Key points about good fats

• they regulate body temperature
• they help transport vitamins and minerals around the body
• they boost male testosterone and sex hormones
• balance out your blood sugar levels
• increase bone density
• increasing good fat helps fight high cholesterol, heart disease and lower blood pressure

Omega 3 and 6’s are known as essential fatty acids that keep your body functioning normally and promotes good health.

Omega 3 –

• flaxseed oil
• fish oil
• chia seeds
• walnuts and walnut oils
• fish roe
• cured and cane dish(smoked salmon)
• seafood
• soy beans and spinach

Omega 6 –

• vegetable oils
• nuts and seeds
• low fat meat cuts – chicken, beef, sausages
• low fat dairy product – milk, cheese, cream
• eggs

 

Bad fats contribute to a range of health issues, such as causing inflammation which has direct links to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions, while even small amounts of bad fats consistently being consumed can have bad long term effects

Bad fats

• saturated fats – non lean meat cuts – chicken, beef, pork, lamb, non lean dairy – milk, cream, cheese, butter,
• trans fats – deep fried food, doughnuts, pies, cookies, cakes, crackers, margarine, popcorn

In a nutshell – the analogy that I like to used when explaining fats to clients is that of a car engine. Imagine your body as the engine and fats as the motor oil that keeps everything running smoothly. Regularly including good fats into your diet is like changing the oil in your engine everyday, where as high amounts of bad fats is like never changing the oil, and your engine won’t run as efficiently as you want it. And while fat intake affects body composition and fat stores, let me cast your mind back 20-30 years ago(if you are old enough to remember) to a time when the world went on the low/no-fat buzz, a lot of consumer products adopted low fat alternatives. Fast forward to now, and the number of obese people around the world is at its highest level ever. The point here is that we were looking at the wrong suspect in fat where carbohydrates were the secret bad guy causing our population a lot of problems. So while some fat is bad for you, not all of it is, and if we can get out of the mindset that ‘fat is bad for us’ and educate ourselves on fats then I’m sure we will all have a better relationship with fat moving forward.

Happy training team!

 

Key points about protein

• Protein is the building block for lean muscle in the body
• Protein is not stored in the body like Carbs, so it needs to be replaced in the body regularly
• Protein keeps you fuller for longer reducing cravings for snack items

What protein is good for us?

• Lean meats such as chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, veal, pork
• many types of fish and seafood
• dairy products such as yogurt, low fat milk, cottage cheese and egg whites
• Nuts
• protein supplements can be helpful

Non – animal protein sources

In a nutshell – As mentioned earlier, protein that is not used is not stored anywhere in the body, any excess is disposed of as waste, so protein can be used to fill the gap created by consuming less carbs to achieve fat loss without the fear of carrying that extra body fat provided it is a clean and lean source of protein(if you consume too much protein however, you will know, because you may find yourself on the toilet)

Protein supplements are ideal post workout to help repair muscle tissue immediately after a training session.

My personal recommendation is that protein makes up 35-45% of your daily calorie intake for fat loss, as this means the majority of calories consumed will not store on your body

And peanut butter. Eat peanut butter. Incase you missed the encouragement, eat peanut butter. YUM.

Happy training team!!

 

First things first, carbs are NOT the enemy!!!!!

Here are some important points about carbs

• They are essential for energy
• building lean muscle tissue
• maintaining normal bodily function
• no low fat carbs are necessarily bad for you
• requirements vary from person to person, due to activity level, body type and lean muscle mass

 

Happy eating team!

In a recent study in the US, researchers have found that the number of people classed as ‘Obese’ now out numbers those classed as ‘over weight’.

In this worrying international trend, the combination of decreased physical activity and an increased reliance of convenience food have been named as contributing factors. With today’s modern and busy lifestyle, people are under more time constraints and don’t take the time to prepare a more nutritious food base

Following the publishing of these results, there have been increased calls in NZ for a sugar tax to be imposed on food supply chains that supply high sugar foods to the market.

Amongst industrialised nations, France and Japan had the lowest increases in obesity, with researchers citing less of a departure from cultural eating habits.

In 1975 the number of people classed as ‘obese’ was 105 million worldwide, while last year that number was 640 million people, an increase of 510%, while it is predicted that by 2025, 1 in 5 people will be classed as ‘obese’.

There are a lot of scary looking numbers in this article, the scariest idea for me from a personal point of view is the pre-disposition of these kinds of health habits to children. Choices that parents make for their children on a daily basis can create the idea in the heads of kids that those habits are just a normal part of life, when in reality they shouldn’t be. We wouldn’t go around telling our kids that global warming isn’t real and that caring for the planet doesn’t matter, because we will leave the planet to them and we want to leave it in the best shape possible. So why then do we not do the same when it comes to our kids nutrition?

Over the next few weeks I will be posting about nutrition, from calories to macro-nutrients, to portion sizes, timing of meals through the day and a whole bunch of other hints and tips so that you can increase you knowledge and help fight the obesity epidemic that currently threatens the health of our population at large.