Fat Facts

100 calories-3 calories = 97 calories of fat to ready to metabolize for storage
 

If you eat an extra 100 calories of carbohydrates or protein than your body doesn't need, it takes at least 25 calories to digest and convert them to fat.

You will find 75 of those calories stored in your thighs 100 calories -25 calories 75 calories of carbohydrate convert to fat ready for storage.

To estimate your fat intake, remember the BYOF rule:- This stands for Balance Your Own Fat. 1 gram of fat provides 9 calories 1 gram of carbohydrate provides 4 calories 1 gram of protein provides 4 calories

30 per cent fat diet Is low enough to reduce your risk of disease and receive some weight control benefit

20 per cent fat diet Is low enough to significantly reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer and reduce your weight

10 per cent fat diet is low enough to reduce your risk of all diseases and lose weight (and it's not so low that it will cause you harm) but it is so low that it may cause feelings of restriction and deprivation

A 20 per cent fat diet is the perfect middle ground. You will not feel deprived but you will get all the benefits of reduced disease risk and reduced fat cell size.

To achieve a diet that is in the region of about 20 per cent of the calories from fat, all you have to do is ask yourself one important question. Does the food I'm about to eat derive less than 20 per cent of its calories from fat or more than 20 per cent of its calories from fat?

And balance your own fat intake with the BYOF '1 to 3 rule'. For every food that derives over 20 per cent of its calories from fat, choose at least three other foods that derive less than 20 per cent of their calories from fat. However, if you don't choose high fat foods to begin with then you don't have to balance your fat intake.

To calculate calories and grams of fat per serving.

You already know that each gram of fat provides your body with 9 calories, so you first multiply the grams of fat by 9, then divide by the total calories per serving too get the percentage of calories from fat.

Grams of fat x 9 calories/gram = % calories from fat Total calories per serving Example. If the food has Calories per serving:150 Grams of fat 6 6 grams of fat x 9 calories/gram = 54 fat calories

54 fat calories = 36% of the calories from fat 150 total calories which is more than 20%, so is high in fat. Do not be fooled by Reduced Fat Foods Many 'lite' foods are called lite because they are lighter in color or flavor or even simply because they are lighter in weight, not because they are lighter in fat.

Most of the 'reduced fat' foods are made by taking the original food and adding water to it. Water contains no calories, so it just dilutes the fat and calories.

Example. Foods that claim '95% fat free' Food companies evaluate the fat content based on weight, not based on calories. Remember your body doesn't care how much a food weighs, it cares how many calories it will get from the food.

Here is an imaginary food, but most foods contain some fat, carbohydrates protein and water. This food has:1 gram of fat that provides9 calories1 gram of carbohydrates that provides4 calories1 gram of protein that provides 4 calories1 gram of water that provides 0 calories 4 grams total 17 calories total. A food company would find it advantageous to evaluate the fat content of this food based on weight.

There are 4 grams total and 1 gram from fat, so the food is 25 per cent fat by weight. That is close to the less than 20 per cent recommendation, however the less than 20 per cent recommendation is for percentage of fat by calories, not percentage of fat by weight.

If we calculate the percentage of fat by calories, look what happens: 1 gram x 9 calores/gram = 9/17 total calories 53% of the calories from fat So to make this food a 'lite' or 'reduced fat' version, a manufacturer need only add water.

Water adds weight to the food but doesn't add calories because water contains no calories.1 gram of fat that provides 9 calories 1 gram of carbohydrates that provides4 calorie 1 gram of protein that provides 4 calories 17 grams of water that provides 0 calories 20 grams total17 calories total

The fat by weight has gone way down, but the fat by calories has stayed the same. There are now 20 grams total with 1 gram of fat, so the percentage of fat by weight is only 5 per cent. The claim on this food could be '95% fat free'. A true statement by weight, but not by calories. It still derives 53 per cent of its calories from fat.

Don't believe anything that you read on a food package figure it out yourself.
 

Further Fat Facts

As a woman you have over 30 billion fat cells in your body right now that are capable of storing ten stones of fat. A fat cell's sole purpose is to store calories when you do not need them and to release calories when you do need them. There are names for the storage and release of fat

Lipogenesis: = the storage of fat

'lipo' means fat/'genesis' means formation lipolysis: + the release of fat 'lipo' means fat/'lysis' means breakdown.

A fat cell does not function alone, it requires help from a complex enzyme system. Enzymes facilitate the transport of fat in and out of the fat cell. The enzymes that help store fat are called the lipogenic enzymes, and the enzymes that help release fat are the lipolytic enzymes.

Men and women have roughly the same number of fat cells but the difference is the enzyme systems and the size of the fat cells. Women have more lipogenic enzymes for the storage of fat, and the more you can store, the bigger the fat cell. Men have more lipolytic enzymes for the release of fat, and therefore have smaller fat cells.

Oestrogen, the female sex hormone, activates and multiplies the lipogenic enzymes and directs where the fat is store The other difference between men and women is the muscle cell.

Men have more muscle cells, about 40 per cent more. Muscle contains special calorie burning structures called 'mitochondria' that convert calories to heat and water. So when it comes to the decision on where calories go in the body' the more muscle cells you have, the more calories are directed to the muscle cells to be burned and the less to the fat cells to be stored.

Aerobicising your fat cells Reducing your fat intake and eating healthily will encourage your cells to store less fat, however to release the fat that is already there, aerobic exercise is essential. Aerobic exercise includes walking, running, skipping, dancing, etc. Start with 30 minutes exercise per week, then after two weeks increase to 30 minutes twice per week, ideally spaced out.

The aim is to build your exercise up to three times per week for 45 minutes each.