How much fat should we really have?

This is a huge debate across the world about how much fat we should have in our diet and the true answer is no one size fits all.  However it is clear that we need to decrease our consumption of fats and calories from sugars, starches and concentrated foods in  order to come down our ideal weight and to enjoy ideal health.  With the countless amounts of research and recommendations from many countries,  the general consensus of how much fat you should consume daily is between 15-20% of your dietary intake.  This should be made up of no more than 4% saturated fatty acids, around 6% polyunsaturated fats(vegetable fats) and 10% Monounsaturated (Olive oil, avocado oil).

Things to consider:

• Fats don't necessarily make you fat.  You need a portion of fat to assist in a metabolic processes in the body.  Damaged fats make you fat
• Beware of damaged fats. These are cooked vegetable fats, Trans-fatty acids or hydrogenated vegetable oils.
• Cook with saturated fats like ghee, butter, lard and drain off excess fat after cooking to reduce the fat content of the meal
• When you cook with Monounsaturated fats cook on a medium to low heat
• Don't cook with vegetable oils as these spoil very easily under heat
• Use cold pressed oils as these are less likely to be damaged fats.

No Diet Diet

I don’t like to put people on diets as I have never found a diet that anyone (me included) can stick to. So I use the ‘No Diet’ Diet. 

What is that?

The ‘No Diet’ Diet is an eating lifestyle where you can eat anything that is real, whole and nonprocessed.  I use the analogy – If it wasn’t around 10,000 years ago, DON’T EAT IT. So you can eat meat, vegetables, fruit, full fat milk, cold pressed oils, natural fats, whole grains, nuts and water.

Meat

YOU CAN eat meat in every meal.  Cholesterol is something that each client asks me if they eat meat. I have read some great books on the prevention of cholesterol and they say to get your cholesterol down. We should:

• Increase our water intake
• Rotate out meats i.e.  Rotate between chicken, beef, pork, fish, lamb etc
• Eat organic as much as possible

Vegetables

Vegetables are all carbohydrates (carbs) and are a great source of minerals, vitamins and are packed full of antioxidants to reduce the ageing process but not all vegetables are good carbs.  Choose a lot of carbs that are low in starch like green leafy veges, above ground veges.  Reduce the intake of starchy and high sugar carbs like grains like white rice and wheat, other starchy vegetables like potatoes, bananas, watermelon, mango.

Fats and Oils

A great book to read is from the Grandfather of oils Udo Erasmus called “Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill”.  He demonstrates very clearly that we should have saturated fats in our diet like butter, ghee and lard to cook with and steer clear of vegetable oils for cooking.  It is also becoming more apparent in the literature that fat doesn’t make us fat. It is the excess sugars and lack of exercise that is making us fat.

We should Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) in our diet every day.  These can be obtained through coldpressed Flaxseed Oil, Fatty fish like Salmon.  These are essential and can be taken in their real form but if you don’t like salmon then you can get softgel capsules take on a daily basis. 

Grains, beans and nuts

You can have rice, quinoa, millet and the like but they should be soaked.  Sally Fallon in her book “Nourishing Traditions”mentions we should our grain for 24 hours although my naturapath said soaking them for more than 3 hours should be sufficient enough to soften the husk on the grain to aid better digestion.

Water

We are made up of 75% water and a lot of the metabolic functions of the body are linked to water.  Dr Batmanghelidj fascinating book “Your body’s many cries for water” says that a lot of “supposed” diseases can be linked to dehydrations. So drink ½ your body weight (in lbs) in oz per day. 

Balance

At the end of the day it is about getting balance and variety to achieve better health and vitality.  I like to use the use the 80/20 rule.  Eat well for 80% of the time and indulge in rubbish for 20% of the time.  Eat real food and drink lots of water.

The 10 facts on 10 Myths

Let’s face it, we are in the information era where we are bombarded with all sorts of ‘new’ and ‘great’ consumer products, diets and information that will change “our life as we know it”.  The health and fitness industry is definitely one field that gets fed quite a remarkable high amount of ‘fiction’.

1. Bathroom scales are the best indicator to know if you are achieving fatloss.

Using bathroom scales can be the one most deflating self esteem tools to measure your progress. If you are dieting, initially you will lose weight on the scale but then it will taper off.  Most of this loss is usually water and some fat. If you are exercising, you will not lose weight on the scales so quickly as just dieting as you are doing it the safer way and most safe fatloss plans look to lose anywhere between ¼ lb to 1lb per week. 

