Die Diet, Die!

Diets don't work. Really. Sure you can lose weight with diets, but making your diet your primary focus (which is what diets do – hence the name), does not address the problem.

Look at it this way, if (before they were outlawed) your neighbor had tossed a Lawn Dart that inadvertently crossed your shared fence and landed directly in your noggin and you went to the doctor and his or her solution was simply to shoot your head full of Novocain and then send you home – well let's just say I am quite certain you'd never be going back to that quack again. Yet, we go back to diets over and over again, even though each time we only receive temporary fixes that don't address the real issues at hand.

Much like the doctor who treats the symptom (pain in the head) rather than the issue (there is a lawn dart sticking out of your head), we treat the symptom (weighing too much) rather than the real issue (unhealthy lifestyle and bodies that are bad fat burners) when we go to diets over and over again, only to never quite lose all the weight we needed to lose and frequently gaining much of it, if not all of it, back.

We don't need Novocain (diets) to mask the issue and when we make a particular “diet” the primary way we lose weight, that is actually what we are doing. We are probably losing some weight, but in the end we are not transforming our bodies into lean bodies – just lighter bodies.

You can not permanently become a skinny person on a diet. End of story. Diets do not produce muscle. Worse yet overweight people actually store up more fat from the calories they do eat than skinny people (I know, I know – life is very cruel). You need to change your body to that of a lean person not a lighter person. You need to be treating the real issue not the symptom.

There is only one way to do this. Exercise. Plenty of skinny people, while not over weight, are over fat...because they don't exercise. Even blessed with naturally high metabolism, they are very unhealthy because their Body Mas Index (indicator of body fatness) is high and it is always a big surprise to friends when they have heart problems. A diet will not fix that situation. Exercise will.

A diet will not fix my issue (or yours). Exercise will. And not just a walk around the block every day. While that is a good start, it is not what your body needs to build more muscles to convert yourself to a lean fat burning machine rather than the fat producing machines that we over-fat people are.

You need, at least 4 times a week, to exercise for more than 20 continuous minutes (no stopping and starting) at 65-80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Now, forget about that “65-80 percent of your maximum heart rate.” Don't forget about doing it, just don't worry about calculating it. We could learn to do it and to measure our heart rate while exercising – but where's the fun in that. Just use one of these two measures. After 12 minutes you should either be breathing deeply but not gasping for air or you should only be able to carry on limited conversations not tell stories. After you hit 20 minutes you are in the zone for turning fat marbleized muscle in to lean mean fat burning machines.

I do need to say, the RIGHT diet will help you get to your lean body faster, but it should not be your primary focus – that should be exercise.

Since my last post, I've dropped another 2 lbs. That's a total of 24 lbs in a little over 4 weeks. I had hoped for 25 in 4 weeks, but that's still pretty good!

Keep at it – you can do this! And, please, let me hear from you. What do you want to hear more about?

Lean Not Light or Weights not Weight

In my last post, Give Me Some Skin, I said I'd go into some more detail about what you can do to reduce your body fat percentage.

The good news is that you already know all of the answers...the bad new is that, really, you already know all of the answers. If you have been reading this blog from the beginning, you have the foundation for loosing body fat. Yes, this is a weight loss blog, but my approach to weight loss isn't to make the scales give you a lower reading. If it were, I wouldn't have allowed myself to go about 10 days with no weight loss what-so-ever. I could have easily lost weight during that time by encouraging the loss of muscle. Instead, I spent the middle of those 10 days, watching my weight increase by 4 pounds – and I continued to lift weights KNOWING that it might increase my weight for the short term. Why?

Because I trusted my system, a system that is actually more interested in a healthy body than a low weight body. A health body is one that has an appropriate body fat percentage. The interesting thing is that when you have the right body fat percentage – you tend to be an appropriate weight for your ages, sex and height.

Much like in my second article, Kick It Up A Notch (or 2 or 3), where I said the most important thing about losing weight isn't calories, or protein, or exercise but rather metabolism - the goal for losing weight isn't to get the scale to read the number for which you are looking; it's to get your body fat to an appropriate level – everything else you want (including no loose skin) comes with it.

So, my personal system isn't so much a “weight loss” system as it is a “fat loss” system. That's why, in post after post, I talk about what good fat burners muscles are. Changing your diet alone will not help you get rid of loose skin (fat loss); it may help you lose weight, but as we know now – the two are not the same.

