FAT!
Posted by Tracy in September's Magazine
Fat. It’s an emotive word. It’s a word you take notice of. We dread it yet we have whole magazines dedicated to famous people looking fat. The government is worried about it. Our obsession with body shape saturates popular media, gender politics, and is a hot topic for bored office workers. In short, we’re obsessed with it. But do we understand it? What is this ‘fat’ business about?
You’ve probably seen Louis Theroux, or one of his ilk, on television getting liposuction. Through the vacuum hose goes a thick, gooey, white sludge. But what is it and why do we need it? Continue on, dear reader, and learn the ins and outs of this mysterious matter.
There are two types of fat, subcutaneous (under the skin) fat that is obvious, especially when spilling over tight jeans, aka muffin top. The scary fat is the fat around the organs that you can’t see – which is why a thin person can actually be fat. It is necessary to have some fat, known as essential fat, as it is part of every cell membrane in your body, it helps to produce certain hormones, acts as a shock absorber for your organs and also keeps you warm and comfy. Body fat is also a storage system. In days of old when food was scarce, we would store fat to see us through ‘leaner’ times. Think about how fat a seal that lives in ice cold water is. Its blubber is essential to help it survive extremely chilly conditions.
However we have no food shortages or difficult environmental conditions to contend with (some would argue). Add to that the proliferation of high calorie foods available 24 hours a day, and it’s no wonder we have problems storing too much fat. It’s not just fat in food that turns to body fat, excess sugar and booze is also easily turned into fat.
As a fat-obsessed society, there is a whole market of ‘fat loss’ products. In fact, when I googled ‘fat loss’, I came up with over 32 million results, and over 100 million for ‘weight loss’ – incredible! Here are some fat loss myths:
Calorie restriction: starving yourself daily will not necessarily help you with weight loss. I have had many personal training clients who have tried to cut calories by skipping breakfast and eating their first meal at lunch, or even later. Which does two things, it slows down your metabolism (as your body ‘thinks’ it’s starving and therefore burns calories more slowly). It also means that you’re absolutely ravenous so are more likely to reach for high calorie snacks to immediately satisfy your hunger.
Fad diets: I have read oodles of ‘amazing’ and ‘miraculous’ diet books. They go from the sensible to the ineffective to the downright scary. What they all have in common is a specific eating plan to follow. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not very good at being told what to do. I know what foods I like, and I know what foods I despise (including celery). The basis of a healthy diet is eating a wide variety of good food that you like. Diets are easy to fall off, and starving yourself slows down your metabolism. Many find the hunger too much to bear, binge on calorie-rich food and effectively yoyo diet. See ‘calorie restriction’ above.
Smoothie / Slimfast diets: This includes Lighter Life, where folk are meant to replace food with pre-made shakes and soups. Yuk! I can’t imagine what their poo would look like, but no wonder they’re starving hungry and dreaming about food. These diets are there to make money. You want a smoothie for a quarter of the price? Blend some fruit together!
Fat burning / Metabolism boosting tablets: These usually contain caffeine or some kind of natural stimulant. The stimulant effect may make you move around faster, but not a significant amount. You’re better off having one good quality espresso and going out for a fast walk / run.
The most permanent and effective ways to burn fat are also the most simple. Consider your calories in, calories out balance. Cardio (pulse raising) exercise will help burn calories. Eating small, regular and healthy meals will keep your metabolism ticking over. Educate yourself!