If Not Now, When?

Fitness-After-50 - Thomas D. Manfredi, Publisher
tom@fitness-after-50.com
http://www.fitness-after-50.com
November 7, 2005; Vol. I, Issue 11
Published the first Monday of every month

THIS ISSUE: Fats, Proteins, and Carbohydrates

Table of Contents:

1) Editor's Note
2) Food for Thought
3) Feature Article: Fats, Proteins, and Carbohydrates
4) Teleclasses
4) Question & Answer
5) Our Services

Editor's Note

Hi,

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost Thanksgiving. And Christmas is just around the corner too. We won’t be able to get home (Chicago) for the holidays this year. My wife, Barbara, recently took a new job, and it’s a little early to be asking for time off. Oh well, hopefully we can make it next year.

This is a time of year when many of us find it even more difficult than usual to watch our diets and keep up our exercise program. All I can say is - do whatever you can to stick with it. Backsliding can be very depressing, and it can be very difficult to make up ground that you previously gained as far as weight loss and/or strength improvement. Remember all the great benefits that come with proper weight levels and physical fitness. If you need some encouragement or information on the many benefits of health related fitness just go back to my site, and look around.

For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, have a nice holiday, but try not to eat too much.

Best Wishes,

Tom Manfredi
tom@fitness-after-50.com
http://www.fitness-after-50.com

Food for Thought

Life is not a skill sport. It is a game that anyone can play and play well.

Feature Article - Fats, Proteins, and Carbohydrates

Protein is found in plant and animal sources. Animal proteins include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products. Plant proteins include beans, nuts, breads and cereals.

Carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy and they generally come in the form of starches and sugars. Common starch sources of carbohydrates are wheat, rice, potatoes and corn. Sugars are also carbohydrates because they provide energy in the form of calories, but they don't provide any additional nutritional value. Although sugars do not provide nutritional value, complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables are valuable to the body because of the vitamins, minerals and fiber they provide.

Fats are also a valuable source of energy to the body and serve many other necessary functions as well. Saturated fats, sometimes referred to as ‘bad fats,' contribute to the production of cholesterol and LDL. Meat and poultry, whole or reduced-fat milk, and butter are main sources of saturated fatty acids. Trans fatty acids act like saturated fatty acids in the body. Trans fatty acids come from processed vegetable oils like margarine and shortening. Unsaturated fats, also known as ‘good fats’ , help lower LDL levels and decrease risk of heart disease. Different forms of unsaturated fats include monounsaturated fatty acids, which mainly come from vegetable oils like canola, olive and peanut and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which come from safflower, sunflower, corn, and flaxseed oils. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are also the fats found in seafood.

There are many different opinions around as to the best combination of these all important nutrients. It is not my intention here to go into all the various points of logic regarding the ratios of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. I simply want to point out that I feel you should be cautious of any diet plan that recommends an unusually high or low ratio of any of these items. This type of diet is often referred to as a “fad diet”. Although these diets can sometimes help a person to lose weight quickly, the results are very often short lived. Even worse, some fad diets have been found to be dangerous to our long term health.

I am in the process of adding a number of pages of information regarding diets and nutrition to my site. If you are interested, check back periodically on my home page at fitness-after-50.com and click on the “Diets” tab.

©2005 Thomas D. Manfredi, MS

Teleclasses

I will be announcing upcoming teleclasses in this section in the future.

If you have a topic that you would be interested in hearing about in a teleclass, send an e-mail to mailto:teleclasses@fitness-after-50.com

Questions and Answers

Some of the most common nutrients that contain antioxidants are the vitamins A, C, and E. In order to help our bodies fight off extra free radicals, we should make sure we eat a balanced diet that includes sufficient quantities of A, C, and E.


To get more information on various fitness and health issues, please go to my site – fitness-after-50.com


-------------------
If you have a fitness or nutrition question you would like me to consider answering here in the newsletter, just send your question, along with your first name and city, in an e-mail to mailto:quesandansw@fitness-after-50.com
Obviously, I can't answer every question submitted. I will choose one question each month to answer here.

About Our Services

Online fitness coach Tom Manfredi is the creator of the site "fitness-after-50". This site is designed with the mature adult in mind. There is a lot of information available on the site for anyone looking to start or restart a sensible exercise program. Learn more by going to fitness-after-50.com



Tom Manfredi, 1218 Easy St., Ste 101, Wickenburg, AZ 85390