Turn your body into a fat burning machine!

I was having a conversation with a trainer at my gym the other day and he reminded me about something I had learned a long time ago in Chiropractic College that would help anyone turn their body into a fat blasting furnace! The key is to eat fat to lose fat. This may sound counter-intuitive, but hear me out.

First of all, we have to recognize that there are 2 types of fat that people store around their midsections; subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. The latter type is the one that will KILL you! Have you ever seen an old man who had a big round pot belly that was hard as a rock? That's an example of what visceral fat looks like. It is fat that is stored around your organs. The reason why this is so harmful is because it causes inflammation around the organs. Your body is divided up in cavities and if these cavities begin to get crowded, the blood flow in the area becomes restricted and inflamed. The subcutaneous fat is the type that is soft and squishy just under the surface of the skin. It's our love handles, hips, thighs, etc. The visceral fat though, along with not being aesthetically pleasing, it also can increase your risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and arthritis.

According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for America the daily recommended percent of calories taken in from fat should be 20-35%, preferably from good fat sources. That's not too radical. 20% is actually kind of low if you think about it. A gram of carbs and protein each have 4 calories. A gram of fat, however have 9 calories. So if you were goal was to have 1500 calories per day and multiply that by 20% that equals 300 calories per day from fat. If you take that 300 calories and divide it by 9 that equals 33.3g of fat per day. If you're trying to eat 5-6 small meals per day that means limiting your fat to only about 5.5-6.6g per meal. Sounds low, but still doable, right?! Not so fast...

So what's a good fat source and a bad fat source? And what's the difference? Good fat sources which contain Omega 3 fatty acids come from fish, flax, grass fed meats and dairies. A bad fat source as most of us know are the saturated fats and trans fats. These fats promote the visceral fat that we discuss earlier. So how do we get rid of this belly fat? It's a 2 pronged approach, good fats and cardio exercise. Before you click on the x in the upper right corner saying to yourself "I've heard all of this stuff before..." let me let you in on the secret behind the science.

When you eat the good fats your body is provided the Essential Fatty Acids that your body doesn't naturally produce and is required from food sources (that's why they're called "essential"). But here's the magic: your body produces the other super secret fat burners called Omega 9 fatty acids called Conjugated Linoleic Acids called CLA. You can help to supplement your body by first eating the required omega 3's and choosing GRASS FED beef and dairy instead of the cheaper, corn-fed, growth hormone injected and antibiotic pumped beef that only costs $3.99/lb. You can also purchase high quality supplements like Herbalifeline. Yeah, it's more expensive, but so is the bill of having open heart surgery, buying insulin shots and paying for a funeral.

So what's it going to be? Invest in taking some supplements, choosing higher quality foods and getting to that Level 10 body you always wanted? Or you could just keep sleeping in, eating what looks and smells good, being constantly disappointed with how your clothes look or fit and the true crime; teaching your kids to repeat the process. The choice is yours....