So Phat
One of the hardest things about changing my diet as a child of the 90s, has been trying to undemonize fat. I could not for the life of me wrap my brain around the fact that it's okay to eat coconut oil, avocado, olive oil, even animal fat, nuts and seeds, butter and so on while still losing weight. And yet I am.
New science shows that the fat on our bodies and the fat in our food is not the same type. Many of the nutritional backbones we grew up on have been debunked. One of the frustrating things about the English language is that it often uses the same word for many different things - and this leads to an awful lot of confusion. I heard that other cultures have many different words for love, and we have just one to describe the way we feel about our children, our spouses, our lust, our family, the things we own, the ideas and thoughts we relate to. The same thing has happened with the word fat. There are so many different types and we've given them all the same name, and inadvertently the same meaning.
So I have borrowed the 90s term phat (pretty healthy and tempting) to describe a group of foods that are very good for me and taste awesome in spite of containing fat. It helps me to separate out a chocolate pastry from coconut oil. All phats/fats are not made equal.
My body has also struggled to reincorporate this food back into my diet after years of being starved of it. It still wants to eat a larger plate of food and eat in the same way as when fueled by a mound of pasta, but it cannot. I can't eat three big meals, I need smaller more frequent ones. I have to leave room for the fat and protein in my diet. I have to leave room for the greens. I have to remember to eat these kinds of foods early on in my day because I won't have the room for them by later on the day. Or I'll get stuck in a carbohydrate cycle and not want them at all.
These are big habits, deeply embedded in my psyche and ways of being. My brain is convinced I will be hungry if I have a green juice packed with protein powder and phat for breakfast, but I'm not. It thinks that an open sandwich full of the same will leave me hungry at lunchtime because it's only one slice of bread! It doesn't understand how a handful of almonds could actually fill me as an afternoon snack, much less be good for me. It finds eggs altogether too much before 12 noon. So I've had to take it slowly and trick it sometimes. Eat ground almonds, cook in coconut oil, take a green juice as a snack only to find I don't also need a 'meal' after drinking it.
And all the time I read about nutrition. Again and again, in different forms. I read the science and watch the documentaries, and mingle with new age foodies. I watch my own body let go of fat in spite of me having more phat and protein in my diet than ever before, and in spite of the fact that I don't have to ever feel hungry. I can eat as much of these kinds of foods as I like without consequence. I feel happier and live with less 'starvation mentality' across my whole life. My brain is clearer, my body has more trust that I will give myself what I need when I need it, and this self trust also reflects across my whole life.
It's still confusing though. I wonder if the myth will ever truly fade sometimes. Often it sneaks up on me and starts running the show when I'm tired or distracted by life. I realise my phat intake and protein has suddenly halted again and that's why I've been feeling so rubbish lately. So hungry in more than one sense of the word. I have to start again. I have to read another book, or the same one again, that reminds my intellect that we don't believe in the low fat craze anymore. We're phat now, and look how much healthier we are as a result.
From my stubborn brain to yours, Bee <3 xx
New science shows that the fat on our bodies and the fat in our food is not the same type. Many of the nutritional backbones we grew up on have been debunked. One of the frustrating things about the English language is that it often uses the same word for many different things - and this leads to an awful lot of confusion. I heard that other cultures have many different words for love, and we have just one to describe the way we feel about our children, our spouses, our lust, our family, the things we own, the ideas and thoughts we relate to. The same thing has happened with the word fat. There are so many different types and we've given them all the same name, and inadvertently the same meaning.
So I have borrowed the 90s term phat (pretty healthy and tempting) to describe a group of foods that are very good for me and taste awesome in spite of containing fat. It helps me to separate out a chocolate pastry from coconut oil. All phats/fats are not made equal.
My body has also struggled to reincorporate this food back into my diet after years of being starved of it. It still wants to eat a larger plate of food and eat in the same way as when fueled by a mound of pasta, but it cannot. I can't eat three big meals, I need smaller more frequent ones. I have to leave room for the fat and protein in my diet. I have to leave room for the greens. I have to remember to eat these kinds of foods early on in my day because I won't have the room for them by later on the day. Or I'll get stuck in a carbohydrate cycle and not want them at all.
These are big habits, deeply embedded in my psyche and ways of being. My brain is convinced I will be hungry if I have a green juice packed with protein powder and phat for breakfast, but I'm not. It thinks that an open sandwich full of the same will leave me hungry at lunchtime because it's only one slice of bread! It doesn't understand how a handful of almonds could actually fill me as an afternoon snack, much less be good for me. It finds eggs altogether too much before 12 noon. So I've had to take it slowly and trick it sometimes. Eat ground almonds, cook in coconut oil, take a green juice as a snack only to find I don't also need a 'meal' after drinking it.
And all the time I read about nutrition. Again and again, in different forms. I read the science and watch the documentaries, and mingle with new age foodies. I watch my own body let go of fat in spite of me having more phat and protein in my diet than ever before, and in spite of the fact that I don't have to ever feel hungry. I can eat as much of these kinds of foods as I like without consequence. I feel happier and live with less 'starvation mentality' across my whole life. My brain is clearer, my body has more trust that I will give myself what I need when I need it, and this self trust also reflects across my whole life.
It's still confusing though. I wonder if the myth will ever truly fade sometimes. Often it sneaks up on me and starts running the show when I'm tired or distracted by life. I realise my phat intake and protein has suddenly halted again and that's why I've been feeling so rubbish lately. So hungry in more than one sense of the word. I have to start again. I have to read another book, or the same one again, that reminds my intellect that we don't believe in the low fat craze anymore. We're phat now, and look how much healthier we are as a result.
From my stubborn brain to yours, Bee <3 xx