Love this - Megan

Re: fat in smoothies: I got myself some organic flax oil a few days ago - had it in my smoothie today. woohoo!

I was just sent an article that is not only simple and easy to read, but basically is a summation of what we're already doing. I've bolded my favies. yay!




BURN IT
Ten Rules to Shed Fat

BY MARK TWIGHT

The following rules are fairly basic. In our experience most people
need basic and not complicated - across the board for training, diet,
and lifestyle. Those who want to get into the weeds can do so but I
wouldn't bother until most of these rules are respected most of the
time. Like with training, once a plateau is reached, let the dietary
precision begin.


1. Eat less than 500 calories per meal (a greater quantity causes more
insulin secretion - no matter the macronutrient make-up - so you store
more fat). You may need to eat 5-6x per day to get enough calories,
depending on BMR and activity level.

2. Eat more fat and protein, and fewer carbohydrates. Don't worry
about being too precise with the ratio. This is the first, simple step
and it can get into counting, and weighing and all sorts of silliness
when taken too far. If all you can do is eat an equal number of
calories from carbs, fat, protein every time you put something in your
mouth you will be ahead of the game.

3. Eat more fiber. Learn to love vegetables. Find a raw, healthy
cereal. We like Dee's because it's local but Bob's Red Mill Muesli is
fine too. Just check the ingredient list and find something similar.

4. Eating fat doesn't make you fat. In fact, the more fat one eats the
more the body begins to prefer it as a fuel. Avoid hydrogenated fats.
Notice but don't avoid saturated fats entirely (you need some). Get
most of the fat from mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated sources:
nuts, avocado, olive oil, etc.

5. Take an Omega 3 supplement, fish oil is common and cheap, though a
blend of vegetable oils (Udo's Oil) is more heat-stable if you are
going overseas.

6. Don't drink calories. Drink water. Liquid calories are rapidly
absorbed, triggering an insulin response, which signals the body to
store excess calories as fat, and also suppresses fat metabolism. Diet
sodas are not the answer because just the taste of sweetness can cause
the body to secrete insulin (rat study results). And looking around us
it is clear that diet soda doesn't help people lose weight ...
Individuals consume 12-20% more calories when meals are liquid.

7. Limit alcohol intake.

8. Get more sleep. HGH is released during sleep, which stimulates fat
metabolism.

9. Calorie-restriction should be cycled three weeks on, one week off
to keep the body from adapting to the lower caloric intake, which it
will do.

10. Finally, use short, high-intensity intervals, and whole body
movements with heavy loads in the gym will jack up post-exercise
energy consumption. More muscle means higher caloric cost to getting
through the day and if it is fueled by fat you will lose it. Big lifts
cause a strong hormonal response, triggering testosterone and HGH
secretion both of which boost fat metabolism. Long, slow
endurance-pace efforts have a function (in tuning the body to prefer
fat over carbs as fuel) but this type of work is often misused or used
exclusively to drive fat loss but combining it with high-intensity
effort is far more effective.


Like everything, shedding fat is simply a question of energy and
attention, discipline and consistency. Lacking any single attribute
will cause one to fail.