We need fat in our diet. Good fat.

For those who don't know me well, there are some facts you should understand to put this post into context: I'm fit - about 6% body fat. I exercise regularly with very high intensity. And I do a tremendous amount of cardio exercise (40 minutes of cardio daily). I also stick to a very regimented diet. That diet is very low in fat of any kind, particularly saturated fat.

So you can imagine my surprise when my doctor told me that my LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) is too high. After discussing the possible causes with my doctor, it seems clear that the primary cause is my genetic makeup. He suggested adding some LDL-lowering foods to my diet. He specifically recommended fatty acids from fish in the form of fish oil tablets. This posed a dilemma for me since I avoid fish and fish products due to concerns of overfishing. So I began to research LDL-lowering foods. I wanted to understand which ones are safe for the environment, safe for my health and how to incorporate them into my diet. LDL-lowering foods include Oats, Almonds and Walnuts, fatty acids (from fish), plant sterols\stanols and olive oil. (See this article from the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002)

While there are many sources of these good fats, one of the best is the oil from fish. So if fish is on the menu, how do I find a good source for information about fish that are safe to eat? There are a bunch of resources with excellent, reliable information. One of the best sources is the Environmental Defense Fund. The EDF has a Seafood Selector http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521 and a new Sushi selector! http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=29774 Both can be printed in pocket-size for your wallet or purse. The Blue Ocean Institute also has a service called FishPhone for when you're on the go. You can send a text message to 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish and you'll get a reply with an environmental safety rating for the fish! See more at http://www.blueocean.org/

Here's a list of things to add to your diet that keep you healthy with the lowest environmental impact. Remember, read the label - look for products from your home state first. Try to find products that travel the shortest distance to your local grocery store.

Oats and oatmeal (Go for the ones with minimal sugar)

Walnuts and almonds - plain, unsalted. Add them to salad or smoothie.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Extra Virgin has been filtered less. Use this for cooking or paired with vinegar for salad dressing.
Take Control Margarine from Promise- Use it in cooking or where you'd otherwise use butter.
Fish Oil Supplements from small fish and well-managed fisheries. See this article at EDF.org: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=19376 The brand I use is Spectrum Organics.

Sources:
Sterols/Stanols: http://www.ific.org/publications/factsheets/sterolfs.cfm
Margarine reduces LDL: http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v52/n5/abs/1600559a.html

Nutrition: What do we need?

Food is the most critical factor in personal health and fitness. Exercise and activity is important, but exercise can't completely compensate for an unbalanced diet. Most people consider exercise a way to counteract the foods we like to eat but don't really need. It is commonly thought that calories are calories. As long as we're burning more than we consume, we'll be able to sustain or lose weight. However, the food we eat is made up of 3 primary micronutrients: Fat, Carbohydrates and Protein. The body needs these micronutrients in the correct proportions and at the right intervals in order to be most efficient at keeping our bodies healthy and strong. We need 4-6 meals per day, with a total calorie count of 1500-2500. (Your personal calorie requirements will vary dramatically depending on your fitness level and goals. Calculate your calorie requirements here: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm )

Fat is used as an energy source and 20% of each meal should be fat
Carbohydrates are used as an energy source right away and should make up 40% of each meal
Protein is used to build and repair cells and muscles and should make up 40% of each meal

The typical binge and exercise fitness plan doesn't work because our binges don't follow the above proportions. A binge on 500 calories of donuts (that's about 1 donut), we overload our body with carbohydrates and fat. But we need protein as well. So we could eat a chicken breast to add protein, but that adds an additional 120 calories. That's an additional 15 minutes on the treadmill - 30-45 minutes total cardio time! But all that cardio exercise has an impact. When using energy, our body will use every source at its disposal. Carbohydrates, fat, and the energy stored in muscles are all used to fuel our endurance exercises. So if our goal is to keep or add muscle mass, 45 minutes of endurance exercise is counter-productive. A much more efficient method would be to plan meals around your own personal goals and plan exceptions to your plan to satisfy cravings.

Making your own food plan:
1. Determine your daily calorie requirements. Are you trying to sustain, lose weight, gain muscle mass or train for an event? It's best to talk to a nutritionist about your own personal goals. You can also see one of the sites as a good starting point:
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm or http://www.kinetixliving.com/nutrition_overview.php
2. Develop a daily food plan. Planning ahead is a primary key to success. If you wait until it's time to eat to figure out what you're going to eat, you will be more likely to eat calories your body doesn't need.
a. Divide your daily calorie requirement by 5. If your daily calorie requirement is 2000, that's 400 calories per meal. So you'll be eating 400 calories, every 3 hours. You can also have three main meals and two snacks. Breakfast 500, snack 250, lunch 500, snack 250, dinner 500. Skipping meals is not cool.
b. Pick balanced recipes to incorporate into your 5 meals. Kinetix Living is a great source for recipes. They use a system called "K-Count". A K-count of 5 is 500 calories. K-count of 4 is 400 calories. http://www.kinetixliving.com/nutrition_recipes.php
c. Pick easy snacks to eat in case you can't get to a meal. Eating every three hours is very important. If you skip a meal, you will not be able to resist the cupcake or chocolate bar. Skipping a meal also means you'll eat more when you do eat again. Since your body can't really use more than a few hundred calories at a time without storing it, you'll store every calorie you eat over what you actually need. Energy/Protein bars can be a convenient snack option. However, there are many that aren't any better than a candy bar. I'm working on an article that describes what to look for in an energy bar. In the meantime, look for bars that have an equal amount of protein and carbohydrates. For example, these Think Thin bars are an good snack choice: http://shop.thinkproducts.com/thinkproduct.aspx?product=B000GAZ0QI
3. Plan two "free targets" per week. In order to maintain a healthy food plan, you will need to have opportunities to feed your cravings. Its important to remember that success will be determined by what you eat on a daily basis. Planned, controlled exceptions are acceptable. Pick two, 4-hour windows per week when you can eat anything you want. Look forward to these times. Consider how often we eat random calories because they are at our fingertips. Don't settle! Get the indulgences you really enjoy. If you really like Buffalo Bleu Kettle Chips, plan to eat a bag of them! If you have a soft spot for Carrot Cake, plan to eat some! Your free targets should also be the time when you drink alcohol.

Don't call your food plan a Diet. Diet implies that you are keeping yourself from something. You will be eating correctly to give your body the correct nutrients in the appropriate amounts at the right time. There's no such thing as bad food or bad calories. There are only calories our body needs and those that we don't need. Balancing your food plan is about understanding what you need and providing the correct amounts.

For more information about nutrition, try:
http://nutrition.about.com/od/basicnutritionecourse/Basic_Nutrition_E_Course_Ten_Weeks_to_Understanding_Nutrition.htm