I like fat

My current lifestyle of fitness and healthy eating began over 15 years ago when I decided it was time to clean up my act. Years of inactivity and unhealthy eating finally got me disgusted as I was overweight and out of shape. I wasn’t obese, just fat and fleshy, even though that is not what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I was in denial big time. Looking at a photo my wife had taken of me eating a hot dog definitely contributed to my wake up call. I remember to this day looking at myself in the mirror, butt naked before entering the shower, and telling myself “enough is enough, we are going to make some changes”.

And I made those changes with zeal, both exercise and nutrition. I’ll talk about the exercise changes I made on a different day. Today I’ll share the nutrition changes I made and compare them with what I do now.

First I started reading. A popular nutrition expert named Covert Bailey had written several nutrition books, and he often appeared on public television stations during their fundraising campaign periods. I bought one of his books titled Fit or Fat and began to immerse myself in its contents. It was easy to read and I liked that. Another book I read was Eat Smart Think Smart, written by Robert Haas. I had seen Mr. Haas on afternoon talk show programs. He was a nutrition advisor to Martina Navratilova, a great professional female tennis player.

Both Covert Bailey and Robert Haas advocated a low-fat diet and that is how I began to eat. I limited myself to 30 grams of fat per day. Along with daily exercise, I started losing alot of weight and getting physically fit. I felt boundless energy and my clothes started fitting looser, getting to the point where I had to go out and buy new ones.

But that was then and this is now.

Now I favor a high-fat diet. All kinds of fat. I like olive oil, avocados when prepared as guacamole, cheese, nuts such as almonds and peanuts, and meats of all kind - steak, baby back pork ribs, you name it I like it. I have re-discovered how satisfying a high-fat diet is. I probably average about 35 to 40 percent of my calories from fat, far more than when I eating only 30 grams per day.

When starting this high-fat diet about three years ago, I had concerns about higher and unhealthy cholesterol and triglyceride readings. So I eventually had new blood work done. Surprisingly, my cholesterol and triglyceride readings actually improved. And I experienced no weight gain. I had not made any changes in how I exercised, training hard and often with a significant running component to it. I believe the improved reading was because I had significantly reduced eating what I call the 7 forbidden C foods – cakes, cookies, candies, chocolate, ice cream, crackers and chips. I had decided to eliminate these foods from my diet concurrently with starting this high-fat diet. I’ll have more to say about the 7 forbidden C foods on a different day.

Today I still eat a high-fat diet but the way I train has changed. I am running less these days due to my middle-age man knees. So once again I think it is time to get some blood work done to see where I stand. I’m hoping that the readings will be good because I have discovered that I like fat.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum