“too much fat can lead to so many severe health problems”

The reason that fat is so misunderstood and, in many cases, maligned, is primarily because too much fat can lead to so many severe health problems, some of which can lead to chronic incurable illness and even premature death. Too little fat, however, can be as hazardous to your health as too much fat. That’s why it’s important to understand that there needs to be a proper balance of fat in proportion to each individual frame and size.

If you’ve ever wondered about the role that body fat plays in our general physical health, here are some points to ponder:

Fat helps the reproductive system to function normally 

While women don’t want to put on too much weight while they’re pregnant, it’s nevertheless a fact of life that women need a certain level of fat in the body in order to be able to carry a healthy baby. The fat that’s stored in the body helps to maintain the hormone levels that are necessary in the development of the fetus. These fat stores also send signals to the body that there is ample nourishment for the fetus to thrive.

If her body fat percentage is too low, a woman will have abnormal or missed periods

In addition, a certain level of body fat is necessary for a normal menstrual cycle. If her body fat percentage is too low, a woman will have abnormal or missed periods; it’s the body’s way of saying that a baby could not be healthily supported in such an environment until her body fat levels are higher.

Body fat helps regulate the appetite.

It may seem surprising, but having a proper level of body fat can actually help you maintain a healthy weight. The reason for this is the hormones found within fat cells; these let the brain know how much fat is currently being stored in the body. If the brain thinks you’ve got too little fat, it’s going to send you strong signals to start eating until your fat levels are up again.

This is the reason why so many too-strict diets don’t work. Without enough fat-cell hormones to regulate the appetite, the brain is going to be fooled into thinking that you need more food. In other words, if you don’t have enough body fat, you’re going to be hungry all the time.

Fat produces insulin

If you don’t have enough insulin in your body, you can develop all kinds of problems. That’s because insulin helps keep the body warm. When insulin levels are too low, the body’s temperature will be brought down to abnormal levels. If you’ve ever been on a diet, you may have noticed that you felt colder than usual. This temporary feeling of being chilled may well have been caused by the unusual drop in your body’s insulin levels.

Fat protects the internal organs

Fat protects the internal organs, as well as the skeletal frame. Body fat literally performs the role of a cushion. It’s meant to cover your frame for a reason; just as a sofa is upholstered to protect the springs, so we’re covered in layers of fat to protect our bones and internal organs. If you don’t have enough body fat, your internal organs can get easily injured when struck by a mere blow. Likewise, this same fat layer also protects bones from injury. We need those layers of protective fat throughout our bodies in order to survive.

Fat layer also protects bones from injury

If you’re concerned about whether or not you have too much body fat for your frame, just remember, a certain percentage of body fat is absolutely essential to good physical health and overall well-being.

You should always keep in mind that the idea of a diet is eating fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight. You’re forcing your body to use the fat so it can cape with the energy it doesn’t get from eating food. It’s important that a diet is tasty and nutritious. Simply taking out certain types of food doesn’t help in a long run. You’ll be eating them sooner or later and coming back to the old eating habits and weight.

You’ve probably heard of Mypoplex or Slimfast which are generally good substitutions but cannot replace a proper diet. They should not be used more than 4 weeks in a row. Calories are good for our bodies and you can’t go long without them. All our internal organs and muscles need them to function properly.

Have you heard of the myth of a low car, high protein diet? This is popular in the Hollywood industry. It’s common knowledge that all the stars are on some kind of a diet. But this diet also isn’t recommended because it uses existing carbs in our livers and muscles. This comes down to losing water stored in the body instead of fat and strains internal organs.

And please don’t be afraid of pomes (potatoes), bread and pasta. They’re leading carbs and are actually good because they bring your hunger down without bringing in too much calories. It’s safe to consume them in normal quantities. Butter and sauces – those are the fat bringers. Use them in small amounts please. Drinking water is a good idea because first it’s vital for our body and it fills the stomach thus making us not so hungry. But simply drinking water doesn’t trigger weight loss. Also all fats are not bad for us. Some are essential for our bodies because they contain useful vitamins and omega 3 and 6. So my advice, eat regularly and eat not so much fat and you’ll be fine.

