The fear of dietary fat—butter, oil, meat, etc.—is a recent phenomenon. Only during the past several decades have we become fat-phobic. Fat has 9 calories per gram, compared to just 4 calories per gram for protein or carbohydrates. These basic facts, when considered superficially, underlie the myth that “eating fat makes you fat.”

During the 1970’s, most health-related institutions began embracing the US government’s low-fat dietary guidelines. The public largely followed suit, accepting the guidelines at face value and striving to implement them. We now have decades of data with which to critique these guidelines and we can conclude, quite objectively, that they have failed.

The following is a brief overview of what has transpired, with respect to fat consumption in the US, since the 1970’s:^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

• Total fat consumption has decreased.
• Saturated fat consumption has decreased.
• Animal fat consumption has decreased.
• Omega-6 fat consumption has increased.
• Seed oil consumption has increased.
• Obesity has increased.
• Type-2 diabetes prevalence has increased.
• Heart disease mortality has decreased, but the prevalence of heart disease remains very high.

Guidelines at Odds With History

The guidelines were supposed to prevent weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic, degenerative diseases. Instead, the opposite happened, but why?

The US dietary guidelines contradicted, sometimes in radical ways, traditional human diets, including those as recent as our pre-Industrial Revolution ancestors. Specifically, the guidelines promote low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets, whereas ancestral diets were lower in carbs and higher in fat and protein.

Diets during the Paleolithic era varied greatly, because geographic variance made different foods available to different groups. This being said, we can make some generalizations about what our ancestors ate.

For example, nearly three-fourths of hunter-gatherer societies derived at least 50% of their calories from animal foods.⁷ Practically speaking, this means more fat, more protein, and less carbs. Anthropologists estimate the following macronutrient ratios for hunter-gatherers societies:^{7, 8}

• Fat: 20 to 40% of total calories
• Protein: 25 to 35% of total calories
• Carbohydrates: 25 to 40% of total calories

In the US, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), carbohydrate intake accounts for approximately 50% of total calories for adults; protein accounts 16%, while fat accounts for the remaining 34%.⁹

As you can see, compared to our ancestors, we eat more carbs and less protein, but our fat intake is comparable. Unfortunately, the types of fat most people eat today have changed considerably.

Will the Real Bad Fat Please Step Forward?

During the past half-century, health authorities encouraged replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat. The former was deemed “bad fat,” whereas the latter was called “good fat” or “heart-healthy” fat.

To understand the consequences of this misguided advice, we need to review and summarize the various types of fat.

• Fatty acids (fat) consist of chains of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms attached. Saturated fatty acids have the maximum number of hydrogen atoms attached to each carbon atom. Unsaturated fatty acids have carbon atoms without attached hydrogen atoms.
• There are two types of unsaturated fat—monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
• Furthermore, there are two primary types of polyunsaturated fat—omega 6 and omega 3.

We were told that unsaturated fat is healthy, but this isn’t necessarily the case. As it turns out, instead of worrying about saturated fat, we should have been far more wary of omega-6.

Our Ancestors Ate Seeds, but Not Seed Oils

The US dietary guidelines still push polyunsaturated fat, but fail to adequately differentiate between omega-6 and omega-3. As a matter of accuracy, we can’t say that either omega-6 or omega-3 is “bad.”

In fact, both are known as essential fatty acids (EFAs) because the body requires them and can only get them from food. On the other hand, omega-6 causes big problems when we eat too much of it; and that’s exactly what has happened since the 1970’s.

The main culprits have been seed oils, a category of food that is relatively new to the human diet. Seed oils include:

• Corn oil
• Soybean oil
• Sunflower oil
• Canola oil
• Safflower oil
• Grapeseed oil
• Cottonseed oil

The reason our ancestors never consumed seed oils is because extracting oil from these seeds requires special processing technologies, including high heat and hexane solvents. In other words, they avoided the problems associated with high omega-6 consumption by default, because they didn’t have access to omega-6-rich foods, like seed oils.

Every source of fat has its own unique distribution of fatty acids. As seen in the chart below, seed oils are disproportionately rich in omega-6. None of our traditional sources of fat even come close. Our ancestors certainly consumed omega-6—from eggs, nuts, seeds, poultry, and other whole food sources—but not in the quantities consumed today.

