The Fat Fight: Part 1

Your fat fought to make you tough, now you must be tough to fight your fat.

In this four part series, I will address many questions about fat and start to identify what we need to do to lose fat and keep it off!

Darth Fatter: There is no escape. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can bring fatness to the galaxy.

Luke Skinnywalker: I'll never join you!

Fatter: If you only knew the power of the Fat Side.

Luke: I know enough, I know that eating too much, too often is the path to the Fat Side.

Fatter: There is no such thing as too much fat.

Luke: No...no. That's not true. There’s many health risks associated with excess fat!

Vader: Search your feelings, you know you desire fatness!

Luke: Noooo! Nooooo!

Why have fat in the first place?

Fat helped us as a species to be mobile and tough. How is that you ask? Fat is a VERY efficient way to store energy. As a comparison, your body’s other primary method to store energy, glycogen (stored carbohydrates), requires water and is less dense.

Due to these differences, a 170 pound adult male who carries 25 pounds of energy in the form of body fat would weigh around 270 pounds if he stored that same energy in the form of glycogen!

Which body would be easier to lug around? The one that weighs 170 pounds or the one that weighs 270 pounds? Obviously, it is easier on the joints and the heart to be 170 pounds. You will be lighter on your feet and faster on the move. We should all be thankful to be designed in such a fashion.

Further, your body is very efficient at adding stored energy as body fat when you are in a caloric surplus. It may frustrate us now, but again, we should be thankful for this design. It has allowed humans to survive long periods without food by living off of energy our body has stored during times when we had extra food resources.

If you are reading this in America, you likely have never had to use this ability of your body. However, there are parts of the world where they are not so lucky. And regardless of the many improvements in agriculture, certain weather phenomenon or political circumstances can lead to famines where, unfortunately, this ability is called upon again.

Thus, I repeat myself. Fat helped us as a species to mobile and tough. Fat, also called adipose tissue, is a complex, essential, and highly active metabolic and endocrine organ. It is located around your joints, many organs, and under your skin. Further, aside from energy storage, fat has several useful jobs to do. It helps insulate us, it protects our organs, and it is involved in regulating several metabolic processes. Your body does not want to part lightly with such a useful component.

How much do you need for these functions?

Essential fat is the level below which your health would be compromised. Generally, women need body fat levels of 10 to 13% and men need 2 to 5%. A 120 pound woman would need to carry 12 to 15.6 pounds of fat at a minimum to be healthy. A 170 pound man could carry as little as 3.4 to 8.5 pounds of fat while having enough to maintain his health.

Most of us carry significantly more than that. Women may range from 14 to 31% before crossing over into obese. For men, the acceptable range is 6 to 24%. Beyond 31 and 24% respectively for women and men, you begin to really increase your risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides, coronary artery disease (CAD), a stroke, sleep apnea, and joint trouble among other conditions. Do not think just because you are below those thresholds that you are not at risk. It is on a continuum and your ideal body fat percentage, while much greater than 5%, is probably lower than you think.

What happens when you have too much fat?

As previously discussed, when your body carries too much fat you will be less mobile. But what else?

Obesity has been linked to

• Heart disease and stroke.

• High blood pressure.

• Diabetes.

• Cancer.

• Gallbladder disease and gallstones.

• Osteoarthritis.

• Gout.

• Breathing problems, such as sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for a short time during sleep) and asthma.

And that is not an exhaustive list. Forget about the mirror, those are serious medical conditions that will impair your quality of life. And they have a serious impact on your budget. A study showed that the lifetime cost of obesity per obese person is over $92,000! If aesthetics do not motivate you, I hope health and fiscal responsibility do.

You want to be able to do this with your children and grandchildren!

Stay tuned for Part 2.