The short answer is that fat is one of the basic components that make up the structure of your body. The other components are things such as muscle, water, bone and organs.

Fat in our bodies can be divided into two different categories: essential fat and storage fat.

As you can probably tell by the name essential fat is necessary for normal, healthy functioning. It is stored in small amounts in your bone marrow, organs, central nervous system and muscles. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats. Fats are also sources of essential fatty acids, an important dietary requirement. Fats play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function.
Storage fat is fat that is stored in our bodies as an extra source of energy. This is the type of fat that unsightly and dangerous to our health. This is the kind that we want to get rid of.

In men, essential fat is approximately 3 percent of body weight whereas with women its a much higher percentage, somewhere around 12 percent. This is because there is sex specific fat in breasts, pelvis etc and is critical for normal reproductive function.

At some point in the past storage fat was necessary for surivival because our bodies didn’t know when the next meal might come. However, in this day and age there is an over abundance of food. Not only that but our bodies are not built to cope with the man made processed foods that are now commonplace. As it turns out not only do we have to worry about fat itself, but also about some other thing that will easily turn into fat.

The nitty gritty technical details of fat:

Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are a combination of glycerol and fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at normal room temperature, depending on their structure and composition. Although the words “oils”, “fats” and “lipids” are all used to refer to fats, “oils” is usually used to refer to fats that are liquids at normal room temperature, while “fats” is usually used to refer to fats that are solids at normal room temperature. “Lipids” is used to refer to both liquid and solid fats. The word “oil” is used for any substance that does not mix with water and has a greasy feel, such as petroleum (or crude oil) and heating oil, regardless of its chemical structure.

Examples of edible animal fats are lard (pig fat), fish oil, and butter or ghee. They are obtained from fats in the milk, meat and under the skin of the animal. Examples of edible plant fats are peanut, soya bean, sunflower, sesame, coconut, olive and vegetable oils. Margarine and vegetable shortening, which can be derived from the above oils, are used mainly for baking. These examples of fats can be categorized into saturated fats and unsaturated fats.

For our purposes, its the storage fat that is the enemy. So why go so into detail when we already know what it is? Well I will leave you with a quote from Sun Tzu:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt”