Due to all the well-intended ‘information’ out there on that information autobahn that is the internet our thinking has become obsessively focused on external calories and we completely  miss one of the most important points about fat adaptation.  

Fat Adaptation, done properly, taps into the tens of thousands of onboard calories YOU have onboard to fuel YOUR performance at every level. 

How to fuel your training and events

When you sit down to enjoy a meal with family or friends, do you try to do a workout when you eat that meal? So why do you think you need to “cram” a bunch of calories into your body when exercising to perform? Because you’ve been ‘sold & told’ this idea of external calories as the main source of your energy rather than first and foremost developing your own endogenous metabolic pathways. For a deeper dive watch this blog video on energy partitioning.

On one side of a highly polarized discussion on nutrition and fueling you have the High Carb Camp focused on carbohydrates while, on the other side of the divide you have the Keto camp that promoting the use of nut butters, coconut oil, MCT and other fat rich energy sources. 

They are missing the point - your body is meant to metabolize your own body fat.  We eat, we take in and store food mainly as fat (a little as glycogen) - then when we exercise that fat is released and fuels our body in these 3 ways:

1. It is converted into fatty acids to be burned through beta oxidation
2. It is converted into glucose via gluconeogenesis without catabolizing muscle protein. 
3. It is converted to betahydroxybutyrate ketones through ketosis.

The extra Rocket Fuel you need for your performance

When your body is fat adapted adding strategic carbohydrates will give you the extra boost you need to perform without impacting your fat adaptation. Actually, it will drive it.  

So the ‘take-aways’ from today’s blog post are:

1. Fat adaptation really is about the ability to use your limitless onboard energy for the majority of your energy needs.  

2. We have been ‘sold & told’ to think in terms of external calories:

1. Carbohydrate based products in various forms.
2. Fats; Nut butters, Coconut & MCT oils for the keto camp.
3. Ketone salts and ketone esters

3. Think about it . . . because of this ‘sold & told’ messaging we have forgotten:

• We are meant to burn fat from our own stores, it is a natural part of our physiology.
• When we look at fat adaptation in this way (a), we will eliminate the side effects that ingesting too many calories give us.
• There is not a lot of money to be made in using what you already have versus selling you something you don’t need. . .
• Fully develop YOUR natural internal energy pathways first and foremost then top them off with a little extra external calories for performance.

That is why for OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolized) - a program which helps YOU reach your Health & Performance potential in the way Nature intended.

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Click here to see how Vespa can help your peformance and fat metabolism…