Getting the Skinny on Types of Fat

“Fat” gets treated like a dirty word. We avoid it like the plague, searching for “fat-free” labels on food and depriving ourselves of a spoonful of ranch dressing on our salads. But the truth is, fat is an essential part of a healthy diet. Fat helps maintain our body temperature, protects our organs and body tissue, and is absolutely essential for carrying fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. In addition, some fats play a large role in brain development, proper wound healing, vitamin absorption, regulating metabolism, controlling inflammation, and skin and hair growth.

So why does fat get such a bad rap? Because over-consumption can cause serious problems. Obesity is an excessive accumulation of body fat. Excess body fat clogs blood vessels and makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood through our bodies. Obesity can cause stroke, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers. Furthermore, excess body weight can lead to depression and anxiety. The key to healthy fat consumption is to discriminate between the “good” and “bad” fats, and remember to enjoy fats only in moderation.

There are two types of “bad” or unhealthy fats: saturated and trans fats. Saturated fats are found in animal products, like pork, beef, poultry (with the skin on), and dairy. They can also be found in some vegetable oils, like palm, kernel and coconut oil. The other “bad” fat is trans fat. Trans fats are made through a process called hydrogenation, where manufacturers add hydrogen to unsaturated fatty acids. This increases the shelf life and improves the flavour of foods that contain hydrogenated oil. Trans fats are found in a wide variety of foods, including potato chips, frozen foods, fast food, cake mixes, margarine and many other packaged and processed foods. Both saturated and trans fats raise the levels of total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in our bodies, reduce our levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good” cholesterol, and increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

Then there are the “good” fats. These are unsaturated fats, specifically polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. These fats are usually plant-based, though they are occasionally found in certain meats, and they are usually liquid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats actually reduce blood and LDL cholesterol, and raise HDL, or “good” cholesterol. Thus, this type of fat is considered beneficial because it cleans excess cholesterol out of our bodies and transports it to the liver for processing. Unsaturated fats are most commonly found in vegetable oils and nuts.

Now that we’ve distinguished the good fats from the bad, it’s time to look at the amount of fat we consume in a day. Health Canada recommends no more than 30 per cent of your daily caloric intake be made up of fat, and only 10 per cent of that should be saturated fat. Trans fats are non-essential, and should be left out of a healthy diet. In fact, The Trans Fat Task Force, a partnership between Health Canada and The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, has been pushing the Canadian government to regulate the amount of trans fat found in foods to two per cent of the total fat content in spreadable margarine, and five per cent in all other foods.

Fats come with benefits, but it’s important to remember to be careful about your fat consumption. Calories from fats are easily stored in the body, and contain more energy than both carbohydrates and protein. This means that if you’re smart about your intake, you will stay fuller longer, and it may cause you to eat less. On the other hand, fat is not burned in our bodies as quickly as carbohydrates or protein, which means if you eat an unbalanced diet high in fat content, you are at risk for over-consumption, leading to excess weight, obesity and all that comes with it.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer. For further information call 604-420-7800 or go to www.karpfitness.com.

Med Ball Partner Exercises

Using a medicine ball with a partner has many benefits: it engages the core and upper body at once; it can be used for sport-specific training; it can simulate, and improve your endurance for, day-to-day activities; it’s easy to do from home; and it’s fun.

You can perform endless exercises with a medicine ball. For beginners, the ball is not as intimidating as using weights or machines. The ball is a great way to work out your core and prevent injuries by strengthening connective tissue. Exercising with a medicine ball forces your body to move in dynamic ways. Use a five-pound ball if you are a beginner, or a 10-pound ball if you are more advanced.

Try all of these exercises with a partner (or on your own):

Sit-up and pass: Sit on the floor approximately five feet away from your partner. Move into a position to perform sit-ups, with your knees bent and feet on the floor, and your back on the floor as well. Whoever starts with the medicine ball should hold it (in both hands) overhead, and slightly elevated above the floor. Begin a sit-up and throw the ball to your partner at the “peak” of your abdominal contraction. Get your partner to repeat the exercise; do 10 or 15 repetitions each. If you’re doing this solo, try throwing the ball against a wall.

Back-to-back rotations: Sit on the floor with your partner; your backs should be approximately one foot apart. Hold onto the medicine ball in front of your chest, with your elbows bent. Rotate your trunk to the right and pass the medicine ball to your partner, who will do the same. Try switching directions after 10 repetitions, so you work both sides of your core equally. If you’re doing this solo, do the same movements but hang on to the medicine ball throughout.

