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This morning, as I made myself a hot cup of chocolate drink and settled in front of my laptop, to find info on how fat works, I bumped into something interesting.

Let me be real quick on what I found. It is on, What makes fat to settle in a preferential way in our body? In a study conducted by medical researchers, it was concluded that men are putting on more weight on their hips and thighs. This is a serious issue.

Distribution of fat cell does depend on hormones.

Normally, women are susceptible to gynoid adipocity(fat on hips & thighs) while men tend towards android adipocity (weight on the abdomen and upper body due to excess testosterone).

So what are hormones? Hormones are chemical messengers that transport a signal from one cell to another. They are also responsible for a number of important functions - lets just say your body is fit because of these hormones.

For example, hunger is a signal produced by the hormone ghrelin while the hormone leptin makes us feel otherwise.

People who are over-weight definitely have an hormonal imbalance for the simple reason that fat people continue to over-eat even though there is an ample store of tryglyceride (stored energy) in the body.

|Quick definition of triglycerides and how hormones interact Calories ingested in a meal and not used immediately by tissues are converted to triglycerides and transported to fat cells to be stored. Hormones regulate the release of triglycerides from fat tissue so they meet the body's needs for energy between meals.|

This poses a risk to a fat/over-weight person if he continue to remain so for a longer period of time. The last thing you want is your hormones messing with your body's functions.

This fact also calls our attention to lose excess weight immediately and make those important lifestyle changes that will help us reach our goals quicker. Hormones play such an important part in our lives and in the grand scheme of our lives. Its function is as important as the heart.

There are other factors, that also mess with the hormones. This is not a fresh off the oven news. I don't know how many of you know about it though.

We are constantly exposed to various chemicals in the environment, the air we breathe, the products that we use on our body and the food we eat. Everything around us is contaminated. Like for example, the phthalates in perfumes and colognes kick in the production of estrogen in men. Foods contaminated with plastics also do the same.

Avoid foods contaminated with plastic.

This morning I woke up, really feeling refreshed and happy. Star gazing has been having a positive effect on my personality. My mind is opening up to new avenues, breaking free from constrictions and loosening up from inhibitions.

I have never felt this way, before! Its a positive feeling, not knowing how long it will last. But the bottom line is, it feels great to be alive and breathing.

So, here I am giving you a dose on grammar and how it defines us -something that crossed my mind this morning. This is not as crazy as it sounds. Really - trust me!

We are made of, nothing but words - a combination of antonyms and synonyms, nouns, adjectives, verbs. The most essential part of english language - grammar is so effective in defining our personality. Language is power.

The verbs - Action oriented

I am - I am not
I want - I do not want,
I have - I do not have,
I love - I hate

These describe our personality, likes and dislikes, things we do and things we don't do.


The nouns - who we are

Who are you?
a wanderer
an adventurer
an explorer
an inventor

Don't worry. These big words called nouns are not used any more. We are more familiar with nouns that are more commonly used - writer, reporter, scientist, consultant, lecturer, teacher, student

Then comes,

the Adjectives

Just to stroke that little ego of ours, we think we are smart, intelligent, beautiful, wonderful, handsome, sexy - that sums up the "adjectives" we use to describe ourselves.

And when our ego is hurt, we are thrown off-course, lose our way and try to get it back through other damaging actions.

Eureka - I found it.

I think this point comes in every person's life. Archimedes jumped out from his bath tub and ran out naked to the king's palace because he found what he was looking for - the theory of displacement.

So I am not sure which one is the greater truth.

A) Finding what I had once possessed

OR

B) I finally found what I was looking for.

Conclusion

People lose what they never cared for, then regret that they lost it and finally wished that they got it back. It is a vicious cycle.

The census of fat population is increasing slowly every day. It is an epidemic that is fast spreading among children, men and women. This is not a joke, my friends. For years, we have been hearing the slogan - Feed the hungry. People are dying.

Now the tables have turned. The WHO predicts that over-weight and obesity will soon replace public health concerns such as under-nutrition and infectious diseases. More people are dying and suffering from diseases related to obesity.

Fat accumulation is a slow process that goes unnoticed. To understand how fat gets stored in the body, we have to look at the physiology of fat cells. Like the saying goes, the best way to solve a problem is to attack the root of it.

