Fat is necessary to optimal health. That's a fact. However, the kind of fat you eat can make a difference between dumpy and defined.
Man-made fats, trans fats, are the worst. Don't even go near them. You wouldn't eat poisonous mushrooms. Think of trans fats as about the same except you won't die quite as fast.
Animal fat is basically bad. It causes inflammation, which puts you at risk for all kinds of disease, and does not contribute to getting lean. Inflammation seems to be at the root of just about every cardiovascular and neurological disease there is.
Should you eliminate all animal fat? That's up to you. Personally, I eat an egg every now and then, tiny quantities of goat cheese (naturally low in fat) and low-fat feta cheese. That's it.
Now to the good news. Many plant-based fats are great for your health and for helping you lose weight and stay lean.
Peanut butter not only helps you lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease risk; it can also help you lose weight by helping your feel full longer.
Avocados are another great food full of monunsaturated fat that appear to protect your heart and lower your risk of certain types of cancer.
Olive oil, of course, is another healthy fat that should definitely be part of your diet.
Omega-3, the fat found in fish and walnuts, seems to actually help your body burn fat.
To learn more, check out these articles:
"5 foods that should have a place in your diet"
"How Fats Help You Lose Fat"
"Good Fats Make You Healthier and Help You Lose Weight"
"Lose Weight Quickly & Easily By Getting Fat"
Enjoy foods with healthy fats, and know that they are helping you get that lean look you want.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
How Do You View Food?
My fitness idol, The Godfather of Fitness Jack LaLanne, famously said, "The food you eat today is walking and talking tomorrow."
It's true. You can tell what people eat just by looking at them, once you become attuned to how what you eat affects your body.
When I start talking about all the things I don't eat, people immediately start thinking, "Oh! I could never deprive myself like that. That's not really living."
What they don't understand is that humans develop and lose tastes for food. What you tend to eat a lot, you tend to prefer. What you don't eat, you eventually stop missing and may even come to dislike. When other people think it's deprivation to turn down a piece of pizza, my response is different. I think about how terrible I'll feel if I eat something loaded with fat from cheese, meat and the added oil poured on top and in the crust. Since my body is not used to it, I would be sick for hours, if not days. Why would I want to eat something that would make me sick? How could I look at the pizza and think, "Yum"?
The truth is that Americans eat foods that they wouldn't feed to their pets. Yet they somehow think that foods loaded with fat, sugar and salt somehow constitute the good life. Where did we get this notion in our society?
I wish I could tel you can eat all the foods you currently eat and get in terrific shape just by strength training. Unfortunately, I would be lying. What I can tell you is that you can learn to love foods that make you feel and look good.
My husband has a measure of the foods we should eat. His theory is that if he can eat a regular meal and then do a hard workout without feeling lethargic or sick, he's eating the right food. When he ate bad food, it was hard for him to work out. No more.
What should you be eating? Stay tuned.
It's true. You can tell what people eat just by looking at them, once you become attuned to how what you eat affects your body.
When I start talking about all the things I don't eat, people immediately start thinking, "Oh! I could never deprive myself like that. That's not really living."
What they don't understand is that humans develop and lose tastes for food. What you tend to eat a lot, you tend to prefer. What you don't eat, you eventually stop missing and may even come to dislike. When other people think it's deprivation to turn down a piece of pizza, my response is different. I think about how terrible I'll feel if I eat something loaded with fat from cheese, meat and the added oil poured on top and in the crust. Since my body is not used to it, I would be sick for hours, if not days. Why would I want to eat something that would make me sick? How could I look at the pizza and think, "Yum"?
The truth is that Americans eat foods that they wouldn't feed to their pets. Yet they somehow think that foods loaded with fat, sugar and salt somehow constitute the good life. Where did we get this notion in our society?
I wish I could tel you can eat all the foods you currently eat and get in terrific shape just by strength training. Unfortunately, I would be lying. What I can tell you is that you can learn to love foods that make you feel and look good.
My husband has a measure of the foods we should eat. His theory is that if he can eat a regular meal and then do a hard workout without feeling lethargic or sick, he's eating the right food. When he ate bad food, it was hard for him to work out. No more.
What should you be eating? Stay tuned.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Gaining Definition
I worked out for more than 20 years and only had minimal definition. I always looked soft. Why? Because I had body fat covering up all those muscles I had built up.
The only way to get definition, to be able to see your highly toned muscles, is to reduce body fat. And, sorry ladies, the only way to reduce body fat is to change your diet.
I thought that if you ate fewer calories, it didn't matter so much what you ate (as long as you tried to eat a relatively healthy diet). But a personal experiment has convinced me that this is not the case. What you eat is as important as how much you eat.
About six and a half years ago, my weight started to creep up. I was, quite honestly, appalled. And I was determined I was not going to let the trend continue. Through lots of experimentation, I reduced my food portions and then started eliminating bad foods one by one.
Although my goal was to lose the seven pounds or so I had gained in the previous year, do you know what happened? I kept losing, not only pounds but body fat. Instead of seven pounds, I lost nearly 30, and I wasn't even trying. I have since kept off the weight. More important, I have completely changed my body. All my life, I had a healthy layer of body fat. It was as if it melted off. A woman who hadn't seen me at the gym for some months said she didn't recognize me. Even my husband of 20 years said my body had been completely transformed; he never realized just how small I was under that layer of fat.
How did I do it? I'll save that for upcoming posts.
Stay tuned.
The only way to get definition, to be able to see your highly toned muscles, is to reduce body fat. And, sorry ladies, the only way to reduce body fat is to change your diet.
I thought that if you ate fewer calories, it didn't matter so much what you ate (as long as you tried to eat a relatively healthy diet). But a personal experiment has convinced me that this is not the case. What you eat is as important as how much you eat.
About six and a half years ago, my weight started to creep up. I was, quite honestly, appalled. And I was determined I was not going to let the trend continue. Through lots of experimentation, I reduced my food portions and then started eliminating bad foods one by one.
Although my goal was to lose the seven pounds or so I had gained in the previous year, do you know what happened? I kept losing, not only pounds but body fat. Instead of seven pounds, I lost nearly 30, and I wasn't even trying. I have since kept off the weight. More important, I have completely changed my body. All my life, I had a healthy layer of body fat. It was as if it melted off. A woman who hadn't seen me at the gym for some months said she didn't recognize me. Even my husband of 20 years said my body had been completely transformed; he never realized just how small I was under that layer of fat.
How did I do it? I'll save that for upcoming posts.
Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
