Hey Friend,
Welcome to the final day of the 5 Day Challenge!
The first phase of your fitness & fat loss transformation is coming to an end today which is GOOD NEWS.
Because now we have laid the foundations we can build on for the future with a flexible, enjoyable, and sustainable healthy lifestyle approach to fitness and nutrition.
And during our Graduation Workshop, I went into great detail and outlined the exact strategy I've used to lose my gut and keep it off for over 4 years. It's also the same system that I used with my top coaching students to lose fat, build lean muscle definition, increase their strength, energy, and confidence - without extreme starvation diets or spending endless hours in the gym.
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🏃YOUR ACTION STEPS:
In this one, I want to share some insights on one of the most misunderstood aspects of nutrition and that is the topic of Dietary Fat...
Back in the day the mainstream media said "eating fat, makes you fat" so people would purposely avoid fat like the plague.
That's when the low fat, high carb diet trend exploded in popularity and we started seeing "Low Fat" and "Fat Free" food labels popping up on everything in the grocery store.
Low fat ice cream, low fat cookies, low fat snack cakes, low fat deli meats, and low fat potato chips that were baked - not fried!
Fat is the most calorie dense macro-nutrient, with 9 calories per gram. Whereas protein and carbohydrates both have only 4 calories per gram. So mathematically it makes sense that we should eat less fat in order to to cut calories and thus lose weight.
Now some people did lose weight by following a low fat diet, but most didn't. In fact, the opposite happened - as low fat diets grew in popularity, the fatter we became as a nation. And the statistics show a huge spike in the rate of obesity from the late 1980's right on through the 1990's.
The problem with eating less fat, is that it leaves you feeling hungry. This is because fat is very important for controlling your appetite and giving you that satiated feeling after a meal.
Low fat dieters would try and satisfy their appetite by eating more of the other macro-nutrients, especially carbohydrates. This would spike their blood sugar levels, increase insulin production, and actually increase their appetite even more.
It's no wonder why so many people gain weight on a low fat diet. They were feeling hungrier and eating more total food. So they ended up getting fatter even though they were eating "Low Fat" foods.
In order to have a successful and maintainable "Lifestyle Diet" you need balance in all 3 macro-nutrients...
Quality Proteins - like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, as well as plant based protein foods.
Quality Carbohydrates - like potatoes, rice, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit.
Quality Fats - like nuts, seeds, avocado, fish oil, flax oil, coconut oil, and olive oil - along with the fats that you get from your protein foods like meat, eggs, dairy, etc.
So you really don't need to be scared of fat, you just need to know how to choose the right sources and moderate your intake.
So for today's task I want you to put a picture up in the group of your go to "healthy fat" of choice that you've been using in your meals throughout this challenge.
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The Right Fats In Moderation Are Good For You!
Healthy fats:
- help you recover faster;
- nourish fatty tissues like your brain, eyes, and cell membranes;
- help you absorb vitamins like Vitamin A, D, and K; and
- keep your muscle-building and sexytime hormones revving optimally.
Here's a List of Good Healthy Fat Sources:
>> Meat; Beef, Chicken, Pork, Lamb, Bison, Wild Game, etc.
>> Whole Eggs>> Seeds & Nuts - such as flax seeds, walnuts, almonds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, etc.
>> Olives
>> Avocados
>> Oils – such as; olive oil, flax seed oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, almond oil, avocado oil, etc.
>> Fatty Fish – such as: salmon, mackerel, herring, halibut, trout, shell fish, anchovies, sardines, etc.
>> Fish Oil & Omega 3 Supplements - look for ones high in EPA & DHA fatty acids.
3 Main Categories Of Fat:
You need to eat all 3 different types of fat in the right balance to maximize your muscle growth, fat loss, and optimize your overall health & fitness.
1) Saturated Fat This is the fat that comes from animal products (i.e. meat). You will get adequate saturated fat intake from your protein foods. Foods like beef, chicken, eggs, etc. all contain saturated fat.
2) Monounsaturated Fat This is the fat found in foods such as seeds, nuts, olives, avocados, as well as various types of oils such as peanut oil, flaxseed oil, sesame oil, and olive oil.
3) Polyunsaturated Fat This is the fat found in sea food like herring, salmon, mackerel, halibut, sardines, and fish oils.
By including protein from animal products such as beef, chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy. Along with eating nuts, seeds, avocado, and olives. And cooking with healthy oils such as coconut oil and olive oil you’ll have no problems meeting dietary fat intake need
The "Super Fats" - Omega 3's
Omega-3 fats are a type of extra-healthy fat found particularly in:
- marine life, such as cold water fish, shellfish, and algae
- a few types of nuts and seeds, such as flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and hemp
Did you know that Omega-3 fatty acids help keep cold-water marine life from freezing.
The reason for this is because they stay liquid at low temperatures, so in that sense omega-3s are like natural antifreeze for the body and help to keep things functioning normally.
Omega-3 fats do all kinds of awesome things for the body, such as:
- help with heart and brain health
- lower inflammation
- keep joints mobile
- aid with fat loss
- help build muscle
There is strong evidence that omega-3s can:
- improve your blood lipids (like triglycerides and HDL-C)
- help reduce some symptoms of depression and anxiety
- help reduce some ADHD symptoms
- help regulate our metabolism and blood sugar
They've also been shown to have positive benefits for:
- preventing cancer
- preserving memory as we age
- improving eye health
- decreasing liver fat
While you can get adequate omega 3's from diet (especially if you're eating fatty cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, or sardines multiple times per week). It's hard for more people to consume enough of them consistently to optimize their benefits.
I personally supplement with 3–6 grams of high potency fish oil daily, which provide around 1–2 grams of total EPA+DHA fatty acids.
This dose is high enough to give you all the health benefits listed above, but very safe. (i.e. start off on the low end and build up to 6 grams daily over the course of a few weeks).
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