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As an exercise and nutrition coach, I am constantly asked about fat, is it good is it bad? Which fat should I eat? There is a lot of confusion so I am hoping that this article will help answer any questions you may have about fats, and also give you some good information that you can out into use.

Quite simply fats and oils are essential to our optimal health. They are needed as building blocks for our cells and also for our main hormones. Using high quality fats and oils is the key however.

So lets look at the fats to avoid. Most of the processed foods we eat are full of the wrong fat for us, these are known as Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) Why are they so bad? Well if I told you that the structural makeup of these TFAs are closer to plastic than actual fat would that make you think twice about eating them?

TFAs are thought to disrupt lipoprotein receptors in the cell, which impair the body’s ability to process LDL cholesterol (low density) i.e. bad cholesterol. This eventually leads to a build up in the blood and now you have someone with high cholesterol.

Now for the shocking truth. When people are told they have high cholesterol, they are told to reduce their animal fat intake, butter, cheese, eggs, and follow a low fat diet and eat more vegetables. They are told to substitute certain things like butter for margarine. The sad thing is this often makes things worse.

Margarine is known to have very high levels of TFAs within it. Many studies have shown a link between margarine and heart disease. It has been shown that we eat between 11-28 grams of TFAs a day. Now to me that is a lot of plastic.

So we have all heard about good fats or essential fatty acids (EFAs) these are fats that our bodies cannot produce and we must get them from the foods we eat. Essential fats are also known as omega 3 and omega 6 EFAs. These fats are found in oils such as corn and sunflower, oily fish, leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds eggs and animal sources. The ideal ratio for omega 3 omega 4 is 1:4.

Essential fats are vital to brain and nervous system maintenance and repair. There are numerous learning and behavioral disorders associated with a lack of these essential fats in the diet. These include, Stroke, Cancer, Insulin resistance, depression, Alzheimer’s, Arthritis and many, many more.

Just one more thing. In our quest for a healthy diet we are told to reduce our Saturated fat intake. I have a problem with this. Saturated fat was our primary energy source for centuries, yet we eat less saturated fat now yet heart attack and stroke has continued to increase. If saturated fats were to blame for all this, then most of us would not be here today because for generations our families would have eaten a diet high in saturated fat. The confusion I think is that saturated fat and Trans fatty acids are one in the same. This simply is not true, the way to remember it is, if it comes from natural sources and is eaten sensibly and in moderation it is good for us and essential, however if it has been processed and made artificially we really should try to avoid these foods.

If you require any further help understanding the Fats Myth, or would like a full nutritional screen please contact me at www.exercisenutritioncoach.co.uk

It is fair to say that generally as a race we sleep when its dark and wake when its light. This is the same for nearly all-living creatures. However we live in an age of 24 hour working and playing 365 days of the year. All this aside we are still tuned into a natural rhythm of natural light and darkness.

You’re probably thinking, why do we not just fall asleep when it becomes dark, if we are set to the light/dark cycle? Light stimulates our senses whether it comes from natural or artificial light. The hormone cortisol is released in response to many things, light being one of them. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone and is released and is released when the body is under any kind of stress and light is a form of stress. You see your body receives light as a signal that it is time to move, work, or whatever maybe needed.

When the sun rises cortisol levels rise, peaking between 6 and 9am. They then drop a little but continue to stay elevated through to midday when we are active. As the day draws to a close cortisol levels drop allowing for the release of melatonin, allowing for the increase in repair hormones.

Disrupting the sleep/wake cycle, will stunt your goal of increasing your fitness or weight loss especially weight loss. If you go to bed after midnight, you have already missed out on two hours of repair time. If you have persistently gone to bed after 11 or midnight, you will find it difficult to train your body to fall asleep at 10.30. However you will eventually recondition the body to release the sleep hormones earlier and follow the natural sleep/wake cycles.

Here are some ways to optimize your sleep/wake cycle.

Try and get to sleep before 10.30.

Keep the lights of for about 2 hours before bed, so if you sit up until then watching TV turn all the house lights of to minimize the amount of light stimulation before bed.

Avoid drinking coffee in the evening, or other stimulants that contain caffeine.

Do not eat late at night. If you do and you go to bed to sleep your digestive system will still be working on your late night snack which will mean a disturbed nights sleep to your body.

Water, water and more water. If your body becomes dehydrated it becomes stressed and as we have already mentioned stress hormones are released, which again disturbs our ability to get good sleep.

Exercise regularly, this can help you get a good nights sleep Just be sure to be aware of the time you train, if you train in the evening intensely for more that 30 minutes it can increase cortisol and again disturb you sleep/wake cycle.

If you would like more info on this subject please contact Absolute training and nutrition at info@ExerciseNutritionCoach.co.uk.

Using the medicine ball can add more variety to your workouts.

For more videos and info contact info@exercisenutritioncoach.co.uk

Do you think your diet is good because breakfast is a piece of wholemeal toast and lunch is a salad? Because of the way fat loss is perceived, through media, so called diet guru’s etc, we have come to believe that eating less is best. If you are over weight the first comments are you usually cut down on the food and get some exercise.

The less you eat, the more fat you will lose. A thousand calories a day is all you need. These comments are portrayed as the given for quick weight loss. This unfortunately is the exact opposite of how our bodies like to work.

Remember your body’s priority is keeping you alive.

When we don’t eat enough food each day our body becomes defensive and moves into starvation mode. This is how the body protects us when we eat a lack of food.

I think it is fair to say most people have heard of the “body going into starvation mode” But what is starvation mode? When you heavily restrict calories, the body decreases its metabolism, forcing the body to preserve fat and increase appetite to try to make you eat more.

This why some people who lose weight quickly on crash diets often look and feel softer.

Now for the science bit. When calories are heavily restricted, the level of the hormone Leptin, drops drastically. What is Leptin? Leptin is an influential hormone or protein in the body that is produced by human fat cells. What Leptin does in the body is communicating directly with the brain and tells the brain how much fat is stored in the body it controls your appetite, energy levels, hormone balance and your metabolism.

When you heavily restrict calories, leptin levels plummet, sending a signal to the brain that you are not eating enough food. Once this happens, all those other things (decreased metabolism, stalled fat loss, increased appetite, etc) occur as a chain reaction.

At this point, fat loss becomes a real battle, which is why most people fail when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off.

So how do you do it?

The key is to create a moderate caloric deficit through both diet and exercise. You only need to reduce calories enough to have you losing fat at a consistent, steady rate, but do not cut calories so low as to trigger your body’s starvation protection mechanism.

First, never ever, ever, ever skip meals—ever—especially breakfast.

Second, be mindful of your calorie intake.  To avoid the disasters of starvation mode, I recommend keeping your caloric deficit moderate—no more than 500 calories below your daily maintenance intake. A daily reduction of 500 calories equals 3500-calorie deficit, which is equal to 1lb of fat loss. Let me reaffirm that does not mean that cutting calories more than 500 will lead to faster weight loss

Eat more, lose more, of course there is fine line. I am not saying eat as much as you can. The best way to workout how much you are eating is to keep a food diary. It should detail everything you eat and drink.

If you need more information or detailed personalized diet plans go to:

www.exercisenutritioncoach.co.uk and send me your contact details.