Let me explain to you how you should train those abs to their maximum limit by using equipment often found in fitness centers. The muscles behind our belly fat are really nothing special. You can compare them to any other muscles or muscle groups in the male and female body. If you want to train them correctly, train them the way you do it with biceps, triceps or any kind of muscle.

These critical elements are ones you should not overlook when training the belly muscles:

1. High intensity muscle overload (15 to 20 repetitions)
2. Progressive intensity (higher weight) every week that past by
3. Avoid muscle burnout or under training by proper spacing (taking a day or two off)

I’m sure you’ve tried sit-ups or crunches just like everybody else. These exercises are good and can satisfy our point one. But how many people are using them to get to point two?

You should consider the fact that muscles only develop when they’re overloaded – greatly above normal intensity. So if you make 10 crunches a day, every day of the year, why would your belly muscles develop beyond their maximum strength? You’re right – they don’t.
If you want to expand your abs and grow them, you have to increase the intensity. You could add a few crunches every day, but this only increases duration. There’s a better way to get hot belly muscles.

1. Weighted Crunches (exercises wight weights)
2. Weighted incline sit-ups
3. Weighted sit-ups

How to do weighted crunches? Easy! Just lie on the floor with your head close to the low pulley weight stack. Use the rope handle attachment and grasp the ends, thus pulling the cable until it’s tight. Your hands should be resting at the side of your head near your ears. In this position you must now contract your ab muscles in a crunch that lifts your shoulders off the floor and draws the weight stack up an inch or two. Don’t worry if you don’t have the low pulls. You can always use a high pulls that is normally used for lat pull downs. Don’t forget to make 7 do 14 repetitions for each exercise (lower repetition with higher weight gives you the bulk appearance – this is what men like).

The next alternative you should try is – just lie on the floor and do sit ups while holding a barrel plate against your chest. The downside of this exercise is that it’s not safe to hold enough plates on your chest safely. But that’s a good problem to have, right? On each successive workout, shoot a 5 – 15% increase of weight you use. If you can’t add 5% increase, it’s time to add more days off between your workouts.

I would like to talk about the healthy stuff you can get at fast food joints. Not that it’s better than home made food you would cook and prepare on your own, but if for example you order a burger, leave out the mayo and cheese. You’ll cut a lot of fat out just by doing these simple step. If your sandwich is to dry, use ketchup. It will help you slide it down easier. The cheese you find in these burger is processed garbage loaded with oil and other junk. Just compare your regular cheese you buy in the supermarket with the burger one. A very different look.
Also avoid anything with bacon in it. The bacon in the fast food restaurants if awful. They don’t cook it, just put it under heavy lights till it gets hot. You can thank me later. It’s very unhealthy, really. Another good rule of thumb is to stay away from deep friend sandwiches. Those that have fried fish and chicken in them. The frying process makes them very unhealthy for your body. But if you must choose, go with chicken. They have lower fat percentage than deep fried fish. Avoid mayo.

If possible, change the French fries for a salad. You might think that fast food sucks without fries. Yeah, sure, but from time to time it’s good to order salad. Make it like 1 out of 3 times that you order fries and you’ll be good. Generally, it’s good to avoid fast food, but once or twice a month won’t hurt you either.

Ever heard of those meatless burger from some fast food joint? Well, they exist and I can tell from experience they have less fat than normal burgers. And it’s good for the vegetarians too. Maybe you can try the Subway sandwiches. They show you the fat content and calories of each sandwich. You can load up all kinds of veggies and not even worry about cheese or mayo. Well, about the sodas – it’s pure sugar. Avoid them at all cost. Water is the best if you ask me. If you need more taste, use a lemon pressed in a glass of water. Well, here’s my guide to fast food. Hope you can find anything useful in it and lose some pounds or so.