Are you looking to make a lifestyle change, lose some weight, and become healthier as a whole? If so, it might be time to consider the bulletproof diet and the benefits of changing your unhealthy lifestyle.
The concept of bulletproof entails seeing food as fuel, improving your mental and physical fitness, and generally becoming healthier. Are you ready to learn about bulletproof lifestyle factors to improve your mental and physical health? Then let’s get started! Learn everything you need about the bulletproof diet below.
Incorporating the Bulletproof Diet
The tech executive Dave Asprey first founded the bulletproof diet in 2014. Despite his success, Asprey weighed 300 pounds and began a long journey toward weight loss, which led to his creation of the bulletproof diet.
The Bulletproof diet is all about eating the right foods instead of counting calories. The diet encourages eating high-fat foods with a moderate amount of protein. Also, the diet requires a low amount of carbohydrate consumption.
Furthermore, you can expect to participate in intermittent fasting if you pursue the bulletproof diet. You will find some people who have taken part in the diet have found themselves losing weight. However, it goes beyond weight loss and focuses on improving health overall.
Entering Ketosis
Whenever you eat a small number of carbohydrates, your body will enter a state of ketosis. That means your body is in a metabolic state where you burn fats and ketones for energy. You will no longer burn carbohydrates and sugars for energy, which means your body goes through ketosis.
That should lead you to fewer food cravings, more energy, and even greater concentration. To get to the ketosis stage, some of the foods you should eat instead of carbohydrates include:
- Avocados
- Coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil
- Grass-fed butter
- Meats, eggs, and collagen
- Nuts and seeds
Intermittent Fasting Protocols
Intermittent fasting involves cycling between eating and periods of fasting. Usually, when you implement intermittent fasting, you will end up fasting anywhere from 16 to 24 hours in a row twice per week. That’s known as the Eat-Stop-Eat protocol.
Another intermittent fasting protocol is known as the 16/8 method. That involves avoiding breakfast and eating for eight hours, such as from 12 PM to 8 PM. The rest of the time, you will need to fast for 16 hours.
Lastly, you can choose the 5:2 diet, which involves choosing two days per week when you consume only 500 or 600 calories in total while eating normally the rest of the week.
Do Supplements Help?
The Bulletproof diet also requires consuming supplements to improve your overall wellness. The diet includes taking daily supplements like MCT oil or collagen protein for better health.
Supplements will help you adhere to a healthier diet and gain more energy. For example, you will likely start by consuming Bulletproof Coffee, which includes MCT oil, coffee beans, and ghee or grass-fed butter.
Essentially, that specific coffee is supposed to give you more mental clarity and raise your energy levels first thing in the morning.
MCT Oil
Medium-chain triglycerides or MCT oil is a type of fat that comes from coconuts and are a major part of the keto-based diet.
MCTs are types of ketones that help burn fat and stimulate the brain. MCT oils can get added to coffees or smoothies. Some of the biggest benefits of consuming MCT oil include:
- Sustained energy
- Fewer food cravings
- Weight control
- Digestive and gut support
- Provides more energy and strengthens your workouts
Research also shows that those who take MCT oil supplements improve their fat-burning metabolism as compared to those who do not take such supplements.
Collagen Protein Supplements
Protein is an essential component of the human body to help it run effectively. Collagen is the most common protein in the human body, which means it is vital for your overall health.
Collagen helps build muscles, bones, and joints in the human body. Furthermore, collagen can help improve your hair, nails, and skin health. To improve your overall health and participate in the bulletproof diet, you should consider adding collagen protein powders to your smoothies and drinks.
Keep reading to learn more about the best bulletproof diet recipes that incorporate protein supplements.
Lifestyle Changes of the Bulletproof Diet
The Bulletproof diet goes beyond merely changing the food you consume daily. It goes beyond intermittent fasting as well. To truly participate in the bulletproof lifestyle, you must make changes to your routines.
Some of the lifestyle changes you’ll have to make include:
- Exercising and choosing your favorite workouts
- Managing your stress
- Taking part in self-care routines
- Getting enough sleep and rest
You can even combine some types of lifestyle changes, such as taking part in yoga classes. Yoga can count as a form of exercise, help manage your stress, and become part of your self-care.
Physical Fitness
Exercise will help improve your body’s physical health and will even keep your mind engaged. You can choose from numerous different workouts. The best ideas include participating in some cardio-based fitness routines and weight training regimes.
If you choose to go to the gym regularly, you will also need to take part in a recovery process. Don’t forget to take a day off if you’ve really worked your muscles the day before.
Some of the best exercises you can choose include swimming, dancing, aerobics, and yoga or Pilates. You can also participate in sports like basketball or soccer. Whatever you choose, staying fit and exercising are essential parts of the bulletproof lifestyle.
Managing Stress
There are numerous ways you can better manage stress and improve your mental health. For instance, you can gain awareness of what tends to trigger you and cause you to become more agitated. Once you’ve defined your triggers, you can then avoid certain situations and learn to better cope with negative conditions.
Furthermore, time management skills can help alleviate stress as well. As such, you should schedule your daily activities and use a to-do list to reduce stress.
You can also pursue numerous relaxation and self-care techniques, such as meditating, deep breathing, and performing some yoga poses.