From 1909 to 1999, for example, consumption of soybean oil in the US increased more than a thousand-fold, from 0.006% to 7.38% of calories, on average. During the same period, total omega-6 consumption increased from 2.79% to 7.21% of calories, while the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 increased from 5.4/1 to 9.1/1.¹⁰

As discussed below, the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is extremely important; higher ratios cause many problems. During the Paleolithic era, this ratio was very low (approximately 1/1), whereas today, ratios approaching 17/1 are common for Western diets.^{8, 11, 12}

Why the Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio Matters

Omega-3 is one of the body’s most important nutrients. Some of its many beneficial properties include:

• Reduced inflammation¹³
• Improved risk factors for cardiovascular disease¹⁴
• Improved the quality of the skin¹⁵
• Improved brain health, especially during the developmental years^{16, 17}

If we consume proportionally too much omega-6, we cannot effectively metabolize the omega-3 we consume. This is because omega-6 and omega-3 compete for the same enzymes, which break them down into components the body assimilates.¹⁸

In other words, you won’t necessarily reap the benefits of increased omega-3 consumption unless you simultaneously decrease your omega-6.

The Omega-6 Problem

We were told that saturated fat was the enemy. We were told to replace saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat—primarily omega-6-rich seed oils. Doing so, however, has only exacerbated our health problems.

In 2010, the British Journal of Nutrition published a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials involving the replacement of saturated fat with omega-6 polyunsaturated fat. Doing so, the study demonstrated, actually increases all-cause mortality.¹⁹ A similar study, published in 2013, corroborated these results.²⁰

Despite the mainstream view that omega-6 is healthy, there are many reasons to conclude the opposite. Limited consumption of omega-6, as per our ancestors (less than 3% of total calories) is ideal, but modern consumption levels have many consequences, including the following.^{21, 22, 23, 24, 25}

• Immune system repression
• Lowering of healthy HDL cholesterol
• Increased risk of heart disease
• The susceptibility of omega-6 to oxidize, which promotes free radical damage
• Increased risk of prostate cancer
• Increased risk of breast cancer

Practical Advice: Learning From Our Ancestors

Everyone knows there is “good fat” and “bad fat.” Saturated fat, however, isn’t the nutritional menace it’s been portrayed as.

That role should go to seed oils, based on their excessive omega-6 quantities. The US dietary guidelines have many flaws, especially with respect to fat. The following guidelines, though greatly simplified, are more aligned with ancestral diets as well as contemporary nutrition science:

• Instead of focusing on reduced fat, focus on reduced carbs.
• Eat mostly monounsaturated and saturated fat (all types of animal fat, avocado, coconut, olive oil, whole nuts).
• Minimize omega-6 by eliminating seed oils (flax oil is okay).
• Ensure optimal omega-3 by eating oily fish (sardines, tuna, salmon, etc.) and/or taking an omega-3 supplement.

References:

1. Kearney, J. “Food consumption trends and drivers.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365 (2010): 2793–2807. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0149

2. Wright, JD et al. “Trends in Intake of Energy and Macronutrients — United States, 1971—2000.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 53 (204): 80-82.

3. Ford, ES et al. “Trends in energy intake among adults in the United States: findings from NHANES.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 97 (2013): 848-853. doi: 10.3945

4. Flegal, KM et al. “Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among us adults, 1999-2010.” JAMA 307 (2012): 491-497. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.39

5. Menke, A et al. “Prevalence of and trends in diabetes among adults in the united states, 1988-2012.” JAMA 314 (2015): 1021-1029. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.10029

6. Mozaffarian, D et al. “Heart disease and stroke statistics-2016 update.” Circulation 133 (2016): e38-360. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000350

7. Cordain, L et al. “Plant-animal subsistence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter-gatherer diets.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 71 (2000): 682-92.

8. Kuipers, RS et al. “Estimated macronutrient and fatty acid intakes from an East African Paleolithic diet.” British Journal of Nutrition 104 (2010): 1666-87. doi: 10.1017/S0007114510002679

9. Wright, JD et al. “Trends in intake of energy and macronutrients in adults from 1999–2000 through 2007–2008.” US Department of Health and Human Services. NCHS Data Brief 49 (2010): 1-8.

