by: Dennys Passeto

For years, the media has come to vilify saturated fats in all of its forms. These  include butter, red meat, cheese, and the most talked about culprit - coconut oil. While some research would suggest that saturated fats are associated with a host of serious diseases, is it possible that saturated fats can also have some major health benefits?

The short answer is yes! There is a form of fat called CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), which is a natural form of healthy fat that occurs in meat and in the dairy from grass-fed animals such as cattle, bison, deer, goats, etc. CLA has been shown to provide many health benefits, including lowered LDL (bad) cholesterol and increased levels of HDL
(good) cholesterol.

While CLA has been proven to be beneficial to your overall health, keep in mind that not all saturated fats are created equal when it comes to their CLA content. Only meats and dairy products that come from grass-fed meats contain the most natural form of CLA. Typical grain-fed meats that are typically found at your local supermarket only contain about 20% of the CLA content that is found in the meat from ruminant animals.

Coconut oils have also been one of the most criticized forms of saturated fat by the media. Yet, study after study has been conducted, only to discover that coconut oils can actually lower your cholesterol, boost your metabolism, and decrease your waist size. Unlike other fatty acids that have been publicly accepted as healthy, coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides.

For all intensive purposes, medium-chain triglycerides are small enough to enter the mitochondria of your cells directly. This enables your cells to use these fatty acids for energy immediately. Otherwise, fat would be stored for later use. When fat is being used for energy instantly, it won’t have a negative effect on your body composition.

Overall, many saturated fats perform a critical role in allowing our body to absorb certain fat-soluble vitamins, such as A, D, E and K. They also play vital roles in the health of our bones, joints, and immune system functions. Probably the most powerful function of saturated fats for the general public is the fact that they actually slow down absorption from our foods, allowing us to go longer without feeling hungry. This sounds like a critical piece to the weight loss equation if you ask me! However, keep in mind that fat is the most calorie-dense macro-nutrient, so should be consumed in moderation when trying to support weight loss efforts.

The fact is, saturated fats provide a concentrated source of energy in the body and help provide the building blocks for a variety of key hormones. Without these building blocks, your body would not be able to perform everyday functions that are essential to life.

A great example of this is that the media encourages us to replace butter with lower-fat, “healthier” substitutes like margarine or other artificial spreads. These alternatives that are marketed as healthy replacements contain hydrogenated oils that are produced artificially (man-made) and their altered form has been linked to a host of
life-threatening illnesses. Yet, these products continue to be promoted as health foods.

The popularity of these replacements over otherwise healthy saturated fats represents a triumph of advertising duplicity over common sense!

It all comes back to eating a healthy, balanced diet that is comprised of natural foods. And yes, saturated fats occur in natural foods!

These nutrition tips combined with a sound exercise program will get you on the road to achieving ANY fitness objective. If you feel like you’re already on the road to success - great!  But if you know someone that needs a little extra help, we’d like to let you know that we offer Gift Certificates for all of our personal training services.

If you’re looking to get an early jump on your holiday shopping, simply pick a package that you would like to give to a friend, co-worker, or loved one and we will send you a very nice certificate to give as a gift.

And since we hardly ever think about ourselves during the upcoming holiday season, I’ve got something special FOR YOU!

Sign up for a package of 12 sessions or more by Nov. 30th and we’ll give you a 3 session Jump Start Gift Certificate Absolutely Free to give to anyone of your choice.  This is a $300 value!  You can see it on our website for yourself: Jump Start Personal Training Package. The only requirement is that the individual reside in the Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia Metro area.  So go ahead, get your metabolism ready for the holiday debauchery starting now and cross a gift off of your list for a friend or family member.  They will BOTH thank YOU for it.

Call Mike to take advantage of this great offer at 888-872-7961 ext. 1.  Don’t miss this opportunity to get yourself and your loved ones back into shape for 2010!

There’s a nasty word out there in the weight loss world, and it’s “fat.”  Everyone is trying to lose weight, to lose “fat.” All the diet foods are labeled “fat free” to be appealing to dieters, even if they are laden with sugar. When people see an overweight person they say, “Oh man, look at that fat person.”

But fat is not just a bad word. In fact, there is an entire family of fat that is beloved by healthcare professionals, dieticians and is healthy for you.  In fact, these fats are not only healthy they are essential for your body and can aid in weight loss efforts. They are known as Omega, or the Omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-3s are the good-for-you unsaturated fatty acids comprised of the polyunsaturated trio of a-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

While the Omega-3 fatty acids are the big buzz word of today where healthy living and weight loss are concerned, they were discovered way back in the 1930s. During that decade it was found that these polyunsaturated fats were actually necessary for normal human growth to occur.

In the 1970s researchers studied the diets of the Eskimos of Greenland and it was discovered that two of the 3 Omegas (DHA and EPA) were essential to heart health. These fatty acids were eaten in large doses via the Eskimos’ seafood-rich diet. Moreover, they showed almost no cardiovascular disease as these Omega-3 fatty acids naturally reduce triglycerides and arterial plaque while reducing heart rate and maintaining healthy blood pressure. What an amazing family of fats!

