THE FITNESS HERETIC

This is an except from an interview of Übertrainer Tom Venuto (www.healthfitnesscoach.com) by fellow elite trainer Chad Thacket from Global Health Fitness (www.global-fitness.com). I’ve never heard the fat mystery broken down so concisely so I had to share it with my readers and clients.

When you “lose” body fat, the fat cell (also called an adipocyte) does not go anywhere or “move into the muscle cell to be burned”, as it was suggested to you (although that’s not too far off).

The fat cell itself,(unfortunately) stays right where it was – under the skin in your thighs, stomach, hips, arms, etc., and on top of the muscles – which is why you can’t see muscle “definition” when your body fat is high.
Fat is stored inside the fat cell in the form of triaglycerol. The fat is not burned right there in the fat cell, it must be liberated from the fat cell through somewhat complex hormonal/biochemical pathways.
When stimulated to do so, the fat cell simply releases its contents (triaglycerol) into the bloodstream as free fatty acids (FFA’s), and they are transported through the blood to the tissues where the energy is needed.
A typical young male stores about 60,000 to 100,000 calories of energy in body fat cells. What triggers the release of all these stored fatty acids from the fat cell? Ahhh, that’s what we all want to know, right?
Well, it’s simple: When your body needs energy because you’re consuming fewer calories than you are burning (an energy deficit), then your body releases hormones and enzymes that signal your fat cells to release your fat reserves instead of keeping them in storage.
For stored fat to be liberated from the fat cell, hydrolysis (lipolysis or fat breakdown), splits the molecule of triaglycerol into glycerol and three fatty acids. An important enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) is the catalyst for this reaction.
The stored fat (energy) gets released into the bloodstream as FFA’s and they are shuttled off to the muscles where the energy is needed. As blood flow increases to the active muscles, more FFA’s are delivered to the muscles that need them.
An important enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), then helps the FFA’s get inside the mitochondria of the muscle cell, where the FFA’s can be burned for energy. If you’ve ever taken a biology class, then you’ve probably heard of the mitochondria. This is the “cellular powerhouse” where energy production takes place and this is where the FFA’s go to be burned for energy.
When the FFA’s are released from the fat cell, the fat cell shrinks and that’s why you look leaner – because the fat cell is now smaller. A small or “empty” fat cell is what you’re after if you want the lean, defined look.
It was once believed that the number of fat cells could not increase after maturity, only the size of the fat cells could increase (or decrease). We now know that fat cells can indeed increase both in size (hypertrophy) and in number (hyperplasia) and that they are more likely to increase in number at certain times and under certain circumstances, such as 1) during late childhood and early puberty, 2) During pregnancy, and 3) During adulthood when extreme amounts of weight are gained.
Some people are genetically predisposed to have more fat cells than others and women have more fat cells than men. An infant usually has about 5 – 6 billion fat cells. This number increases during early childhood and puberty, and a healthy adult with normal body composition has about 25 to 30 billion fat cells. A typical overweight adult has around 75 billion fat cells. But in the case of severe obesity, this number can be as high as 250 to 300 billion!
The average size (weight) of an adult fat cell is about 0.6 micrograms, but they can vary in size from 0.2 micograms to 0.9 micrograms.
An overweight person’s fat cells can be up to three times larger than a person with ideal body composition.
Remember, body fat is basically just a reserve source of energy and fat cells are the like the storage tanks. Unlike a gas tank in your car which is fixed in size, however, fat cells can expand or shrink in size depending on how “filled” they are.
Picture a balloon that is not inflated: It’s tiny when not filled with air – maybe the size of your thumb. When you blow it up with air, it can expand 10 or 12 times it’s normal size, because it simply fills up.
That’s what happens to fat cells: They start as nearly empty fat storage “tanks” (when you are lean), and when energy intake exceeds your needs, your fat cells “fill up” and “stretch out” like balloons filled with jelly (not a pretty picture, is it?)
So when you get leaner, you don’t actually “lose” fat cells, you “shrink” or “empty out” fat cells.
Take-home lessons: 1. Calories count! The signal that triggers your body to release adipose from fat cells is an energy deficit… you have to burn more than you eat.
2. Cut calories conservatively. Starving yourself may cause quick weight loss at first, but never works long term because it actually decreases the activity of fat burning enzymes that release fat from the cells. To avoid this “starvation mode” use exercise to BURN THE FAT, not very low calorie crash diets.
3. Get control of your weight now. If you are gaining weight, and especially if your weight is climbing upwards out of control, make a decision to STOP RIGHT NOW. Your fat cells might be multiplying, making it more difficult to burn fat in the future. NOW is the time!
4. If you’ve already lost weight, you must be forever diligent. Your fat cells are not gone, they have merely “shrunk” or “emptied out.” Fitness is not a 12 week program, it’s a lifestyle. To stay lean you have to eat clean and stay active
5. Genetics are only a minor factor. You may not have control over how many fat cells you were born with, but you do control the major factors that determine how much fat you store: lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, mental attitude.
Genetics are not an excuse. The past is not an excuse. Your present condition is not an excuse. You can either make excuses or get results, but you can’t do both.