10. Blasbalg, TL et al. “Changes in consumption of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the United States during the 20th century.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 93 (2011): 950–962. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.110.006643

11. Simopoulos, AP. “The importance of the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 essential fatty acids.” Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 56 (2002): 365-79.

12. Kris-Etherton, PM et al. “Polyunsaturated fatty acids in the food chain in the United States.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 71 (2000): 179S-88S.

13. Kiecolt-Glaser, JK et al. “Omega-3 supplementation lowers inflammation and anxiety in medical students: a randomized controlled trial.” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 25 (2011): 1725-34. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.07.229

14. Mozaffarian, D et al. “Omega-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease: effects on risk factors, molecular pathways, and clinical events.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 58 (2011): 2047-67. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2011.06.063

15. Spencer, EH et al. “Diet and acne: a review of the evidence.” International Journal of Dermatology 48 (2009): 339-47. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2009.04002.x

16. Judge, MP et al. “Maternal consumption of a docosahexaenoic acid-containing functional food during pregnancy: benefit for infant performance on problem-solving but not on recognition memory tasks at age 9 mo.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 85 (2007): 1572-7.

17. Singh, M et al. “Essential fatty acids, DHA and human brain.” Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 72 (2005): 239-42.

18. Simopoulos, AP et al. “An increase in the omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio increases the risk for obesity.” Nutrients 8 (2016): 128. doi: 10.3390/nu8030128

19. Ramsden, CE et al. “n-6 Fatty acid-specific and mixed polyunsaturate dietary interventions have different effects on CHD risk: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.” British Journal of Nutrition 104 (2010): 1586-600. doi: 10.1017/S0007114510004010

20. Ramsden, CE et al. “Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis.” British Medical Journal 346 (2013): e8707. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e8707

21. Lands, WE. “Dietary fat and health: the evidence and the politics of prevention: careful use of dietary fats can improve life and prevent disease.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1055 (2005): 179-92.

22. Okuyama, H et al. “ω3 fatty acids effectively prevent coronary heart disease and other late-onset diseases: the excessive linoleic acid syndrome.” World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics 96 (2007): 83-103. doi: 10.1159/000097809

23. Hibbeln, JR et al. “Healthy intakes of n−3 and n−6 fatty acids: estimations considering worldwide diversity.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 83 (2006): S1483-S1493.

24. Williams, CD et al. “A high ratio of dietary n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is associated with increased risk of prostate cancer.” Nutrition Research 31 (2011): 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2011.01.002

25. Murff, HJ et al. “Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and breast cancer risk in Chinese women: a prospective cohort study.” International Journal of Cancer 128 (2011): 1434-41. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25703

The post Good Fat, Bad Fat: A Paleo Perspective appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Let’s be clear: fat, in and of itself, is not bad. But out-of-control fat is bad and even dangerous. On top of that, fat loss is one of the most common fitness goals for gym-goers. So let’s talk about why and how to lose fat safely and effectively.

Why Lose Fat?

The motivation to lose fat is personal and subjective. For myself, more fat made me feel more sluggish and less up to daily tasks. Others might want to feel better in their skin or cut weight for an athletic event.

But regardless of your reasons, there are several negative health effects that can arise from excess fat. As Dr. Dozie Onunkwo noted, most of them stem from the fact that fat gain causes an unhealthy inflammatory response:

While the exact mechanism is unclear, studies suggest that excessive adipose tissue can initiate an acute inflammatory response. Bone-marrow derived immune cells respond by infiltrating adipose tissue, and releasing certain molecules that can induce changes in fat cell activity and lead to chronic inflammation. This immune and fat cell activity cause downstream effects that can significantly affect your health when excessive adipose tissue exists in your body.

This inflammatory response causes cells to release inflammatory molecules, which leads to excessive plaque formation. Further, Onunkwo noted the relation between fat and “sick,” stressed-out cells:

…a constant influx of excess calories into fat cells can induce stress to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is responsible for synthesizing lipids for storage. This stress triggers ER stress sensors, which activate various pathways in the body to alleviate stress.

To read more about the body’s reaction to excessive fat, read Onunkwo’s article, 4 Ways Excess Fat Makes You a Ticking Time Bomb.