Adopting Self-Care Routines
Self-care routines are essential for anyone looking to live a healthy and happy life. Self-care can involve anything from cooking a tasty and healthy meal with your favorite foods to taking a warm bubble bath or going to a yoga class to stretch your body.
Even something as simple as listening to your favorite music while going on a walk in the morning can act as a self-care routine. The most important thing is to listen to your body and your mind. Follow what feels right and take care of yourself.
Getting Quality Sleep
Sleep is an essential part of recovery after a long workout. You will need to get enough rest and quality sleep to live a healthy life. Sleep is a major component of wellness; you’ll need seven to eight hours of sleep per night. You’ll want to avoid electronics right before bed.
If you’ve had trouble sleeping lately, talk to your doctor to see if taking a melatonin supplement may help. Usually, if you get plenty of physical fitness and have learned how to manage stress better, you should sleep better at night.
Weekly Schedule for the Bulletproof Diet
Below, we have put together the perfect bulletproof diet recipes for you to consume throughout a typical week.
Monday Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
You should drink a bulletproof coffee for breakfast and then try some wild salmon with buttered kale for lunch. For the intermittent fast, have lunch at around 2 PM and finish your dinner before 8 PM. At dinnertime, have some hanger steak with spinach and herb butter.
Tuesday Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Today, try some bulletproof coffee for breakfast and have some lamb chili for lunch. Lamb chili includes carrots, leeks, celery stalks, cauliflower, asparagus, zucchini, and lamb. Dinner is simple, as it includes leftover hanger steak with spinach.
Wednesday Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Once again, breakfast includes a bulletproof coffee. Lunch consists of a bulletproof ceviche with avocado and arugula. The recipe involves wild salmon, scallion, and cilantro. Have leftover lamb chili for dinner.
Thursday Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Breakfast involves a simple, bulletproof coffee, while lunch includes a bulletproof high-fat salad of eggs, a mix of greens, wild salmon, an avocado, cashews, a cucumber, and one red bell pepper. For dinner, you can have a specific bulletproof mac n’ cheese recipe, which includes grass-fed beef, carrots, celery, spaghetti squash, and scallions.
Friday Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
As per usual, have some bulletproof coffee for breakfast. Once lunch rolls around, have some of the leftover bulletproof mac n’ cheese recipe. Enjoy some tasty pork chops with dandelion greens and herb crust for dinner.
Saturday Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
Have some bulletproof coffee first thing in the morning. For lunch, try making some baked rosemary chicken thighs with a bowl of broccoli soup. Dinner includes shredded beef with brussels sprouts.
Sunday Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
For breakfast, switch things up and have eggs and bacon with avocado on the side. At lunchtime, enjoy some leftover shredded beef and brussels sprouts. Before bed, have a steak bowl of tri-tip steak, spices, MCT oil, long grain white rice, and your favorite vegetable.
The Best Recipes From the Bulletproof Diet
Some of the best recipes from the bulletproof diet include:
- Steamed kale and pineapple smoothie for breakfast
- Winter vegetable salad with bacon, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, cabbage, and almonds
- Hanger steak, spinach, and herb butter for dinner
- Bulletproof cupcake with healthy, low-carb ingredients
These are only some of the delicious options available in the bulletproof diet. Enjoy cooking these tasty meals in your kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About the Bulletproof Diet
Below, you will learn the answers to some of the most common questions about the bulletproof diet and lifestyle changes.
Are eggs bulletproof?
The bulletproof diet does include eggs. However, egg white omelets are not usually part of the diet. The egg yolks are a more important part of your breakfast. Yolks hold the majority of the nutrients in eggs. You’ll get plenty of protein and vitamin D from eggs.
Therefore, you’ll want to make some scrambled eggs for breakfast every once in a while.
Does bulletproof coffee help you lose weight?
You can potentially lose weight if you consume bulletproof coffee alongside a healthy diet. You will also see your energy levels increase significantly. Bulletproof coffee may generally improve your overall wellness.
However, there are specific issues to consider when drinking bulletproof coffee. The drink has a high amount of saturated fat and can raise your cholesterol levels. You’ll also find that the coffee is low in nutrients, so you’ll want to add more nutritious foods to your other meals.
Is it safe to drink bulletproof coffee every day?
Drinking bulletproof coffee every once in a while should not harm your health. You can always try cutting down the amount of butter and oil you add to the drink if you’re worried about the amount of saturated fat in the coffee.
Can you eat cheese on the bulletproof diet?
When consuming cheese on the bulletproof diet, you must choose grass-fed, organic, and full-fat dairy products. While you can have heavy creams, you must avoid milk and half-and-half due to the sugars they contain. Also, make sure to stay away from low-fat or sweetened dairy, processed cheese, and condensed milk.
Wrap Up
The bulletproof diet involves serious lifestyle changes, including consuming low-carb meals, exercising regularly, managing stress, pursuing self-care routines, and getting quality sleep.
To fully immerse yourself in the bulletproof lifestyle, you should also expect to incorporate intermittent fasting into your regular routine. Additionally, supplementing your diet with MCT oil and collagen proteins will increase overall health and well-being.
However, you will reap huge benefits and rewards once you switch to the bulletproof diet. You’ll have plenty of energy, think more sharply, and even lose weight. You won’t regret pursuing this diet.