Now where most supplements have to add the tag line “these claims have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration,” two of the three Omegas HAVE been evaluated. In fact, EPA and DHA have both been awarded “qualified health claim” status by the FDA.

Here’s the statement from the FDA: “Supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA [n-3] fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

The Canadian Government has done additional research and has publicly stated: “DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, supports the normal development of the brain, eyes and nerves.”

As one might guess, with the rise in popularity of the Omega-3 fatty acids, advertisers are producing supplements and adding it to foods or just prominently labeling those foods that already have these good fats in them. A diet high in fish is all that is needed. But for those of you who either don’t enjoy fish or who want more Omega-3 in their diet, the places to get the highest dose are in fish oil and flax oil supplements.

No matter how you look at these Omega fats, they are good for you and essential for health. Who said all fat was bad?

Nutrition Made Simple

In today’s health conscious world, there’s a lot of information out there on nutrition and healthy eating. With all the fad diets and companies releasing an abundance of“weight loss” products, it’s difficult to know where to turn for sound, credible advice on eating for weight loss. It becomes overwhelming when the information you get seems to change constantly, and you can’t go a day without hearing about a new extreme weight loss diet.

So let’s keep it simple. I’ve worked for several years with people who have struggled to lose weight. Almost all of them have tried fad diets in the past with minimal success. Rather than bore you to death with the science behind why these diets don’t work, let’s talk about what will work and what has proven to be effective for my clients. Here are some tips that ANYBODY can follow to put yourself on a faster, healthier track to achieving your weight loss goals. No nonsense, no lengthy scientific explanations, just functional tips that you can use as your guideline to jump start your weight loss efforts.

You must expend more energy than you take in. I don’t care if you’re eating broccoli and carrots all day, if you’re consuming more calories than you expend, you will absolutely, positively NEVER lose weight.

Eat breakfast every day. This is the only way to jump start your metabolism each day. If you’re not giving your body a consistent enough energy source, it will hold on to everything you put in it. Unfortunately for us, this storage always comes in the form of body fat!

Don’t think low-carb, think right carbs! Carbohydrates themselves are not the enemy. In fact, they are our main source of energy, especially when supporting an exercise program. However, our carbohydrate intake should come from fruits, vegetables and healthy whole grains. The main carbohydrate source from these foods is fiber, which promotes healthy digestion and is critical to maintaining the efficiency of our metabolism.  The two carbohydrate sources that will absolutely destroy your weight loss efforts are sugar and enriched flour. These are the real culprits. Trust me, America didn’t become obese by eating too many apples!

Get your fats from 3 sources only! Fats are also not the enemy, as long as we chose them wisely. The primary dietary sources of essential fats are seafood, flax oil/seeds, and mixed nuts. These essential fats are touted for their heart health properties, aiding in recovery, and reducing the risk of several serious diseases as well. Not only should you not avoid these foods, you should seek them out as part of your weight loss plan. In fact, essential fats should make up about 30% of your overall intake.

3 words for success – Whole, Natural Foods. This is one to live by!  Our bodies are simply not designed to digest processed foods. You work your body hard enough as it is, don’t make it work harder just to digest the junk you may put in it. A good general rule here is that if you don’t recognize the food’s ingredients, it’s not natural. All of the essential nutrients your body needs to sustain health and support weight loss are contained within fruits, vegetables and lean protein sources.

Keep a food journal. I can’t emphasize this one enough. Tracking your nutritional intake is a critical piece to your success. Sometimes we don’t even realize how much we take in every day until we’ve written it down. Once you’ve seen it on paper, it becomes real and you will be way less likely to cheat if you have to write it down and admit it to yourself!

These are some pretty basic concepts, but if you stick to them as your guideline for healthy nutrition, you’ll be in a better position to achieve YOUR weight loss goals!!

By the way, if you missed it, check out our promotion for the month of August…

“Cash For Chunkers”

As most of you know, the U.S. Government recently passed legislation providing vouchers valued from $3,500 to $4,500 when you trade-in a vehicle and purchase a new one that meets higher MPG standards.  While we don’t have 4 grand to give to every new customer, we’d like to give you an opportunity and an incentive to trade in your old body for a newer, leaner, healthier one (and we don’t care how many miles per gallon it’s currently getting)!

For a limited time only, we’re offering $200 off any personal training package of 12 sessions or more until August 31st! There’s no catch, nor is your body required to meet certain standards.Because we’re not using taxpayer money to bail you out of your current body, we’re limiting this offer to 5 NEW CLIENTS ONLY! All you have to do is be ready to work hard and be willing to change your lifestyle.  The best part is, you don’t even have to come into our “dealership”, our trainers will come to you. What’s more,you can even take your trainer for a test drive before you commit to a program. If you feel your trainer won’t succeed in putting you into a new body, then there’s absolutely no obligation on your part.

If you’re ready to trade in your body and start making positive,healthy life changes, then now is the time to get in the best shape of your life! Just contact Mike at 888-872-7961 ext. 1 to set up your free test drive with the area’s best personal trainers, and we’ll put you on the road to fitness success. Be sure to mention the “Cash for Chunkers” promotion in order to receive your bail out check.