Hot ball throws: Stand approximately six feet away from your partner (or a wall if you’re doing this solo). Hold the medicine ball at chest level, with your palms facing outwards and the fingers of both hands almost touching. Push the medicine ball away from your body, throwing it to your partner with as much force as you think they can handle. Get your partner to throw it back to you. You can both do this 10 times. Do this again by holding the medicine ball elevated behind your head, in both hands. Bring your hands forward and throw the ball to your partner when it is directly overhead.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer.  For further information call his office at 604-420-7800 or go to www.karpfitness.com.

Don’t Forget Your Feet

Our feet withstand incredible amounts of force during exercise, but unless they’re in pain, the feet are easily neglected.

Not all fitness buffs focus on their feet when their real focus is on upping cardio endurance or making the biceps bigger. This is unfortunate, because a proper pair of shoes prevents damage to the feet that could cause chronic pain and difficulty when exercising.

Consider these four aspects of shoe selection:

Wear Pattern

If you have an old pair of running shoes hanging around, you can inspect them to learn about your personal biomechanics. (If you don’t have old shoes, an alternative is to inspect the prints you leave after walking around with wet feet.) If the old shoes are worn on the inside, near your arch, this means you pronate your feet. If they are worn on the outside, this means you under-pronate your feet. If you fit into the former, you’ll need a stability shoe with lots of medial support. If you fit into the latter—or somewhere between the two categories—neutral shoes will do the trick. High arches require neutral shoes with added cushioning.

Type

Shoe companies aren’t trying to make more money by offering multiple types of exercise shoes; running shoes really are designed for running, and cross trainers really are for—you guessed it—cross training. Running feet hit the ground in a heel-to-toe pattern, for instance; running shoes are designed with extra support where it’s needed, so the force of weight transfer from the body to the feet is properly absorbed and dispersed. Cross-training shoes are designed to provide proper foot support for gym workouts, aerobics and shorter durations of running.

Fit

Having the right shoe type means nothing if you don’t have the right fit; an improper fitting shoe will not provide the support needed. You might also have to sacrifice the exact style of shoe you want to ensure the best possible fit. When looking at a pair of shoes, try on three sizes—your regular size, one size up and one down—and don’t rush to make a purchase. Give yourself a minute or two to see if your feet feel neutral in the shoe; the feet should not roll to either side when you walk. Shoes should be snug around the middle of the feet and have one-half to three-quarters of a thumb width between your toes and the toe-end of the shoe.

Replacement

Old, worn out shoes stop giving proper foot support. Replace your workout shoes every eight to 12 months—eight if you exercise daily and 12 if you exercise less frequently. Runners can also know when to replace their shoes based on distance—a great reason for keeping a running log. Runners need new shoes every 400 to 600 miles (or 650 to 970 kilometres). Bottom line: don’t forget your feet!

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer. For further information call his office at 604-420-7800 or visit their web site www.karpfitness.com.

Five Resolution Mistakes Not To Make

1.    Avoid dramatic dietary changes.  Before you make any changes to your diet ask yourself if you can realistically maintain the change for a period of years rather than just a few months.  If you lose weight fast you are usually going to gain it back fast, and that is when the dreaded yo-yo epidemic starts.  To be successful in the long term, it is essential to make changes that you can live with.  For instance, reduce your food portions, or limit your fat intake.  You can also get good results by eliminating “nibbling” between meals and preparing healthy snacks.

2.    Do not place too much emphasis on the scale.  A body-fat measurement will tell you how much of your bodyweight is fat compared to muscle.  This is important because muscle weighs more than fat; so trusting the reading on your scale could be misleading.

3.    Do not do two hours of cardio per day!  Cardiovascular exercise is great because it helps to burn off extra calories and also helps to strengthen the heart; however, excessive amounts can cause you to burn out.  A balanced cardiovascular program can be achieved by performing 20-45 minutes of cardio 3-5 times each week.

4.    Do not rely on meal replacement supplements.  There are many great supplements out there; however, they are best used to replace the occasional meal if you get too busy, or to help supplement an already balanced diet.  Planning your meals ahead of time can help to reduce your reliance on supplements.  It is also important to focus on eating less refined foods because many vitamins and minerals are stripped during processing.

5.    Do not leave out the strengthening component.  To achieve the best results it is important to perform a balanced strengthening routing three times each week.  After the age of thirty we lose approximately a half a pound of muscle per year.  Muscle is the body’s most efficient calorie burner.  The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn while at rest!

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer.  For further information call 604-420-7800 or go to www.karpfitness.com.

