eating too much, mooching Options

[gordita]

ok...i hav a big problem with food. i LOVE it. everyday at school i eat a big value box of buncha crunch, hohos, fries, whatever the entree is at lunch, and usually like some m&ms or something. this is EVERY SINGLE DAY. also i hav a nesquik milkshake and a chocolate chip muffin for breakfast. all together, plus the stuff i eat at home, i eat about 300% of my recommended fat intake or whatever. my friends are constantly telling me what a fatass i am and how all this food will catch up to me, but i pretty much ignore them. the fat just seems to go away after eating it, since im an athlete and work out every day. anyway, do any of you hav any advice for me??? i really want to stop eating this way.

also, i mooch constantly. i probably owe my friends a couple hundred dollars apiece. any ideas on how i can stop doin it??? thanks!

[Reidar]

Same thing. Research has shown that a lack of dietary fat triggers the rate of lipogenesis (production of adipose tissue, or body fat) because your body senses a deficit and produces more fat to compensate.

Saturated fats, specifically, play many important roles in biochemistry:

> They constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what give our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.

> They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.

> They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease.

> They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids. Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats.

> Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated. The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.

> Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.