Ariana Ayu

Well, our baby is over 7 months old now, and I’m starting to get back to feeling like me. The old me – before pregnancy and the year of fertility treatments, before the two babies we lost…. Okay, no, not that far back. But I’m starting to feel like I’m myself at least, and not like some brain-dead mommy-robot, with one notable exception:

My brain is sssslllllooooooooooooooooooooowww. Like, dial-up modem slow.

The baby weight came off super-easily; without trying by 3 weeks postpartum I was down below my pre-pregnancy weight.It’s the fertility treatments weight and grief weight from my first miscarriage 4 years ago that’s been a major pain to shed. I did 3 months of weight watchers private coaching, which was not very helpful. (They’re anti-fat, anti-dietary-fat [haha], and pro-artificially-reduced-calorie/fat processed foods, so I knew better, but whatever. I was tired.)

All the nutrition research of the last decade or so has shown that good fats (i.e. non-hydrogenated, not artificially processed) are good for you. The low-fat trend has been proven to be terrible for most people, even though some institutions and training programs haven’t caught up with current research. So… when I decided I was ready to go back to the eating style that works best for me (Paleo/ Primal), I knew it was time to re-embrace healthy fats. I made these delightful snacks (which are technically not paleo because peanuts are legumes, but I had some in my cupboard) I lovingly refer to as “my fat balls.” (Hey! Minds out of the gutter people.) Oh yeah, and after 2 weeks of eating fat again, I’m down 5 pounds. #fatrocks

  *Nutrition info from myfitnesspal.com

Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter** (lightly sweetened, whole foods brand)
• 8 tbsp virgin coconut oil
• 1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 1 tsp ground wildcrafted vanilla bean powder
• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 3/4 cup raw hemp hearts
• 1 and 1/4 cups almond flour
• 1/4 cups coconut palm sugar

**Note: use almond butter to make these truly paleo, AND if you want a non-grainy, sugar free almond butter, try Barney Butter Bare. I love that stuff!

Directions:

1. Mix everything together with a spoon in a big bowl.
2. Use a tablespoon to scoop the mixture into little balls and place in a glass container with parchment paper between layers. (If it’s too soft, refrigerate before this step to re-solidify the coconut oil.)
3. Store in the refrigerator.

Et voila! Delicious, lovely fat balls that are suuuuper-satisfying and have served me for several meals when I’m too busy (or lazy) for an actual meal.