I still remember the first thought I had after stumbling upon Bulletproof Coffee on a fat loss forum: “How can consuming butter and oil blended into coffee possibly help me lose weight?” Having just read something that had me salivating and my interest level at code red, I read on and on… testimonial after testimonial. I was enticed, yes, but that was the end of it. I sat on my sofa, munching on a fat free granola bar, thinking, “There must be something wrong with these people.”

It was two years after this first run in with the butter coffee craze before I had the guts to try it. At the time, I was 10 pounds heavier than my goal weight and consuming a nearly fat free diet. Despite marathon training and calorie restriction, I wasn't losing any weight and I lacked the energy I needed to get through my day. I was ready to make a drastic change.

My heart raced as I googled, “butter coffee Austin,” and found it listed on the menu of a food trailer near my condo. My daily fat/carb/protein ratios were carefully planned to be ultra low in fat for the rest of the day in case the butter coffee backfired. With that “security blanket” in mind, I walked up to the teal blue counter at Picnik Austin, and asked the barista for a small butter coffee. I stopped myself before blurting out the words I was thinking, “Fat free, please.” After the coffee was poured, several scoops of fat added, and the whirl of the hand blender had ceased, the fit and healthy looking barista handed me what I now believe to be my 12 ounces to freedom. I took my first sip and was instantly hooked. I immediately went out to buy all the ingredients, and since that day (two years ago), I have consumed butter coffee nearly every morning. With a fat filled coffee in hand, I have lost those unwanted 10 pounds (and then some), curbed my un-curbable sugar cravings, and filled my seemingly un-fillable stomach. I had finally found something that kept me full until lunch and satisfied without sweets…  Fat.

Fat is incredibly nourishing, and easily the most satiating macronutrient you can consume, so why wouldn't you want to take your fill first thing in the morning? Read on for 5 fatty foods you should be eating for breakfast.

Grass Fed Butter

If you're familiar with my Fat Focused Detox (or if you've read the story above), it should come as no surprise that grass fed butter made the top of the list. Along with MCT oil & coffee, grass fed butter is my number one fat fighting superfood. If I'm not sipping it blended in my coffee, I'm throwing it into a skillet to fry some eggs (over easy, thank you). A tablespoon or two of butter is in my morning diet, whether chewing is required or not. Here are some benefits of grass fed butter:

• excellent source of CLA (great at fighting belly fat!)
• dramatically higher levels of Vitamin A & E (fat soluble antioxidants, ya'll!)
• rare source of vitamin K2 (SO important for building bone mineral density!)
• ideal ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids (most of us are eating FAR too much omega-6 creating systemic inflammation!)

Interested in making butter coffee for yourself? Try my recipe for Body By Butter Coffee.

Full Fat Coconut Milk

Even after starting to drink my Body By Butter Coffee on a daily basis, consuming around 3 tablespoons of fat every morning, I still found myself buying Thai Kitchen lite coconut milk. It took me awhile to grasp that 1/3-1/2 a cup of full fat, organic coconut milk would not make me gain weight, and in fact, it can help do just the opposite.

Coconut fat found in coconut oil, coconut butter, and full fat coconut milk, contains a unique form of dietary fat called medium chain triglycerides. These MCTs are rapidly metabolized and used by the body as fuel for energy – meaning they don't get stored as fat! MCTs cause a rapid formation of ketone bodies, which makes it a good choice for those wanting more energy, higher cognitive function, increased athletic performance, and enhanced thermogenesis  (ie. fat burning). (1)

Additional reasons to love coconut oil:

• impressive fatty acid profile
• high in lauric acid (great for keeping unwanted bugs in our gut in check)
• easily digestible
• can be used as a dairy replacement for anything from coffee creamer to whipping cream

All in all, full fat coconut milk is an amazing source of MCTs, and a perfectly creamy and delicious alternative to the milk you've been putting in your smoothies, coffee, or cereal. You can also try it in the form of Coconut Milk Panna Cotta.

Bacon

While I wouldn't necessarily call bacon a superfood, I absolutely love it as an addition to the occasional breakfast of over-easy eggs and greens, or as a crispy side to my Guilt Free Pancakes (recipe in the 7 Day Detox). Who wouldn't love to consume bacon daily? The fat, protein, and salt combo is nonpareil, and despite what you may have heard, it isn't bad for you! “Bad bacon is something of an oxymoron.” So instead of avoiding bacon in fear of its high fat content, embrace the complementary crisp it lends to your morning dish.

Avocado

Here is another one that I pretended I didn't like the taste of while I was in my fat fearing years. I wanted any excuse to avoid the high calorie, high fat food, despite hearing that it was “the good kind of fat.” These days, you could toss an avocado my way and I'd eat the whole thing, regardless of my hunger levels. I can't get enough.

• high in soluble fiber (the detoxing, prebiotic kind!)
• loaded with potassium (major player in reducing water retention!)
• filled with omega-9 fatty acids (healthy monounsaturated fat!)

Honestly, if a salad doesn't contain avocado, I'm pretty much not interested. If you plan to eat a pile of veggies, there had better be a stellar source of fat included. You see, dietary fat is an essential component in order to absorb many of the nutrients in plant foods. So in addition to the vitamins many healthy fat filled foods provide all on their own, they also help the body to assimilate the nutrients in the foods they're eaten with. Now tell me, why wouldn't I want my breakfast loaded with this deliciously filling, fatty superstar?

Egg Yolks

Like so many other fatty foods, the old me would have adamantly refused to eat an uber delicious, ultra nutritious egg yolk. Of course, I would have stood firmly behind “science” to back it up: “One egg yolk contains over half your daily recommended amount of cholesterol, and cholesterol causes heart disease, right? So why would I want to go pumping my body full of something that will destroy it!?” Not so much.

Let's start a round of nutritional myth busting here: There is no study that shows that dietary cholesterol has any impact on heart disease. We have believed this myth to be true because when we operate on someone who just had a heart attack, we find cholesterol present at the site of the attack. So cholesterol must be the cause being it is always present when a problem occurs, right? Wrong. This half century old lipid hypothesis is equivalent to saying, “Firefighters cause fires. They're always on scene when a fire develops. They must be starting the fire.” Let's clear up this myth in a concise statement: Cholesterol is at the site of the attack, because, like the firefighters, it is here to help. Cholesterol is there attempting to repair vascular inflammation. In fact, several of the longest running studies ever done on human health have shown that people with the highest serum cholesterol, have the lowest incidence of mortality. Yes. (2)

You read that right. Aside from being a stellar source of dietary cholesterol, egg yolks also provide the body with:

• vitamins A, E, D, & K (the egg white alone doesn't contain any of these vitamins!)
• calcium and vitamin B12 are also found almost exclusively in the yolk
• great source of choline (required for methylation, which is a massive part of phase 1 and phase 2 liver detoxification)

So, now that you have the fat facts, you're ready to start using them. I love to start my day with either my Body By Butter Coffee, a Fat Fighting Smoothie, over-easy eggs and sweet potato hashed browns, or bacon and Guilt Free Pancakes. If you're ready to start incorporating these fatty favorites into your morning rotation as well, I teach you how! Sign up below to get the free ebook with all the details.

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