We're All Fat

Yep, today we are going to talk about FAT. In both terms of the word - Fat as in something we consume and are made of, and Fat as in what some of our nation are becoming.

*Please note, that this is not meant to cause any offence, it is simply a musing of articles I have read and assumptions based upon them.*

What does the word Fat mean to you? A cruel jibe? Is it Controversial? Rude? An essential part of our regular diet? Something that can actually aid weight loss?

I read a very interesting 33 page spread in a recent issue of Women's Health Mag and thought I would highlight some of the topics they discussed, and results of a survey they held with Men's Health Mag...so here goes, of those surveyed;

72% of women think they are fat each time they look in the mirror and.....

62% of those women know they aren't fat, but tell themselves they are anyway...

 

65% of men think they are fat..... and 68% have avoided going out because they felt it.....

 

43% of women and 28% of men think about their weight EVERY HOUR....

 

46% of women and 57% of men would rather date someone short, rather than fat....

 

 

These statistics alone are shocking - is it me, or do they highlight what an incredibly shallow and judgemental society we live in?! No one can say they are perfect, but when someone refuses to consider a possible relationship with someone because they don't live up to some idealistic, (usually) unattainable standard, then I am sorry, that person should take a long, hard look in the mirror themselves.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not going to go all Feminist on you here, this refers to men and their body confidence as much as it does women. I know of several friends of both sexes who have used an excuse like the one above to avoid dating someone who doesn't have a rippling six pack...

 

Given the clip at the start of this blog, wouldn't you agree, we are all fat? We are made of the stuff aren't we? That fleshy stuff around our bones has an essential fat layer within it...

 

But what is responsible for our fatness? The fat we eat? The sugar? The Carbs?! Is fat in our food really that bad, or is it something we should embrace in moderation?

 

Here are just a few quotes from various celebs as part of the article, discussing the different aspects of the word "Fat"

 

" Fat is neither good nor bad, but a compound essential for human life....I don't believe in one single definition of human desirability."  Victoria Pendleton, 33, retired athlete

 

"Fat is not a good thing.....I think there is less pressure for people to be slim...we have got used to people being bigger" Rosemary Conley, 67, Dietician

 

"Fat is essential...I try to embrace it....I won't touch anything Fat Free, it's usually replaced by chemicals and fillers" Robyn Lawley, 24, plus sized supermodel

"Fat is delicious!...You may not realise it, but men feel the same pressure as women about their bodies" Jason Atherton, 42, Michelin-starred Chef

"Fat is the most loaded word in the English Language!...Fat has the onomatopoeic quality of being slapped!" Adam Richman, 39, TV personality - Man Vs. Food

"Fat is one of my biggest fears...eating it or being it....I'm often accused of Fat-Shaming, it seems you can't use the F word if you're skinny" Emma Woolf, Journalist

I have used the above examples as I feel they highlight quite a vast difference in opinions when it comes to the word 'fat' - again, remember, we are talking both fat in out diet and being considered overweight...

Speaking of being overweight, has anyone ever had their BMI taken and told they were on the 'wrong side of healthy' or actually 'obese' when you look anything but?

Well this might be because the good old BMI Test was created around 180 years ago...so you might argue that this method is somewhat outdated. Even a leading specialist, Dr Francisco Lopez Jimenez, a professor of medicine, has ''lost faith in BMI as it does not identify those correctly at risk...Change is needed"

Most damaging is when the BMI refers to children and athletes. A news article a few years ago stated that the parents of a 4 year old boy had been informed of his 'clinical obesity' for being 3lb over the recommended weight range - he was just pretty tall for his age!

 

 

Plenty of female boxers and strength athletes has also fallen victim to the cruel labels BMI gives out, simply for being a bit shorter than average but with more muscle than most - can you see the point that BMI really isn't a good indication of what is healthy? And they wonder why there is a growing epidemic of Eating Disorders within the female athlete world....

Out for dinner last night with a few old work colleagues sparked our ritual conversation about food and exercise, pretty standard! One of them shared a story about her eight year old daughter who's friends at school had already been called "fat" by the other kids, and her daughter couldn't understand why this was. How awful is it that eight year olds are already using the F word to describe their peers? Even more so if they child clearly isn't overweight? It's so sad to hear stories like this.



