Take Control

I am not a doctor or a nutritionist and frankly I have no right to tell you what to do or how to live. But, I myself have struggled with feeling sluggish, cellulite in places it wasn't before, my weight, my health and many other factors for me to turn my eyes to working out and diet. If you have ever met me, you know I get really into things. I dig a deep hole in the internet on topics and research all sides and reasons for the way things are. I like to solve a problem or educate myself to have an opinion. I have done a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to research, So I want to educate you about your body and the conclusions I have come to. I want you to educate yourself and come to your own conclusions and become healthy and satisfied with yourself.

One time I was so exhausted from just working a mundane customer service desk job, I went to the doctor to explain how I was feeling and that it was getting out of hand. She told me to “eat healthier”. I am glad you spent 100k on a degree and it brought you to that conclusion. She wasn’t wrong, but the approach was heavily misguided. I couldn’t afford “healthy food” at the time in my life. What was I supposed to do? This enraged me. I was dissatisfied with this answer, anyone knows advice that has no explanation just seems invaild. I trashed that information because I felt like she wasn't listening and didn’t understand the extent of my situation. I don’t want to do to you what was done to me. I want to inform you with details that are easy to comprehend and include you in your own journey.

Reasons for this project:

Reduce cellulite look on my thighs and upper arms, reduce risk of heart attack and stroke, to not feel tired (and reduce the need for an energy drink) everyday.

Health history:

No serious health concerns. Poor diet and health habits. Family history of multiple heart attacks/strokes and diabetes.

A lot of my reading has brought me to the same conclusions. So Let's break down my problems above.

Ironically, following the solutions to these two problems solved my third problem: my constant fatigue. After I changed these aspects of my life, I saw an almost unreal improvement. I felt better, lighter, less “full’’ I was walking around like my insides were trying to push its way out, but I felt lighter and for me it meant everything.

Fat, the word gets a bad vibe almost all the time and not all types are bad. The type you eat are in a completely different category then the types that are physically in your body. I will be talking about fat in your body, not the kind you consume. I want to be clear about this because when I was young, I had an anatomy class and a food nutrition class. I tried to talk to both teachers about the things I learned. My line of thinking was that what I put in my body was the same as what my body was actually is made of. I learned the hard way that fat and fat aren’t the same as protein and protein are not the same as well. Do not become misguided.

Types of fats on the body we will be talking about:

• Visceral - around the organs

• Subcutaneous - under any skin you can pinch with your fingers

The top layer of your skin is the epidermis. The middle layer is the dermis. Subcutaneous fat is the deepest layer. Subcutaneous provides padding for your body, it helps insulate you and regulate body temperature. In excess it can cause health problems. Visceral fat on the other hand is no good. Now we all need a little cushion around the organs, but as we all know too much of anything is bad for you. This is the fat we are trying to reduce. Storing excess visceral fat can be extreme. You can be “Skinny” and still have high amounts of Visceral fat. Sometimes it is referred to as skinny fat or thin on the outside,fat on the inside.

Visceral needs to be reduced because:

• Secretes large amounts of toxins

• Increases your blood pressure

• Cause inflammation throughout your body and making it difficult for your body to handle blood glucose

• Metabolized by the liver and turns it into bad cholesterol that circulates in the blood

There are plenty more reasons and facts out there. I don’t want to overload you with information. I think you get the idea here. To find out how much visceral fat you have can be costly with imaging, but there are workarounds with rough numbered results. Waist to hip ratio is one of the easiest methods of visceral fat measurement. Although the result is not as accurate as other expensive options.

What you'll need:

• Tape measure

• Calculator

• Pen

• Paper

You want to first measure your waist circumference and then divide by your hip circumference. Once you get this number, you can estimate the amount of visceral fat that is present.If you have a number greater than 1.0 for men and 0.85 for women indicates a fair amount of visceral fat in the body. Once you get your numbers, I would highly recommend writing them down for a reference point down your journey for self Improvement.