Eat Fat Lose Fat is radically different from most diet books. As with their previous work Nourishing Traditions, authors Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig are back with a challenge to “politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats.” If you still think a low-fat diet is the key to weight loss, you’re going to be shocked when you read this book, because the authors tell us what to eat to lose weight is saturated fats, especially high amounts of coconut oil, to achieve optimal weight and good health.

Grade: A-:  This book will tell you what to eat to lose weight.

Eat Fat Lose Fat has got to be the tastiest diet on the planet-- and it works!

Eat Fat Lose Fat: Top 3 Tips on How to Eat to Lose Weight

The big emphasis for the eat fat lose fat diet is on coconut oil. Coconut oil is high in medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which increase metabolic rates and lead to weight loss. Coconut oil also supports a sluggish thyroid and promotes T3 hormones. Testimonials abound for the slimming effects of coconut oil with many people stating that taking coconut oil was all they did to lose 10-20 pounds.

Oils:
1. Consume 2-3 Tablespoons of virgin coconut oil per day (start out with 1 Tb and work your way up). You can cook with the coconut oil or drink in hot water.
2. Use extra virgin olive oil
3. Eat raw cultured butter from grass-fed cows which is rich in CLA, a fatty acid that increases fat burning.
4. Take krill oil/fish oil daily.
5. Nut butters - 1 tsp. per day or 12 nuts  

Animal Protein:
1. Eat grass-fed beef (high in CLA which promotes weight loss)
2. Organic raised meats and eggs

Fruit:
1. Avocado (rich in essential fatty acids and protein)
2. Lemons and limes
3. Avoid all other fruits are too high in sugar

Vegetables:
1. All vegetables are acceptable except for high-starch: potatoes, yams, corn

Eat Fat Lose Fat Praise

Sally Fallon and Mary Enig deserve a ton of credit for their work. Fallon is the voice of the Weston Price Foundation, an incredible organization that promotes the benefits of traditional foods. Enig is one of the world’s foremost authorities on fats. Their books are well-written, full of information that is otherwise hard for the general public to come by, and backed up by solid science. Eat Fat, Lose Fat is fun to read and contains numerous delicious recipes that fall into three categories: Quick and Easy Weight Loss, Health Recovery, and Everyday Gourmet.

Most reviewers on Amazon.com commented positively that using fats as promoted in the book can be life changing for those who have been conditioned to avoid fat like the plague and in the past found themselves constantly hungry and unsatisfied with their food most of the time.

I was afraid to eat fats until I read this book. The authors make a good case that low-fat is just a marketing ploy, and that coconut oil, butter and other healthy fats are actually what to eat to lose weight. Cheers to Fallon and Enig for helping to get the message out that saturated fat is not the nutritional demon we have been led to believe, but that is has been a component of healthy diets around the world throughout history and actually has diseases-fighting properties.

The authors promote coconut oil in combination with other fats such as cod-liver oil supplements, butter, egg yolks, meat fats, and even lard (all from healthy pastured animals). They state that these fats benefit the whole body, and that proper use of these fats allows steady and permanent weight loss as well as increased energy and improved health overall.

What I most appreciate about Sally and Mary's plan is the great importance they place on the QUALITY of the food consumed--namely organic, sustainably produced, natural, whole foods. Animal protein from pasture raised animals who are treated humanely. Real, raw (as opposed to pasteurized) milk products, and none of the artificially sweetened diet sodas which are typically recommended on other diets.

Eat Fat Lose Fat Criticism

I really love the book so my criticisms are few. I believe some people need to be judicious with the coconut oil at first and won’t need as much as is recommended in the book. I tried the diet and felt that the three tablespoons of coconut oil was too much for me. It made me feel a bit nauseous.

At least one Amazon.com reviewer said this amount of oil made them gain weight. As with all foods, we do not all benefit from the same amounts. And if you just can’t stand coconut, which is the case with some folks, this diet is not the right one for you.

A few of the reviewers on Amazon.com felt that the ingredients were costly and hard to find, and that the recipes were not easy or family-friendly enough. If you are familiar with the Weston Price Foundation and the Nourishing Traditions way of eating, you will know that they recommend only whole natural foods such as raw dairy, grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, and organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible.

Their approach is the opposite of fast food, so if you’re hoping for ingredients that are available everywhere and recipes that are super quick and easy, this may not be the plan for you.

I promise, though, that it is completely worth seeking out the ingredients and trying the recipes. You will be pleased with how delicious and satisfying they are. If you can’t follow the entire diet as outlined in the book, you can still benefit by using coconut oil and experimenting with some of the recommended foods and beverages such as the fermented vegetables, kombucha, beet kvass, kefir and real ginger ale, as well as the mineral rich bone broths and soups.

Another criticism is that Eat Fat Lose Fat does not address exercise or emotional or spiritual connections to overweight- it makes purely nutritional recommendations, and is therefore not an entirely holistic approach to weight loss like the Enlita natural weight loss program is (see Online Courses on the navigation bar for more info).

So give your foods filled with unhealthy oils and your tasteless non-fat and low-fat foods the boot. Give the Eat Fat, Lose Fat diet a try for a fad-free, wholesome, and delicious approach to weight loss! Learn more on how to burn fat with cold exposure therapy from this video. Sign up for our e-newsletter for more free natural weight loss information.