An Education, Part 1. Fat does not make you fat.

On Saturday I was invited by a friend to attend a Paleo nutrition seminar at her CrossFit gym. I jumped at the chance because I'm a sucker for learning, and because I really enjoy being around people who are interested in the Paleo lifestyle. Most of the information in the talk was stuff I knew or had been practicing for months now, but a few things really hit home. I'm going to break down the big concepts I picked up into a few blog posts, hence the "Part 1."

First off, to give a little background on the instructor: the class was taught by Dave Werner, who opened the first CrossFit affiliate here in Seattle. According to my gym's owner/trainer, he is and ex Navy Seal who was wheelchair bound before finding CrossFit. Now, he is anything but wheelchair bound. He was so knowledgeable, and believed in this diet all the way to his core. I think he could have spoke on the subject for days on end. Luckily, we only had 3 hours!

Second off, I'm not a doctor, nor do I have any sort of formal training in diets or medicine. I am however smart, and capable of understanding complex concepts that don't necessarily follow mainstream views. Back in the day, I would have had NO problem believing the world was round, or that we evolved from monkeys. We laugh at those things now, just as I imagine in a few decades, we will be laughing at calorie counting, elliptical machines, and Jillian Michaels.

Eating fat does not make you fat. Do you need me to say that again? Eating fat does not make you fat. The body is perfectly capable of making fat on its own, from foods that contain no fat (grapes, carrots, just to name a few) therefore eating foods that contain fat are not what is making you (or will make you) fat.

Fat is entirely essential in order for the body to function. A human eating nothing but lean meat will suffer and eventually die in short order, some say faster than if he/she was eating nothing at all. This phenomenon is known as "rabbit starvation." Google it when you get a moment.

So, fat is essential, and eating fat does not make you fat. What does? Stay tuned for Part 2: Hormones, a dieters worst enemy.