Muscle also weighs more than fat so a pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat so everything feels and looks smaller but your weight may not have changed that on the scales at all. Use measuring tools like the difference in how your clothes are fitting, taking a before and after photo, have someone who knows how to use body fat calipers or use a body fat machine. This way, you are being realistic about your progress.

2. Weight Training will make me big and bulky.

There is a big difference between Men and Women.  Men have testerone and women do not.  Testerone is the hormone that allows men to build muscle a lot easier than women.  In fact it is very difficult for women to build big muscles unless supplements are used. 

Even though men tend to gain muscle through weight training it is still difficult will turn into a bodybuilder overnight.  This takes many months, years of hard core bodybuilding to even get close to resembling the “Arnies” of this world.

What weight training does though is:
•    Builds your metabolism
•    Increases bone density
•    Increases the production of red blood cells
•    Increases lean muscle mass
•    Aids in fat burning
•    Helps against the wear and tear of high impact exercise.
•    Prevents Osteoporosis

3. If I don’t eat, I will lose body fat.

If you don’t eat you will become anorexic! And when you start to eat again you will gain fat!  Here’s how it works. When we do not eat, our body goes into starvation mode and the metabolism slows down to retain the amount of body fat it already has.  The body may also start to break down muscle as a fuel source as a protection measure to survive. Now, when we get hungry enough that it is difficult to resist the temptation to eat and you will eat and chances are you will gorge.  Now imagine your body is a fuel tank and because you haven’t eaten anything, your fuel tank has shrunk and you have put more food (fuel) into the body that is necessary (this is called overeating)

This one also gets complex because this leads to eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia and night eating disorder.

4. To lose the fat efficiently, I just need to do a lot of cardio

This is half true. It is necessary to keep your heart rate up to burn fat but you can also improve the effectiveness through incorporating resistance training.  When you perform cardio you may also burn muscle as well as burning fat.  In effect, have decreased the size of your muscle mass which means you require fewer calories for your metabolism.

By adding resistance training into your workout you will at least maintain the muscle mass you have which allows you to more burn body fat easier.

5. I’ve always been this size so I will always stay this size

This statement is a double edged sword.  On the one hand people who are slim may feel comfortable being the size they are but eventually and at some point we all have to endure the middle aged spread in some shape or form.  This is due to a number of factors with our body.  One of these is that we begin to lose muscle mass between the ages of 25 and 40. By this I mean we actually start to lose muscle mass, our fuel tank becomes smaller due to our lifestyle and genetic makeup.  If we do not use our body then bones become weak and muscles begin to shrink therefore we do not need to much calories to maintain our metabolism but due to our habitual eating habits we tend to eat the same amount of food so all the excess calories is of course stored as body fat.

On the other side, is when we are already overweight.  Can we lose this? The answer is YES.  It’s difficult (otherwise everyone would be perfect!) but it has been proven over and over again that with proper nutrition AND exercise you can achieve the ability to lose the fat.

6. If I do Abdominal crunches I will burn the fat around my waist.

This one still exists today! Due to all the fancy gimmicks around that promote “Getting a six pack if you buy this machine” it is not hard to keep believing it.  Unfortunately, you cannot spot reduce.  This means you cannot target one area and that area will tone up.  What crunches will do is strengthen     the muscles underneath the layer of fat!

7. If I do too much cardio on my legs they will become big and bulky

Cardio is an aerobic exercise which will strengthen your heart and will improve circulation, and is a fat burner; it will cause some hypertrophy but nothing to the extent of   becoming “big and bulky”. 

8. No pain, No gain.

Well actually “It doesn’t have to hurt to work”. Sure you need to make sure your workout is effective and push your self to your own ability but you do not need to do a 2 hour workout if this is your first day exercising for 6 months.  Being sore for a week does not allow you to get the consistency you require to achieve effective fatloss.  If you have not exercised for awhile then ease back into it.  Start with 30 minutes and build yourself way up to an hour over 4 to 12 weeks.  Aim for results over a longer period of time that way your body does not suffer and you continue to reach small achievable goals.

9. You can convert fat to muscle

These are two totally different issues.  Fat is fat and muscle is muscle.  So to decrease stored body fat you must either decrease the amount of food you are eating or increase the amount of exercise you are doing.  When you exercise you increase your metabolism and muscle to allow your body to burn more energy therefore decreasing the amount of fat you have.

10.Snacking in between meals is bad for you.

Maybe this should read snacking on sweets and chocolate is bad for you!