For continued fat loss you have to build muscle. That also means that eating too low a calorie diet, while possibly helping you lose weight, is not going to help you lose loose skin (you have no IDEA how hard I worked to use those two words next to each other – English major in me I'm afraid...). When you deprive your body of the appropriate amount of calories it goes into starvation mode, saving up the long term energy sources (fat) and burning of the quick sources (muscle). So, the first thing is to eat enough.

The next thing to do is don't eat too much – because you want to build muscle, not fat.

Then, begin understanding your metabolism – that's your best tool for burning fat (as long as you are not eating too little). One of the keys of ramping up your metabolism is building muscle. And the best way to build muscle is exercise.

So, like with everything else in weight loss, there is no magic pill (and don't believe the marketers that try to tell you otherwise). It takes work and dedication. It takes exercise and just the right amount of calories …. and enough patience to trust that over time the system will work.

And that is a great lead into my latest news. Since my last check in where I had lost 3 lbs after going 10 days with no weight loss, I have lost another 4 lbs! W00t! That's 7 lbs so far this week!

Keep at it and let me hear from you!

Give Me Some Skin

If you have ever lost serious amounts of weight before (I've lost 60 lbs and 90 lbs), you know about one of the most difficult problems that comes along with it (the following may not be suitable for squeamish readers): loose skin. Uggh.

Some would have you believe that the only/best solution for this problem is surgery. I have good news. That is not true. I also have bad news – it does take time and patients. OK, AND perseverance. Even after hitting your target weight, if you have skin that doesn't quite fit your new body, you still have some work ahead of you. Of course, if you think about how good you feel about your new body size, how proud you are of yourself for doing it, well – you can only imagine what it will fill like when you are no long afraid to hide it at the pool or beach.

So here's what you need to know about “resizing” skin (I've “resized” from XXXL to L before so trust me it can be done). First know that skin is very elastic (every once-pregnant woman can tell you this). The other thing to understand is fat and its relationship with your skin. As long as there is a thin layer of fat under that skin, it will be difficult for it to contract. So, your body fat percentage is very important in getting your body to completely resize. What that means is even if you have hit your target weight, you may now have to start thinking about a target body fat (something around 16% for men and around 26% for women). Here's something I can promise you, you will not see someone with loose sin who has very low body fat. Except in extenuating circumstances, it just doesn't happen.

How long you've had your skin stretched out also plays a role in its ability to return to your new body size. After all a pregnant woman has stretched her skin for only nine months therefor it still retains some of its original elasticity. So, returning the skin to its original size will probably happen faster. If you've been overweight for years it may take much longer to get it back to size. But remember – IT IS WORTH IT!

As I mentioned in my last article, H20 plays a vital role in the body, particularly in the operations of your organs. Well, your skin is an organ and hydration also plays and important role in its elasticity. So, stay well hydrated!

There are a few other things that have been shown to be beneficial in trying to tighten skin back up. The best results I've read about are with copper. So make sure you have the Recommended Daily Allowance in your diet (or daily vitamins). Other supplements that can be helpful: Vitamin C and E.

Don't think for a minute that you will need to resort to surgery (besides that might just be masking the issue not fixing it). What you need to give it is a little time, perseverance and patients.

Hey! This was my first response to one of you. Thanks for the question! Keep them coming.

After a week and a half of no weight loss, I've lost 3 lbs in the past 2 days! W00t! Keep at it – you can do this!

Update: I will be posting about WHAT to do to reduce your body fat percentage tomorrow.

Kicking Your Coke Habit

There's a quiet little study out there with some really surprising results. The American Heart Association's publication Circulation published a study in 2007 that isn't getting the press it deserves and my guess is Pepsi and Coke are pretty happy about it.

The impact on the study for those who are trying to lose weight (and the most surprising part of the study) is that dark carbonated drinks cause weight GAIN – even the DIET DRINKS! (Go ahead, go clear you pantries of all those Diet Cokes, Diet Dr. Peppers, and what-have-you... I'll wait....)

Now don't go throwing away all your diet drinks. While there is still controversy over whether they help or hinder weight loss, the jury is still out on them. What is clear is that DARK carbonated drinks (whether regular or diet) have a negative effect on weight loss. The real culprit in all of this seems to be caramel coloring.

Various studies link caramel coloring with insulin resistance which leads to metabolic syndrome, both of which are related to weight gain – worse than that – they are specifically linked to weight gain around the midsection (boo to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome). On top of that, insulin resistance also contributes to inability to focus, fatigue, sleepiness and depression. All of which can have negative effects on keeping that old metabolism running. Now there are a lot of really interesting science geek explanations for these that are related to blood and glucose, but how about you just trust me on this one? (That way we don't help induce sleepiness in any of the insulin resistant among us).