I feel even more strongly about educating our younger generation on the importance of a healthy diet, body image and lifestyle, and I am not even a parent yet! I recently looked into the Active Kids Scheme that Sainsburys run (Beckham being one of the ambassadors no less!) to see which schools in my area collect these vouchers and I was pleased to see even a couple of preschools are part of the scheme...so encouraging to hear! So I will be donating vouchers to a couple of my local schools, doing my bit for the kids :) But Becks, if you need an ambassador for the Basingstoke area, let me know ;-)







What do you think about "Fat"? How do you think we can help reduce the statistics I have quoted above? We're you shocked by these, or think they are pretty accurate for todays' society?

Anyway, to round off on a lighter note, the article included an A-Z of fat and fat loss, so here is a quick acrostic to give you some of them;

F - Fifty Billion. The amount of fat cells in your body...see, I told you we are all fat! ;-)

R - Reduced Fat. This means there is typically 1/3 less fat in the product, but this is made up for in sugar...and we know what sugar does...

A - Average. The average lifespan of a fat cell is 8.5 years. And it is replaced as soon as it dies...

N - Normal. It is common for our body compositions to fluctuate throughout the month through water retention, muscle mass gain or loss and general eating habits

K - Ketones. Compounds produced when your body converts fat into energy - commonly found in raw coconut oil - get using it in your cooking!!

I - Intervals. In which ever form of exercise you take, be it cardio or strength training, try to incorporate some sort of interval training within it. It's easier than it sounds!


Again, I would like to stress, I did not set out to offend or "fat shame" (?!) , so I do hope this doesn't come across negatively! Hopefully you can take something from this blog that will help you; whether it be to regain lost focus, given you an idea of changes to make, or encouraged you to help support your local school in a quest to make your kids healthier!

Till next time...

Franki x
 

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So Much Room for Activities!

Hey! So much to fill you all in on....Yep, you guessed it, it's been another manic few weeks....here's a quick run-down of what's been going on...!

Fitter Food Health, Fat Loss and Performance Seminar - April 26th



Road Trip with Zuz and Howard!

So this saw a three hour (!) journey to Lowestoft, Suffolk for an intimate seminar with Matt and Keris of Fitter Food. The afternoon was packed full of useful info, from tips and tricks on how to speed up fat loss, to how to make the most of your rest days between training, to the ways in which different societies view what is healthy or not 

(did you know, that there is actually such thing as the potato diet?! Yep, you only eat boiled, white potatoes...hmmmmm....nutrition at it's best!)

Three take away points from the Seminar would include:
+ Adding Cinnamon to my Post Workout Shake - It helps with Fat Loss!

+ Medicines taken in our younger years can have a huge effect on our hormones and body composition in later life - something I am keen to do more research into as I have used a vast array of medicine throughout the years!

+ The Importance of understanding your genetics and what this means for body composition and training methods.

I was already familiar with a lot of the topics covered, but it was great to learn some new and interesting facts surrounding diet and how opinions like ''fat / carbs are bad for you'' greatly differ across the world. If you are interested, research The Masai Tribe Diet or The Kitavin Tribe Diet to see how attitudes and tolerances of dairy, carbs and fat differ!

Matt and Keris are very knowlegdeable and it was a great afternoon - Thanks for having us!

The Spicery Curry Night

For Christmas, James and I were given a 3 month subscription to http://www.thespicery.com/ and we finally started using it last week!

Our first pack arrived with all the spices and herbs to create a Laal Maas with Vegetable Sabji, Chana Masala, Lemon and Herb Raita and Masala Pooris. If you love to cook and eat good food and don't mind a culinary challenge, I would highly recommend placing an order with these guys! Here is my plate of food, made from scratch by me, with a glass of red to accompany this delicious lamb dish! Looking forward to the next dish already!

