In an recent article, NIH explained that we actually need a certain amount of fat to to stay healthy because:

• It provides energy in the form of calories.
• It helps our bodies absorb importune vitamins such as A, D, and E.
• It makes food more favorable.
• It helps us feel full.
• It helps children’s growth and development.

However, this doesn’t mean you can go overboard—calories are still calories and too many will add up to weigh gain. Plus,  you still have to keep in mind the difference between unsaturated and saturated fats.

Unsaturated Fats: “Good Fats”

• Liquid at room temperature.
• Unsaturated fat, or “monounsaturated” and “polyunsaturated” fat can be found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Eaten in the right amounts, these fats can be good for you.

Saturated Fats or Trans Fats: “Bad Fats”

• Solid at room temperature.
• These types of fats are found in butter, meat fats, shortening, deep-fried and processed food, among others.

“When we eat too many solid fats, we put our bodies at risk. These fats tend to raise total blood cholesterol, as well as the part of cholesterol known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol,” says NIH nutritionist Dr. Margaret McDowell. “When those cholesterol levels are out of whack and too high, it’s a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.”

A common diet myth we find ourselves constantly dispelling atBalance Gym is “Fat Makes You Fat.”  Luckily for us, the National Institute of Health broke it down just in time for the holidays.

In an recent article, NIH explained that we actually need a certain amount of fat to to stay healthy because:

• It provides energy in the form of calories.
• It helps our bodies absorb importune vitamins such as A, D, and E.
• It makes food more favorable.
• It helps us feel full.
• It helps children’s growth and development.

However, this doesn’t mean you can go overboard—calories are still calories and too many will add up to weigh gain. Plus,  you still have to keep in mind the difference between unsaturated and saturated fats.

Unsaturated Fats: “Good Fats”

• Liquid at room temperature.
• Unsaturated fat, or “monounsaturated” and “polyunsaturated” fat can be found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Eaten in the right amounts, these fats can be good for you.

Saturated Fats or Trans Fats: “Bad Fats”

• Solid at room temperature.
• These types of fats are found in butter, meat fats, shortening, deep-fried and processed food, among others.

“When we eat too many solid fats, we put our bodies at risk. These fats tend to raise total blood cholesterol, as well as the part of cholesterol known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol,” says NIH nutritionist Dr. Margaret McDowell. “When those cholesterol levels are out of whack and too high, it’s a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.”

A common diet myth we find ourselves constantly dispelling atBalance Gym is “Fat Makes You Fat.”  Luckily for us, the National Institute of Health broke it down just in time for the holidays.

In an recent article, NIH explained that we actually need a certain amount of fat to to stay healthy because:

• It provides energy in the form of calories.
• It helps our bodies absorb importune vitamins such as A, D, and E.
• It makes food more favorable.
• It helps us feel full.
• It helps children’s growth and development.

However, this doesn’t mean you can go overboard—calories are still calories and too many will add up to weigh gain. Plus,  you still have to keep in mind the difference between unsaturated and saturated fats.

Unsaturated Fats: “Good Fats”

• Liquid at room temperature.
• Unsaturated fat, or “monounsaturated” and “polyunsaturated” fat can be found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Eaten in the right amounts, these fats can be good for you.

Saturated Fats or Trans Fats: “Bad Fats”

• Solid at room temperature.
• These types of fats are found in butter, meat fats, shortening, deep-fried and processed food, among others.

“When we eat too many solid fats, we put our bodies at risk. These fats tend to raise total blood cholesterol, as well as the part of cholesterol known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol,” says NIH nutritionist Dr. Margaret McDowell. “When those cholesterol levels are out of whack and too high, it’s a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.”

January is a busy month atBalance Gym. We love seeing so many new faces with a new (or renewed) enthusiasm for fitness and ready to get a head start on their New Year’s resolutions.  However, by February the crowds start to wane and by March only the truly dedicated remain.  So to keep you going strong all year long, here’s some tips for sticking to your goals in 2012!

When Deciding on a New Year’s Resolution, Keep It Realistic.

If you haven’t worked out in awhile, that goal of coming into the gym every day, may be a bit of a stretch. Instead, tell yourself you’ll workout at least three to four days a week. This will help you start a routine that doesn’t seem impossible if your schedule gets busier.  And of course, if you need help setting up a program or routine, that’s what our Personal Trainers are for! Just e-mailben@balancegym.com for more information about our personal training packages.

When January rolls around, many of us are determined to make the New Year, “the year,” and jump into a new workout program headfirst. Keep in mind though, that hitting the gym with full force at all times can lead to both burnout —and even worse — injury.  Today’s post comes from Balance Gym Physical Therapist Lauren Polivka, PT, DPT, CSCS, who explains the importance of recovery.

I never really thought about the topic of “recovery” when I was an athlete in high school and spent college running marathons. I just went and went and went…2 hours of sleep and then running 10 miles just before the next day of lifting weights and hitting the track. I always thought I was doing the right thing because exercising made me focus better on studying, relieved my stress and kept me in shape.

Then one day I was running and a sharp pain made me almost crash to the pavement. Damn it, I thought, I tore something and my marathon was going to be scratched. After seeing the ortho I learned I had a severe case of iliotibial band tendonitis because of over-training and not enough rest and recovery during my programming. I went to physical therapy and after spending days with deep tissue massage that left me bruised from hip to knee and having to run in the water for 2 hours a day, I completed my marathon that year.

In 2004, I was fortunate to meet Mark Verstegen, author of the Core Performance books and President of Athletes’ Performance. I worked at his center in Arizona for a year and became a recovery, and as he calls it “regeneration”, master. I learned to essentials of what recovery was, implemented it into my work-outs and have not had an issue since. I even trained LESS for my next marathon but trained more effectively because my body was always primed and cut 25 minutes off my marathon time.

Balance Gym members will be interested to learn that researchers recently discovered a hormone produced from exercise that maybe helping your body fight off obesity and diabetes.

Most people know that working out, burns calories, helping you lose weight, with a well-balanced diet of course. However, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School say exercise may help you increase your metabolism too.

In a new study, these researchers found that during and after workouts, the body produces a hormone in muscles known as PCG1a.  PCG1a then produces a protein that breaks apart into pieces, enters the blood stream, and travels to fat cells where it begins to turn white fat into brown fat.

What’s white fat and brown fat you ask? Well, in short, white fat stores calories. Brown fat, on the other hand actually contains iron and even burns calories because it is responsible for maintaining body temperature. Brown fat is generally lost over time as we grow older and no longer need to regulate our temperatures they way we did as infants.

Breaking it down: This study suggest that when you exercise, you release a hormone, which releases a protein, which turns calorie-storing fat to calorie-burning fat, giving you a higher metabolism.