied with food. Simple doesn’t mean easy; I had an 18 year battle with food and my body to work through (but the view from here was worth it).
As I was unlearning the trendy, expensive and unnecessary ideas of health over the years (anyone else have spirulina powder in their cabinet?) one habit didn’t fall away. My after dinner sweet treat!
As my clients come to learn, “bad” habits fall away as a side-effect of getting to the root cause, not by addressing the habit itself. For me, this nightly ritual occurs when either I don’t have something to look forward to or I’m dreading a stressful morning.
Then in November, after our move out of Philly, I wanted a nice health reset. My Mom, Carlos and I decided to go sugar-free for two weeks. To do this, I took inspiration from the Keto-diet and decided to up my fat intake to about 40-50% of my diet.
I used half and half in my coffee. I added extra grass-fed butter to our potatoes, soups and vegetables. I added these guacomole packets to lunch or ended lunch with macadamia nuts. In tandem with the excitement around our New York City adventure, my after dinner sweet fell away.
Even after the two weeks were complete, I kept the added fat/no-sugar up because I slept better, awoke feeling optimistic and had an increased sense of calm. And I lost the bloat from eating out due to our kitchen being packed away for the move.
So if you’re struggling with an after dinner sweet or sugar in general, don’t read more about how bad sugar is for you. This is unproductive. Try adding more fat into your diet. Connect this change to the positive outcomes you experience. This puts inspiration back into your life instead of the fear-based motivation that ultimately drains you.
99.9% of my clients don’t eat enough fat. Sticking your fork in your salad dressing and ordering egg whites are not doing you any favors. Rather than counting how many extra calories you’re ingesting, pay attention to how much better you feel with more fat. You won’t crave sweets after your meal and won’t need to snack every two hours because you are hungry again.
Other ways to add more fats:
- Easy on-the-go options in this short video (the last one is my favorite during winter, except with a warm beverage):
- At home, I’m loving this 5-minute recipe from Elana’s pantry. I added whatever nuts we had in our cabinet, used grass-fed butter instead of olive oil and used vanilla instead of the pods.
Notice how your own after meal sweets decrease and how much better you feel. Use that energy to plan something to look forward to or to ease into your mornings. Notice how this subtle, emotional change ties into your own after meal treat.
Remember, reading more about nutrition rarely leads to long lasting changes or results. Adding fat is a great start to further your understanding of what works for you. If you feel good now, you have a better chance of feeling great in the future.
I’m working on a graphic to help you better understand what other actions you are doing that are keeping you stuck in your pursuit of healthy, however you define it.
Be well,
Ali
P.S. Find the topic of healthy fats a little confusing? Have a question for me? Pop on over to my Facebook page and ask away!
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