Fat: The Good and the Bad

Just like most things, with fat there's a good side and a bad side. Yep, I actually said there's a good side to fat. Along with carbohydrates and protein, fat is an essential macronutrient. Fat is a backup source of energy. It also supplies linoleic acid which is an essential fatty acid needed for growth. Also, the nerves in your body are covered with something called a myelin sheath. Guess what? The myelin sheath is made of fat. That's one of the reasons why when you go on a starvation diet, you can actually gain weight. If your body thinks it dipping too far into the fat reserves, then it will begin burning muscle as fuel instead of carbs or fat, in order to protect itself.

So who da thunk that fat was a good thing. Well, just like most everything else in this wonderful world, there can be too much of a good thing. Fat is no different, especially if you're talking about visceral fat. Have you ever seen an individual with a protruding gut? Maybe you have one? Is it hard? Ever wonder why? Well, the hard protruding gut sometimes called a "beer belly" isn't strong muscle. The protrusion is caused by too much visceral fat. The stomach appears hard because unlike fat stored else where on the body, visceral fat is located beneath the abdominal muscles in the chest cavity. So as the amount of visceral fat increases, it begins to push the abdominal muscles out causing them to become taunt, not strong. Elsewhere in the body, fat is more subcutaneous which means it's found just beneath the skin. That's why on your butt, legs, arms, and thighs, you see it wiggle and jiggle. 

Just because you have a high body fat percentage doesn't automatically mean you have a lot of visceral fat. Have you ever heard, "It's better to have a pear shape than an apple shape?" Well, what that means is, if the body fat is carried below the waist it's in a healthier location. Now if a person has a body fat percentage that puts him or her in the Obese category, then no matter where it's located, it's not too healthy for the individual and they need to work on decreasing their total body fat. However, if you're within the healthy body fat percent range or maybe just a tad over into the overfat range, and what you do have is carried more below the waist, then you're at a lower risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease.

Visceral fat is a fancy name for the fat in the chest cavity. Your body needs a little amount of visceral fat. It's kind of like nature's bubble wrap for your internal organs. It acts as a cushion for the organs and protects them when you're hit in the stomach or when you fall. The key phrase there is "a little amount of visceral fat." When you have more than you need, it becomes dangerous. High amounts of visceral fat have been linked to diabetes, heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke and some cancers.

The first thing many people think of in trying to get rid of the gut or visceral fat is doing tons of crunches and or going on a diet. Well, exercise is key, but it doesn't have to be crunches. It's almost next to impossible to target a specific area and make it lose fat. So, doing crunches may help strengthen the area, but if you're losing fat, it's probably more just due to the fact that you're upping your metabolism and burning more calories as a result of the crunches.

Diet is great and everyone should be watching the types of fats that they're eating, making sure to eat more of the healthy fats such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated as well as Omega 3s. Many are surprised to find out that their total daily caloric intake should be comprised of 20%-35% fat. But again, this needs to be healthy fat. Decreasing your daily intake of fat or just trying to get rid of visceral fat with diet modifications alone will probably have very little effect.

Physical exercise is the best way to lose visceral fat. Not only will you look and feel better, your entire body will benefit when you decrease the amount of excess visceral fat you have. Decreasing the amount of visceral fat you have will decrease your resistance to insulin. This can help prevent or reduce your risk of Type II Diabetes. If you're already a diabetic, reducing the amount of visceral fat you have can increase the efficiency of the insulin your body produces, making it easier to control your blood glucose levels. If you have hypertension, reduced visceral fat can help you better control your blood pressure reducing your risk of stroke or heart attack. And best of all, your clothes will feel better!!

Full body workouts, fitness walking, and running are great ways to increase your metabolism overall which in turn will help decrease your body fat percentage on the whole, particularly fat in the gut. Resistance training or weight training is one of the best ways to lose body fat. It's probably even better than running. Yes, RunnerDude just said that resistance training is better. In this case, it really is. Running is great and while you're running you're getting a great caloric burn, especially if you're doing more intense types of runs such as intervals, fartleks, tempo runs, sprints, or hill workouts. But unfortunately when you stop running, that good caloric burn pretty much stops soon after. Research has shown, however, that with resistance training(weight training), the caloric burn can last up to 9 hours after you've finished your workout. Wow! What a better way to start your day than with a good workout and get the metabolism ramped up for the day; then top it off with an afternoon walk or run.

If you're worried that resistance training will add bulky muscles, you need not worry. If you stick to lighter weights and higher repetitions for each exercise then you'll definitely gain muscular endurance and you'll begin to see some more definition in your muscles, but you won't bulk up like a body builder.

Circuit workouts are great for upping you metabolism. You can get a full-body workout in a fairly short period of time. Or you can break the circuit workout into an upper-body and lower-body workout. A circuit workout is simply a workout where you move from one exercise to the next without taking a break in between. The circuit should consist of 10-12 different exercises. I like to insert a core exercise in between each exercise. For example you'd begin with an upper-body exercise (like a dumbbell pec fly), followed by a core exercise (like a plank), followed by an upper-body exercise (like an upright row), followed by a core (bicycle crunches), etc. After all 10 or 12 exercises are completed, then take a 1-3 minute break, get water, towel off, and then repeat.

If you're interested in having a custom full-body, upper-body, and/or lower-body circuit workout created to meet your specific needs, email me at runnerdude@runnerdudesfitness.com. I'll be happy to work with you.

What are you waiting for? BUST THAT GUT!!

