ASK THE TRAINER: Let's talk about fat

All fat is not equal and not all fat does makes you fat. In fact, some of them are good for you.

There are basically four types of fat. The two bad types of fat are saturated fat and trans fat. Saturated fat comes mainly from animals while trans fat is primarily made during food processing. Both of these types of fat have detrimental effects on your health, like raising LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), lowering HDL (the good kind), and can put you at an increased risk of type-2 diabetes. To make it easier to know which fats are bad, just remember that for the most part, the fats that are solid when at room temperature like butter, Crisco, and animal fat, should be avoided.

Now there are also two types of good fats which are monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fat comes from foods such as avocados, olives, whole milk products, some types of nuts, and olive oil. Polyunsaturated fats come from foods like wild salmon, krill, whole grain wheat and some types of seeds. For the most part, the good types of fat are liquid at room temperature. These two types of good fat can do things like raise HDL cholesterol and lower LDL cholesterol. They help fight against heart disease, and some studies even show they can help fight cancer.

You actually need some fat in your diet. Try to replace butter with olive oil when cooking and on salads for dressing. You can also snack on things like unsalted nuts rather than potato chips, and add sliced avocados on your sandwiches and wraps. Peanut butter is a huge fat trap so be very careful and look for a nonhydrogenated spread that can be used on celery and whole wheat crackers.

I'm not saying you can go crazy with eating lots of fat, but choose healthy fats in moderation, in conjunction with a healthy eating plan and you can enjoy the rewards of a healthy body!