Why You Need Fat To Build The Body That You Want
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There are many people that are scared of eating fat. But what they do not know is that, fat is an essential part of our diet and is important for good health. Fats are nutrients in food that the body uses to build cell membranes, nerve tissue, and hormones. In fact, the body uses it as fuel.
If you are scared of fat, listen to this episode of the Embrace Your Real podcast. I am going to dive into why fat is mandatory for building the body you want, what it does inside your body that makes it powerful, how it effects your hungry levels, metabolism, energy levels, nutrient absorption, and so more.
What I discuss:
Incorporating fats into your daily food intake ensures that you’re full and satisfied after your meals.
Eating fat keeps your hormones balanced.
Eating healthy fats can help increase muscle mass, which can in turn help burn fat.
It improves nutrient absorption.
You can eat ALL THE FOODS YOU LOVE!
Links mentioned in the episode:
Episode 317: 5 Reasons to Love Carbohydrates when Building the Body You Want
Macro Counting Made Simple - https://www.macrocountingmadesimple.com
If you want more from me, be sure to check out...
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Macro Counting Made Simple: https://www.macrocountingmadesimple.com/
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Transcript:
Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. A podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I issue a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it, let’s go.
Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast.
Are you scared of eating fat? I know so many people, they're going crazy for keto, but I also know that there are a lot of people kind of on the other end of the spectrum that are scared to eat fat. And I know that because I was me for a decade of my life. I remember when I first was introduced to the idea of macronutrients, protein, carbs and fats, and then learning how to properly feel my body. Okay, You know, this is a proper amount of protein for you, this the proper amount of carbs, and this is the proper amount of fat that you should be eating on a daily basis based on where you're at and what your goals are.
I remember looking at that number like my fats in Graham's like, this is kind of your daily target. And I remember being like, There's absolutely no way like eating this much fat is going to make me fat. And it was because I was so uneducated on this topic. And so that's why I wanted to dive into this specifically in this series of kind of going through the macronutrients and why they're so important on this journey towards building the body that you want.
So inside today's episode, we're going to be talking about all about fat and how and why it's so powerful, how it can affect your hunger levels, your metabolism, your energy levels and nutrient absorption and so much more. But before we dive in, I wanted to share this review. It comes from Cath Ma. She give a five star review and said, Always hear what I need this podcast that I listen to today. The difference between weight loss and changing your body composition spoke to me. It was like a light bulb went off and said, That's what I want. Thank you for always sharing such insightful information in such a caring way. I'm so happy that I found your podcast. Well, I'm so grateful that this podcast is helping you. That is my hope and that is my prayer. Every time I put out an episode that it will speak to you, that it will educate you, it will empower you, it will encourage you in some way, shape or form. So thank you so much for taking time out of your day. Kath Ma To send in this review, it really does mean the world to me.
So if you could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and type in, embrace your role or what I was going to say was any device. So whether you are on an Apple device or you're on any other device or listening to Spotify, you can also rate and review the podcasts over there. So all you got to do is type in, embrace your real or go to the search bar and then you'll be able to either rate over there on Spotify or you can leave a rating and a review over on Apple Podcasts. Both of them really do help us out in terms of just other people being able to find the podcasts. And that's our ultimate goal and that's our ultimate prayer. So thank you in advance for doing that.
Okay, so let's dive into why you need fat to build the body that you want.
Number one, incorporating fats into your daily food intake really does ensure that you are full and satisfied after your meals. Let's be real. Who loves to eat a full meal and still feel hungry after hungry after no one like no one loves that, right? If you're eating a meal that is high in lean protein and you still feel hungry afterwards, it's probably because you didn't eat enough fat in that meal. You know what happens when you feel full and satisfied after your meals? You don't need to go for seconds or thirds are going, you know, snacking 10 minutes later. And that can ultimately help you stay in in check in terms of really hitting those daily targets for your protein, carbs and fats so that you can properly fuel your body. In fact, one study actually found that people who ate high in healthy fats reported feeling fuller and more satisfied than those who consumed a low fat diet despite consuming the same number of calories. Right. Another study actually showed that adding half of avocado to your main meals, whether that's lunch or dinner, increased feelings of fullness and reduced the desire to eat for several hours afterwards. So essentially, the less fat that you eat, the more your body will likely be triggered to eat. At the end of the day, instead of trying to skimpier meals. If right and then you eat a lot of snacks, I want you to stop fearing fat and I want you to try to include a decent amount of fat into each meal. Now, I'm not going to tell you exactly how much fat per meal because everybody's fat intake daily Target is going to be different based on where you're at and what your goals are. But I just want to remind you that eating fat is not going to make you fat. It's in fact going to actually help you feel full after eating. And that's the goal. We want you to feel full and satisfied, not sluggish, not to the point where you're like, Oh my gosh, I'm so full. I feel sick, but full to where you're like, Dang, that was really good. I feel good. I feel energized. I feel like I'm going to be able to go whether it's, you know, breakfast or lunch or dinner, I'm going to be able to go for another hour before bed or a few hours before bed. Or if you're setting yourself up for success in the morning time, like, Dang, I'm ready to crush this day. I got goals that I have and I'm ready to just run full force with energy. So please, please, please make sure that you are incorporating fats into your daily food intake so that you can feel full and satisfied. After your meals.
