Why
We Get Fat - Hunting Big Macs and Gathering French
Fries
Are we doomed by our genetics to gain fat? Is
your inner caveman causing your waistline to expand?
What can we do to work with our ancestry and not
against it?
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It
is important to know why we get fat. Once you know the
underlying reasons behind fat gain, you can take that
information and apply it to fat loss. Knowing why something
happens is the first step towards changing the result.
The
one major reason we get fat is that we put in more than
we burn off. This may be an overly simplistic view but
it's also a very liberating one. It shows you that if
fat gain is not that complicated, fat loss is not necessarily
that complicated either.
But
what are the origins of our body's amazingly efficient
fat storage mechanisms? In a nutshell, why do we gain
fat so easily?
Your Inner Caveman
Our
earliest ancestors did not go to the supermarket to
hunt for food. They didn't point at a cave drawing with
a Big Mac on it when they were hungry. They did not
sit at a desk all day. They didn't drive everywhere
they went. In fact, fast food had to be chased down
before it outran you!
The
daily life of the earliest humans, whom we owe our genetics
to, was consumed with getting enough food to survive.
In order to eat, they had to either hunt it or gather
it. As you can imagine, this burned a lot of calories.
With
the start of agriculture, people no longer had to hunt
down or forage for their food. They could stay in one
place and grow it. Animals were domesticated. They could
sell this produced food to others in return for other
goods or services. This is known as the Agricultural
Revolution and it was the start of our society as we
know it.
Agriculture
became the primary means of food production in the world.
The story changes during the 1900's, however. As we
progressed as a society, manual labor was no longer
required of most people. Machines were starting to take
over more of the hard labor jobs. This led to less and
less physical activity by a growing number of people.
It was the start of the modern obesity epidemic.
To
sum it up: these days food is plentiful and easy to
get and physical activity is no longer a part of daily
life.
Thank Your Ancestors
The
human body of 50,000 years ago when we were hunter/gatherers
is exactly the same as the human body of today. Our
body had successfully adapted to continuous cycles of
feast and famine. How did it adapt? It adapted by developing
extremely efficient fat storage capabilities.
By
storing large amounts of fat whenever possible, the
body would protect itself against the inevitable famine
to come when food was scarce. By storing up large amounts
of energy, our ancestors could survive the harsh conditions
and thrive. In winter conditions, it would often come
down to survival of the fattest, not fittest.
Our
bodies are still programmed with this desperate need
for storage even though, due to highly available food
supplies, we don't really need it anymore. This is the
reason you can often put on fat quite easily but have
a hard time taking it off. Your body is protecting itself
against the famine that it thinks is coming.
Compound
this need for storage with reduced physical activity
and readily available, calorie-dense foods and you have
the recipe that has resulted in rampant obesity in our
society today.
Diet = Famine
If
you've ever been on a diet you've probably experienced
that quick weight loss when you first start then the
gradual slowdown and sometimes complete stop in progress
that comes after a few weeks.
You
can thank your ancestors for this one too. When you
dramatically reduce your calories, such as when you
begin a diet, your body starts using up the stored fat
quickly. Your metabolism is still high and you are losing
weight.
The
trouble is, your body can't distinguish between the
lack of available food known as famine and the voluntary
reduction in food known as dieting. To your body "diet
= famine." After a short period of time, your body
will go into a panic state. You are losing your energy
stores too fast and your body will do everything it
can to slow down or put a stop to it.
-The first thing that will happen is that your metabolism
will slow down. You won't burn as many calories during
the
day, regardless of how much you are eating or exercising.
-The next thing that will happen is that your body will
step up its burning of muscle tissue. Muscles are very
metabolically active and require a lot of calories to
maintain. Your body knows this and, in its effort to
reduce the drain on its energy supplies, will start
destroying muscle tissue. Your body will metabolize
your
muscle into energy in order to hold onto its fat stores.
This
vicious cycle will continue every time you further reduce
calories in order to compensate for a slower metabolism.
Your body will slow your metabolism down even more and
destroy more muscle tissue to reduce energy usage.
How
do we avoid this problem? There are a number of ways
to approach it:
1.
Reduce your calories slowly. If you are trying to lose
fat, don't slash your food intake rapidly. This will
throw your body into a panic, causing it to grind your
metabolism to a halt.
2.
Mix up your caloric intake. Don't eat the same things
in the same amounts every day. Eat a little more on
some days and a little less on other days. It's what
you do in the long term that will really affect your
results.
3.
Exercise. Since most people don't actually have to exercise
as part of their daily life, you must take the initiative
and make it a point to exercise regularly. It helps
by burning calories and giving your body the stimulus
to preserve muscle mass (it's the old principle of "use
it or lose it" at work).
4.
Reduce your intake of processed foods. Your body is
not readily equipped to efficiently process Twinkies.
Try to stick to foods that are closer to their natural
state, such as whole grains, lean meats, etc.
Remember, your body is an extremely efficient fat-storing
machine but, with the right knowledge, you can very
easily work with your biology and not against it and
get the results you want.
If
you're interested in learning more about how to burn
fat, I highly recommend the following eBooks:
"Burn the Fat - Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/burnfat.htm
"Diet
Supplements Revealed" by Will Brink
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/fat-loss-supplements.htm
"Ultimate
Weight Loss Revealed" by Brad Callen
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/ultimate.htm
"Burn
Fat FAST!" by Jesse Cannone
http://www.fitstep.com/goto/achieve-fitness.htm
For more information and fat-burning tips, check out
the following articles from past issues of BetterU News:
What Do You Mean Low-Intensity Training Isn't The Best
For Fat Burning?
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue7.htm
10
Things You Can Do To Lose Fat Without Even Trying
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue10.htm
3
Part Article on Protein and Fat Loss
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue6.htm
Boost
Your Metabolism:
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue17.htm