How Not to Do It

But there’s a lot of bad information circulating about how to lose fat. According to nutrition expert Kevin Cann, one of the biggest sources of misinformation is a show many of us have probably watched: The Biggest Loser. In case you’ve never seen it, here’s a clip:

Unfortunately, the “change forever” mantra doesn’t hold up with most people who lose weight in The Biggest Loser way, as Cann noted:

A more recent research article published in Obesity looked specifically at the Biggest Loser protocol and put it to the test against bariatric surgery. The Biggest Loser contestants lost relatively the same amount of weight as the bariatric surgery patients, but did spare more lean muscle tissue. However, the metabolic rates of the contestants plummeted even greater than the bariatric surgery group. The Biggest Loser contestants also had lower circulating levels of leptin.

The lower leptin levels are a big deal. This is a sign that the body is increasing our hunger response. When we eat enough food, leptin levels rise, telling us we are full. As leptin levels fall, our hunger increases. This is how our body works through our eating schedule. Thus, a Biggest Loser-type exercise program and calorie-restricted diet will crush you psychologically, lower your metabolic rate, and increase your hunger. This does not seem like it is worth the grueling punishment to me.

For more on this topic, read Cann’s article, “The Biggest Loser: The Most Damaging Show on TV?”

Sustainable, Safe Methods

So, what’s a more sustainable approach? In his article, The 3 Pillars of Fat Loss, coach Andrew Read summarized a recent study. The researchers found the following three protocols effective for both short-term and long-term weight loss:

• 150-250 minutes per week of moderate intensity physical activity will help protect against initial weight gain.
• More than 250 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity can result in a “clinically significant” weight loss.
• For improved maintenance of weight loss, 250-300 minutes per week of moderate intensity physical activity is recommended (amounting to approximately 2,000 cals/ week).

But sustainable isn’t easy. In fact, it’s usually harder than the short-term option. You’re going to have to work if you want to get rid of stubborn fat that’s weighing you down. And the work probably won’t look like this:

Coach Tom Kelso sums up what advice should have made an appearance in that video, in his no-nonsense way:

• If you eat like crap and don’t exercise, expect to accumulate body fat and possess a sub-par physique.
• A demonstration of effective calorie-burning and muscle-building exercises without the perpetuation of the mid-section spot-reduction myth.
• Tips for making small, yet positive changes in food intake and increasing activity level. Believe it or not, eating better and initiating some type of activity is a huge step for many.

Read more of Kelso’s tips for fat loss in his article, “The Fat Loss ‘Secret’ – You’re Just Not Working Hard Enough.”

Take the First Steps

As Kelso noted, exercise is only part of the equation. If you’re not sure where to start in the kitchen, read Kalli Youngstrom’s article, A Step-by-Step Approach to Successful Fat Loss. In it, Youngstrom details four food-related steps to take to begin your fat-loss journey:

• Cut the crap. Make the transition to whole, non-processed, natural foods.
• Decrease calories in a step-by-step manner.
• Change your macronutrient ratios. For most, this is a transition from carbs to fats.
• Consider the timing of your meals and your specific macronutrients.

Begin there, then add in some of the exercise ideas from Kelso’s article, 16 Ways to Work Harder and Burn Stored Body Fat. Start simple, be consistent, and the results will follow.

More Like This:

• How to Avoid the Fad Diet Cycle (and Keep the Weight Off)
• You Can Out-Exercise a Diet and Lose Fat
• A Step-By-Step Approach to Successful Fat Loss
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Safe and Sane Fat Loss Advice From People Who Care About You appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I am about to tell you there is a type of fat that does this. BAT, or brown adipose tissue, is a type of fat that can increase metabolic function in mammals. We will go over the differences between BAT (shown on the left in the photo below) and white adipose tissue (or WAT – shown on the right), and learn what BAT actually is and how it works in fitness.

First, What is Adipose Tissue Exactly?

Adipose tissue is a loose connective tissue. There are various types of connective tissue, and loose connective tissue fibers have relatively large spaces between the fibers that are filled with fluid or cells. Adipose tissue has a light group of collagen, reticular fibers, and a little extracellular matrix. Its spaces are filled with large closely packed adipocytes.

Quick biology lesson: The suffix -cyte, means “cell.” The prefix adipose would then lead you to conclude an adipocyte is an adipose cell.

Adipocytes constitute much of your adipose tissue, and adipocytes are filled with lipids (fats) that store energy. Adipose tissue sits under the skin so it pads and protects certain parts of the body as well as acts as a thermal insulator.

