At age 40, I was probably in the best physical shape of my adult life. What I mean by that is, that I was consciously working at it and not letting my great family genetics carry the load. I woke up two days after 9/11, the baby barely two, and I knew this was it for me. I went and bought a treadmill, got the weights dusted off and proceeded to train. I was going to lose about 5 pounds, and get supremely cut. Uh-huh. I was looking good.
By now you must be wondering, ”Has Nee lost her mind, is she going to have a love fest with herself and her physique?” Nah. Just going to give some pointers about doing it right…because I have seen enough misinformation out there and, IT.TICKS. ME. OFF.
My sister is currently taking a weight loss product that is the only one approved by the FDA. I don’t advertise for them. My sister is a walker. Apparently, the stuff comes with a nutrition plan and she is religious about it. She’s dropping weight reasonably quickly. Go, Annie, go! Sort of.
I am not a supplement person. I believe that doing it naturally is the best way.
Anyhow, the website of the product my sister is using has a support forum that I think is doing a disservice to it’s clients. There are registered dieticians who answer questions and the folks cheer each other for support. But I noticed some things that were unacceptable, at least to me. I’ll get to that.
As a personal trainer, health educator and consultant, I have a pretty good working knowledge of nutrition and exercise and how to give someone the body they want…I am currently working on “the self!” In the last year, with many changes taking place, I gained some weight and literally quit working out at all. My nutrition didn’t change, but everything else did. Alas, I have hired a trainer to work with because I could not motivate myself. (Boo-hiss!)
Everyone knows the basics to weight loss…Make better food choices, eat less and DO exercise. As a trainer, I believe there are a few things people should know about themselves before they embark on using supplements, surgeries or fad diets.
RMR
Do you know what your resting metabolic rate is? The resting metabolic rate is that amount of calories one needs to literally just breathe. There are plenty of electronic calculators out there to give you an idea…but the best way is to pay money for the test to be done officially. I did it because I had gained 8 pounds in five months and there were no other pathophysiologic causes other than stress. In a fasting state, one is hooked up to a heart rate monitor, has a mask on their face. One must be completely still and as relaxed as possible breathing in/out through the mouth only. Your nose is pinched because of the way the mask is made, so you get some help. This may go on for as little as 15 minutes or longer depending on how easy it is for one to remain still and breathe right. The tech said mine was picture perfect. Unfortunately, for someone my age, the RMR should be at around 1200 Kcals or better just to take up space…mine, sadly was not. (groan!!) No matter, now I knew that in relation to that, I could exercise and raise that, and eventually boost my metabolism.
I mention that my nutrition didn’t change. It did not. What changed was that I was not eating regularly and stopped exercising. So, when I was not being good about consuming, the body would go into survival mode and hold onto the fat for it’s energy, thus making it impossible to maintain my old weight. Scratching your head and thinking, ”WTF is survival mode, I’m eating for crying out loud and getting healthier with every bite…” Well, I’ll tell you.
We nutrition and exercise peeps learn about this thing called the Krebs cycle. This is the ATP or energy converting mechanism in your body. Glucose is broken down as can be proteins and fats for energy. In exercise the body typically has enough energy (aka glycogen stores) for you to bust hump for 20 minutes. If you don’t have that, and you keep on exercising, the body begins to eat your muscle and then your fat. Yep, it’s true, the body doesn’t always live off the fat of the land, first. I know, curse that, hey? So, when your metabolism slows and you quit eating decent meals in a regulatory fashion…your body says, “Hey dumbasss! You aren’t feeding me right, and now look what I’m gonna do for you.” You pork out, plain and simple.
Aw c’mon, you say…Well, your body needs the right fuel to efficiently burn the calories you take in. If it’s not getting that, then the survival mode is turned on.