Number two, eating fat can keep your hormones balance while eating fat can help with balancing many different hormones. In particular, it can actually help with stabilizing insulin and cortisol, which are the two hormones that greatly contribute to altering your body composition. So to kind of break down what these two hormones do inside your body, both of them deal with regulating your blood sugar levels and blood sugar levels contribute to your hunger levels. So everything's connected as you know, like our bodies is a well-oiled machine. Everything is connected. The way that God created our bodies is amazing, right? And so because your blood sugar levels contribute to our hunger levels, when your blood sugar is in check, your hunger levels are in check. Eating fat actually helps to slow down the breakdown and absorption of food because they are slow to digest in your body, which is why it can actually help to stabilize your blood sugar. Plus, when insulin and cortisol levels are high, your body can end up storing more body fat, which is a sign of high. Cortisol levels are working out super hard, eating very, very, very clean, not eating enough, but still feeling like you have, you know, weight in your body like, oh my gosh, I'm doing all the things I'm eating so clean. I'm working out seven days a week, but yet I'm still not able to reach my goals. Often times it's because your insulin and cortisol levels are so high in your body, your body actually ends up storing more body fat. When your hormones are out of whack, your body turns on fat storing mode for lack of a better term. Right? Like our metabolism becomes slower. So when your hormones are in check, you'll find it's so much easier to build the body that you want. Fat helps to keep our metabolism working smoothly and efficiently, so by eating the proper amount of fat that you need each day, it can really help to keep those hormones in check and help you to see overall better results in your health and fitness goals. So please, please, please do not be afraid to put butter on your bread, peanut butter in your oatmeal or cheese in your pasta or whatever your favorite fat carb combo is. I know I have many, but those are just some of my favorites. And I don't want you to fear fat. I want you to eat foods in moderation and just know that your body needs all of these things in moderation.
Number three, eating healthy fats can help to increase muscle mass, which can in turn help burn fat. But I have to be honest, eating fat alone does not directly build muscle, as muscle growth is primarily driven by your overall caloric intake. Right? If you want to build a significant amount of muscle, you have to be in a caloric surplus. But you also have to make sure that you are eating enough protein and you are resistance training. However, incorporating healthy fats into a balanced diet can really help to support muscle growth and maintenance in a few different ways. First, healthy fats can provide a source of energy for the body, which is important for fueling your workouts, supporting that muscle growth. The more energy that you have at the end of your workday, the more likely you're able to get a workout in, stay consistent, not feel like you're just going to sit on the couch and eat a whole entire bag of chips watching the latest Netflix docu series or whatever it is. Plus, the more energy that you have, the harder you're likely going to push in your workouts. You know what happens when you're consistent and you push yourself in your workouts, you're going to see results. You're likely going to see the body composition changes that you're looking for. If you're in a caloric surplus and you're really wanting to build muscle, you're going to see muscle gains and all of those things. Secondly, certain types of fats, such as omega threes, have actually been shown to help to reduce bloating and inflammation. So chronic inflammation can actually impair your muscle growth and reduce recovery, meaning that if you are inflamed, it's going to just be a lot harder for your muscles to recover and grow from your workouts. So more fat equals less inflammation, and less inflammation means you're not going to be working against yourself when you're trying to change your body composition. So if you feel like bloating and inflammation is something that you struggle with, Omega three rich foods can honestly be your best friend. So these are foods like salmon, flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, cashews, eggs, dairy products like from grass fed cows, avocado. There are so many foods. If you just type in a Pinterest or type in a Google Omega three rich foods, you will find a significant list and pick some of those that sound good to you and start to try to incorporate them into your daily intake number for improved nutrient absorption. Many important vitamins and minerals are fat soluble, which essentially means that they are absorbed and utilized more efficiently when consumed with fat. So you know what this means. Eating fats can actually help to ensure that your body is getting all of the nutrients that it needs to function. Properly, which can actually help to support your body composition goals. But let's kind of rewind back to the fat, fat soluble vitamins. Examples of fat soluble vitamins can include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K. So this literally means that if you take vitamin A without eating something with fat in it, your body is actually going to have a harder time absorbing it. Plus, minerals like calcium, iron and zinc are also better absorbed when consumed with some amounts of fat. While nutrient absorption may not be directly related to fitness goals, it is important for overall health and well-being, which in personally in my opinion I would say is equally, if not more important. And nutrient deficiencies actually lead to lack of energy and lack of energy. What does that lead to? It leads to skipping out on your workouts, not staying as consistent to feeling your body and so on and so forth. And lastly, number five, you can eat all of the foods. So by eating enough