Keys To Supportive Eating Part 2In part 1 of "Keys To Supportive Eating" I introduced the concept of eating to support your metabolism. If you haven’t read part one of “Keys To Supportive Eating” go here Before I move on with part 2 I’d like to summarize what I covered in part 1 In part 1 I introduced the concept of supportive eating and explained that by eating more often throughout the day you will boost your metabolic rate. Having a fast metabolism is a key factor in helping you to lose body fat. You learned that fat is burned in muscle tissue and that muscle is metabolically active, meaning that your body burns calories just to sustain muscle. So it stands to reason that the more muscle you have the more calories you burn, even while your reading this. For every 1lb of muscle you add to your body you will burn up to an additional 50 calories per day, add 5lbs and that’s 250 calories per day or 1750 calories per week! I also explained that going on a restrictive diet has the opposite effect and actually slows your metabolism causing your body to break down muscle tissue. Your body will also try to conserve as much fuel as possible by storing fat just in case you try t starve it again. You now you have a smaller engine (metabolism) which is very fuel efficient (burns less calories). So once you come off the diet and start to eat normally again the weight comes back, and normally more than you lost in the first place! This is the yo-yo dieting effect so many people suffer from. Put it this way, if diets worked there would be no fat people in the world as everyone who went on a diet would lose the weight they wanted and they would keep it off permanently. Sadly this is not the case. Part 2 In part 1 I explained that a supportive meal consists of a potion of lean protein, a portion of a starchy carbohydrate and a potion of fibrous carbohydrate. I’d like to go more in depth and break this concept down further. Nutrients are compounds found in food that your body needs to function and sustain life. All foods contain nutrients, which can be further broken down to: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Your body needs all six of these to function optimally. Fat is one of the most misunderstood of the six and usually gets the blame for everything so I will start here. Fat in and of itself doesn’t make you fat, eating too much of anything will make you gain weight so cutting all fat from your diet is not necessary. Having said that not all fats are created equal. There are good fats and there are bad fats. Fat plays an important part in nutrition and optimal health. Fat acts as insulation so the body can regulate body temperature. Fat is important for brain activity. Fats are also our primary source of fuel. Fats are also protein sparing meaning that they allow protein to do their job of repairing and regeneration of bodily cells. Hopefully you will see that some fat in your daily diet is actually necessary. However the key is taking in enough good fats to allow your body to meet its biological needs without taking on too much so as to cause weight gain. Just as the compounds in food can be broken down in to six other nutrients, fats can be broken down into two groups: non-essential fatty acids and essential fatty acids. The essential fatty acids can also be broken down to omega 3 and omega 6. These are termed essential as the body cannot synthesise them from other foods. Saturated fats are found in red meat, butter and most fatty foods. They are normally solid at room temperature. They offer very little nutritional value and should be minimized as much as possible as they are readily stored in the body as fat. Completely avoid hydrogenated fats and trans fats as they can actually damage your health. These fats are altered to give them a longer shelf life and are often found in cakes, biscuits and ready meals. So you know which fats to avoid and where to find them. Now I’m going to reveal where to find the omega 3’s and omega 6’s. The following foods contain these important fats: Unprocessed green vegetables Many seeds, nuts and oils (pure virgin olive oil, flax seed oil, fish oils) Fish Poultry Egg yolks Lean meats As you can see, the foods that you will be getting your good fats from are also considered lean proteins. One of the tricks to fat loss is to avoid adding fats to your food (such as butter) and reducing or eliminating foods that get most of their calories from fat, like cakes, biscuits and pastries. That’s enough about fats, in part 3 I’m going to talk about our biggest enemy in the fight for fat loss? Sugars! If you would like more help intergrating supportive eating into your current lifestyle click here to request a health and fitness consultation Not ready for to take the next step but would like more health and fitness and weight loss tips? Fill in the form below and I will send you regular tips and tactics for building your best body ever. I will also send you a FREE copy of my special report:
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