What is BAT and What Is Its Function?

According to the American Physiological Society, BAT is a unique organ found specifically in mammals. In contrast to other mammalian organs, BAT is still a relatively new organ when it comes to its examination by science. It has been written about since 1551, but the realization that BAT is found in all mammals has only occurred within the last century.

The function of BAT is to transfer energy from food into heat. This function is regulated via norepinephrine released by the sympathetic nervous system. BAT is essential for classical non-shivering thermogenesis (this does not exist in the absence of BAT) and cold acclimation-recruited norepinephrine-induced thermogenesis.

Quick biology lesson: Thermogenic or thermogenesis means increased energy expenditure for heat production. We will use this term a lot!

When BAT is active (transferring food into heat), high amounts of lipids and glucose are combusted in the tissue (this is a good thing). It is believed that BAT is probably determinative for the evolutionary success in mammals because its thermogenesis enhances neonatal survival and allows for active life even in cold areas.

How Does BAT Turn up My Metabolism Versus WAT?

So we know that BAT is an energy-expending tissue that produces heat. White adipose tissue, or WAT, is a tissue that stores energy. According to the Journal of Internal Medicine, BAT is associated with low body-mass index, low total adipose tissue content, and lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

It has been found that there are two types of BAT:

1. The classical brown adipocytes found in the interscapular (between the shoulder blades) BAT organ
2. The so-called beige adipocytes primarily found in subcutaneous (under the skin) WAT

This beige adipocyte is usually found after stimulation from epinephrine or norepinephrine. Remember, the sympathetic nerves control all BAT activity, and the beige adipocyte is no different from its BAT counterpart in that way.

This raises the possibility that there might be separate potential targets for therapeutic intervention in regards to obesity. Since BAT converts food directly into heat, many supplement and pharmaceutical companies having been aiming to tap into this ability in BAT to combat obesity.

How to Activate BAT

Since the study of BAT and reducing obesity is fairly new, there is not a lot out there on how to activate BAT. A study conducted by the Journal of Clinical Investigation examined the effects of repeated stimulation by cold and capsinoids (capsaicin) in healthy humans with low BAT activity.

Acute cold exposure at 19°C for two hours increased energy expenditure (EE). Cold-induced increments of EE (CIT) strongly correlated with BAT activity. Daily two-hour exposure at 17°C for six weeks resulted in a parallel increase in BAT activity and CIT, and a decrease in body fat mass, which means BAT activity and body fat mass were negatively correlated (one goes up, the other goes down). Similarly, daily ingestion of capsinoids for six weeks increased CIT.

These results concluded that BAT could be recruited even in individuals with decreased BAT activity, which contributes to overall body fat reduction. The easiest way to increase BAT activity is to eat capsaicin (spicy foods). Some people are not fans of spicy foods, but if you can introduce it into your diet once or twice a week it may increase your BAT activity, which in turn, increases your metabolism.

The second choice is to get into winter activities. You will force yourself into a cold weather environment, which may increase your BAT activity. The winter sport I personally can’t live without is snowboarding. I enjoy it and do my best to do it every weekend when the snow hits. Other options if winter sports aren’t your thing are to workout outside in the winter months. In saying this, always be safe and dress according to whatever weather condition is outside.

Take Away

The research on BAT in relation to obesity is still in its infancy. Much is being learned about how it is activated besides the two ways mentioned above.

But the most interesting thing about the study of BAT is that we are learning a new way to increase our metabolic function using adipose tissue. This tissue has always been looked at as something bad that stores your fat. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for scientific research about BAT, and how it can help us in overall fitness and health.

