Why Am I Overweight

What is Fat?

Fat is a nutrient. Let me say that again "Fat is a Nutrient". Without it we could not live. It supplies us with energy and makes it possible for other nutrients to do their job.

Fats are generally referred to as "Oils" if they are liquid at room temperature or "Fats" if they are solid at room temperature. You may also here the term "Lipids" which simply refers to all fats whether they are solid or liquid.

Basically there are two types of fats
1) Animal fats: butter, lard, cream, fat in or on meats.
2) Vegetable fats: olive oil, peanut oil, flax seed oil, corn oil etc.


Fat falls into four categories
1) Saturated fat
If consumed in large quantities over a period of time will increase health risks such as increased cholesterol levels leading to cardiovascular disease and possibly strokes.
The largest amounts are found in meat (mammals), meat products, the skin of poultry, dairy products, processed foods such as cakes, biscuits, pastries as well as coconut oil.

2) Monounsaturated fat
If consumed have no impact on your health. They are neither good nor bad for you. It is felt by many health professionals that they reduce the risk of heart disease.
Olives, ground nut oil and avocados contain monounsaturated oils.

3) Polyunsaturated fat
It is widely agreed that polyunsaturated oils are good for our health especially when it comes from fish, known as Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. They protect us from heart disease by lowering our blood cholesterol levels. They may also reduce the suffering experienced from arthritis, joint problems in general and some skin diseases.
They are found in oily fish (sardines, mackerel, trout, salmon and herring), safflower oil, and grapeseed oil as well as sunflower oil.

4) Trans fat
Trans fats do not naturally occur. They are manmade when hydrogen is added to vegetable to make it more solid. They are commonly referred to as "partially hydrogenated oils".

Trans fats are not essential for human life and do not promote good health. In fact they increase our LDL cholesterol level (bad cholesterol) and lower our HDL cholesterol levels (good cholesterol). By raising our LDL and lowering our HDL our risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke is increased.
Trans fats are found in fried foods, such as French fries, doughnuts, pies, pastries, biscuits, pizza dough, cookies, crackers, margarines, shortenings and many other backed goods.

The average adult should keep his/her fat intake to approximately 20% to 35% of their total daily calorie intake to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system.

Fat in and of itself damages our cardiovascular system but is not the culprit that adds inches to our waist line and thighs. That role to a large extent is left to the carbohydrates (sugar) that we consume and our metabolic rate.

In the 1800's in the United States the average amount of sugar consumed per day per adult was 15 g. The average amount of sugar consumed today in the US is 285 g. There's the culprit in a nutshell.

Sugar
This is where our weight problem stems from. Our cells love glucose and will eat up as much as they can get. The worst part of this is that our subconscious mind is being programmed to crave sugar because of our cells liking for it. This all starts at a very young age so when we graduate to adulthood our cravings are set.

Sugar is cancer's preferred fuel "Sugar Feeds Cancer"
Along with adulthood comes inactivity. We slow down, we don't exercise we basically become couch potatoes thereby reducing the amount of calories our body burns off.

Men put on the mid riff pot and women watch their thighs grow.

So what's the answer to all this? First we need to monitor what you eat, start eating healthy. Secondly we need to get out and exercise more. You don't need to head for the gym or start running 5 miles a day. One of the best exercises is simply walking. Believe it or not if you walked one or two miles a day you will soon feel the pounds begin to melt away.

If you're serious about losing weight and keeping it off we can help. Taking weight off is relatively easy to do when you do it right. Keeping it off is the problem. You see those little fat cells don't just somehow go away. They're always there waiting for their next glucose meal. We Can Show You how to safely lose that weight and keep it off. And we will be with you every step of the way.

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