Essential Fats

A quick skinny on getting the right source of fats in your high performance diet

I was stuck - in a pinch - no opportunity to escape.  I was stuck watching the weight-loss phenomenon known as "The Biggest Loser" and I feared I'd lose an hour of my life never to be seen again.  In short, I'm not a big "appointment TV" watcher and engineered drama is completely wasted on me.  Nevertheless, I was gonna make the most of it and learn something... anything.
Here's what I learned - the public is becoming educated on the terms saturated and trans fats.  In the same breath they are feeling encouraged to consume the "good fats" as part of a healthy diet.  It wasn't too long ago that those inclined to achieve aesthetic perfection avoided fat of any kind.  The belief that nutritional fat was/is/becomes body fat - and that the consumed fat source would bypass the digestive track and attach to the seemingly unsightly fat deposit area on the body.  Some still abide by this belief - but thanks to Jillian this wive's tale seems to be dying.

This is not a good source of Omega 3s

If the public opinion is shifting in the right direction, then as high performers we should definitely keep up and more often stay ahead of the power curve.  The training and execution of a program seems to be our first love.  We can be neglectful, I'm as guilty as anyone.  I've had stints where my type-A nature goes 100mph, my nutrition gets "dialed in," and the results are plentiful.  I've also had spells where I ate whatever and lucked out or didn't set myself too far back.   Either way, I learned from the process.  Now, as I 'm older and hopefully a little wiser, I strive to find a more sensible - easy to follow - and results producing plan... Thanks Jenn Reed!

This is more like it!

Back to chewing the fat... let's make this simple.  Let's AVOID and let's INGEST the following fat sources.  Combined with the right macro-nutrient breakdown (Protein-Carbs-Fats), finding room for fats in our diet is essential.  Benefits are tremendous on our long term health - reduced cholesterol, lowered blood pressure, decreased body mass index, defuse any blood sugar level abnormalities, and ease on the digestive system.  For the high performer who wants tangible output and wants them now, avoiding and ingesting from the following suggestions will:
1. Improve work capacity via enhancing metabolic pathways (how efficiently your body can use its energy stores).
2. Accelerates the recover process, especially assisting in delaying the negatives affects of overtraining.
3. Increased cognitive performance, especially when under duress.

AVOID	INGEST
- Hydrogenated oils (aka - Crisco)	+ Avocado and olives
- Soft butters and all margarines	+ Canola, olive, flax seed oil
- Hard cheeses	+ Corn, soy, safflower or sunflower oil
- Anything packaged or processed	+ Coconut oil and milk
- Anything fried When in doubt...read the label...	+ Salmon, mackerel, tuna, trout, herring or         sardines
...and be weary of saturated and trans fats	+ EFA supplements with a 3:1:1 Omega-3 to Omega-6 to Omega-9 ratio
	+ Butters or nuts: macadamia, walnuts, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds and a few cashews and peanuts