Meet the Diva!

My name is Ann A. Rosenstein and I feel very fortunate to be living in Minnesota.  As a child I learned to enjoy and appreciate the wide open spaces of the prairie. I went to college at the University of Colorado in Boulder CO for a couple of years and finished my BA and my MA at the University of Minnesota.  While at the University of Minnesota, I met my husband Leo. We have two children and all of us love fitness and make it a part of our lives. 

I really like the Twin Cities of Minnesota because it has all the advantages of a big city and yet we are still able to enjoy the wide open spaces of the prairie.  I started to teach fitness over twenty years ago.  I have always been active and enjoyed exercise. One day I was in an aerobic class and the instructor forgot her pattern but I knew it and continued.  I noticed people followed me and not her! I realized I could teach!  Once certified, I began instructing on the floor and in the water.  Eventually, I got my Personal Training certification, my water certification, Pilate's certification and my indoor cycle certification in addition to my fitness certification.  As an instructor, I have learned a great deal about what inspires people to become fit and what frustrates them.  

The best thing for me about being fit, is being able to do almost anything I want easily and without physical hardship. If I want to go rollerblading with our adult children, I can. If I want to hike, bike, walk, swim or do anything that involves activity, I can do it!  I am rarely sick and if I do get sick, it isn’t for very long.  Being fit and healthy is the foundation for the enjoyment of many activities.

I am writing a book about the myths and misinformation about food and nutrition because after teaching and training people for over 20 years, it has become evident that we really want to be fit and healthy and eat what is best as well as what is tasty, but are confused by the information that is out there.   The book will put into plain language what is fact and what is fiction about nutrition and diet.  Unfortunately, there are no magic formulas or tricks to eating and being fit.  However, it also isn’t that hard once you understand the basics about nutrition.  The book should be out sometime in 2010. 

Diet Fitness Myth of the Month

In each Newsletter, I will debunk a common myth or misconception.  This month I am going to address the concept that all fats are bad and should therefore be avoided in the diet.  Fat is one of the important macronutrients.  It is responsible for repairing our cell structure, aids in boosting our immune system and blood clotting capabilities and provides fuel for our body's activities. Fat is a very dense macronutrient and since it is called fat, we assume that consuming it makes us fat.  One gram of fat contains 9 calories while one gram of carbohydrates or protein contains only 4 calories.  Because fat is so dense, a little goes a long way.  Fat comes in five basic states; monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat and trans fats or hydrogenated fats. The first three are natural states of fat and each is important to our bodies.  The last two are processed forms of fat.  

Cell walls have receptors on both sides.  The receptors facing out deliver waste products from the cells to passing blood cells and the receptors facing into the cells deliver nutrition from the passing red blood cells.  Monounsaturated fats repair the cell wall with a fluid, easy to transfer, type structure.  This allows the maximum amount of nutrition to pass into the cell and the waste material to pass out through the cell easily. Polyunsaturated fats also repair the cell walls with a fluid type of structure, but not as penetrable as the monounsaturated fats.  Saturated fats repair the cell wall with a thicker structure.  The importance of saturated fat is it helps with blood clotting due to stronger cell integrity.  These first three fats are natural and  packed with nutrition that the body and the cells can use.

Trans fats and hydrogenated fats are natural fats that have been heated and/or infused with hydrogen and thus are chemically altered in their structure and devoid of nutrition.  When they are used to repair a cell, the cell wall is often twisted so the receptors that receive and deliver nutrition and waste are reversed.  If the wall is not twisted, the wall is so thick, dense and hard that transference of waste and nutrition is impeded.  Either way, the integrity of the cell’s structure is compromised.  This leaves the cell weak and inferior and the cell often dies thus taxing the immune system.  If the cell lives to replicate, it does so with the mutated twisted wall or overly thick wall.  As more of such cells replicate, they make a larger useless mass. This is how tumors are started and why eating foods with trans fats or hydrogenated fats are harmful.

When we eat foods with trans fats, we are left without proper nutrition even though we may have consumed a large number of calories.  Since our bodies are still craving nutrition even after consuming lots of calories, we eat more in order to feel satisfied.  It isn’t the consumption of just fat that makes us fat, it is the consumption of too many calories from any source that makes us fat.

This is the first of what will be a monthly newsletter coming your way courtesy of the information highway.  I'm excited about my Newsletter, I'm confident that there is something in it for you and hope you enjoy it.  Please feel free to share it with a friend.

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

Yours for better health and fitness,
Ann, The Diet Fitness Diva

http://www.dietfitnessdiva.com