In an ideal world, I would wake up each morning like one of those peppy, naturally enthused people ready to take on the day. Sort of how I’d imagine a white male CEO of a media company might be on any given day in Los Angeles. Or maybe Audrey Gelman of The Wing. The reality is, I identify more with Cinderella when she throws a pillow over her head in protest to the morning sun (unfortunately without the cute animated birds in bonnets pulling at my non-existent pigtails). Some days the culprit is pure malaise, and other days it’s not having something exciting enough to look forward to. But on most tired mornings, I just blame it on the melatonin hangover. (Or on weekends, as T-Pain says, the al-al-al-al-al-cohol.)
Luckily, there is a way to make the morning more tolerable! So, let me play nutritionist for a minute:
Drink coffee with blended coconut oil in the a.m.
I wouldn't say to do this EVERY morning, but when you're feeling extra tired/blah, it helps. You may have heard about this buzzy diet, The Ketogenic Diet, which was first introduced to the world in the 1920s as a dietary treatment for epilepsy. The idea is that you can lose weight and gain increased mental clarity and energy from eating a fat-dominant, moderate-protein, low carbohydrate diet in which your body runs on ketones for energy instead of glucose (SUGAR). In layman’s terms: your body is essentially switching to a new fuel source.
After complaining about brain fog to a doctor once, she suggested the Ketogenic diet and I tried it for about 2 weeks. It can take up to a month for your body to reach a true state of ketosis and reap the benefits and that’s why it’s so tough to stick to it. Before you reach goal ketosis, you’re simply hungry AF and craving carbs desperately. Peeps call it the keto flu. It’s also really difficult to maintain a social life when you’re on the keto diet. It involves a shit ton of meal prep—which can be really fun or really annoying—depending on what type of human you are.
SO, I decided to add more fats to my diet and try and eat as balanced as possible. Blending coconut oil (which has this type of fat called MCT) in your coffee is simply getting a burst of energy and mental clarity in the matter of minutes. Coconut oil’s fatty acids are also superb for maintaining your immune system and fighting against colds.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS:
1. Get a blender or a Nutribullet or whatever trendy mixing machine exists
2. Add a tsp. or two (depending how lit you want to be) to freshly brewed coffee (I dig the Capresso coffee maker ($79.00), although there are tons).
3. Blend.
AND VOILA. Tired girl, meet energy in the form of frothy goodness.
Make sure you buy unrefined coconut oil! This just means that it’s less processed and better for you in the long run. I’m partial to the Spectrum Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil ($10), but anything will do.