Get Your Workouts Back On Track

It is difficult to maintain a workout regimen without interruption.  Life sometimes interferes; you might get sick or have to take a long business trip, or perhaps you just have a lot of parties to attend and give up on your health kick for a while. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get right back into it. There are a few different things you need to do to successfully get your fitness routine back on track.

1.) Get the first workout out of the way.

Getting back into your fitness routine for the first time after an absence is always the most difficult step. You simply have to force yourself back into the gym, into a yoga or aerobics class, or possibly on a hike or other activity. Rather than thinking about the big picture, you need to focus on the first workout as something independent of your entire fitness program. Just put on your runners and get out there. Then worry about the rest after that.

2.) Take care of any nagging injuries.

An injury often keeps us out of the gym. It is important that you see your physician and determine the severity of the injury, then proceed with your fitness regimen accordingly. You can continue to work on the areas of your body that are not affected by injury while you’re healing.

3.) Set a realistic workout schedule.

It is fantastic to be ambitious and hope to attend the gym every day, five times weekly or even three or four times a week, but if it has been a long time since you maintained a regular workout schedule, it may be best to start small and work up to something ideal. Commit to twice-weekly workouts initially, and make one of them something fun that you’ll look forward to. It will become progressively easier to attend the gym more often.

4.) Develop a gym and home workout.

There will certainly be days when you find it almost impossible to get to the gym, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still work out. There are many functional exercises that can be performed at home, or even at the playground down the street. Get creative, and make time for exercise no matter what the environment. You can purchase dumbbells and a mat and perform many of the exercises you’ve learned in the gym in the comfort of your home.

5.) Take the approach, “Every little bit counts.”

Don’t be discouraged if you only manage to fit 20 minutes of exercise into your day; that amount of activity is better than none at all. Be proud of yourself for making time for exercise at all, rather than beating yourself up about it not being enough. If your busy schedule does not permit a one-hour-daily gym routine, simply walk to and from work, or take the stairs instead of the elevator. Your body will thank you, and you are on the way to a healthier lifestyle.
Remember to focus on why it is important to include exercise in your lifestyle and not on how much or to what intensity you are executing it, and take it one step at a time. Sometimes it is the smallest steps that take us the furthest in the long run.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer.  For further information call his office at 604-420-7800 or visit their web site www.karpfitness.com.

Keeping on track in the New Year

If every New Year’s resolution were easy to follow, it probably wouldn’t have become a resolution to begin with. Keep that in mind if you are struggling with your own, and try these five steps:

1. Understand the importance of situations in dictating behavior. People who pride themselves on their superior willpower and seem to epitomize self-control probably have no more willpower than you do. Their trick—almost always—is avoiding situations that cause temptation. These temptations might be to eat, to smoke, to be sedentary or to procrastinate. When directly confronted with temptation, the best of us give in. Most psychologists agree this is because of brain pathways that are hard-wired to make us react in a predictable fashion to certain situations. To succeed in controlling your behaviour, you should first try to control your environment. Avoid situations that confront you with temptation.

2. Make your goals health-oriented, rather than appearance-oriented. Weight loss is an exceedinglycommon New Year’s resolution. You’ll have more success losing weight and keeping it off if you focus on losing weight to become healthier, and not more physically attractive. A focus on health leads to positive lifestyle changes that can make weight loss permanent—not temporary. Quick and easy weight loss following crash diets almost never lasts.

3. Make incremental goals. It can be daunting to think about a lofty goal like losing 25 pounds of fat orgaining 15 pounds of muscle before summertime. It’s less intimidating to think about losing four pounds in a month, though. Write down a series of short-term goals and monitor your success over the course of several months or a year. Hiring a personal trainer who can measure your body-fat and let you know how you’re doing week-by-week also helps you stay on track.

4. Don’t be discouraged by failure. Many health and fitness goals are not achievable unless accompanied by permanent lifestyle changes, like eating a healthy diet. Much like trying to quit smoking, trying to make lifestyle changes can take multiple attempts. If you slip up and eat poorly for a length of time, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Forget about it, move on and get back on track. If you tell yourself you’ve failed, you’ve essentially made an excuse to stop working towards your goals.

5. Small changes can make big differences. While it is hard to make long-lasting lifestyle changes, don’t forget many small changes you can make that have huge impacts on your fitness and well-being. For instance, keep pre-cut vegetables around for whenever you have a craving to snack. Instead of juice or soda, drink water with a slice of lemon in it. Walk as often as you can—get off the bus a stop early or park a few blocks from where you need to go. Combined, these small changes, which are easy to make, can be transformational.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer. For further information call his office at 604-420-7800 or visit their web site www.karpfitness.com.