FAT, FAT, FAT!  Who likes to hear that word? The only time my ears want to hear that is if it’s in reference to my wallet or the size of my ring! But in all seriousness, we have an epidemic going on in America with obesity. Our children are the most being affected by this due to budget cuts in schools which in turn leads to poor cafeteria food. We need to learn the skinny on fat and how and where it affects us. Once we understand this, I believe it gives us a clearer picture on what it’s actually doing inside our bodies. As you follow House of Squirrels posts/newsletters there will be a lot of information coming on how to manage and keep a healthy realistic lifestyle.

We use to think that body fat was just a storage depot, but one of the most important developments in recent years revealed that the fat cells that lie over our internal organs such as the stomach, liver, and intestines, actually produce hormones and other molecules that can cause heart disease, diabetes, dementia, asthma, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. (This is not the kind of fat that we can liposuction.) Visceral fat can be measured in a variety of ways. CT scans and MRI’s are precise, but they are expensive, so investigators recommend measuring your waistline at the level of the navel. In women, a waist size of 35 inches or larger is generally considered a sign of excess visceral fat. As we age, if our waistline continues to increase that is also a sign of increasing visceral fat. So how do we reduce our waist size? Exercise! Exercise can also help keep the fat from coming back.

You can do it Squirrels! That picture alone could get anyone motivated!

~Kisses Dr. Squirrel