My personal experience is this. Early last year as I was trying to loose weight and was having some mild success. I had switched from Coke to Coke Zero as my primary beverage of choice. Reading the article from Circulation and another piece of research that I think came out of Canada, I switched to Sprite Zero. As I remember, that was about the time my weight loss gained new momentum. Was it because of the elimination of caramel coloring from my diet? I have no idea, but the research combined with the timing of cutting it out of my diet makes me think it was.

I now drink store brand diet lemon-lime or diet ginger ale (remember ginger helps seed up metabolism). If you want to go extreme, buy only the clearer Diet Rite products - there sweeteners are different than the ones used by the other companies and (as of yet) have not been link to weight gain in any major study.

As I've mentioned before, my personal weight loss plan is about the cumulative effect of lots of techniques that have small (sometimes questionable) effects on overall metabolism. This is just one of them – but in my mind it is one of the more important ones.

Keep at it – you can do this!

Get Wet

You, my friend, are a bunch of water. A bunch. As a matter of fact, your body is PRIMARILY water. That's right - humans, when born, are about 73% water. That changes as we grow up, but we still remain primarily comprised of good ol' H2O (Women about 55% and men 60%). Also, keep in mind that blood is mostly water which means it plays a big roll in transporting oxygen to your organs, which as we know, is very important in enzyme biosythesis which plays an important roll in weight loss because of it's roll in metabolism. Water also makes up 75% of your brain. (Insert your own dehydrated joke here).

One of the important things that that means, when it come to weight loss, is that (being made of water) our organs and various bodily systems need water to function well. Being well hydrated, much like a machine being well lubricated, means our bodies will be able to operate at their top efficiency (all other things help constant).

Why does that matter to weight loss? A couple of reasons actually, but one primary reason. People who have been with the blog from the beginning won't be surprised to hear that it is related to...(wait for it, wait for it) metabolism! It's actually very straight forward logic here (none of that science\weight loss\geek stuff needed). Part of our metabolism is defined by how much energy our bodies are using. The more systems that are working away, the more energy you use. If you are dehydrated your systems will start working at a lower efficiency in relation to how much water is available. So, being well hydrated all the time means you are giving your body one of it's most important tools in working at maximum efficiency and thus keeping you metabolism running well also!

How much? Well, between one and seven liters a day! It actually varies between people depending on physical activity, humidity, etc. The good news is a good 20% of that comes just from the foods you eat. The other good news is that it is perfectly fine to get the rest of it from sources other than straight up water...with two exceptions: non-diet sodas and alcohol. Both of them have a lot of sugars (and calories) which is just going to get in the way of getting the aqua that you need. As a matter of fact, when it come to alcohol, for every drink you have it should be matched by an equal amount of water (and that's over and above the amount you would normally need for a healthy and happy system). For that matter, my tip about keeping a little caffeine in your system also means you need a little more water because caffeine (as I mentioned) is a natural diuretic.

You can go a week without food (bad idea – yes even on a diet – ok, ok more on that later), but not water. As a matter of fact, even a small deficiency (say 2%) will leave you feeling tired. Which means less activity (probably less exercise) and that means lower metabolism...well, it's not a good idea.

There are lots of other reasons to drink enough water including: muscles require more water, digestion works better with it, it tends to mask the body's huger response, and the list could go on. The bottom line is – DRINK UP. Just don't way over do it. In general your kidneys (if they are in good working condition) are going to take care of the extra, but you can have too much which can lead to water intoxication and hyponatremia. Google it if you'd like – you don't want to go there.

One last related note - DO NOT drink from plastic bottles that contain BPA. How do you know if it does? If it is #7 plastic (most Nalgene type bottles) it probably has it. One other related note – so do most canned foods. Some scientist believe BPA present heath risks.

I'm looking for weight loss topics you'd like to know about. So, let me hear from you.

Oh - and I finally lost that 4 lbs I had put on last week (probably from the muscles gain) and started back down hill - another pound lost!

Keep at it – you can do this!

Just The Fats Ma'am

I have bad news (hey, whaddya' expect? It's a weight loss blog). You don't just have fat. You have two kinds of fat. (No that is not the fat version of the joke, “He's two kinds of stupid.”) . Our bodies are comprised of two kind of fat: subcutaneous and visceral. The question you should be asking yourself about now is, “why do I care?”