 

 

 

Newlyns Cookery School

 

In keeping with the food topic (this just highlights how much my life revolves around food!) a birthday gift from James was a cookery evening at our local farm shop http://www.newlyns-farmshop.co.uk/ 

 

The evening included recipes and full demonstrations (and tasters!) of three gastro dishes cooked by their resident chef. We then had the opportunity to cook the starter and main course ourselves and take all our food home to eat - we even received a huge sirloin steak each to cook to our liking in the comfort of our own kitchen. The chosen dishes were;

 

+Warm Ham Hock and Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche

 

+ Sirloin Steak with Herbed Butter and Creamed Spinach

 

+ Chocolate Soufflé - demo only

 

 

I learnt that I like asparagus cold in a salad! -  And that you should cook it for no longer than 50-60 seconds to get the right amount of crunch - I can't abide soggy / limp veg!!



Also, to cook meat to it's best, you should leave it out of the fridge for at least 2 hours before placing in a hot pan - that way, you won't end up with a burnt outside and still rare in the middle. I did know meat had to be room temp, but not that it takes more than two hours to achieve! And I don't mind rare steak...but you know what I mean!

 

 

I certainly would love to do another of their evenings, they offer different themes so I will be keeping my eye out for a Thai one next I think!

 

 

ESWC Final has been announced! 

Eeeek! Yes, The date and events have been announced and looks to be a great Comp! So, the final will be on the 20th September and luckily, it will be held in Southampton, so not far for me to travel at all! It also means I get a chance to finally meet all the other Strongwomen from across the UK who have also qualified. I'm really looking forward to this! Glad it's off in the distance at the minute, it will give me lots of time to prepare for a car deadlift and anvil carry...!

In the meantime, I am contemplating entering the BNSF Strongwoman Comp on August 10th - again, looks to be a good one, but tough!

British Senior Championships 2014 May 10th

On Saturday, a few of us travelled to Coventry to watch EBW Coach Ben compete on the national stage at the Senior Championships in Olympic Weightlifting. This was a qualifying event for the Commonwealth Games so there were some extremely impressive lifts going on!

Ben representing EBW at the Senior Championships!

It was a great atmosphere and the largest audience Ben has competed in front of to date. He did very well but didn't quite make it to qualifying standard this time around. Although he was obviously less than happy with his performance on the day, Ben was ever the optimist at our post comp Mexican dinner, now taking a rest for the summer and preparing for three back to back comps in October, November and December this year - aiming to qualify for the big comps next year.!

We are all extremely proud of him and his achievement so far!! Competing at a National Level is incredible - we look forward to following his continuing journey!

My 28 Day Challenge

On May 1st I decided it was time to detox again - starting to feel a bit sluggish and bloated after the food I'd eaten before and after the comp - having a lot of carbs, trying to put a little bit of weight on etc - and this mainly came in the form of sweet potatoes and ice cream ;-). My body really wasn't liking me!

So back to mint teas, no sugar or dairy and carbs post workout -  a format that has previously worked for me. And 12 days in, I'm not feeling all that much better for it! But that is so unfair! Why is this?! Going back to a seminar point, I think it is down to the medication I take - so a review is needed I feel! (when I can get an appointment with my own doctor that is!!)

Aside from this, I decided to take up something new - The Fitter Foods 28 Day Challenge.

You are provided with a 28 day meal and exercise plan which focusses on clean eating and varied exercise. I have tried two of the sessions so far and wow - I am certainly made for lifting heavy objects a few times rather than fairly light weights for 12 reps...! ;-)

You also get a brand new E-Book with yet more recipes for me to annihilate my kitchen with, as well as a brand new copy of their book - which I am kindly donating to Georgie even though my copy has seen better days!

Not only this, but we have access to a private Facebook Page for members to share experiences, before and after photos and ask Matt and Keris any questions they have - as well as keeping each other motivated. There are already a great bunch of people on the page, all with different goals and reasons as to why they are starting this journey, and I look forward to developing some e-friendships over the course of this challenge!

Today marks the 12th day of detox and first day of my challenge, so here are my before photos;

yep, back to brunette, I get bored too easily!

I'll keep you updated with my results! I have a pre-planned girls weekend away in Newcastle at the end of this challenge, so hoping to feel and look my best! It does help that I have an awesome dress I want to wear - added motivation! And maybe a tan...jeez!

Just wanted to catch up guys, I promise my next blog will contain more depth! I have a topic of discussion that I think a few would find interesting...keep an eye out, I'll post it this week!

OOOOOHHHH YEA.....I'm nearly at 10,000 views people! Help me reach it with this post alone and I would be eternally grateful!!

Franki x

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