~

The Frustra fides. The Frustra fides you say? Yes, “Frustra fides” is latin for “mistaken belief”. The mistaken belief that I’m talking about says you have to reduce your food intake to lose body fat. This is not totally true! Reduced food intake equates to reduced nutrition intake! This puts a high amount of stress on your body and is very unhealthy! Calories are not the enemy. Too much fat intake and unhealthy eating are! Now let’s take a look at those calories.

There are at least three different things a calorie can be composed of which I’ll list as follows:

1. Empty calories – processed sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, etc..

2. Fat calories – animal fat and vegetable fat.

3. Nutritional calories – fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, etc..

Now keep in mind I’m just putting things in simple terms using my own thought processes. If you look up calories in “Wikipedia” you’ll find it is referred to as a unit of energy. So to make things easier on you and me, I’ll use the above list to put my point across.

So what is the key to having a healthy diet and weight program? Well, you just need to reduce your fat calorie intake, eat a balanced healthy diet (about 2000 calories or more) of vegetables, fruits, grains, proteins, and drink plenty of water, plus do a moderate (at least 45 to 60 minutes, 5 days a week) aerobic type exercise program. Oh, and don’t forget to get a good nights rest too. Restricting just your calorie intake is unhealthy and can contribute to health problems in the future. Bad eating habits and/or reduced calorie diets are indicated on a person’s face. Eating right, exercise (Even if your overweight), and a good nights rest will produce a healthy glow on a person’s face in a short period of time. So proper calorie intake, exercise, and sleep is essential to help keep us all healthy. But why restrict fat calories?

Back in the early 1980’s doctors Dennis Remington (MD), Garth Fisher (PhD), and Edward Parent (PhD) did research* on just this. Their research was to find out why people tend to gain their weight back plus more after a reduced calorie diet. What they found was that when an individual restricts their calorie intake, that the human body will go into a starvation mode.

Starvation mode is when the body tries to protect itself against times of limited food. The body’s fat set point is increased by its weight-regulating mechanism. As soon as the calorie intake returns close to normal levels, the body starts storing fat in preparation for another starvation period. That’s why reduced calorie diets do not work! The body needs at least 1500 to 1800 calories or more a day to stay out of starvation mode.

They also found that most of the foods people eat are high in fat content. This should be of no surprise since fat is used to flavor different foods. Also, fat is needed to help metabolize certain vitamins and nutrients in the digestion tract. So your diet should include at least 15 percent or more fat content a day. Over doing the intake of fats ( over 33 percent fat content per serving ) results in the body storing what it can’t get rid of in the form of fat.

Good fats, like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, can lower disease risk, but saturated and, especially, trans fats can increase disease risk.

NOTE: Consuming less than 10 percent fat content a day could possibly cause health problems!

So it is essential to have the correct type and the proper amount of fat to help maintain a healthy body.

Proper exercise will help reduce fat storage to a limited extent, but a healthy diet is essential for any exercise program to work effectively. So it’s of no surprise that most people have a problem keeping their body fat within acceptable limits. That’s why it’s very important to exercise, eat healthy, and have a good nights sleep.

Oh yeah, I’ve not really talked about why you need a good nights rest. Well, it’s very simple. Your body does a better job of healing itself when it’s in a state of deep sleep. And recent studies show a good night’s rest can actually help in the reduction of body fat. Not to mention, you wake up more rested and mentally alert. That’s why it’s very important for you to exercise, eat healthy, and have a good nights sleep.

Now just when you think you have the solution to the your excess fat problem, some product enters the market to make things more complicated.

In the 1980’s, another additive started showing up in drinks and foods as a sugar replacement and preservative. High-fructose corn syrup , also called isoglucose in Europe and glucose-fructose in Canada, replaced sugar in soft drinks and other processed foods. Research shows that fructose causes no problems to the human body if taken in moderate amounts. Unfortunately what the body can’t use or get rid of ends up being turned into body fat.

To make matters worse, another side affect of too much High-fructose corn syrup is that the body has a hard time dealing with it as a modified sugar. Over time, this can possibly cause the onset of Type-II Diabetes in a person. Now let’s look at a few other major products that can cause problems for you.

Soft Drinks (Soda pop). Soft drinks can cause problems with weight loss and your health, so you should not use it as a substitute for water (more here). Now for a real life example, from the 1980’s, of soft drinks effect on weight loss:

Joe (not his real name) was exercising and eating a lower fat diet as suggested above. All was going well, but he couldn’t lose the excess fat on his hips. After looking over his meal plan worksheet, he was asked if there was anything else he was eating that was not on his worksheet. The only thing he hadn’t listed was one can of root beer soda a day. After removing the root beer soda from his diet, he then lost the excess fat on his hips.

Moral of the story. Occasionally it maybe ok, but in all actuality, soft drinks should not be part of your daily diet.

Synthetic fat. Olestra is a synthetic fat used as a fat substitute in some foods. Its had over 20,000 complaints to the FDA. Until 2003 it carried the FDA-mandated health warning label ” This Product Contains Olestra. Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools . Olestra inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients“. Long term side effects are still unknown. Olestra is banned in many countries, including Britain and Canada.

Diet pills / Fat loss pills. Not worth the risk! No pill can replace a healthy eating and exercise program. Diet/fat loss pills can restrict the body’s nutritional intake and could possibly cause negative side effects like:

• High blood pressure

• Irregular heart rate

• Nervousness

• Headaches

• Heart attacks

• Insomnia

• Seizures

• Strokes

• Death

Like the old anti-drug phrase “Just Say No!” to diet/fat loss pills.

Artificial Sweeteners. Neotame, aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-k, etc.. just to name a few, are some of the artificial sweeteners on the market. Side effects can vary, plus some can possibly cause a weight increase! Aspartame had over 900 complaints to the FDA in the first few months on the market (saccharin had less than 10).

Note: Early warning labels stated that Aspartame could cause brain damage if consumed with monosodium glutamate (MSG) and not to give to children under 10 years of age!

Aspartame heated to temperatures over 120 degrees Fahrenheit can cause it to become a toxin. Not good if you ask me. I usually put artificial sweeteners in my unsafe to consume category as far as a healthy diet is concerned.

Note: If you are diabetic, artificial sweeteners could actually make it harder to manage your blood sugars! Alternative: Consult with your Diabetes Specialist about carbohydrate counting (carb counting) . Carb counting is a meal planning technique for managing your blood glucose levels. In other words, you adjust your short acting insulin dosage according to the number of carbohydrates you eat.

Well, enough said there. Now let’s take a closer look at meal planning.

Next → Meal Planning