References

1. Cannon, Barbara, et. al. “Brown Adipose Tissue: Function and Physiological Significance.” American Physiological Society (2004): 277-359, accessed August 3, 2014, doi: 10.1152/physrev.00015.2003

2. Lidell, M.E. et. al. “Brown Adipose Tissue and Its Therapeutic Potential.” Journal of Internal Medicine (2014): ePub, accessed August 3, 2014, doi: 10.1111/joim.12255

3. Yoneshiro, Takeshi, et. al. “Recruited Brown Adipose Tissue as an Antiobesity Agent in Humans.” The Journal of Clinical Investigation (2013): 3404-3408, accessed August 3, 2014, doi: 10.1172/JCI67803

4. Trayhum, Paul, et. al. “Brown Adipose Tissue: From Thermal Physiology to Bioenergetics.” The Journal of Biosciences (1993): 161-173, accessed August 4, 2014, doi: 10.1007/BF02703113

5. Tate, Philip. Seely’s Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. (New York: McGraw Hill Companies, 2012), 88

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post What Is Brown Adipose Tissue and Why Would We Want It? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Nick Horton, also known as The Iron Samurai, is out of town on Holiday. I’m his twin brother, The Plastic Ninja, and I’ve stepped in to take over his column this week to help him out. Hopefully, I can repair all the damage he’s done!

Today I’ve got a plan that will knock your socks off. And it is guaranteed to work! Unlike all of your hapless friends who will spend the early part of the new year stressed over their lack of progress, who will nearly all fail to reach even halfway up their own ladders of success, YOU can set in place – right here, right now – a truly attainable, reachable, and arguably noble goal.

You’re a rebel, you’re a lone-star, you don’t follow, you lead. While everyone else is preparing for their yearly fruitless march toward their ever unattainable New Years Resolutions, you’re looking for something different – something special. Well…you know what they say, if the salmon are swimming up-stream, you should swim down.

With my system, I promise you’ll be fatter, weaker, and more miserable than you are today…in only 10 days!

Why would you want this, you ask? Because it’s yours for the taking. It’s something you can actually DO.

Step 1: Set Very Low and Attainable Goals

The problem most people have is they set their sights too high and their goals way up in the clouds. No wonder they never reach them! Remember all those tests you had to take in school, the homework? Your math teacher would have the audacity to EXPECT things from you after each lesson. That’s what my brother is always up to.

The Iron Samurai thinks if he sets the bar high and works hard to inspire you, that you can achieve any goal you put your mind to.

What an idiot!

That mushy-gushy B.S. sounds good on paper, but in the real world – where you and I live – you are doomed to failure. There is NO way you will ever reach success. That’s for other people. Give up now.

It is far smarter to figure out the easiest goals you can possibly achieve, and go for those. Only work toward sure things, guaranteed makes. Never, never, never take risks.

• If you load the bar for a front squat and you are not 100% positive that you can make it, don’t even try.
• If you want to lose fat and get in shape, but you aren’t already lean and muscular, what’s the point of even trying?
• When you meet someone who you think might be “the one”, but they are good looking and smart, don’t bother. What would they want with you, anyway?

My cardinal rule is if you don’t play the game, you can’t ever lose. Safety first!

Step 2: Don’t Try Too Hard

I don’t know what my brothers deal is. But his constant yammering about “trying harder” is getting on my nerves. What’s the point? You get all sweaty in the gym, you grunt and yell, and you look like a moron. Ever seen your face in the mirror when you’re going for a max effort lift? Disgusting.

That’s not an “oh” face, that’s a “no” face.

Working out in the gym is undignified already – what with the stupid spandex clothes and silly looking shoes – without adding to it uncomfortable feelings and body odor.

Not to mention the risk of injury. CrossFit, weightlifting, powerlifting, sprinting, pull ups, push ups, squats, deadlifts, presses…all code names for hurting yourself!

Do yourself a favor and keep it mellow. There is no reason to try hard at anything in life. If things don’t just magically flow to you, you weren’t meant to have them.

Step 3: Give Up Half Way Through

You see, with most goals, you have to stick with the plan to see any progress. You actually have to DO stuff, for the LONG haul.

Boring!

Come on, we’ve got A.D.D., here. There is no way, for all that is good and holy, that any of us is going to stick to a plan for longer than a few days at a time. We’re going to start strong, and peter off almost immediately. Think back to all of the goals you’ve set for yourself over the course of your life. How many did you reach? Not many.

• What about learning Spanish? Did you do that?
• How about losing that last 20 pounds of fat? Nope.
• Women, how many strict pull ups can you do?
• Men, can you snatch over bodyweight yet?
• Heck, The Iron Samurai, for all his hyperbolic posturing STILL hasn’t finished his Masters Degree. What a slacker!

You see, you can set all the goals you want. And you can start on a program designed to get you there. But you won’t finish the plan, you won’t stick to it, and why would you? That kind of goal-oriented lifestyle is for nerds.

