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I am writing today’s blog about FAT. The problem is what does the word FAT mean? You see, we unfortunately use the same word for three different things and this alone makes for some confusion. We use the word FAT to describe something larger than usual in size such as a person or a “fat paycheck”. We also use the term to refer to the giggly stuff we find on our body that we just don’t like. The correct term for this is adipose tissue or “body fat”. And for the record, adipose tissue is nothing more than a warehouse for unused calories. Anything you eat or drink that is not utilized for energy by the body is stored as adipose tissue until it is needed. If you have accumulated a lot of adipose tissue, you have a lot of potential energy just waiting to be burned off! The third usage for the word FAT is to refer to dietary fats or as they should be called (especially on food labels)…LIPIDS. This causes the most confusion and for me…gets me fired up. Let me explain.

When I was a teenager I was an athlete and always interested in physical fitness and nutrition. It is no wonder I got certified and began teaching group fitness classes at the age of 19 in 1989. It was also at this time that we were realizing that Americans were becoming more and more unhealthy. All fingers started to point to the fat in our diets. Eating fat was associated with being fat and that is partially true.

You see, dietary fats do yield more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates. One gram of dietary fat yields 9 calories when fully oxidized by the body whereas carbohydrates and protein each yield 4 calories each. Here is an example. If you are eating a food that has 10 grams of fat and 10 grams of protein, the fat will give you 90 calories and the protein will give you 40 calories. So it does make sense that if you lower your fat intake, you should reduce your calorie intake and weight loss would result if all other factors remained the same.

At the time I started in fitness, the “fat free” craze was taking off. In the late 1980s, Americans were consuming 45% of their daily caloric intake from fats, mostly the unhealthy saturated fats so we did need to change that. So what did we do? Food manufacturers began to produce fat free foods that, while lower in fat, were filled with all sorts of additives and sugars. Some of these were the same, if not higher, in calories than the original fat filled foods. And to make it worse, we ate more of the fat free foods because we thought we could have as much of it as we wanted because it was “fat free”. From 1987 to 1997, Americans decreased their fat intake by 10%, which should have been a good thing but….they increased their daily calories (on average) by 300 calories a day and with technology were moving much less. 300 extra calories a day results in a 15 pound weight gain in one year. Case and point…I remember comparing regular Oreo cookies at 50 calories a piece to Snack Wells Chocolate Cream Filled Fat Free Cookies at 52 calories a piece. Hmmm???? If you have to have that cookie….do the Oreos but only have two!

Of course, the pendulum had to swing the other way and by the mid to late 1990s, the Adkins Diet was the rage telling people “you can eat as much fat and protein as you like, just no carbs.” This wasn’t the best situation for a fitness professional to be in and I knew my clients were very confused. I was fortunate to have done a lot of course work in nutrition at this time so I could learn the difference between GYM SCIENCE and REAL SCIENCE.

Here’s the deal…..you DO NEED FAT (LIPIDS) IN YOUR DIET EVERYDAY but in a limited amount AND some fats are better for you than others. Lipids are important for your energy level. They also create cell structure and help membrane function, are precursors to hormones, involved in cellular signals, regulate uptake and excretion of nutrients in the cells. They also can assist in satiety (helping you feel full). You see, dietary fats stimulate the release of the hormone CCK. CCK is released from the stomach to signal the brain that you are full. Without the release of CCK, it is easy to overeat (which is what happened with those fat free snacks). Fat also slows the digestion of food which keeps blood sugar levels more stable, further assisting with satiety. This is why I usually recommend clients to eat LOW FAT foods, rather than FAT FREE because they will benefit from less calories and saturated fats but will still have the dietary benefits of some fat with their meals.

GOOD FAT vs. BAD FAT. I really don’t like using the terms “good” or “bad” but I will now as it helps people to understand this subject. The fat that causes the harm to our body is SATURATED FAT. Saturated fats come mostly from animal sources and just a few plant sources such as palm oil. Saturated fats are thought to be a contributing factor to the body’s production of cholesterol (though LDL levels are increased based on total fat intake and an excessive amount of daily calories, and to a lesser extent dietary cholesterol). UNSATURATED FATS are considered healthy fat sources and usually come from plant sources, such as olives. UNSATURATED are classified as either mono-unsaturated or poly-unsaturated. You can see a break down of these on any food label. There is one other source of fat that is highly unhealthy and these are TRANS FATS. These do not occur in nature and are the result in a chemical altering of poly-unsaturated fats (such as vegetable oil) becoming a solid (like margarine). You do not want to take in trans fats from any source.

Generally speaking, the guideline for fat intakes is no more than 30% of total calories per day, with only 10% unsaturated from meat, cheese and dairy the remainder should be from poly and mono unsaturated fat sources. If you eat a 2,000 calorie diet that would allow you 600 calories a day from fat or about 65 grams a day. Again, this is a general number. Each person’s body breaks down fats, proteins and carbohydrates differently. I always recommend keeping a food journal so that you can track what you eat and how you feel. Some people can thrive on a diet higher in fat and some cannot. Additionally, if you are using a Beachbody program, follow the nutrition guidelines that are part of that program. These plans are meant to work hand in had with the exercise program to get you results and supply you with the right nutrition to maximize your workout time!