Most nutritional advice out there today actually says you should be snacking on something every 3 - 4 hours to keep the metabolism up and reduce the risk of the body switching to “starvation mode”.  If you are worried about the amount of food you are having try having ½ your breakfast at morning tea, ½ your lunch for afternoon tea and ½ your dinner for supper.

By no means are these 10 all there is but if we continue to ask the question the 6 prophets; why, what, when, who, where, how? We can make sure that the information we do receive is fact or fitction.

Boost your metabolism – Weight Train!

When I train women I tell them that they should weight train. More often than not, the response is "Won't I get big and bulky" or "I want to lose weight not gain muscle".  Sadly, these attitudes are based on myths.  The truth is that strength training generally leads to a smaller, "tighter" physique rather than causing women to get bigger! Weight training is beneficial for every woman, no matter what her age or fitness level.

More importantly, weight training is an almost magical way to achieve many of your health goals.  Recent research has shown it can improve cardiovascular fitness, improve and prevent osteoporosis, reduce the chance the diabetes and can elevate mood.  It also appears to improve balance, reducing the risk of bone breaking falls as we age. 

Let me explain a little about what muscle is and what women use it for.

In approximately 1/3 of the woman's body weight is made of muscle.  The muscle tissue forms in strands we call fibers and are smaller in women than in men.  There are 2 types:

• Fast Twitch
• Slow Twitch

Generally, slow twitch fibers are used for most of our activities, although fast twitch fibers often initiate movement. Fast twitch are called into play when we increase the intensity of the activity.

For example.

When you use the muscle for everyday activity like strolling across the street, blood flow increases to the working muscle however when you run across the street the muscle is used more forcefully and the sudden powerful contraction essentially blocks the blood flowing in.  This is why we need fast twitch fibers that can work in the absence of oxygen (anaerobically)

As we age, we lose some of our muscle mass.  Studies have shown that this occurs primarily because fast twitch fibers shrink in size. This usually occurs between the ages of 25 and 40's and continues each year thereafter.  I hear people talking about muscle turning into fat.  In reality, what's happening is that muscle shrinks, and fat takes its place, filling the space where the muscle used to be.

This has 2 consequences.  The first is you lose power. You move more slowly and begin to have trouble lifting anything heavy. Eventually, you lose so many fast twitch muscle fibers that you have difficulty doing anything, which accounts for those elderly relatives who have difficulty even getting up from a chair.  The second consequence of this loss of muscle tissue is that our metabolism slows down, leading to weight (fat) gain.  To do their jobs efficiently, muscles require a lot of energy, which is provided by the foods you eat.  But once you have lost muscle tissue, you don't need as much food anymore, so more of the food we eat gets stored as body fat.  In a nutshell, muscles are responsible for movement and metabolism.

And even if you are past 50, and your muscle fibers have already become shrunken, you can reverse that process by strength training.  So no matter what your age or physical functioning, weight training can be safe and effective.

Not only does Strength training build muscle it also affects bone health in a positive way. At present, medical data confirms that strength training can stimulate the bone to both prevent and reverse the loss of bone see in osteoporosis.  Some researchers comment that since weight training increase amounts of various hormones in the bloodstream and the muscle's tendon pulls on the attachment to the bone, it seems to encourage bone cells to grow. Its important to note that while studies have shown walking is associated with an increase of bone density of the hip, it doesn't increase the density of the spine.

But be patient, it takes several months of consistent strengthening to be able to detect any change.

Risk Factors for Osteoporosis

• Female Gender
• Caucasian and Asian ethnicity
• Age (The older you get the greater the risk!)
• Smaller frame: weight less than 127lb or
• Family history of the disease
• Inadequate dietary calcium and vitamin D
• Early Menopause (Before age of 45)
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking
• 2 or more drinks daily

So not only can you expect to end up stronger, more energetic, and with more muscle tone and definition: a firmer buttocks, less flabby arms, sleeker legs the main benefits of weight training are related to improved health. In addition to building stronger bones, weight training boosts your health in variety of other ways:

• Studies have shown weight training alone can lower your blood pressure by an average of 2 to 4%; a combination of cardio exercise and strength training is even more effective
• It has been found weight training decreases anger, anxiety and depression
• Seems to help ease the pain of arthritis

But you don't have to go to the gym to weight train.  You can do it at home as well.  You will need a little bit of equipment but there is nothing you can't do with a Swiss ball and some handheld weights

There are a few facts that you need to know there are some myths that need to be dispelled about strength training.  These are:

• I will get bigger

The irony here is that women cannot develop big muscles just by lifting weights even if you tried.  Men naturally have much larger muscles primarily because of the hormone testosterone, which stimulates muscles to grow in size.  All women have a small amount, and some have more than others. 

