Six common beliefs addressed, Part 76

1. Soft, body fat is easy to lose and is not indicative of metabolic problems. 

I touched a little on this in my previous post. This soft excess subcutaneous fat is extremely difficult to get rid of, when metabolism is in active obesity mode or once was. I still have some of this fat myself. I know it's not very visible in my photos, because of clothing, but trust me, I still have some. This is caused by having a large number of fat cells.

Metabolic syndrome is an adaptation to the assault of chronic, large disparities in blood glucose due to higher than normal insulin. It's this soft fat mass that protects the organs from this assault and buffers fat storage to keep it away from where it doesn't belong. So, even though you have changed your diet and may no longer be gaining weight, it doesn't mean that the body is ready to give up its fat mass. On the contrary, it's sparing that fat mass at the expense of muscle mass.

Metabolic adaptation is very difficult to reverse. The very things that become abnormal - over expressed insulin and high body fat are the very things that keep it in motion. It becomes a vicious circle. This is a long term battle that requires consistent nutrient availability and avoidance of any protocol that mimics starvation. So, 0 long fasts and 0 protein restriction. Your diet has to be carb restricted with moderate fat intake. You need to do plenty of exercise to try and boost leptin/adiponectin expression and decrease systemic stress. Until the body feels safe to let go of that fat, it won't do so.

2. Eating too much protein will sabotage your weight loss. 

When you eat very lean meat, like wild game, you can eat pounds of it and not gain any body fat, but if you eat pounds of rib eye, pork belly, bacon, or any other "farm animal", you will begin gaining body fat. This is due to the higher fat content of these meats.

Farm animals are deliciously insulin resistant. Even when their meat is labeled as "lean", it is not truly very lean. It still contains a significant amount of fat and is not anywhere near the leanness of wild game. So, don't let that "lean" or "extra lean" sticker fool you. Add to that the stupidity of the low carb world who pushes bacon, instead of sirloin and you have a recipe for disaster.

You have to make sure that your diet is truly protein rich and not a fat fest. So, if you enjoy protein, stick to wild game or very lean muscle meat cuts because if you don't, the accompanying fat will cause weight gain.

3. Will going low carb cure skin tags?

Skin tags are benign tumors that appear on the surface of the skin. It is not clear exactly what causes skin tags, but it may happen when clusters of collagen and blood vessels become trapped inside thicker layers of skin. This is why skin tags are more commonly found in skin creases or folds. Any area where there is skin rubbing against skin, appears to be at a higher risk for the development of skin tags.

When you go low carb, or any diet that causes weight loss, you might experience a decrease in skin tags, since there will be less rubbing of excess skin. A decrease in insulin levels also reduces the risk of developing areas of thicker skin, which promotes skin tag growth.

So, you might see a decrease in skin tags or not. The important thing is that you will see a decrease in metabolic pathology.

4. Even if you hunt your own meat, you don't have to add fat to it. 

Hunting your own meat, most likely means, you are eating game animals, which are already extremely lean. You can’t live off of their muscle meat alone. You must eat their fatty organs or cook their meat in added fat. If you don’t, you will develop “rabbit starvation” from the lack of fat. Remember, the body not only refuses to use protein for fuel, but you need fat for the delivery of important vitamins and proper fuel storage. If you don’t get enough of it, the body will die, as it won't be able to regulate its metabolism properly or have enough lipids to repair certain tissues.

For people who don’t hunt and are consuming farm animals, they don’t have to worry about this, as that meat already contains plenty of fat.

5. We must show people what "real food" is.

People who wish to follow a proper diet will seek that information out for themselves. There are countless healthy diets being promoted by many popular media outlets. Long gone are the days of heavily processed "low fat diet" advice. Everyone is pretty much aware of what processed and junk food is. People understand that when they go to a fast food place, they are eating junk. People are aware that vending machine "food" is processed. Even if you are completely ignorant on diet, everyone still knows cookies, cakes, candy, soda and the like is unhealthy.

For many decades, people have been aware that bread makes you fat. This is why there are so many "alternative" breads available. From "low calorie", to paper thin versions, to dry crispy slices, everyone who has ever been on a diet has had to exchange regular bread for one of these alternatives. Why did they exchange rather than eliminate? Because they don't want to live without their bread. This is why calories in/calories out (CICO) is still the standard advice for weight control, even though it doesn't work. The hope is that if you can't eliminate, you can at least reduce. People are much more open to reducing than eliminating.

Most people do not want to change their diets or give up the items they know and love. It's not that they don't know what "real food" is, it's that they don't care. I was at a restaurant, one time, and ordered a steak with a side of broccoli. When my food came to the table, the obese people sitting near me commented that my plate looked "very healthy". They still ordered a mountain of fries, burgers and desserts. People know what it takes, they just don't want to do what it takes and that's their prerogative.

So, if someone asks you, then you can share, but don't become that annoying person that is constantly going up to obese people and telling them what they need to do. The only thing anyone needs to do is keep breathing.

6. If you can lift heavy, then you are healthy and no longer diabetic. 

If you are still obese, no.

The ability to "lift things" is not a measure of health, especially if you are obese. The obese have much more body mass, in general, so they are always going to be stronger, especially in the legs. Their legs are constantly carrying a large amount of weight - their own body. So, it's not surprising that an obese person's legs would be particularly strong.

A better measure of health, at the gym, is stamina and endurance. I have said this before and I'll say it again - the person who can do 25 push ups, non-stop, is in superior health to the person who can dead lift a refrigerator.

So, don't measure your health through weight lifting. Measure it through waist size and actual fitness.