Re: How to lose weight (Part 2)

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 00-07-04 08:26:10 EDT, you write:

<<

Can anybody confirm or refute my analysis and conclusions? Are there any

more Illuminati on this list? >>

, that's a really impressive analysis...are you an engineer? :-> I

can't really comment on your conclusions but I would like to put in my two

cents' worth...I eat essentially the same number of carbs every day with not

too much variation in menus (except when I'm eating out) and I weigh myself

daily at the same time. However, I've noticed a day-to-day variation of one

to two pounds per day within a total range of about five pounds. I don't

worry about it too much any more unless I stick at the same weight for more

than three weeks. (I remember reading somewhere that it takes that long for

the body to settle into a weight permanently. Or maybe it was six weeks)

Which is probably the reason " the experts " tell you not to weigh every day.

Vicki

[Guest guest]

, the only confounding issue I would add here is the constant flux of

our fluid levels. Out of town last weekend, I " ate stupid, " consuming too

much salt and too many carbohydrates, with the result that I gained 4-1/2

pounds in two days. And I have lost 2-1/2 pounds since yesterday, and I'll

likely lose another 2 pounds before tomorrow, as my food intake adjusts to

normal. I have gained as much as 8-1/2 pounds in one day from excess

carbohydrate intake. As diabetics, our insulin levels can impact our fluid

levels powerfully - especially if we are on thiazides (water pills).

To counter this, many of us take body measurements as well as weigh daily to

get a more complete picture. But I believe your body fat device may be

accomplishing the same thing. We can also poke ourselves in the front of our

lower legs to see if we are retaining too much fluid.

Please do continue to share the details of your experiments as they proceed.

I am finding this quite fascinating. Here I am, pushing workouts with heavy

weights, reduced food intake, and lowering carbohydrate intake, while you

are having success doing aerobic workouts and light weights, eating a Food

Pyramid diet, and are contemplating upping your energy intake.

Susie

[Guest guest]

>Can anybody confirm or refute my analysis and conclusions? Are there any

>more Illuminati on this list?

>

Sounds great ! The one thing I would watch out for is increasing your

exercise too quickly. Especially with exercising every day injury can become

a real possiblity. For instance if you want to increase your cycling time do

so by just 5 minutes a week and walk for the other time until you can build

up to just cycling if that is what you like. I only say this because I see

so many people increase too fast get an injury and then not be able to

exercise for months.

The other thing I would advise is don't weigh yourself every day. Salt

intake and water weight can fluctuate quite a bit from week to week. The

scale can make you crazy and I think it is better to focus on body fat

composition rather than a number on the scale. Take all your body

measurements and see if you lose inches. Muscle does weigh a lot more than

fat and with your exercise program you will be gaining lots of muscles.

Hope this helps. Good luck...

[Guest guest]

Vicki

> , that's a really impressive analysis...

> are you an engineer? :->

I once was but I am now a technical translator and I suppose I still think

the same way - if I can't measure it, it probably doesn't exist :->

> However, I've noticed a day-to-day variation

> of one to two pounds per day within a total range

> of about five pounds. I don't worry about it too much

> any more unless I stick at the same weight for more

> than three weeks.

Well, it seemed to me that that 'day-to-day variation' (or lack of it) could

be telling me something so I decided to record it carefully and see if I

could find a correlation with some other variable. We spend so much time

taking BG readings and analyzing the results both short-term and long-term,

it seemed to me to be a pity not to do the same with body weight, which is

both cheap, easy and painless to measure. Unfortunately, I have not been

able to locate anything reliable about the known short-term structure of

body weight variation and how long it takes for excess energy input to be

turned into fat so I had to assume that it is all over by 'the morning

after'.

It did cross my mind to eat my meal sitting on my bathroom scale but I

decided to take it for granted that if I eat 500 grams of lunch then I am

going to weigh 500 grams more after I have done eating it. With exercising,

it is not quite so easy though. Íf I lose weight by exercising, how long

does it take before that shows? Fluids complicate the issue, of course (as

Susie pointed out). It is difficult to distinguish between water taken on as

liquid , water that is hidden in the food and water that is

produced as a consequence of chemical reactions inside the body. My wife put

an end to any ideas I had about putting weight sensors under the toilet

bowl.

Another aspect that is not clear to me is the relationship between body

temperature and energy expenditure. If I understand it correctly, the

carbohydrates, proteins and fat are 'burnt' during digestion (all

intra-molecular links are broken, either mechanically or chemically, and

that produces heat which represents the energy expended).

