Lose Weight

First and foremost, for anyone who doesn’t know what trans fat is, let me give you a very quick and simple description. It’s one of the “bad” types of fat. In fact, trans fat is the baddest of them all, and that’s “horrible” bad, not “hip and cool” bad. How bad? Well, think of a health problem someone could have. Go ahead, any health problem. Got it? Ok. There is a very good chance that whatever you thought of is one of the many health problems and diseases caused by eating a diet high in trans fat.

But, most people are already aware of how terrible trans fat is for you. Most of these people became aware of this around January 1, 2006, which is the date that the FDA started

requiring that trans fat content be included on the nutrition facts label of all foods. Yup, they meant business. Trans fat is borderline poison, and now we can feel safe knowing that all we need to do is take a peek at the nutrition facts label of our food to make sure we aren’t eating any of it

So now, the food you eat will mention trans fat ONLY if there is more than 0.5 grams of it per serving. If there are 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, or 0.49999999 grams, it will still say there is no trans fat in the food. There’s really no other way to look at that… it’s a lie. Plain and simple.

There is of course an excuse for this insanity. The FDA claims that anything below 0.5 grams is considered a “very small amount” of trans fat. So, by that logic, if a certain amount of poison will kill me, I’ll be just fine consuming 0.4 grams since that would be a “very small amount” of poison. Mmmm, fantastic.

ANY trans fat is too much trans fat, no matter what the amount. It’s one of the worst possible things you can possibly put into your body. 0.4 grams, 0.5 grams, or 10 grams, I don’t care. I don’t want any of it, and anyone who cares at all about their health shouldn’t want ANY of it either. Unfortunately though, food companies are telling you that you aren’t eating any, even though you are.

Another key thing to keep in mind here is the term “serving size.” Food companies only need to report how much trans fat there is in one serving of there food. Did you ever pay attention to what “one serving” of most foods is? For example, for most cereals, one serving is usually 3/4 of a cup. Chances are there is at least double that amount in one average sized bowl of cereal. Another serving size might be “3 crackers.” How many people only eat exactly 3 crackers? Not many.

My point here is that most people eat more than “one serving” of most foods. And since trans fat only needs to be mentioned on food labels if there is 0.5 grams or more trans fat per serving, that means that if the food contained 0.4 grams, and you eat 4 servings of it, there’s 1.6 grams of trans fat. 1.6 is well above 0.5, yet the label will still only say 0 grams per serving. And, if you eat 4 servings of that food, 4 x 0 still equals 0 grams of trans fat. You continue to think you didn’t eat any, when in reality you ate 1.6 grams. How wonderful.

And don’t think food companies don’t take complete advantage of this loophole. I’m sure there are plenty of foods that are now purposely made with exactly 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving for the sole purpose of being allowed to put “Trans Fat: 0 grams” on their nutrition facts label. I’m also sure plenty of foods have seen a reduction in their serving size. If one serving used to be 1 full cup, and that contained 0.8 grams, all they need to do is change their serving size to half a cup, and the trans fat per serving drops down to magic number 0.4, which to them translates into “Trans Fat: 0 grams.”

If you sit down and think about it and make a real effort, there are probably a dozen (or a few dozen) other ways you can rearrange your own personal daily/weekly schedule that will allow you to make time for real workouts. Whether it’s at a gym, inside your house, or just walking/jogging around your block… EVERYONE can make time for at least 3 or 4 real workouts a week.

Anyone who claims they can’t just isn’t trying hard enough. To you people, I have this message… we will all be laughing at you when you do your butt clenches.