fat in your daily intake, this means that you have the opportunity to have so many more foods in your daily intake. You'll no longer have to have this mindset of like, Oh, if it has fat in it, I can't eat it right. You can eat the pizza, eat a slice or two, three pieces of pizza with zero guilt. You can have the fat from the cheese. It's actually doing good things for you, which for my Italian heart and my Italian belly. Like I will say amen to that because I love cheese in all its forms and I am just so grateful. Now, looking back for, you know, ten plus years of my life, I restricted myself from that aspect of my heritage. Like my whole entire family that lives back in New York. They're all Italians and they're all amazing perks. And for so many decades, I spent just growing up saying like, you know, limiting it or saying I wasn't hungry or taking the cheese off the pizza and just eating the crust like it's crazy when I think about it. But I want you to be able to eat these foods in moderation and you can truly never develop a healthy relationship with your body if you first don't have a healthy relationship with food. Let me say that again. It's hard to develop a healthy relationship with your body if you don't first have a healthy relationship with food, and by incorporating enough fat into your daily intake, you will learn to stop fearing fat and finally have a healthy relationship with it. And you'll find that once you do start eating enough of it daily, you will start to see the results that you're looking for. All that to say it is so important that you eat the proper amount of fat, like I mentioned earlier that your body needs. I am by no means in no way telling you that you should go keto. I actually personally have found that keto works for a small percentage of people, but for the majority of people, myself included, it's not sustainable. It's just not sustainable to eat low carb long term. And I found that when people do it, maybe they do it for a month or a few months, but down the road they'll go on a vacation or an anniversary will come up or birthday celebration will come up and you know, they'll eat the cake for the first time in seven months and then they'll just go on a rampage because they'll feel guilty. They'll feel shame because they completely cut an entire macronutrient out of their diet. Now, there are specific health circumstances that do require that. But again, I'm not a doctor, so I can't say if keto would be the best for you in that specific circumstance. I'm just speaking from my experience working with so many women over the last ten years, so I need you to learn what that proper amount is for your body. And if you don't know what the proper amount is of fat and then also the other two macronutrients protein and carbs, I have a super easy way to find out if you head over to my Mac or cutting meat simple online academy and follow the steps. You literally will purchase this online academy and you can get a questionnaire form that you'll be able to fill out. And it's an extensive, extensive questionnaire form. And our coaches will then take your information and they will make sure that they are giving you the proper amount of protein, carbs and fats that your specific body needs based on where you're at and what your goals are. We will never tell you you need to eat this, don't eat this. Instead, we tell you, Hey, this is how much protein, carbs and fats your body needs. And you take those numbers and you figure out what you want to fit into your daily allotments so that you can, number one, enjoy the food that you're eating. Number two, not restrict yourself from any macronutrient eating a balanced protein, carbon fat, daily intake. And number three, start seeing results from being able to eat your favorite foods in moderation. So if you want to learn more about that, you can go to macro accounting made simple ecom. Again, that's macro accounting made simple dot com. But to kind of sum up what we talked about today, you have to eat enough fat in your daily intake and here's why number. One. Incorporating fats into your daily food intake ensures that you're full and satisfied after meals. Number two, eating fat really can keep your hormones balanced. Number three, eating healthy fats can help to increase muscle mass, which can in turn help burn fat. Which again, I talked about. Eating fat alone does not directly build muscle as muscle growth is really primarily driven by the protein intake. Resistance training and making sure that you're eating in a caloric surplus. But it can be helpful on that process.
Number four, it can improve nutrient absorption.
And number five, it allows you to be able to eat all the foods that you love in moderation.
So again, if you are curious about how much you should properly be eating in terms of protein, carbs and fats in your day to day based on where you're at and what your goals are, you can head over to macro counting made simple dot com. Again that's macroeconomy it's simple dot com. I will link that in the show notes below. Be sure to tune in to my previous episode that I just talked about. Five Reasons to Love Carbohydrates when Building the body that you Want. I will also link that episode in the show notes that you can easily go tune in to that next. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I would love to kind of hear your aha moments and you can always DM the show Instagram.
It's Embrace your real. I have a personal Instagram. Julie Ledbetter And then I have my double work at Instagram, which is movement with Julie, so you can find me on Instagram, on Pinterest, on Tik Tok, on Facebook, wherever you choose to be social online. I love you so dang much. I mean it and I'll talk to you in the next one. All right, sister. That's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie. A lot better. Yes. It's with an name in the middle for that daily post workout. Real talk. Healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. And I'm going to leave you with one last thought.
The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace Syria because you're worth it.