What you didnt know and what you need to know about the misunderstood FAT inside of us and the FAT we eat.

How come everyone wants to lose weight?

Thats like me saying: I want to study to be a better trainer so Im going to read, and as long as Im reading it must be beneficial, right? Well, what if Im reading a book on electricity, would that help me help my clients? Probably not unless their power went out.

When someone says they want to lose weight, they are ultimately saying, I dont care what I lose, I just want less of me. So lets say you lose 10 lbs Great job! But what if you lost 10 lbs of muscle? Here are a few of the wonderful benefitsof muscle loss:

• Less strength

• Less stamina/endurance

• Slower metabolism

• Increased body fat % (Since there is the same amount of fat on you and less muscle you are technically fatter. Skinny fatis what we call it in our industry; youre smaller but now youre softer and squiiiiishy-errr.)

• Loss of calcium from bones

The average person doesnt measure their body fat before, during, or after their weight lossprogram, so you never really know if you are losing fat or muscle. Most people who follow this program: 1) starve themselves 2) do WAY too much cardio 3) dont resistance train because theyre afraid theyll get too bulky.

Lets say you end up with 20 lbs of weight loss. If we broke it down, it would look something like 10 lbs of fat loss, 3 to 4 lbs of water loss, and 6 to 7 lbs of muscle loss (I am being generous with these numbers, its probably worse). By the end of the successfulweight loss period, you are starving and tired. You end up eating more now, because youre feeling deprived and hungry. Problem: you have less muscle = lower metabolism = you are about to weigh more than when you started.

Sound familiar???

In our next blog post, well take a look at what you REALLY want to lose FAT!

In our last post, we talked about the misguided goal of simply losing weight” – which often results in muscle loss.

So now lets take a look at what you REALLY want to lose FAT!

Most people are worried about 2 things how they look (body fat %, how they fit their jeans, how their shirts fit, and so on) and how they feel (energy, health, etc). But before you can start to lose fat, you first need to understand fat.

There are 2 types of fat: subcutaneous and visceral.

How come everyone wants to “lose weight?” 1

Subcutaneous fat is found just beneath the skin and is the kind of fat that everyone wants to lose. Its the stuff you can pinch and grab, has dimples, and sometimes looks like cottage cheese. This fats purpose is to protect your organs and insulate (prevent heat loss).

Visceral fat, also known as organ fat or intra-abdominal fat, is in on your organs and can really affect your health!

Potential effects of visceral fat:

·       Insulin resistance (BAD)

·       Hyperglycemia (high blood glucose, BAD)

·       Hyperlipidemia (high blood fat, BAD)

·       Coronary artery disease (BAD)

·       Sleep apnea (BAD)

·       Diabetes (REALLY BAD)

How come everyone wants to “lose weight?” 2

Interesting Fact: Sedentary people, smokers, and drinkers have been shown to have more intra-abdominal fat, or visceral fat, than active people who are non-smokers and non-drinkers.

It is important to maintain a good nutrition AND exercise regime to help target both kinds of fat. Studies have shown that sumo wrestlers who have high subcutaneous fat had very little visceral fat and by all other medical measures were HEALTHY. So dont assume if you have little body fatyou are healthy (another kind of skinny fat).

Coming up nextDid you know that EATING FATS can help you LOSE FAT?