Fat Free Food Is Making Us FAT! #KBBody (must read)
I had the pleasure to speak to college students at NYIT Tech this week. While we covered a large variety of topics, I think the one that I feel is most important next to correct exercise techniques was setting the record straight on nutrition! We also have a very large Facebook community. The community is made up of close to 10,000 individuals who either train in our live classes or train at home to the KB Body and/ or KB Scorcher Series DVDs. Their goals are all different, but can probably be summed up with the words: Health, Performance and Longevity.
And that is exactly why I felt it was time to write a bit about the ‘Fat Free’ factors that are making all of us Fat.
FACT: Anyone can lose weight by starving themselves through unhealthy calorie deprivation and working out two hours a day. However, you won’t be healthy or happy doing that. You will be in pain, in over training, you will feel weak and tired, moody and more susceptible to sickness and poor overall health. Additionally you will not be able to sustain that level of misery for long. When taking up any training regiment, or nutritional guideline you MUST ask yourself three questions:
1. Can I do this for the rest of my life?
2. What will this do for me on the inside?
3. What will all of this be worth five years from now?
Not SOLD YET? Feel like periodic starvation, fat-free foods and obsessive cardio is okay by you?
Let the FACTS tell the story:
For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these (Twinkles, Nutty bars, Powdered donuts) sugary cake every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too. His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food. The premise held up: On his “convenience store diet,” he shed 27 pounds in two months.
For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub’s pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned. His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.
Ref: (CNN) — Twinkles. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts.
So- should we all eat lean cuisines, protein bars and twinkles- count calories and lose weight- Ummm… NO!
Having a poor nutritional diet full of processed foods will lead to a development of weak tissue. Forget about being healthy, strong, lean- no such thing if you do not invest in solid and nutritious food.
Lets Discuss:
When it comes to diets in general there are too many misconceptions. People are too quick to look at diet pills, juicing fasts, protein bars, low (fat/ or protein/ or starch diets). People generally jump to cut out whole food groups. Now this might work in the beginning because when people cut out entire food groups they generally (with out even realizing) wind up cutting their caloric intake, so yes, you see weight loss. This is very common in Gluten Free or Paleo, because people going on these diets typically eat poorly and when making the switch wind up cutting a large portion of access calories that they never needed in the first place (often in the form of muffins, sandwiches, pancakes, pizza). However too often overly restrictive diet can turn to obsession. People become fanatical about food, they are literally scared of food and calories, and often compromise a great whole grain or a wonderful fruit or vegetable for a ‘fat free’ or ‘low carb’ energy bar or pre-packed sodium rich, low calorie meal simply because it seems to have a few less calories . This is NOT good! It can be argued that America is still fat because of all the Fat-Free foods out there being pushed in our faces.
It is true- if you eat less calories you will lose weight, we even discuss this in the KB Body nutrition book. However once again- IF you eat less calories by only having ‘low-fat’ pre packaged foods you will NOT develop the strong, healthy and lean body you work hard for in your workouts. In fact your workouts will not be complimented by the foods you need for recovery and re-build. Instead you will became exhausted, weak, moody, tired and your body composition will suffer. Your cellulite, flabby ‘skinny fat’, your cholesterol and other health markers will not get better.
FACT: Fat free food does not equal healthy food.
Fat has more calories then carbohydrates, proteins and sugars. But you need fat for your hair, nails, muscles, heart, health. You need fat to live!
During the 1990s, the low-fat craze changed the way Americans eat, and yet they got fatter than ever. By 2001, one-third of the American population was overweight:
In the late 1980s, there were two major reports that came out, identifying dietary fat as the single most important change that needed to be made in order to improve diet and health. And the reasons for that message were that some of the fat was saturated. The idea was to reduce saturated fat, but the assumption was that it was too complicated to explain all that, and that if people just reduced their fat content, the fat content of their diet, they would be improving it. What nobody realized was that the food industry would substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in such a profound way, and would also substitute sugars for fats, Example: Snackwell cookies were advertised as no-fat cookies, but they had almost the same number of calories. And in fact if you go to the store today and look at Oreo cookies, they have a reduced-fat Oreo cookie that has, I think, six calories less than the regular Oreo cookie. It’s lower in fat but it’s higher in carbohydrates. – Marie Nestle, Chair, Nutrition Dep’t., New York University; author Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health
Many fat free foods are packed with sugars and carbohydrates, and not the natural kind you would find in a fruit or vegetable. Remember the body processes sugar into fat. So all of your access sugars, the ones you do not burn off will get converted into fat.
Confused? Consider this, what is better- a diverse, vegetable packed salad with lean grilled chicken and a bit of oil and vinegar dressing at lets say 350 calories or a high sodium, sugar loaded ‘Fat Free’ frozen dinner at 210 calories? You know the answer (the salad). Lets keep playing, what is better a high protein, sugar alcohol packed meal replacement bar at 200 calories or blue berries and greek yogurt at 250 calories (the berries and yogurt). How about a Fat Free dressing vs a tablespoon of Coconut or Olive Oil and lemon as a dressing.
You can not survive on Fake, Fat Free Foods. You just can’t build a healthy body this way.
More so, every time you down a sugary meal or drink (even if its low calories) your blood sugar spikes up. In response, your body releases insulin, whose job it is to pull extra glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream. Access sugar is then stored as fat. Furthermore, gaining weight can often lead to insulin resistance, a condition in which cells become less responsive to the hormone, and to diabetes.
Calories Do Matter
You can not over consume and have a healthy body composition. The key is to eat well, and also eat well with in your limits. I had a client once that I educated on healthy eating. She became obsessed with the idea and actually began to over eat ‘healthy food’. She would drink two 300 calorie cold pressed fruit and vegetable juices, and eat an avocado (thats about 1,000 calories as her snack!). Just because its 100% healthy does not mean you can eat a limitless amount. You cannot over-consume calories without gaining weight.
So what is one to do?
We discuss the specifics in the KB Body Nutrition Book, the one that accompanies your KB Body DVDs.
But to give you an idea, eat stuff that is close to the earth. Shop in the produce isle. Cook your own foods. Eat vegetables and lean proteins. Do not over eat. Chew slow and enjoy each bite. Let go of the fat free craze. Pay attention to labels. Make sure most of your foods have no labels (spinach, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, peppers, fish, poultry, lean meat, water).
Once you get the hang of it this will become easy! Creating a habit (KB Book covers this) is key!
and Lastly-
REMEMBER the best diet is the one that works for YOU – both INSIDE: healthy organs, healthy tissue, energy, lean muscle and OUTSIDE: good body composition.
XoKb- Dasha, MS, NASM-PES, NASE-SES, MKC-2, M-KBIA 🙂
Below was what was waiting for me after my seminar at NYIT Tech, and ultimately what inspired me to write this post:
Enjoying FAT FREE FOODS and still at 40% ?