I saw another one.  A commercial informing you “It’s not your fault.”

This one was how a “bad” hormone (cortisol) is to blame for you being fat.

I’ll get back to that in a second.  First I want to deal with “It’s not your fault.”

As a coach, my duty is to facilitate change by asking strategic questions and proposing alternate strategies depending on the answers to those questions.

As a consultant, I directly propose methods and protocols for reaching the clients goals.

As a trainer, I build and implement programs to make the changes and goals a physical reality.

Where in those scenarios is blame a factor?

I’ve been taught that a coach, consultant or trainer is sought out only when the client has an irrational passion or experiencing pain or urgency and has already made an attempt to resolve it themselves.  Okay, now I have a client who has a need and I have tools to help them fulfill that need.

So where does the question “Who’s fault is it” come from?

Who cares whose fault it is?

It isn’t actionable.  If a person is dwelling on who or what is to blame for their situation, whether it is body composition, marital problems, financial situations or male pattern baldness, you are using energy that could be better steered toward DOING something.

This is a marketing tactic that is, in my opinion, manipulative and subversive.  It steers attention away from the more pressing issue of responsibility.

Is it your parent’s fault, the school’s fault, your spouse’s fault, your children’s fault, your metabolism’s fault, cortisol’s fault?

I DON’T CARE.

I care about what we can DO about it.

In almost every situation fault or blame has NO relevance to a positive outcome.  None, zero, nada.

Only by grasping responsibility for “What now” is progress made.

Now about that cortisol.  This is a good example of an outright falsehood in advertising.

Cortisol is NOT a bad hormone. It is responsible for proper glucose metabolism via regulating insulin release, regulation of blood pressure, immune function, breakdown of fats and proteins, and inflammatory response among many others.

What IS bad is too much cortisol.  This usually occurs from excessive stress, stimulants (such as caffeine), overconsumption of simple carbohydrates or sleep deprivation.

Would it not be more effective to manage the CAUSE of excessive cortisol?

But that would mean eschewing the path of fault or blame and taking responsibility.

What a concept.

The book.

Skinny Bitch in the Kitch?  (the cookbook)

Skinny Jeans, Skinny Chef, Skinny Water, The Skinny Cow®, Lifesyles of the Rich and Skinny (I’m not kidding, Google it), Skinny Bastard (Skinny Bitch for men) and on and on.

What is going on here?  What is so appealing about “skinny”?  It is not just the opposite of “fat” as a descriptor, it’s a negative descriptor as well!

“Skinny”, as a marketing tool is not only disengenuous, but potentially harmful.  Most of the contents and products mentioned are actually helpful, beneficial and useful.  It’s the message that is the problem.   

“Skinny” is NOT optimal.  OPTIMAL is optimal.  What is optimal?  It depends.   It depends on your genetics, your body frame, what your vocation is and what your avocation is.  It is also what YOU are comfortable with within the parameters of health standards.  Not a Madison Avenue ad agency’s decision about what you should be comfortable with.  There are body composition statistics that I could refer to, but that isn’t what this article is about.  It’s about body image, goals, anxiety, and health.  A theme that my regular readers are no doubt familiar with are the two questions:

 ”Are you in the best physical conditions that your genetics and environment allow?”

“Why not?”

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t real reasons why not, but to get an internal dialog going to distinguish the real reasons from the excuses.  There may be one or the other, but my experience tells me that it’s probably a combination of both.   Sometimes we use a legitimate reason for lagging progress as an excuse to do nothing at all, or worse, regress.