Biologically, our bodies go down-hill as we grow older. Scientifically, that process can be postponed and slowed down by keeping your body fit and muscular. The extra hanging fat on your body is ugly, my friends and it is your worst enemy.

The last time I checked a good source for information, they said fat cells or call them adipocytes don't multiply - they just expand due to increase in lipid content. No wonder when you lose weight, these cells just shrink in size.

Now, I know I have been taking a class on fat from the minute you started reading this blog. Tell me something though, have you asked yourself, what is fat all about? Is there anything good about fat at all?

Fat is crucial. Who ever tells you, fat is bad - has it all wrong. Fat is essential for nutrient absorption, nerve transmission, maintaining cell membrane integrity, all those important functions at cellular level. They are responsible for producing hormones, the reason why your body functions in an optimized manner.

Good fats that promote good cholesterol include mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats while bad fats include saturated and hydrogenated food categories. Is that hard to remember?? I give you a very small homework. Add five items that you know of, to the good fat list at the end of reading this blog and try to introduce at least one of them to your diet from this month on. Would that be too much of a work?

Say goodbye to cakes, pastries, hamburgers, pizzas and everything man made. Fast foods that look fancy and mouth watering - please avoid them at all costs. They are zero-nutrition items that are bad for your body , your bank balance and worst of all decreases your life-expectancy.

So what are some of the healthy choices you can make for yourself? Well, to be honest - anything that you can make from raw material is good for you. I do not recommend packaged foods that are ready to be served in a few minutes.


Kitchen is your best friend

Step into the kitchen, spend half hour each day and plan your meal. If you can associate food as fuel for body rather than pleasure or a means of socializing, you will be on the right path.

Most intelligent men do that instead of buying take-aways at restaurants. Just imagine, there is such a wide range of foods that you can experiment with, made with cleanliness and care.


Keep the recipe simple

A simple recipe is the key to optimal health. Over-cooking and adding too many spices can overload the digestion process.

There are some great raw foods that you can add to your diet like for example, soaked grains that are sprouted, nuts, salads and many more. Like I said, its all about getting creative.

Lastly,

Knowledge is power

Try to learn as much as possible through trustworthy sources where you can find monthly updated studies and surveys. Health and fitness books published previous to the current year could have outdated information.

One of your fitness goals should be to achieve a well balanced body weight. To know what I am trying to say here, divide your body into two halves. The upper body ranges from your head to the waist(three inches below your belly button) and the lower body from your waist to the toe.

You could self-examine your body in the mirror which is placed parallel to your body or ask your partner to help you. Make sure you do this in broad daylight and without clothes on. Be honest with yourselves, my friends Well, you may have all the accolades, phD's, a line of degrees, highest paying job but all that don't make up for your bad body shape. So wake up!!

After taking a hard look at yourself without being too optimistic about how attractive you are to the opposite sex - make notes. Write down all your observations. Generally, a fitness trainer can exactly tell, what body part you need to work on.

If you are well over your 30's, there can be some problem areas like excess weight on your lower abdomen, a droopy and dimpled behind, love handles, sagging under arms, fat on the inner thighs, the list goes on. A bad lifestyle along with a sharp fall in the metabolic activity of your body contributes to this disaster.

Also people have different body types. Some have broad shoulders while others have a broad hip and they tend to put on more weight on specific areas. So if you want to have the looks of a Greek God - which some people are naturally gifted with, get to work. By Greek God, I mean a well balanced body weight.

The tools you need is an inch tape, a big mirror.

Measure the circumference of the following:
1. your chest, sliding the tape right under your arms
2. your stomach at the navel
3. three inches below the navel
4. your hip

After you note these numbers, time for some calculations.

Find the WHR (waist to hip ratio) by dividing the waist inches by hip inches. Ideally, for men - it should be less than <= 0.95 and for women <= 0.8

Men can also look at this chart, http://www.impulseadventure.com/weights/ideal.html which I found online, not knowing if the information here is correct or not. It's a chart. First you divide your weight with height, which will give the distribution of weight per inch of your height and compare it with numbers in the chart. You have to be really obsessed with the details to even care to see this chart...lol!!

For women, the WHR plays a very important role in determining their health and wellness. If this ratio is more, then you are susceptible to a range of heath problems starting from diabetes, hypertension etc.