Eating for Brain Health-Part Two

Lunch and Dinner; KetoFlex, My Style

Offerings from the Athens Farmer’s Market in Georgia

Although I rarely snack, I do enjoy three meals a day. Breakfast is my largest meal, lunch is moderate, and dinner is light in the late afternoon. I try to finish eating by 5:00 PM and fast until 7:00 AM, which gives me a 14-hour fast. Please note that I am not offering medical advice or recommendations—I’m following medical guidance from my physicians and practitioners based on my needs and tailoring it to my preferences and lifestyle. See Eating for Brain Health—Part One.

The "Keto" in KetoFlex stands for ketosis, in which the body burns fat for fuel rather than carbohydrates. If carbs are consumed minimally, the body will burn stored fat instead. The brain prefers to burn fat for better performance. Burning stored fat has the pleasant side effect of slimming your body and promoting weight loss. It has taken me from obesity to a normal BMI and from size 14 jeans to size 10 (Large to Medium everything).

The "Flex" stands for flexibility, switching between burning fat and carbs. It also reflects the flexibility each person has in choosing foods they prefer, those in season, and those their dietician or physician may recommend. There is a fantastic article that includes all the basics here.

Lunch

Lunch is generally four hours after breakfast, and I have more energy before noon than after. Therefore, I eat a moderate lunch, saving my smallest meal for dinner. I’ll show you a few examples.

Here is a lamb stew using meat from Choate Farms in Greensboro, Georgia, locally grown peppers, summer squash, and bone broth rendered from lamb bones. I added some choice herbs.

This is a salad made from what I found in the frig—leftover roasted chicken breast, organic raw bok choy, raw okra from the farmers’ market, crunchy macadamia nuts, and pomegranate arils from nwwildfoods.com. I’m getting hungry now!

Dinner

I eat dinner around 4:00 most days, allowing me to begin fasting by 4:30. I like to retire as early as 7:30 for reflection, writing in my gratitude journal, avoiding screens, and doing some light reading. Whatever your bedtime, it’s healthiest to begin fasting three hours before that time to allow for digestion before sleep. Because I retire before 9:00, this works for me.

This meal was an excellent way to use part of a roasted chicken and satisfy my husband’s Chinese food cravings. I made some jasmine rice for him, using chicken bone broth instead of water. The organic broccoli and celery were from Aldi. Onions, garlic, and peppers were locally grown. I used an organic five-spice mix for flavor.

I call this either “duck three ways” soup or “eggdrop soup.” I bought a pound of duck wings from Smyley Farms for $5 on sale. I cooked them in my instant pot with extra liquid to make duck broth. I picked off the meat and strained the broth. I brought the broth to a simmer and added a scrambled duck egg from Caribe United Farm and the meat from the duck wings. Hence, duck three ways! This was served over a nest of shirataki angel hair from Thrive Market. I loved it! This was a rare meal without vegetables but still exceptionally nutrient-rich. I got those in during breakfast and lunch—my larger meals. When the leftover duck broth cooled, I skimmed off the fat layer to make my next batch of liver pate. I purchase goose fat to keep on hand, but I usually use chicken schmaltz and duck fat to save money. Very little goes to waste, and much is composted. Thrive Market sells many of my favorite staples.

More simple meals are in the gallery above.

Now that you’ve peeked into my three meals a day, there is still a lot to cover: beverages, monitoring devices or “gadgets,” logging meals and nutrients, mindfulness, mindful eating, and more I can’t think of off-the-cuff.

What questions do you have? Do you have suggestions for my next topic? Do you like to determine what you prepare to eat based on the food at hand? Do you eat seasonally? Shop locally? Use recipes, or throw things together on the spot?

I hope to hear from you. If you don’t have the Substack app, consider downloading it for free. Commenting on the app rather than by email will help people find me and make it easier to recommend and share this blog with others.

I appreciate all of my subscribers and want to thank my paid subscribers, especially for offering that extra support. If you’d like to receive a subscriber perk, such as an online meeting to discuss a topic further, please send suggestions my way. Thank you so much for reading today!

I’m a bit embarrassed about the two-month delay in posting this. I wrote the first draft two months ago and only needed ten minutes to publish it today. A lot has happened in my life since mid-September. I embarked on an ambitious project to improve my health. Once it is over in December, I’ll share more about it. It will probably be in 2025.

Thanks for reading Intentional Wisdom!