Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle - Part 4

If you have not read parts 1 – 3 do so now.  Now that we understand that the three keys to losing bodyfat are: Regular Resistance Training; High Intensity Interval Training, and Managing food and beverage intake let’s talk about how you really get a handle on doing all three!    First, you need to establish a baseline to measure progress against which means assessing your current weight and percentage of body fat.   There are many effective ways to assess body composition (how much of you is fat and how much is lean tissue) but one of the simplest ways is to take photos in form fitting clothing or underwear from the front, side and rear AND doing circumference measurements with a basic tape measure in the following areas:

Around your neck

Around your shoulders at the widest point

Chest at largest point

Abdomen at largest point

Abdomen at smallest point

Hips at largest point

Thigh at largest point

Calf at largest point

Bicep (arm flexed but not pumped at largest point)

Forearm at largest point

Between the photos and measurements you can regularly (once per month is good) retake photos and measurements and you will know right away if you are on the right track.    You know where your body stores fat and several of the measurements are key for judging if you are losing fat depending on your individual pattern of fat storage (males tend to store more in abdomen and woman in hips but it is pretty obvious if you just look at your pictures!).

The next key is adopting some method to get a handle on your food and beverage intake and there are several free apps that can help you track food intake including MyFitnessPal.

Third you need to be able to measure your progress on the activity side of the equation by using a device to monitor exercise intensity and calorie expenditure and there are several good options.   My favorite devices are ones that include heart rate monitoring and not just movement tracking because during your workouts your heart rate response tells the whole story!     During your HIIT training sessions you want to elevate your heart rate between 85 – 100% of your maximum heart rate for 10 – 15 minutes of a half hour sessions.   You can estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220, but stay tuned for another blog article describing how to perform an easy test to get a really accurate estimate of your maximum heart rate.

Fourth you need to keep a record of your resistance training exercises so that you can see whether you are making progress.   If you are not familiar with proper resistance training technique and exercises we highly suggest you find a trainer and invest in some personal training to learn proper form and resistance levels so you get the most from your resistance training. If you follow these guidelines and record your exercise sessions and food and beverage intake you will find that becoming a lean, mean fighting machine is not as hard as you think!

Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle Part 3

If you have not read parts 1 and 2 please do so first!  So now that we understand that the most important factor in controlling bodyweight is to manage the energy you use daily with the energy you take in from food and beverages the next step is understanding the crucial difference between losing fat and losing weight.  In the beginning of any new diet there is typically a significant loss of water weight, and while comforting this is a temporary phenomenon and not permanent!   Also it is important to understand that real goal should be reducing levels of bodyfat while maintaining or actually increasing muscle mass.  The reason is that muscle and fat are not the same when it comes to how you look and feel. Fat is nothing more than stored energy and fat tissue takes up much more space than muscle or other lean tissue mass.  Take a look at the picture below to get a sense of how different 5lbs of muscle looks compared to 5lbs of fat.

As you can see muscle is a much denser and firmer material than fat.   The practical implication is that if you were to lose 5lbs of fat and gain 5lbs of muscle although the scale would not change at all – you (and everyone you know) would notice a big improvement in your appearance.   You would actually look smaller and tighter.  In addition because muscle burns significantly more calories than fat while at rest your resting metabolic rate would be increased meaning you are burning more calories ALL the time — not just during exercise.

So the next question becomes “how do I lose fat and build or maintain muscle mass at the same time?”   There are three keys:

Regular resistance training aka weight lifting – which stimulates your body to maintain or build muscle and bone tissue.

High Intensity Interval Training – which maximizes calorie burn both during AND after the workout

Managing food and beverage intake - to insure your calorie intake is slightly below your total calorie output – to insure your body has a reason to use fat (stored energy).

While each of these components can be effective by themselves — when they are combined there is much greater short and long term response.  Take any of the three components out and you will limit your results.

Put another way reducing calorie intake will initially result in greater fat loss than exercise for people who are beginning to exercise, BUT overtime your body will ALWAYS slow-down in response to any sustained drop in calorie intake.   Exercise on the other hand is just the opposite — initially for an unfit person exercise makes a very small contribution to any weight loss because the person’s exercise capacity is low.  However, overtime a person’s exercise capacity will improve.    So all forms of diet become less effective over time while exercise becomes more effective.