• I'm too old to try strength training

Somewhere after 30 we begin to lose muscle and unless we reverse the process of losing about ½ pound of muscle mass every year.  The most significant factor in muscle loss is lack of use. Research has shown that women who weight train easily increase their muscle tissue, ending up leaner, stronger, and healthier than women many years younger.  And these improvements in strength can be done in 8 to 12 weeks.  Some of these studies were performed on many older women with some in their 80's. One study reported a doubling of strength in 4 weeks!

Having Trouble losing Fat? Try these out:

Reduce all sugars from your diet

Sugar is an important ingredient for our body to produce energy.  Especially if you are very active (Active, I mean do moderate to high intensity exercise 3 – 5 days/week) but excess sugar in the system can play havoc with your metabolism and can be readily stored as body fat especially around the hips and waist.  Sugar is present in all carbohydrates from grains, pastas, beans to fruit and vegetables but I am referring to carbohydrates that are high in sugar like white rice, white sugar, high GI ( www.glycemicindex.com )fruits , Low fat milk, white flour.

Drink more water

Water has no calories and more importantly it has no sugar.  Too many of the drinks we drink contain sugar. Soft drinks contain 6 teaspoons of sugar as well as energy drinks like Gatorade. The new Vitamin Water contains 5 teaspoons of sugar in each bottle! Try this: If you have eaten food within the past 2 hours and you are hungry try drinking 2 glasses of water.  If this satisfies you then you were only thirsty.

Eat at regular times each day

The best way to describe this statement is this: the metabolism is the fire of the body burning bright when it is fed little and often.  If our fire is not been fed regularly then the fire begins to die down so when we do put a log on the fire and the log is too big which is the case when we skip a meal, we tend to overeat.

Get to bed by 10.30pm each night

"What's going to bed early got to do with losing weight?" It has a lot to with cortisol, the stress hormone and the body's inability to digest food while this is present in the body.  The longer the cortisol is around the harder the body has trouble digesting food.  It will pay great dividends eating your breakfast, lunch and dinner in a relaxed state and not while working on the computer!

Eliminate all processed food

Processed food contain preservatives, flavorings, additives, colorings that the liver and kidneys have trouble breaking down and eliminating from the body causing tiredness, bloatedness and weight gain.  If you cant pronounce the word on the back of the nutrition guide don't eat it!

Weight Train 2 -3 times a week

After the age of 30 (some of us earlier, some of us later) we begin to lose muscle which is or fuel tank.  Most of the muscle we lose is fast twitch muscles, these provide the ability to do something fast or lift something heavy.  It also is a very hungry muscle fibre and can burn body fat a lot more effectively if built up.  For those above 50 do not fear because its not too late. In fact you have the most to gain. There was a study done on a bunch of 80 year olds and their strength increased nearly 200% in 12 weeks!

Kaufmann's Favorite Meal

Dice: tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, avocado, and black olives. Add: hard-boiled eggs and either smoked salmon or cubes of beef purchased from a health food market.

Toss: Add two tablespoons of olive or grape seed oil and the juice from a fresh-squeezed lemon as the dressing.

Nine Vegetable Cocktail

1 pint fresh tomatoes          
1 green pepper, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced           
1 lettuce leaf
1 radish, quartered           
a few sprigs parsley
¼ onion, sliced               
1 stalk celery
1 slender carrot               
1 pint ice cubes, to desired consistency

In an electric blender, blend together all ingredients, adding ice cubes a few at a time. If juice freezes, blend a little longer before adding remaining ice. Add salt and pepper or other herbs and spices to taste. Increase ice for colder or thinner juice. Makes 1-112 quarts.

Almost tartar sauce

½ cup green onions, tops included,        
¼ cup cucumber, finely coarsely chopped    
1 tsp. sea salt                   
juice of ½ to 1 freshly squeezed lemon
¼ tsp. pepper                   
¼ to ½ tsp. Mrs. Dash               
1 tsp. capers
¼ cup parsley, no heavy stems, coarsely chopped        
1 pint plain yogurt

Combine all ingredients except yogurt in a bowl, tossing to blend. Feed mixture through a meat grinder using the coarse blade, or use a blender on 'chop.' Stir results into yogurt. Chill.

