My Skinny on Fat

Monitoring fat intake is a personal affair, I liken it to using the restroom and washing your hands. No one really knows what you did in there.

I sat in a meeting about 15 years ago where the speaker spoke on topics of eating and exercise. He discussed fat intake and fat cells. He explained that we form fat cells at 3 times in our life. The 3rd trimester (what the mother eats matters), between the ages 4-7 (what we feed our children at this critical time is highly important) and in times of heavy dieting. We can't control the 1st two but the third is tricky business. If you feel you lose weight and then gain it back and then some, you are probably right. You body forms more fat cells as its supplies are being depleted. If you gain weight, you have more cells to fill and more fat is in fact stored. Constant weight loss and gain is defeating the purpose. Excercise and a healthy diet of all food groups is always the best habit you can have. I have always had a very strong sense of both.

I have never deliberately cut fat out of my diet. I don't eat a lot of fried foods but I sautee with Butter and Olive or Canola Oil, I drink 1/2 & 1/2 in my coffee, and I only buy whole milk for my son and for my cooking needs. If you try to get by on a 1/2 grapefruit and a rice cake for breakfast, I think you will find you can't make it til lunch without a snack. If your snack is a bag of chips or cookies, which most often it is since we have the least access to the right foods, then it is my belief you would be best served having a real breakfast and omitting the snack.

From this long ago meeting the way it was explained was if you can't get from one meal to the next without a snack then you don't have enough fat in your diet. If your job is active that can be particularly true. I don't mean go crazy gourging on fatty foods, but set up a good mix of all foods including the amount of fat your body needs. Once I had a thin sliced low calorie bread with turkey and no fat cheese. What was the point, I was starving, it was as if I had never eaten lunch and guess what I did?

Some ideas might be to reduce the serving size and if you don't already, eat proper meals, begin to eat all 3 of them, and cut out all snacking in between. Another way to keep eating they way you like is to add excercise. Did you know you burn the same number of calories whether you run or walk a mile? I find if I excercise before I eat, it actually curbs my appetite. Grab someone you like to talk to and begin walking daily. It'll be good for eveyone!