Fat- Why We Need It To Lose It. Part 2 By Kevin Richardson, NYC Personal Trainer

Overeating An Almost Unavoidable Consequence of Modern Foods

As a rule, most of us tend to eat to the point of feeling full and there is a big difference between being full and consuming too many calories at one time especially when eating modern refined foods. Many older traditions advocate always leaving a third of your stomach empty for good health– which worked for hundreds of years. Unfortunately the refined foods of today evade that natural signal to stop stuffing our faces as they are notoriously low in fiber. What that means is that you can eat a lot of it without realizing that you are overindulging. Our bodies can easily regulate the intake of naturally occurring foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and even fish and meats (when last did you go overboard on vegetables, chicken breasts or plain baked potatoes?) Processed foods on the other hand, which are low in fiber, often high in trans fats and sugars present a problem since they are not naturally occurring. As a result our bodies are not really designed to know when to stop eating them.

Muscle Building- A Long Term Answer To Lowering Body fat

So what’s the answer? Well, many of us have pictures of a thinner, slimmer version of ourselves in our youth, yet somewhere along the line something changed. Before weight loss may never have been an issue, but now as the years go by it is a struggle for most to keep their weight under control. The reason why is a simple one- muscle. Most people have significantly higher levels of muscle mass in their late teens and early twenties than they do in their thirties and beyond and as we get older we tend to lose more and more muscle as time moves on. This loss of muscle causes a decrease in the body’s metabolic rate (muscle unlike fat is metabolically active and calories must be burned to maintain them). The good news is that this can be easily reversed by proper exercise. A loss of 5 pounds of muscle means that your body will use 250 less calories each day. That may not sound like much but it affects your waistline over time. The way to prevent and remove accumulated body fat is to get back a youthful metabolism by building more muscle. When you put on an extra 5 pounds of muscle the extra 250 calories a day will do much to help reduce your body fat. The increased muscle mass can then help you shed the unwanted pounds while allowing you greater freedom in food selection (which of course means that you’ll have a greater chance of sticking with your diet long term, (something many dieters are unable to do.) Many people I have worked with over the years are at first skeptical about the idea of using muscle building routines, for weight loss, however they all learn as time goes on that as they build muscle, they lose fat. More importantly, they are able to keep the fat off long term!

Not Enough Fat Will Make You Fat

Now it is still important to have a realistic body fat goal, and one that takes into account your overall health. A low bodyfat percentage doesn’t mean that you are healthy (read more on that in my blog post here) and The cover model look may not be healthy or realistic for most of the population. Having well defined abs is attainable for many but is really the result of years of hard and dedicated training and careful attention to food intake with a balanced intake of protein carbohydrates and adequate fat. That’s right, fat. Contrary to modern thinking, to get lean and sculpted, you need to have enough fat in your diet. Keeping in mind that our body uses fat as a way to deal with times of low food availability, if you don’t take in enough fat on a daily basis, your body then thinks that since there is a shortage of this necessary nutrient, it does everything in its power to hold on to as much fat as possible! That being said, following a low fat diet will most certainly not get you lean and tight long term. Fat you see is also an important factor in the production of the male hormone, testosterone. Which among other things is responsible for increasing your muscle mass and lowering body fat.

Having Low Body Fat Is Not Always Healthy

All things considered, you must also bear in mind that it is neither healthy nor realistic to maintain extremely low levels for prolonged periods of time. Fat is necessary for temperature regulation, organ protection, energy production, proper hormonal function and menstrual cycle in females. Having 3% body fat may look great- but I can tell you that it isn’t all that fun. The first thing that you notice when your fat levels are that low is that you don’t sleep well. In that state time your body perceives a state of starvation, (it does not know that you are only trying to look good for the contest/photo shoot/beach/summer vacation.) It then slows down your metabolism to conserve energy and forces you to spend more time awake (in the hope that you will spend more time looking for food). The reduction in metabolic rate also makes you feel sluggish and tired all the time- and what good is looking good if you feel terrible?

The hallmark of my personal approach and the one that I use with my personal training clients in the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™ is about finding an acceptable middle ground. You don’t really need to have chiseled abs to reduce your risk of heart disease and improve your quality of life. It is great to have a six pack, but far better to simply be in better shape all around. The irony is that if you are patient and not too extreme in your dietary regime and really your body find its own level through judicious food intake and by adding proper resistance training to build muscle, you will be more likely to permanently lose those extra pounds around your waist.

Information contained in this article is not meant to treat, diagnose illness, nor substitute for medical counsel and is intended for purposes of information and education only. Consult your physician before modifying your diet or starting any exercise program. Copyright 2009 by Kevin Richardson, Naturally Intense NYC Personal Trainer.

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