Eek!
So you’ve made your New Years Resolution and it’s (as cliche as it sounds) to lose weight, be healthier, get fitter, be toned etc… Everyone (pretty much) makes that at least one of their New Years Resolutions in the many years they may have on earth. Now that you’ve said you’re going to lose weight you need to actually learn how to do it. Many people buy in to fad diets – it’s cool, i’ve been there too – and they don’t actually do their research; what are “good fats”, what are “bad fats”, what food does what? Well here is a little post about a couple of things you need to know about nutrition before embarking on your journey.
First things first, what does fat do?
Fats have a number of jobs that they do, the first important role they play is that they give you energy – i know right?! Many people don’t actually realise that fats are there to give you energy, if you don’t use that up then it stores itself as fat on your body. The second job is that it helps regulate your body temperature, which is obviously super important when working out! Fats also have other biological impacts like being involved in producing essential hormones and keeping your hair, skin and nails healthy! Very cool right?! So as much as people HATE fats, fats actually help your body in many different ways (there are more but i don’t want to bore you with things you may not need to know as much of at this stage! But definitely look in to it!)
Number two, what are the different types of fats?
Have you ever looked at the packet of a food product to see how may grams of fat it has, how many calories, sugar etc..? Well now you can look at the back of that product knowing what kinds of fats you’re looking for and which ones are the ones to look out for!
So you have three types of fats; saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated that are good for us and one that we should steer clear from!
Saturated fats are found in foods such as animal fats, cheese, coconut oil, eggs and butter. They help to keep good cholesterol levels up in the blood and therefore helps the heart. Many people associate saturated fats with being bad, but they’re only bad when you consume too much of them – a good even amount will do wonders 🙂
Monounsaturated fats are found different types of oil, such as peanut, sesame and extra virgin olive oil, as well as being in avocados and nuts. These fats are also good for increasing good levels of cholesterol. By snacking on foods such as nuts with these fats in, your blood levels are more likely to be stabilised and therefore have longer amounts of energy.
Polyunsaturated fats are found in other types of oil; sunflower, flaxseed and walnut oil as well as being present in oily fish! I’m a girl who likes her salmon so this is definitely a bonus for me! These kinds of fats help to protect your body by reducing risks of injuries and chronic disease, this i because they act as an anti-inflammatory.
Hydrogenated fats are the ones we need to be aware of and try and stay clear of! They are unnatural fats that are used in food products to increase shelf-life, yes that means they are found in low fat products! Trans fats are proven to carry a serious amount of risk with them as they increase blood level cholesterol (bad ones) and can cause heart disease. These kinds of fats (hydrogenated and trans) can be found in biscuits, pastries, cakes, meat pies etc…
What about carbs?
Carbohydrates’ main role is to also provide the body with energy when doing intense exercises (they’re also healthy and awesome for brain function! Who knew?!) So just like with fats, you can have real carbs and fake carbs. Real carbs are found in wholesome real foods (foods that are not processed like fruits, grains, vegetables and milk products) and fake carbs are found in, well processed foods – fewer refined products like white rice and white bread!
“good” carbohydrates generally have a lower glycemic loads, which means that you will get lower amounts of sugars released at a more consistent rate – instead of peaking throughout the day when you process bad carbs.
Having a low carb diet may aid in your metabolism speeding it up!
It is generally said that your main diet should be high protein low carbs…
Which leads us on to our next one; what is protein?
So where can protein be found? Sources of protein are found in foods such as; eggs, milk, yogurt, fish and seafood, soya, pistachio nuts, pork, chicken and turkey and beans and pulses. Protein is an essential part of out diet day to day as it helps a number of functions within our body. It is responsible for building tissues, cells and muscles (repair and growth) as well as making hormones and antibodies. It also helps to regulate our metabolism, produce hormones and strengthen our immune system. The important point to remember out of this list (for working out purposes) is that it helps to repair and grow muscles – hence having a high protein diet!
In terms of nutrition for losing weight we all know that we need to eat healthy, wholesome foods, that much is for certain. What i have written is a general guide to help you understand what kinds of foods you need to be focussing on and how they are important (biologically) for our bodies. My carb to protein ratio changes all the time, because well for my body, my personal needs my food intake needs to be adjusted regularly, number one; because my metabolism gets too happy where it’s at and i need to change it up a bit and because second, well mentally, i’d get bored! if you get bored you’re more likely to give up on this whole healthy eating thaaang!
I hope this article has helped you and hasn’t been too boring! Peace out 🙂
fatflirtyandfit 