Well, it’s been a few weeks since I started with a new breakfast approach. I am doing Bulletproof Coffee in the morning. If you haven’t heard about it by now – what rock are you living under? No, I kid. I hadn’t heard of it either until my neighbors enlightened me prior to Thanksgiving. So, I did a little internet research, scouted out thoughts and feelings about it on Facebook – and then ordered some to try it out. I figured a few days of doing anything wasn’t really a great review – so now that i’ve been doing it fairly consistently for a few weeks, it’s time to give you my opinion.
What is Bulletproof Coffee?
Bulletproof Coffee Kit I ordered to get me started
Well, Dave Asprey explains it way better on his website, but the basic description would be a really, really, clean cup of coffee. Superior coffee beans that get rid of all those hidden toxins most coffee has when you make it. So, for coffee snobs – this is a good cup of joe. And it’s pricey, too (12 oz for 18.95), so I definitely was hoping I liked it (A LOT). My previous “good coffee” buying experience was more like $12-13 per POUND so this Bulletproof Upgraded Coffee was a stretch for me. But I liked the idea behind it, and I can appreciate special beans, special processing to offer a better, healthier coffee obviously cost more than other typical methods.
So..the coffee beans are just one piece of Bulletproof Coffee. The make it Bulletproof – you need his coffee beans, pasture fed butter and MCT oil. Say, what? I know – it’s weird. I saw a few friends post about putting butter in their coffee and I gagged a bit in my mouthpiece before I did a bit of research. And when I tried it – I have to say: butter is good. I do recommend high quality butter – and pasture fed is best. It’s crazy, I’ve never really spent a lot of money on high quality butter, we usually just get whatever is cheapest. But when I use this pasture fed butter (I buy unsalted Kerrygold), the texture is so different from other butter I’ve used. You can really SEE the difference.
MCT oil is “derived from palm and coconut oil, medium chain triglyceride oil delivers hours of sustained energy (because Upgraded MCT Oil defies storage as body fat). The human brain loves MCT–studies show MCT improves memory and cognition.” (source – Dave Asprey). The idea is to give your body lots of HEALTHY fat, and stop loading up on carbs to fill you up.
So you make your coffee, blend in butter and MCT oil and you get a frothy coffee that tastes really darn good. No need for creamer, although I admit that I put a packet of stevia in mine because I lean toward the sweet side.
Why should you drink Bulletproof Coffee?
Well, I’m not making any money off telling people to buy expensive coffee, fancy pants butter, or medium chain trigylceride oil. But I will say, for someone who has been a breakfast eater for several years and someone who wakes up HUNGRY, this coffee is a good breakfast. I won’t say that it fills me up until lunch time as some people have told me. But compared to a normal cup of coffee that I would drink alongside a normal breakfast? Yah, it makes those hunger pains go away for a few hours until its time for my morning snack. As PART of a primal (or paleo) diet, it’s a great option for breakfast on the go. Believe me, I’d love to have a giant veggie and meat omelet every morning before work, but with an almost 8 month old and still trying to manage getting to work on time and breastfeeding…I just don’t have time. So the Bulletproof Coffee is a great way to get in healthy fats and it gives me great energy.
I want to talk a bit more about the energy part. I am by no means a morning person. Since I had a baby – I have no choice. I am up around 6am everyday – sometimes earlier, and sometimes 6am is the second time I wake up (or third). So like it or not, I am UP in the mornings. Since I’ve started doing the Bulletproof Coffee – I have noticed a lot of energy in the mornings. I’m just..AWAKE by the time I get to work (I drink my coffee in the car on the way to daycare). I have a noticeable “pep in my step” as I walk into work now. And that is weird for me. But, it’s good! I like a breakfast that fills me up, doesn’t take much time and gives me good energy to help me through the morning at work.
Conclusions
So – in the end, I’ve been pleased with my new breakfast experience. It’s been hard being 100% consistent due to Holiday parties, holiday travel and weekends. But during the normal week – I make my coffee every morning. The first two weeks I did Bulletproof coffee alongside a primal diet – I lost 6 pounds. Then Thanksgiving happened (and 4 turkey day meals in 3 days) and I gained a few of those pounds back. Stupid holiday treats that I just can’t say no to! So I’ll be weighing in again this Friday to see how another week back on plan has done. Hopefully, I’ll be back down to that 6 pounds lost and I can keep moving forward despite Christmas and the New Year. I will say that after eating holiday meals and indulging in my old “wheat/grain filled ways” I am overly full and majorly tired. I end up feeling pretty bad after those meals – so I don’t know why I can’t conquer those cravings once and for all. I feel SO much better when I’m eating primal, but it’s hard to break those wheat/grain eating habits of 30 years. If only everyone around me would just eat the same way – my life would be easier. 🙂 A big goal for me in 2014 will be to move past “eating as a habit” and hopefully I can move toward eating as fuel to do the things I want to do.
ThirtyStory 