Fats

Fats are very important, as we need them in achieving optimal health.  However, we do not need a lot of fat.  Most Americans get about 30-50% of their daily calories from fat.  This is why we have the greatest development of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension and obesity in the U.S.  It is from our high saturated fat intake.  We only need 10% of our daily calories to come from fat.  It is not hard to do.  First, you must choose leaner proteins such as chicken breast and turkey breast rather than beef and pork.  Secondly, do not grease or deep fry your food and smother them in butter and cream sauces.  It is as simple as that!  If you adhere to the above, it will come out to 10% or less fat each time.

You have probably heard of the good fat/bad fat controversy.  Bad fats refer to all of the saturated fat (animal fats).  These are unhealthy because, not only will they make you fat, but this type of fat will get into your arteries, clog them up and possibly give you a heart attack or stroke at the age of 50.  The good fats refer to oils, which are unsaturated.  These will not get into your arteries and give you a heart attack but they could collect on your stomach or on your thighs if you eat too much of them.

It is important to reduce your fat intake at this point in your program, because we are trying to reduce your fat stores.  It is not possible to reduce the amount of fat cells you have, but it is possible to reduce the size of the fat cells.  When you eat fat, your body breaks it down as a triglyceride and sends it out into the bloodstream.  That triglyceride will circulate around the bloodstream and become available for extra energy, if your body requires it.  At the end of the day, if your body did not use it for energy, it will attach to a fat cell and become more stored energy.  The problem is this:  when your body starts looking for extra energy, we want it to come from your fat stores rather than the fat that you keep putting in your mouth.  The only way we can change your body composition is to reduce those fat stores.