"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. –Mark Twain
CrossFit Athletes Need To Eat Fat
I pretty much take it for granted that eating fat is a very healthy thing to do. But the media has done a great job of convincing the public otherwise. So lets take a second to cover just a few things about fat.
What’s it Good For?
Fat is needed to rebuild ALL the cells in your body, especially the cell membrane. That’s a whole lot of cells! Some estimations of 200 trillion cells or so make up the human body. Think about that. Every cell in your body requires fat for healthy replication. And all those cells make up all of you. Every last piece. That’s a lot of you and a lot of fat. Not that your fat, but you need fat. You know what I mean?
It’s also needed in the inflammatory process, which is needed to repair damaged tissues. First the body creates prostagl
andins, using mostly omega-6′s (fat) to bring inflammation to the damaged tissue. This helps clear out energy byproduct and damaged cells, and helps bring in needed nutrition to repair the tissue. Then omega-3′s (fat) are used to create another form of prostaglandins to reduce the inflammation when it’s all healed up. So, no healing without inflammation. No inflammation without fat. Sounds like you need fat in you diet. Yup.
The brain and nervous system also rely heavily on fat for healing and repair in a similar way. Heck, your brain is somewhere between 60-75% fat! How are you going to keep that thing up and running at max capacity without eating what it’s made of? You ain’t! Thats how!
Eat Fat, Burn Fat
When we eat fat, quite simple we burn it. If our bodies are constantly being required to burn fat from the diet, they most likely will turn to stored fat for an energy source when needed. If we are eating carbs, specifically refined, we will train our bodies to burn carbs, which will hinder our ability to burn stored fat. I’m guessing that’s not what most of us have on our to-do list for the day. In addition, fat is a long lasting source of calories for you body, that will keep your energy level even throughout the day. Constant energy, I like. No energy, I don’t like. I need to smash some WODs!
Good and Bad
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, because it’s really quite simple. There is good fat and bad fat. Good fat heals you, bad fat hurts you. How do you tell the difference? Good fat comes from an organic, unprocessed source. Nuts, olives, and animals are good examples. Bad fat comes from a processed source, i.e., man made. Examples; corn oil, canola oil, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated are a few. Again, if it’s processed, meaning someone has altered the original structor of that fat, its bad for you. Bad like, creates total systemic inflammation (inflammation is everywhere, especially where you don’t want it, like you brain), hardens cell membranes, reduces insulin receptors, (which can make you more inflamed and fatter, potentially contributing to diabetes), and on and on. Don’t eat it is what I’m getting at. It will truly hurt you.
Hopefully this little bit on fat helps you start to realize the importance of this essential nutrient to your health and well being, and since I’m talking to crossfiters, your performance! So starting eating fat, it’s good for you.
-CrossFit North Industry
Tomorrows WOD:
A) Warm up:
- Every minute on the minute for 5 minutes, complete:
3 Hang Snatches (barbell only)
3 Burpees
B) Metcon: For time, complete: (30 min cap)
- Run 800m
...then complete...
12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of
- Squat Snatches (95/65)
- HSPU
...then...
- Run 800m
Today's WOD:
What’s it Good For?
Fat is needed to rebuild ALL the cells in your body, especially the cell membrane. That’s a whole lot of cells! Some estimations of 200 trillion cells or so make up the human body. Think about that. Every cell in your body requires fat for healthy replication. And all those cells make up all of you. Every last piece. That’s a lot of you and a lot of fat. Not that your fat, but you need fat. You know what I mean?
It’s also needed in the inflammatory process, which is needed to repair damaged tissues. First the body creates prostagl
andins, using mostly omega-6′s (fat) to bring inflammation to the damaged tissue. This helps clear out energy byproduct and damaged cells, and helps bring in needed nutrition to repair the tissue. Then omega-3′s (fat) are used to create another form of prostaglandins to reduce the inflammation when it’s all healed up. So, no healing without inflammation. No inflammation without fat. Sounds like you need fat in you diet. Yup.
The brain and nervous system also rely heavily on fat for healing and repair in a similar way. Heck, your brain is somewhere between 60-75% fat! How are you going to keep that thing up and running at max capacity without eating what it’s made of? You ain’t! Thats how!
Eat Fat, Burn Fat
When we eat fat, quite simple we burn it. If our bodies are constantly being required to burn fat from the diet, they most likely will turn to stored fat for an energy source when needed. If we are eating carbs, specifically refined, we will train our bodies to burn carbs, which will hinder our ability to burn stored fat. I’m guessing that’s not what most of us have on our to-do list for the day. In addition, fat is a long lasting source of calories for you body, that will keep your energy level even throughout the day. Constant energy, I like. No energy, I don’t like. I need to smash some WODs!
Good and Bad
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, because it’s really quite simple. There is good fat and bad fat. Good fat heals you, bad fat hurts you. How do you tell the difference? Good fat comes from an organic, unprocessed source. Nuts, olives, and animals are good examples. Bad fat comes from a processed source, i.e., man made. Examples; corn oil, canola oil, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated are a few. Again, if it’s processed, meaning someone has altered the original structor of that fat, its bad for you. Bad like, creates total systemic inflammation (inflammation is everywhere, especially where you don’t want it, like you brain), hardens cell membranes, reduces insulin receptors, (which can make you more inflamed and fatter, potentially contributing to diabetes), and on and on. Don’t eat it is what I’m getting at. It will truly hurt you.
Hopefully this little bit on fat helps you start to realize the importance of this essential nutrient to your health and well being, and since I’m talking to crossfiters, your performance! So starting eating fat, it’s good for you.
-CrossFit North Industry
Tomorrows WOD:
A) Warm up:
- Every minute on the minute for 5 minutes, complete:
3 Hang Snatches (barbell only)
3 Burpees
B) Metcon: For time, complete: (30 min cap)
- Run 800m
...then complete...
12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of
- Squat Snatches (95/65)
- HSPU
...then...
- Run 800m
Today's WOD:
