Fat Coffee on the Plane

As my plane is about to land in Heathrow, I’m enjoying a cup of fat coffee.

It has butter in it; and no, that doesn’t mean that butter is Paleo.  It means that this was the best option given the choices. ( Read on…)

And rather than having to bring my bottle of MCT along, I’ve used 1/2 packet of coconut oil, which I travel with.  No, not as strong a source of caprilyc acid, but in a pinch, why not?

We’ve all heard of Bulletproof Coffee now, the global brand launched by Dave Asprey and many of us, myself included, use his MCT oil.

Health benefits abound; if you haven’t yet delved into the arena of intermittent fasting and a ketogenic approach to eating, definitely worth your while to read up on them both.

With my own chameleon approach to tweaking my personal methodology to eating (which, for me, does remain based on authentic paleo foods) and continuously testing ideas on myself to see what results in feeling more focused, leaner, accomplishing more during the day, sleeping better and… the list goes on and on, it’s an ongoing path to determine what works, what doesn’t and what’s the best balance.

Of late, over the past couple of years, I’ve shifted to roughly 80% fat diet and while it may change a little during high volume training weekends, I feel the best when I stick to this type of macro balance and include periods of fasting.

This was prompted by an urge to segue into another means of fueling my body for endurance training and racing than the carbohydrate gels I’d used for so long as the one ‘non Paleo’ item in my regime.

While I wasn’t feeling badly or having performance issues, it was the principle that bothered me to no end.

Who knew cutting fruit and starch and adding more olive oil, coconut oil, MCT, avocado and even butter now and then would result in losing a few percentage points in body fat?

At any rate, regardless of whether or not you’re an athlete or busy executive traveling the world, knowing how and why to eat or avoid certain things both on the flight as well as during your stay can be the difference between fit and focused versus fat.

It’s worth noting that if you’re new to this approach, you’ve got to make sure you understand the difference between a properly executed fast and simply not eating.

Vastly different and often done with quite different intention.

Oh- so back to the dairy.

I’ve been writing a bit about how sometimes,  a bit of wiggle room is what it takes to create a long term eating strategy.

It comes down to what each of us can tolerate without issue and then, based on some experimentation, we can then decide which foods might work in these situations (such as being on a plane).

I won’t touch gluten with a ten foot pole.  Ever.

But on a plane (where fasting is an absolute no brainer place to try it), whether the other choices include a range of present, nutrient-lacking foodstuffs, making your own version of this ancient beverage which dates back centuries to Tibetan Monks drinking yak butter tea(1), (2) is a far better cry over eating the sugary, overly processed meals on board.

And since, for example,  I don’t have celiac disease (which would warrant eating dairy an ill advised idea, due to its cross-reactivity with gluten)

In other words, rule out certain foods to avoid if you have a medical issue (skip the nightshades if you’re suffering from auto immune conditions), but if you’ve done your homework and cleaned up your eating act to be a mostly (dare i say it? ) authentically Paleo approach to eating and you have that glass of wine or yes, spoonful of butter in your coffee rather than the pile of pancakes the flight attendant is offering, you’re likely heading in the right direction.

Wouldn’t you rather land at your destination feeling alert (potential sleep deprivation aside), focused and ready to face the day, then enjoy a real meal later on?

I’m quite looking forward a walk, then to eating the Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Black Cabbage and Grilled Dover Sole at one of our favorite places in London, of course, doused in olive oil!

Check out this week’s free “recipe” for Fat Coconut coffee in a Pinch, so easy you can make it on the plane!

(1) http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08/29/what-is-bulletproof-coffee_n_5737272.html

(2) http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/05/404435137/tea-tuesdays-butter-up-that-tea-tibetan-style

 

 

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