Sure, they seem happy, these geeks who actually DID their homework, who hit the gym regularly, who accomplish things, and keep improving. But wouldn’t you rather spend your days playing Mario Kart, drinking booze, and brooding? I know I would!

So, how do you know if the goal you are driving towards is too much for you? That’s easy. You’ll know when you run into a set-back. You see, any goal that is appropriate for you will be easy and effortless to achieve. Anything more than that and clearly you’ve overreached.

If at any point you fail, that is a sign from the Almighty you are doing the wrong thing. Quit and turn around. It is a fools errand to continue working toward a goal you just proved you can’t reach.

Conclusion

Don’t be conned by these coaches with their fancy words like “hard work” and “consistency”. That junk won’t get you anywhere.

People who are strong were born that way and had advantages you don’t – they’re probably on steroids, too. People who are lean and fit were always lean and fit. (Gillian Michaels SAYS she was a fat kid, but we’ve never seen the picture.)

Doing great things in life is for other people. In the REAL world, you will always be about where you are. Go with it! Heck, make it worse. THAT’S something you can honestly do.

Eat more junk food, avoid the gym like the plague, be mean to and alienate the people who love you, and try to get fired from your job.

And whatever you do, don’t listen to what my brother says. That guy is trying to set you up to be better tomorrow than you are today. What a joke!

The post How to Get Fat, Weak, and Totally Miserable in 10 Days Flat! appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

While some doctors caution heavily against exercise during pregnancy, a recent research report published in the FASEB Journal (Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) reported mice who carried a gene for Alzheimer’s disease exhibited fewer and smaller amyloid plaques in their brains when their mothers exercised regularly during pregnancy. These amyloid plaques are direclty associated with Alzheimer’s.

The same mice also had better development of their vascular network, less inflammation, and less oxidative stress. Oxidative stress, or an imbalance between the body’s production of an oxidative species and it’s ability to process it, can be linked to many neurodegenerative diseases, including both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

In short, mice whose mothers exercised regularly had far fewer indicators of neurodegenerative disease than mice whose mothers did not exercise. Based on this information researchers offered that workouts could have a lifelong benefit for the unborn child.

Similarly, in regards to nutrition, a recent study published in the Journal of Physiology demonstrated that a mother’s ingestion of polyunsaturated fats had a lasting effect on the development of her child’s digestive system and lowered the child’s likelihood of developing allergies.

Polyunsaturated fats (PFAs) are commonly found in nuts, seeds, and fish. They are known to lower the risk of heart attacks and be beneficial for brain health. In this study, however, a specific PFA known as n-3PUFA caused an increase in permeability in the guts of babies. Gut permeability is important because it allows for bacteria and materials to travel through the gut lining more easily, rather than stay trapped in the digestive system for extended periods. Once materials pass out of the gut into the bloodstream the baby’s immune system can respond to them properly.

This study found, when mothers consumed PFAs during pregnancy the result was babies with healthier guts and fewer allergies. The proper PFAs can most easily be taken in the form of fish or walnut oil.

While doctors and patients alike will no doubt contine to debate what are the “correct” things to do, these two new studies lend confidence to the lasting positive effects of exercise and ingestion of good fats during pregnancy.

The post Exercise & Fats During Pregnancy Good for Baby appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

So how do we create this useful fat? Two recent studies found completely different ways to stimulate its growth in the human body.

It was previously understood that growth of brown fat could be induced in adults through exposure to cold. A new study, published in Cell Metabolism, found an increase in social interaction also led white fat to be transformed into brown fat, resulting in an overall fat loss.

The study was conducted on mice who were first living comfortably with unlimited food and water, but no activities in their solitary cages. They were then placed in a more complex living environment, with up to 20 other mice and equipment for physical activity. The degree of fat loss experienced by these mice was profound. Researchers traced this fat loss to an increase in their brown fat.

On a molecular level, a study done by researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center uncovered two previously unknown pathways to brown fat. Knowing how the body stops or starts growth of brown fat on a molecular level enables scientists to then manipulate this process in the body. The goal, for researchers, is to develop treatments for obesity and diabetes based on stimulating the growth of brown fat or the injection of brown fat into the body.

The post Lose Fat, By Creating Brown Fat? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.