The easiest example of this would be the many women who skip lunch to exercise. They spend thirty or forty minutes on a stair master and feel great. When they are done, they don’t eat. Not very smart. What they have done by not having a snack before the exercise is to use the glycogen stores for energy within twenty minutes. Their bodies needed to restore the energy and they ignored it. Then, they are robbing themselves of muscle tissue because fat is the last to be utilized for energy for the remaining time. If they choose not to eat a lunch, then they have not replenished their energy stores. How many times have you heard that 5-6 meals a day or 3 meals with decent snacks is the way to feed your metabolism and burn the calories? C’mon, you know you have heard at least one man or woman say this ,” I’ve worked out everyday and cut back my eating, but I’m still fat.” That is why.
MAP
The next thing is a Metabolic Assessment Profile.A metabolic assessment profile is something that will measure at what point during exercise you begin to burn carbohydrates and fat. No fasting this time! You’re gonna be taxed physically. You will wear a Heart rate monitor, and the mask again. And this time you will be on a treadmill, and breathing in/out of your mouth again. The idea is to get you in to a zone with the speed of the treadmill and some inclines. Eventually, you will find out what your anaerobic threshold is (anaerobic meaning without oxygen)…this is heart rate number that tells you your body is about to burn that fat!! Woo-hoo! I now know that in order to lower my body fat percentage and increase lean body mass muscle tissue) that I have to keep my heart rate up around 175 for a good 30 minutes if I want to lean out. And do it every day!! In six weeks I have gained two pounds of lean body mass and dropped my BFP. Again , there are many places that can automatically give you these numbers by plugging weight, height, etc. into a formula. I know from using said formulas before that I should probably be mooing in the pasture because it told me that at 137 beats per minute I was burning fat!! NOT. I was only in what is known as zone two…carb-burning.
The Forum
I was ticked because in this particular forum, a woman said she hardly ate, was only taking in 1200 Kcals a day and did 30k steps on a treadmill. It is possible that this woman was lying, but if she wasn’t, there is no way that a diet pill and that amount of caloric intake that her body could NOT go into survival mode. The number of steps to walk a mile is roughly 2200. No one explained to her what was happening to her body and that she really should consume more and walk less. She didn’t say if she lost weight, and I am assuming she didn’t. It is the lean body mass after all that raises the metabolic rate to burn calories and keeps you mobile. No need to lose it any sooner as it depletes itself with age! Right now, according to the formulas that are used to calculate body age, I have improved from a 45 yo (I’m 43)physical age, to 36!! And I am just a couple of points away from my VO2 max/ anaerobic threshold category of “elite”. Numbers don’t really mean much, but I do get to see my improvements. An actual goal I have would be to have a resting heart rate of 40. That would mean that my heart and it’s oxygenating abilities would really be kick asss! (Lance Armstrong, better be looking in the rearview!!)
The bottom line is that the more information you have, the more tools you can wield to make becoming fit and trim a lifestyle choice that is an easy one. It is not hard to eat well and exercise. Once ya got the body, the maintenance can be simple. if it changes or slows, then you will know how to kick it up a notch.
Everyone has different body types. It is easier than you think to kick your lazy asss, er, um, metabolism up a notch.
So let’s think about this, now.
Exercise is good. We need to have energy to exercise. We need to replace the expended energy, too. Then our bodies don’t shift into survival mode. Exercise and then eat a good snack within thirty minutes. Be routine if you can. And regular with your meals. Make smart choices. Find an activity or exercise that you like, so you don’t dread getting out there and doing it. The more lean body mass, the more efficiently your body will burn the calories you consume. You’ll also go from feeling slug-like to a super man or woman state. The endorphins and serotonins really take your state of mind up and out of the “I hate my body” doldrums…not to mention you’ll look better, maybe lower the ‘ol Triglycerides, cholesterol and BP. Woo-hoo!!
If anybody would like to get these kinds of fitness measures, go to the local gym and inquire. It is spendy, but well worth it to track your progress.
Have I inspired you, yet? Personal individual counseling is available! J