Monday, October 24, 2016

Fat is not the enemy



At the beginning of each year, a lot of people usually try to make a switch in lifestyle. January 1st becomes this magical day for a lot of people which isn't bad but usually a few things happen; you lose motivation, you lose the weight you wanted to lose, you get sick of your routine, and the biggest problem of them all, you get sick of dieting. In order for one to lose weight, the ratio is 30% exercise and 70% nutrition. Crash diets work for some people, for most its a set up for failure. The biggest mistake most people make is avoiding carbs and anything with the word fat in it; so one is stuck with protein and veggies which usually get a tad tiresome after a while. Why don't these low carb sugar no fat diets work? Well there's a few reasons why they don't work.

In order for us to have energy, we need carbohydrates. How do carbs work in our body? When we eat carbs, our body breaks it down into glucose or sugar which then goes to the liver; after, it is dispersed through out our circulatory system which causes our blood glucose levels to rise. The problem: The liver stores excess carbs for distribution between meals in case our blood sugars drop; if there is any thing left over, our body stores it as fat for long term storage so none is wasted; basically your body realizes you needed this much but you put 3 cupcakes in your body so we're turning these extra carbs into fat. In an environment where food is scarce, the environment is harsh or famine ( droughts, Alaska, Polynesians taking long journeys across the pacific to discover new islands) the body stores fat for these conditions, its natures way of protecting us and harming us at the same time. It harms us because in today's world, we don't need high carbs; on the flip side because we're so accustomed to high carbs when we go on these crash diets, it puts our body into starvation mode. How do you avoid that? It seems like a fucked situation. If one starves, one's body holds on to fat, if one eats to many carbs it turns into fat.

As I mentioned above, when people go on diets or crash diets, they run from anything that has carbs or fat in it. Fat, good fat is good for you. Fat similar to carbs works in the same way, but there's a difference. Carbs as we know, turn into fat if we eat too many; fat on the other hand in combination with a high protein diet and vegetables actually burns fat. Go figure, fat burns fat. When you take away carbs and fat the body has nothing to burn, when you take away carbs and eat only protein, veggies and fat, the body burns fat. Fatty acids like the ones found in coconut oil are not used by the body like fats but more like carbs; the body doesn't store fat its sends it to the liver and converts it into energy; this also applies for the fat on your body as well.  What foods have the fats one is looking for?
1.Almonds
2.Salmon
3.Avacado
4.Coconut oil (you can cook with it or take a spoon full up to you)
5.Olive oil (same deal as coconut oil)
6.Dark Chocolate
7.cheese
8.Eggs
9.fatty fish (besides salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, herring are a few)
10.Beans
11.Chia seeds
12.Full fat Yogurt
13.Nuts (besides almonds, walnuts, macadamia, peanuts and etc)
14.Peanut Butter
15.Flaxseed
16.Olives
17.Butter

Foods that burn fat
1.Almonds and other nuts
2.Eggs
3.Lean protein ( Turkey, Fish, Chicken and etc)
4.Berries
5.Peanut butter
6.Fatty Fish
7.Green Tea
8.Lentils
9.Hot peppers
10.Cantaloupe
11.Asparagus
12.Broccoli
13.Spinach
14.Tomatoes
15.Mushrooms
16.Pineapple
17.Beans
18.Onions
19.Oatmeal
20.Bananas
21.Oranges
22.Grapefruit
23.Cauliflower

That's a list of 40 different items that can help you get the healthy fat and food to help you burn the belly fat. If you notice, some foods are a one stop shop that bun fat and supply healthy fats. The one good thing about a high protein lifestyle is you don't have to count calories because all of your calories are coming from protein and veggies which are usually not as packed with calories. This is not a diet this is a lifestyle change. A lot of these foods have been around for centuries. In the Polynesian culture, there diet (before influenced by the west) was a heavy plant based diet and usually consisted of fish or pork, in Ancient Egypt, the diet was a heavy plant based diet as well, A lot of Native tribes usually lived off the land and ate a mix of berries, nuts, veggies and of course game; all through out history,  people have consumed many of the foods I've mentioned above and it was not considered a fad diet or eating healthy it was food.

 final thought: don't be afraid of fat. I understand its what one is trying to get rid of but realize the fat you're trying to get rid of, is damage done by taking in too many carbs; the fat I'm talking about that's found in the food listed above, will turn ones body into a fat burning machine. Eat sensibly, work out moderately and live life. Don't stress yourself on the scale, actually I don't even weigh myself  I go by how my clothes feel; only time I weigh myself is if I feel I look the same or my clothes aren't fitting any different, remember when working and switching eating habits, you shed a lot of inches as well and the scale won't measure that. One will look 15 pounds lighter but only have dropped 2 or 3 pounds. I know it sounds crazy not to weigh yourself but if one is eating right (of course one or two cookies, chips, etc isn't going to hurt you, however the whole box or bag will) what's the point of weighing yourself? I know, you want to see your ideal number on the scale but you remember what its like to be your dream size, you might even still own those jeans, try squeezing into some of those clothes, if you don't fit, keep fighting with fat. Thank you for stopping by "No Title xist" and I'll see you soon. One love.