We need our fat!

Without dietary fat, our bodies would not function. The same is true with body fat itself. Fat is an essential nutrient. As a nutrient, we have already seen that it is used to keep the hair glossy and the skin smooth. It is used in the membrane of every cell in the body, thus building the immune system. It lubricates joints and coats nerve endings. It is also a vital source of fat-soluble vitamins and some have vital roles within the cell in binding water soluable compounds such as proteins to lipid-soluable substances. Some enzymes require binding to lipids in order to perform their necessary function.

The body fat itself helps give the body its shape, insulates for warmth and cushions our organs (nature's shock absorbers). Fat keeps a woman's reproductive system running. And, of course, body fat is stored as a source of energy that can be utilized when necessary.

Just how much body fat a person should have and still be considered healthy and how to correctly lose excess body fat is of primary concern. Generally, women should have approximately 23 percent body fat while men should have 18 percent or less. There are a number of ways to measure body fat but complete accuracy is impossible. The National Institute of Health relies on body-mass index (BMI), a height-weight calculation, to determine whether a person is likely to face diabetes, heart disease and other medical problems. If your BMI is 25 to 29, you are considered overweight and obese if your BMI is 30 or higher. NIH also feels that if a woman's waist is larger than 36 inches and a man's larger than 40 inches, their health risks are higher. Because of space and time, we will not explore body fat measuring techniques at this time.

What a cute baby!

It comes as no surprise, when we are born, we have fat. Have you ever heard the phrase "baby fat?" Have you noticed babies have been fatter lately? Too much fat at any age is not good. Once created, the fat cell has the capability of increasing thousands of times its size to accommodate the storage of additional fat. Once that fat cell is full, however, more fat cells are formed. And fat cells NEVER go away...they just shrink...and ALWAYS have the ability to expand once again. (This is one reason a person who has lost weight can readily regain it...and quickly. Those fat cells almost scream to be filled! An enzyme called lipoprotein lipase - LPL- is stimulated to refill the fat cell. It just doesn't realize there are too many fat cells and we don't really need them filled again.)

There are times in a person's life when fat cells can be formed more readily. One is when a person IS a baby and another is during the preteen growth spurt. Parents should be very careful in monitoring their children's weight during these critical times so that fat cells will not be formed. Allowing a child to become chubby during these times can doom them to the "battle of the bulge" their whole lifetime.

Notice the question was NOT how do we lose weight?

The scale is NOT the important measurement!!!

A cup full of protein will weigh MORE than a cup full of fat. Fat is not as dense as muscle. A pound of fat will cover an average open hand about an inch and a half high. This means, when you embark on a plan to shed that FAT, scales are not an accurate representation of what is going on. It obviously gives some indication, but measuring inches is the best barometer. An effective reduction plan will target body fat, not allowing muscle to be lost. If scales go down, but few inches are lost, it is a good indication precious muscle is being cannibalized. This will always inevitably lead to compromising health, tiredness and regaining weight in the form of fat.

Americans in particular need to have a change in attitude and a shift in focus. We have been consumed with the "diet mentality" that freaks out when the scale goes over a certain line. We spend billions of dollars every year on any and every diet plan hoping to get that scale under that "Magic" mark again. This attitude has led to compromising health, risking even life on dangerous medical procedures and drugs, all because of that scale.

A New Focus

Cooperation!!

Instead of the scale, we need to target body fat, maintain muscle and cooperate with how the body works! We are constantly trying to get the body to do things WE want it to, without taking into consideration how IT works. Sorry folks! We cannot change how the body functions. We MUST cooperate with IT! A little bit of knowledge on how it works and what it needs to function properly can eliminate some of the common errors that people make while "trying to lose weight." (That expression alone shows just how little understanding people truly have of the process.) These common errors actually set us up for failure and weight gain.

Part 4 of the Skinny on Fat will get into the nitty gritty of losing the right kind of weight (excess fat, of course) the right way!

Your health is our concern at http://www.BTrim4Life.com