For most lifters, both new and inexperienced, fat is often deemed a four-letter word.
We try to get just about everything possible fat-free at the grocery store, and we count fat grams very carefully.
However, most experienced dieting gurus will tell you that carbohydrate management is actually the key to shedding body fat and looking your leanest.
Without fats, you wouldn't live very long, actually! Certain fats are very useful for building muscle and maintaining heart health Other fats will kill you years before your time.
Let's look at the difference, and see what kinds of fats you should be consuming each day.
Dietary fat should be consumed from healthy sources.
These sources don't come from a dollar menu in a drive through, however.
They come from foods such as chicken, eggs, milk, cottage cheese, and a variety of nuts.
They are the healthy fats that help to move your cholesterol in the right direction and keep your heart and brain functioning properly while also giving you an edge at building muscle, sparing muscle and in some cases helping to speed up fat loss! Examples are fish oil - omega 3's, flaxseed oil, GLA - gamma linolenic acid, CLA-congugated linoleic acid and MCT's - medium chain triglycerides.
The less processed a fat source, the better.
As the late and great Jack LaLanne once said "If it tastes good, don't eat it!" If your source of fat is delicious and gluttonous, there is a very good chance it is not contributing to your muscle or heart health.
Rather, it is probably hindering digestion and clogging your arteries.
Don't sweat counting fat grams.
Instead, count out servings of healthy foods.
If you're not eating fried, fatty and/or processed foods, then you will not need to concern yourself with micromanaging your diet with spreadsheets and charts.
Rather, focus your time and energies upon training harder and sleeping more! The results will be plenty! Additionally, for overall heart health, you should be consuming essential fatty acids, or EFAs, each day.
Fish oil caplets consumed at each of your three main meals each day can lead to a 50% reduction in your chance of sudden death through heart disease or stroke.
Even those outside the muscle sport realm use fish oil caplets on a daily basis, and for good reason! Consuming healthy fats should become an integral part of your daily life.
Don't look at it as a temporary dietary limitation.
Rather, consider your clean eating and intelligent essential fat supplementation as tools you employ to look better, feel better, perform better, enjoy larger muscles, and live decades longer.
The importance of adequate and proper fat consumption cannot be ignored.