Well, have you ever noticed that when you loose weight belly fat is not only the hardest to get rid of but the last to go? That's probably because it is visceral fat and because visceral fat is so deeply embedded, it is twice as hard to loose. Subcutaneous fat is the fat the resides just under your skin (hence, subcutaneous – clever huh?). Diet alone will actually help to reduce subcutaneous fat. But visceral fat is a different story. It seems to be very stubborn.

Visceral fat is sometimes called organ fat, because it is the fat that not only makes beer bellies, but also wraps around your organs (very dangerous stuff this visceral fat). That is actually a bit of a misnomer because both fats are actually organs themselves. Yep – that's right. Fat isn't just a lifeless blob, it is an organ that produces hormones (we've mentioned that before) and even sends signals to a lot of other organs.

Back on topic – Visceral fat is deeply embedded, surrounds organs, and leads to all kinds of health issues including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension. So, while it takes longer to get rid of, you really want to get rid of this stuff. The question is how?

Exercise - and not light exercise. You need to get at it. At least 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise, 6 days a week. Don't fall into the trap that infomercials perpetuate – you can not spot reduce. In other words, sit-ups do not focus your fat burning in the stomach area. It will help tone those muscles so that eventually, once the visceral fat is gone, you'll be well toned, but nothing more.

If you want better, faster results, try interval training. It is the best way to loose visceral fat. Interval training basically means going at the exercise hard very briefly and the taking it a little easier for a bit, then repeating the process. You may recall me mentioning that as I get into shape I like to start each mile of my bike ride with a sprint. Well, as I continue to get into shape, I like to increase the interval at which I do a sprint but, at the same time, I shorten the length of the sprint.

Research shows that the quicker the intervals of intense work out, the greater the results in lowering visceral fat – even when the duration of each intense workout segment is shorter! So, as I ride my bike I sprint for say 10 sections of pavement then peddle at a moderate pace for 15 – sprint, peddle – sprint, peddle – sprint, peddle – sprint, peddle.

So, find the interval training that works best for you and get at it! We've got fat to burn!

I'm looking for weight loss topics you'd like to know about. So, let me hear from you.

Keep at it – you can do this!

Last Call For Alcohol

I've got good new and I've got bad news. Everybody has heard about the infamous “beer belly.” The basic idea is that alcohol calories get turned to fat and goes right to your gut! Well, here's the good news, that simply is not true, nor does it get turned to fat a deposited anywhere else (at least not in substantial quantities). Only a very small percentage of the calories from alcoholic drinks are actually converted into that kind of fat! Great news, right? Well...not exactly.

While the calories aren't converted to fat, adult beverages have a really devastating affect on your body's ability to burn fat. Here's the geek-lite of what happens. Your body converts a tiny bit of the calories into fat. It pushes the rest of it on to the liver (cheers!) and the liver, using alcohol dehydrogenase (a very useful little enzyme), converts it into acetate (specifically into acetic acid, then acetate). What's acetate? Well, it's basically a fat and it gets delivered directly to your bloodstream.

At this point you may be saying, I thought you said alcohol mostly was converted into fat? But that's not what I said. I said it wasn't converted to the kind of fat that gets deposited on your belly or other places. It does get converted into acetate (a kind of fat) and delivered directly to the bloodstream. The acetate in your blood stream then becomes your body's main source of fuel. Not needing the stored fat for fuel, your body shuts down most of the system that handles that function (research suggest that fat metabolism can drop as much as 73%). The problem then is, it's not like a light switch, once it is off it takes it a while to get fired back up.

So, double damage. You loose a few hours of fat reduction while the alcohol is in your system and then you loose the hours it takes to get the system fired back up! Worse yet, try a few drinks after dinner, then just as the alcohol is working it's way out of your system, go to bed and become as physically dormant as you ever get. You could lose almost half a day's worth of fat burning!

And it's worse than that. Alcohol makes you hungry. A number of studies have show that people consuming alcohol are much more likely to increase their calorie intake. Worse yet, remember those fantastic fat burners? Some people call them muscles. Alcohol actually contributes to breaking them down. It increases a hormone called cortisol which is particularly good at taking out muscles and it decreases the production of testosterone which, of course, helps build muscles. Another double whammy!

So, am I saying we should all be on the wagon? No. Not at all. There is some evidence suggesting that a small amount of alcohol (and I mean small – like 150 calories total), will slightly increase your ability to lose weight. How much is 150? 1 beer - 5ish oz. of wine - and mixed drinks are all over the board. Something simple like a gin and tonic or a diet coke and whiskey, you can pretty much just count on one.

I'm looking for weight loss topics you'd like to know about. So, let me hear from you.

Keep at it – you can do this!