The key is addressing diet and exercise out of the gate and focusing on HIIT and Resistance Training in your exercise programming while watching your food and beverage intake!

Stay tuned for the final part of this article next week!

Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle Part 2

If you have not seen part 1 take a moment to review it.  So what is the key to weight loss anyway?   Although there is a lot of press out there stating that “Calories do not count” and “just focus on eating healthy” the fact is that regulation of bodyweight and bodyfat (two different things!) are primarily controlled by the balance of energy you take in from food and beverages (calories) and the energy you use to maintain all your cells and fuel all movement.    So why are people (some very bright researchers as well) saying that calories don’t count?

First because a lot of research that is quoted was done WITHOUT controlling calories taken in and using participant recall to estimate calories taken in.  Here is the problem with this – we are lousy at estimating calories taken in.   In fact even trained dieticians frequently underestimate their calorie intake by 40%!  Imagine running a business and underestimating your bills by 40%!  In literally every case when food intake is precisely controlled or measured through a process using “doubly labeled water” (which can be used to measure food intake with 100% accuracy without having to measure and provide food) people do in fact lose weight based on calories in and calories out!

Second because there is confusion about a process that is built into every human being called “Metabolic Adaptation”.    Simply put your body adjusts to any prolonged reduction in calorie intake (regardless of the type of diet!) by reducing resting metabolic rate.    In addition if the reduction in calorie intake is really large your level of spontaneous physical movement will be reduced.  This process is based on hundreds of thousands of years of humans living in a world where adequate food intake was NOT guaranteed and in fact people frequently were forced to not eat for prolonged periods of time.  So the ability to reduce the body’s need for energy was a fundamental survival mechanism encoded in all our genes!

For example if you take a group of people of about the same height, weight, age, sex and activity level who require 2,000 calories per day to maintain their current bodyweight and drop their calorie intake to say 1,500 calories per day all of them will lose weight/fat initially.    However within a 2 – 3 month span all weight/fat loss will cease even if they continue to eat exactly 1,500 calories per day and maintain the same physical movement profile because as you lose weight/fat the body ALWAYS responds by lowering resting metabolic rate.    So unless you INCREASE physical activity ALL DIETS become less effective over time regardless of how “healthy” they are!

Stay tuned for part 3 and learn the difference between weight loss and fat loss!

Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle Part 1

Have you tried to lose weight and failed? If so, you are not alone. 95% of the people who try to lose weight fail to reach their goal, and even less are actually able to maintain their weight loss once they achieve their goal. Obesity and the associated disease diabetes are increasing exponentially in the America despite the many published health warnings about the health risks associated with being overweight.

Why are people unable to lose weight? People are hopelessly confused about the factors controlling bodyweight regulation. This is not surprising when you understand that every single program, book, and guideline developed by various diet “experts”, including our own government, lacks crucial information, contains misinformation, or contains myths. The list of experts and programs seems endless: Dr. Atkins, Dr. Andrew Weil, The Pritikin Diet, Sugar Busters, Protein Power, Dr. Dean Ornish, the Paleo Diet, the Ketogenic Diet, and all the rest. To make matters worse much of the “information” from different experts seems to be completely contradictory.

Take this short True/False quiz to see how much you really understand about controlling your weight and bodyfat levels.

Eating a low fat diet is the key to losing weight
Eating a low carbohydrate diet is the key to losing weight
Most obese people have a slow metabolism
Obesity is a genetic disorder
Some people have a slow metabolism and some people have a fast metabolism
Exercise is not really effective for weight loss
You can eat all you want and lose weight if you do not eat carbohydrates
Low carbohydrate diets are unhealthy
If you eat foods in the right combinations you will lose weight
The key to weight loss is eating healthy not counting calories
Americans are eating more fat than ever before
Americans are eating less fat than ever before

Sound familiar? It should. All these statements have been made by various “experts”. Unfortunately, all but the last one is FALSE. If you want to control bodyweight you have to understand ALL the factors that govern bodyweight regulation and how they apply specifically to you. Stay tuned for part 2 of this article to learn more!