Serve with fish, or with slices, chunks, or cubes of any vegetable.

Basic Vege-yogurt Dip

½ c. plain yogurt           
spices and herbs as desired
sea salt to taste               
juice of ½ lemon

Spices and herbs might include garlic, chives, marjoram, or thyme. Mix together all ingredients. Chill and serve.

Herb Dressing

1 tsp. dry mustard               
¼ tsp. freshly ground, black pepper
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped           
pinch thyme
1 tsp. dill weed                   
½ cup virgin olive oil

Stir together all ingredients except olive oil until dry mustard is dissolved. Allow to sit for ten minutes. Blend in olive oil, beginning with 1/3 cup and adding additional oil to taste.

Use to dress green salads or serve with slices, chunks, or cubes of any vegetable.

Amins Salad Dressing and Vegetable Marinade

½ cup olive oil                                                            
1 tsp. oregano
juice of 2 lemons                                               
1 tsp. garlic powder

Mix together all ingredients in a pint jar. Fill jar the rest of the way with water. Shake well to mix, then pour over whole, sliced, chunked or chopped vegetables. Squash, radishes, cucumbers, broccoli, car rots, bell pepper, cauliflower, and onions work well. Refrigerate, allowing to marinate two hours or longer. Add other herbs and spices to taste.

To use over spinach or lettuce, add just prior to serving.

Homemade Mayonnaise

Makes 1 ½ cups

1 whole egg at room temperature
1 egg at room temperature
1 tablespoon Dijon-type mustard
1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon whey (page 87) optional
¾ -1 cup extra virgin olive oil or expeller – expresses sunflower oil (see sources) or a combination generous pinch sea salt

Use sunflower oil if you find that olive oil gives too strong taste homemade mayonnaise will be slightly more liquid then store bought versions.

In your food processor, place egg, egg yolk , mustard salt and lemon juice and optional whey. Process until well blended about 30 seconds. Using the attachment that allows you to add liquids drop by drop, add olive oil and/ or sunflower oil with the motor running. Taste and check seasoning. You may want to add more salt and lemon juice. If you have added whey, let the mayonnaise sit at room temperature, well covered for 7 hours before refrigerating. With whey added, mayonnaise will keep several months and will become firmer with time. Without whey, mayonnaise will keep for about 2 weeks.

Spinach Salad

1 bunch spinach, torn or sliced 1 cucumber, sliced to desired size

1/2 to 1 cup cauliflowerettes 6 radishes, sliced (opt)

1 - 2 stalks celery, chopped 2 eggs, hard-boiled & sliced

Toss together all ingredients. Flavor as desired with herbs and spices. Serve with lemon and oil dressing.

MAKE YOUR PROTEIN EXCITING

Food: you want it succulent, you want it healthy and you want it fast.  Practice, lots of it, makes your cooking perfect, but it is easy to cook a great meal that will make you and your friend happy and I believe everyone can do it. Here is how.

My focus in this article is proteins.
Don't lose the hard-earned benefits of your workout with poor nutrition. Your body needs proteins, they are very satiating and help you eat less and lose excess body fat. Proteins should make up  20% to 30% of your total calories intake. Eat proteins together with carbohydrates at lunch and dinner and you will even benefit from a slow glucose conversion of the carbohydrates which is a keystone of good nutrition.

I love fish and here's three quick ways to make a kick-ass fish dish

The first one is called crazy water fish, a recipe from Naples: Take any fish fillet you fancy but not too tall, stir fry it with a hint of oil on both side for few minutes then add some water -but not to fully cover it-, lemon juice, garlic, sundried tomatos or fresh cherry tomates, cappers and let the fish simmer in this water for 7-10 minutes. Just cut across it with a fork to see if the flesh is cooked. Serve on top of steemed vegetables and with few spoons of the cooking water.

Another way of cooking flat fishes that I love is to put a little bit of flower on both sides of a raw fillet, stir fry it in just a tiny bit of butter until the outside becomes golden and add some white wine. Again 7 to 10 minutes depending on how big is your fish. You can boil the wine before using it on the fish for few minutes so that the alchool evaporates and the calories are gone.

Finally, I like using the oven and a classic is to cook salmon using a foil. Each filett of salmon is placed in alluminium foil: you make something like a packet and you cover it with any erbs you like, lemon, salt, pepper, tomatoes, garlic. Or you can put some sliced onions and vegetables: change it as you like. Place the package well closed in the oven already hot. 180C for 25, 30 minutes.

Buon appetito