Some people who are overweight are deluding themselves with the help of the same marketers with the other extreme.  There is a fine line between marketing to people who are larger than the norm, and coddling them into the complacent idea that it’s OK to be “full figured” or “big and tall”.  It’s not healthy, it’s not comfortable, it’s not convenient and it’s not OK.  Sometimes it’s even dangerous.  

There are many reasons and circumstances that get in the way of reaching “optimal”.  Some of them absolutely valid.  Everyone needs to set their own priorities.  Don’t confuse that with disregarding your physiology on a permanent basis.   Don’t make the mistake that so many people make by thinking that WORRYING about it is the same thing as DOING something about it.  Anxiety just starts a physiological fight/flight response that produces a hormone cascade that is very detrimental.  Not to mention the psychological implications from long term anxiety.       

What’s worse than someone who is overweight that has anxieties about getting “skinny”?  The person who is already at a normal body composition that has anxieties about getting “skinny”!  And what’s worse than that?  The person who is already skinny that has the same anxieties!  Now we’re into something pathological.  Don’t go there.   This is the only body that you have.  Be nice to it.   Please?  Don’t stuff it.  Don’t starve it.  Don’t beat it up.  Eat well.  Move your body.  Set a goal.  Write it down. Develop an action plan to implement your goal.  Then take action.  Every day.  We need you.

Most people treat fitness like diets.  A month, 6 weeks, 12 weeks and then back to the old habits.

What truly works is conscious, deliberate change of lifestyle.

The yoyo effects of dieting work the same for fitness. 

There are reasons that this happens. Reasons that can be overcome. 

A lifestyle of joyful, exuberant health, strength and fitness is very attainable, barring illness or injury.  

Age doesn’t prevent it (85 year old triathlete).  Neither does gender (16 year old female powerlifter).  Nor does race, genetics or socioeconomic status.  

There are 2 things that can impede our progress however.  

·          Lack of knowledge

·          Lack of desire – which can also be a lack of discomfort with the status quo.   

Without knowing exactly what we want, why we want it, how to get it, how to keep it, and what we are willing to do to get it, we aren’t likely to be successful.

Knowledge is simply relevant information – absorbed.  Information can be had.  In fact there is an overwhelming amount of information available.   

My role as a coach, in part, is to sort through the giant mass of information and glean it down to a few logical choices for my clients, according to their needs.

 If we know everything there is to know, but do not have either the burning desire to achieve or are disturbed enough with the current situation, we aren’t likely to make progress.

The  great motivational speaker Zig Ziglar was asked “Does motivation last?”  He replied  ”No.  Motivation doesn’t last.  But neither does bathing.  That doesn’t mean I discourage it.  In fact I highly encourage it!”

Motivation is great.  It can be highly useful.  I believe it to be overrated.  Here is a question posed by Charles Staley in his latest article: “Do you think that motivation is a fundamental issue when it comes to successful exercise or athletic training programs?”  He doesn’t think so.  And neither do I.  Motivation is an outside influence.  While it can be a powerful influence, it doesn’t stand a chance in the face of desire or discomfort.  Those are internal motivators.  

I’ve been taught that there are 3 primary motivating factors in human beings.  

·          The instinctual or subjective motivators – physical elements and reaction, survival and safety

·          The emotional or objective motivators – comfort, community, anger, desire, fear, outside influences…

·          The logical or rational motivators – Rationalizing and synthesizing the instinctual and emotional drives

In my rudimentary understanding, most of the time the logical mind is merely rationalizing default choices which are based on whichever subjective or objective choices are most compelling at the moment.

In a nutshell, we make decisions based on:

• That’s the way we’ve always done it.  We’re safe.  - Instinctual
• An outside influence has provided an experience that is either pleasant or objectionable.  - Emotional
• A synthesis of the two above factors. – Logical

If we become aware of these tendencies, then we can actually make different choices.  That awareness is the secret weapon of those who are innovators, artists and theoreticians.  Usually they are unconscious of that awareness.  They think that everyone else sees the world as they do and often can’t figure out why the rest of us don’t “get it”.

So my challenge to you is to become more aware of your choices.  If you choose the default, fine.  It IS your choice.  Just be AWARE of it.

If you choose to grasp the opportunity to make positive change, you now have the most powerful tool available  to help you.  Awareness.

If that positive change involves lifestyle changes to incorporate a more exertive physical element and would like some guidance, enter your name and email address in the field above.