Get Fit By Getting Fat
Getting enough of the good fats will help you lose fat, build muscle, and recover faster from your workouts. In addition, it has myriad health benefits, including being good for your heart.
Good fats include: polyunsaturated (especially Omega-3’s), such as those from fish and nuts, as well as monosaturated fats, such as those from peanut butter, olive oil, egg yolks, and fish oil.
Bad fats include saturated fats from things such as animal and coconut fats. Then there is the worst kind of fat the man made kind, trans fatty acids which can be found in our typical, of no redeeming value, junk foods such cookies, chips, fries and margarine.
Limit, if not stay completely away from, the bad fats and try to get about 30 – 35% of your calories from the good fats.
“Studies show that higher-fat diets make more sense for fit people than low-fat diets,” says Liz Applegate, Ph.D., author of Encyclopedia of Sports & Fitness Nutrition. “In one study, endurance athletes ran up to 24 percent longer before they fatigued when they ate a diet that was above 30 percent fat compared to one that was below 20 percent,” she says.
More importantly to most readers of this newsletter, researchers are now beginning to realize the fact that a nutrition plan high in the good fats helps the body to burn fat. Omega-3 fatty acids increase the size of your cells’ fuel-burning furnaces so your metabolic rate rises and you burn more calories every minute of every day.
Omega-3’s also help your body’s sensitivity to insulin. This helps your body store less fat. In addition, the fat you do store is more readily and easily converted into energy and burned during activity.
This keeps your blood sugar levels stable and keeps you away from those famed sugar crashes and cravings and irritable mood swings.
Another important exercise effect is that Omega-3’s also help your body produce testosterone, the hormone responsible for building new muscle. The late Dan Duchaine has called the essential fatty acids the most anabolic legal food supplement one can take to build muscle.
Of course, more muscle equals more calorie burning equals less body fat.
Fat can also help you recover from your workouts. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble and are very important antioxidants in the muscle-building, bone-repairing category.
As I mentioned above, fat also helps your heart. Omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats help lower bad LDL cholesterol and help prevent blood clots, making your heart able to do it’s job with less stress.
On a personal note, I suggested my favorite essential fatty acid supplements to a friend of mine recently who has always suffered from high cholesterol, despite working out five plus times a week and eating a very healthy diet.
I’m going to quote the email she sent to me. I love getting stuff like this.
“I was at a demo this morning, from 10-2, and it was at a gym that was having a members appreciation day, so they had other tables set up.
This guy who had a table next to mine was doing blood pressure tests and cholesterol tests.
When it slowed down and bit he asked me if I wanted my cholesterol done. I told him it would probably be pretty high, it’s been over 230 for the last few years.
I told him about the marine oil supplements I was taking and told him I have been taking them only about 7 weeks or so, and he told me he’d check my cholesterol, to see if the supplements are bringing it down any.
I got a reading of 150!!!
He thought maybe he did it wrong, so he did it AGAIN, on my other hand, (pin prick and blood taken) and it read 150 AGAIN!! Exactly!
He got all excited and asked me for the n3inc website!
I told him I have not changed my diet OR exercise — the only thing I am doing different is taking ResQ 1250 and ResQ LDL-X.
I hear testimonials like this time and time again from people who take high quality EFA supplements. Making sure you get a proper supply of the good fats will go a long way toward a healthy life and the fit, toned sexy body that you want.
About The Author
Gregg Gillies – trainer, fitness, fat loss expert, speaker, author of Get Fit Fast and publishes a free newsletter at buildleanmuscle.com.
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Seven Pitfalls That Cripple Weight Loss
Do you struggle to maintain or lose weight? If so, you are certainly not alone. Obesity is on the rise and becoming an epidemic in our society. Why are so many people overweight? Can we blame our genetics? Are we are plagued by a slow metabolism? Certainly, we can’t be the victims of our own self indulgence, can we?
I advise people that losing weight is like starting a new business. It takes careful planning, proper public promotion, consultation with the appropriate experts to set up the structure of the program, and most importantly, a tireless dedication to finish the task despite the guaranteed peaks and valleys along the way. Unfortunately, much of our society expects rapid results, and once they realize the flaw in a fad diet or quick fix, they become frustrated and look for the next overnight solution.
Let me point out the following critical challenges that often block weight loss success for many clients. The list below identifies seven major reasons people fail to attain their desired weight.
1) Unrealistic expectations – As mentioned earlier, people are impatient and want instant gratification. Often, clients are motivated by special events, such as weddings, reunions, or office bets with peers. Once the event passes, the desire to maintain change is lost, or the person may miss the deadline altogether. The answer is to set realistic goals for losing 1-2 pounds per week, understanding that it takes time and you may not lose weight every week. Be patient and work hard.
2) Scale obsession – How many of you get on the scale every morning? Weight will fluctuate by 1-3 pounds at times based on water retention, dehydration, and of course too much overindulgence. Gradual weight loss is best, and those who don’t see positive change each time they get on the scale often get frustrated easily. I recommend weighing yourself once per week on the same scale, on the same day, and at the same time of day to ensure accuracy and reliability. This might be tough, but it will disappoint less and provide a clearer picture of your progress.
3) Skipping breakfast – You probably have heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." This is true because it kick starts your metabolism, provides fuel for activity, and also reduces the urge to eat unhealthy snacks before lunch. If you are rushed in the morning, buy healthy items such as fruit, yogurt, granola bars or cereal bars that can easily be consumed on the way to work or at your desk.
4) Failing to pack your lunch – I firmly believe that packing a healthy lunch on a regular basis is essential to avoiding weight gain. If you don’t, it becomes that much easier to grab fast food with co-workers or order in fare that is high in calories, hydrogenated fats, and sodium. You also have a higher probability of having desert when eating out.
5) Eating too few meals per day – Yes, it’s true that you should eat 5-7 times per day, but the portion sizes must be appropriate. Eating every 2-3 hours will prevent significant hunger pangs and eating binges. More importantly, it speeds metabolism and caloric burning throughout the day.
6) Poor grocery shopping – I stick to the mantra of "If it’s not in the house, you can’t eat it." Always prepare a list of foods before going to the store, and never go shopping when you are hungry. This strategy will help eliminate unhealthy temptations and stumbling blocks.
7) Not drinking enough water – Drinking water helps our muscles maintain cellular volume and flushes our system of waste products. It also prevents dehydration and excess water retention (water weight).
Brian Schiff, PT, CSCS, is a respected author, physical therapist and fitness expert. You can sign-up for his free online newsletter @ thefitnessedge.cc.
Copyright ? 2004 Brian Schiff. This article was first published in Business First Columbus, Ohio in 2004.
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