Fuel Your Engine With Quality Foods and Keep Fatigue at Bay

Yesterday, I posted somewhat of a check list to help you determine the possible source(s) of your running or training fatigue—overtraining, improper hydration, lack of sleep, low iron levels, lack of post-run refueling. Good nutrition for everyday running as well as during your training can also play an important part in keeping fatigue at bay.

USDA National guidelines specify that your daily caloric intake should consist of 45-65% carbs, 20-35% fat and 10-35% protein. The trick is making sure that those percentages consist of the right types of carbs, fats, and protein.

The fad diets of the late 90's and early 2000's had us all believing that carbs were our worst enemy. Fact is your body runs on carbs. Without carbs your brain couldn't function properly. As with most things, however, there's a good side and bad side to carbs. Unfortunately most Americans consume far too many of the bad or simple carbs (refined and processed grains and sugar). Cakes, doughnuts, pastries, white bread, candy, yada, yada, yada. More than likely if it's packaged and the first ingredient is sugar, it's not going to be good for you. There are several reasons these foods are bad. First simple carbs usually have a high GI (glycemic index) and can spike your blood sugar levels. You'll have that burst of energy and then soon after crash. Not only will it leave you feeling tired and fatigued, you'll soon feel hungry again and you'll be grabbing for something else to eat. Also, unless you're going to be active soon after eating those simple carbs, those calories will more than likely not be burned and will turn into fat. Foods consisting of simple carbs also often pack a double-whammy of being loaded with saturated fat or even trans fats both of which can lead to high cholesterol. Increased fat and a sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity and for some to Type 2 diabetes. See a vicious cycle here?

The good or complex carbs that are found in whole grain foods take longer for your body to process. Because it takes longer, it leaves you more satisfied and it also allows your body to make use of those calories as energy. Foods high in complex carbs tend not to be loaded with extra sugar and/or fat. Being active is also important even if you're eating complex carbs. If you're sedentary, even those good carbs can turn to fat. But if you're active, those carbs will be the fuel to sustain that active lifestyle.

Simple carbs aren't all bad. If you need a little pick-me-up, the sugar fructose, found in fruits, vegetables, and honey can provide an immediate source of energy. This type of simple carb is much better for you than that candy bar, because the fruits and veggies also are nutrient dense. So along with that fructose, you're also getting a lot of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. Speaking of fiber, eating a diet rich in fiber will help decrease your chance of colon cancer as well as help keep you "regular." A "clean" system will also help keep you from feeling sluggish. Who wants to run with an extra "load" anyway?

A diet high in fatty foods can also make you feel sluggish. That's why it's not recommended to eat much fat before a run...it can literally slow you down. Just like with carbs, there are "good guys" and "bad guys" for fats. Good fats are comprised of the liquid or soft monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and Omega 3 fatty acids. These types of fats play an important role in your overall good health. Monounsaturated fats include olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, avocados, nuts, seeds. Polyunsaturated fats include vegetable oils (i.e., safflower, corn, sunflower, soy and cottonseed oils), nuts, and a variety of seeds. Omega 3 fatty acids are found in foods such as salmon, mackerel, herring, flaxseeds, flax oil, and walnuts.

Saturated fats and trans fats are the bad guys. Both of these types of fats increase the amount of cholesterol in your blood and a high level of cholesterol in your blood is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. Saturated fats are found in animal products (i.e., meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, lard, butter), and coconut, palm and other tropical oils. Trans fats need to be avoided altogether. Now your body actually does need some saturated fat. Choosing leaner cuts of meat, turkey, and chicken will help keep the amount of saturated fat to a minimum. As a rule of thumb, try to limit your daily intake of saturated fats to about 7% of your total daily calories.

Trans fats include partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, commercial baked goods (i.e., crackers, cakes, cookies), fried foods (i.e., doughnuts, French fries), shortening, many types of margarine. Your daily intake of trans fats should be less than 1% (preferably 0%!). The remaining fat in your diet should come from sources of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Protein is important because it provides the amino acids needed for building and maintaining your body tissue. There are 20 amino acids. Eleven of these amino acids (dispensable) can be made by the body. Nine of them however (indispensable amino acids), come from a variety of food sources. Foods that are high quality or complete protein sources have all nine of the indispensable amino acids. Animal food sources are complete proteins. Soy and quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)are the only plant food sources containing complete proteins. Other plant food sources are considered incomplete proteins because they are missing one or more of the indispensable amino acids. Combining plant food sources can create a complete protein such as combining beans and rice or peanut butter and bread.

Food really is the fuel on which our bodies run. If you're putting in premium food, then your engine will purr like a kitten. Put in the low-grade stuff and you're engine might just stall. Making sure you fuel your body throughout the day is key as well. Many people skip breakfast or eat very little for breakfast and then wonder why they poop out before lunch. Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day. It's your first fueling.

Eating 5 or 6 mini-meals is a great way to provide the energy you need throughout the day. Think about it. You skip breakfast and so you're starving by lunch. If you skimp on lunch, then you're more than likely going to stop by the convenient store on the way home and load up on simple carbs (which won't satisfy you). So by dinner time you're so ravenous that you lose all control and before you know it you've eaten dinner plus that half gallon of Rocky Road!

If you eat each meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and have a midmorning, midafternoon, and post dinner snack, you'll keep that engine (your metabolism) firing all day long which actually will have you burning more calories. Lowfat traditional or Greek yogurt, peanut butter on whole wheat bread, a handful of almonds, fruit, raw veggies, granola bars...all of these make great snacks. Now, keep in mind that eating more frequently doesn't mean eating more calories. You're still eating the same amount of calories, just spread out over smaller meals throughout the entire day.