Our blood circulation equalizes our internal temperature and the excess heat

is dissipated by radiation from the skin or by evaporation of sweat. I have

read that our fat layers serve as insulation and that, in a room at 20 deg.C

(68 deg.F), the average skin temperature of a 'normally-fed' man is 33.9

deg.C (93 deg.F), of an 'over-fed' man is 33.3 deg.C (92 deg.F) and of an

'underfed' man is 34.6 deg. C (94.2 deg F) so the temperature difference

betwen the body and the exterior is greatest for a lean man who therefore

loses proportionally the most heat.

Both alcohol and meat are said to raise the surface temperature, the heat

produced by alcohol being due to dilation of the surface blood vessels

(reddened skin) and therefore transitory while the heat produced by eating

meat really does raise the internal temperature.

What I am getting at is that there is probably room for some more

instrumentation if we want to have close control of body weight as well as

blood glucose concentration. I am thinking of some kind of meter that can be

made to display the energy balance so that we will know objectively when we

need some more kcals and when we need to get rid of some but right now, not

what we should have done yesterday or last week. Perhaps it could be fitted

with some alarms that would go off when we get too much out of balance, show

the state of our energy storage and warn that it is time to skip that next

meal.

Some people will doubtless say that the human body is equipped with adequate

automatic regulation systems so that we don't need to bother with all that

but that is obviously not true, we do - over half the population (US and

German) is made up of overweighters. There must be some hormone that will

provide a real-time direct read-out of our energy balance if only someone

would develop a suitable implant to measure it. Naturally, it will have to

have a consumable item, like a test strip or pills to swallow, otherwise

there will be no way to make steady money with it.

It is not only our internal blood glucose control that has been made to

malfunction but our energy balance also. The human body is no longer

properly adapted to its environment and, on a zoological time scale, we are

therefore about to go the way of the dinosaurs.

> Which is probably the reason " the experts " tell you

> not to weigh every day.

My only live nutrition training was given to me by a dietician who has a

higher BMI than I have and admits that none of the standard advice works in

her case. Before I listen to any more nutrition " experts " , I want to see

their full-body photo. If they are not following, or have no success with,

their own advice then God bless them. The Bavarian Government website

includes upper-body pictures of all their nutritionists and some of them

look what I would call decidedly " chubby " .

Thanks for the comments, Vicki.

[Guest guest]

> Especially with exercising every day injury can

> become a real possiblity

Yes, I realize that. I take care to do a warm-up period first and then a

cooling-down period after and I monitor pulse and blood pressure at

intervals.

> The other thing I would advise is don't weigh

> yourself every day. Salt intake and water weight

> can fluctuate quite a bit from week to week. The

> scale can make you crazy and I think it is better

> to focus on body fat composition rather than a

> number on the scale.

But I went for so long weighing only once a week but now that I have hit the

brick wall, I am desperate to see even the smallest change. I try not to

take in any extra salt and I avoid salty food so where could the salt be

coming from? My problem is not with fluctuation but with scarcely any

fluctuation at all. What I am trying to do is to look at weight and body fat

at the same time.

> Take all your body measurements and see if

> you lose inches.

That is something that I don't do, so thanks for the tip - I will try it. Is

there a standardized method? When you say ALL my body measurements, I had to

blush - after all, there are some places where I cannot afford to lose too

much. Anyway, it is going to have to be in centimeters, which are easier to

lose than inches!

[Guest guest]

<< I try not to take in any extra salt and I avoid salty food so where could

the salt be coming from? >>

Salt is apparently not the cause. You have added carbohydrates to your diet,

so your insulin levels could be creeping up. Any change in your glucose

readings recently?

<< My problem is not with fluctuation but with scarcely any fluctuation at

all. What I am trying to do is to look at weight and body fat at the same

time. >>

Some people " shake things up " by making a temporary, drastic change to their

food intake. They might fast for a few days, or they might eat more food, or

they might eat foods that they haven't been eating. They believe in the " set

point " theory, and think we can break out of that rut this way.

<< Is there a standardized method? >>

Females tend to measure the chest, waist and hips. (Sometimes it helps to

take 2-3 of each measurement, and average them out.) Some do both an upper

hip and a lower (fullest part) hip. The Drs. Eades recommend measuring just

above the navel, even though that area is often larger than a bit lower

down, because that's what they feel is the center of the tummy-area fat

depots. You could also measure thigh, forearm, calf, etc., if you would be

encouraged by watching muscle growth. Since your fat percentage is

shrinking, you must be gaining LBM (lean body mass) - in other words,

muscles. We gals use " reference jeans " to prove this. You know ... a pair

made from really heavy denim that won't stretch, that are too tight for us.

Susie