Did you read...?

November 1, 2002

I've been reading a lot lately, especially since I nixed the TV in

June. (I always ate from 8-12 while vegging out on mindless TV. Now

I go to sleep at nine and disconnected the cable. I thought I would

DIE more from loss of TV than loss of Doritos, but I am surprised to

find I love the serenity!!! I read now before I go to bed, sans

munchies idealistically)

This is what I've picked up ately which is motivating me to change my

habits little by little:

When a person loses weight without exercising, a full 30% of the

weight loss is bone and muscle, the remainder is fat. One of the

causes of yo-yo dieting is that when people lose weight in this

manner, 70% of the loss is fat, but when weight is subsequently

regained, 100% of the gain is fat. Therefore at the original

starting weight, the person's body composition has much more fat than

before. This means a lower metabolism (muscle burns calories at a

higher rate than fat, and muscle composition has decreased). So

where a person's pre-weight loss caloric intake may have been 3000

calories, once weight is lost and regained, it may take 3300 calories

to sustain the same weight. That's why people usually regain plus 20

pounds or so. And it goes on and on.

The best defense against bone loss, as Vitalady says, is calcium plus

vitamin D combined with weight bearing exercise. Especialy during the

weight loss phase!!!

In addition, it is extremely important to retain or build muscle

during weight loss with weight lifting or strength exercises. The

benefits are twofold. First, the weight loss you experience will

consist of more fat loss and less muscle loss. This means you will

continue to burn calories at a higher level and not experience as

much " the more I lose and the less I eat, the less I lose and the

less I can eat " problem.

The second benefit is that a person can actually increase their fat

burning rate by increasing their muscle mass. This is a permanent

change in meatabolism, not a temporary 2 hour jolt.

I personally, at this point after losing 130 pounds, will gain weight

on 1500 calories a day and 3-4 days of aerobic exercise (aerobic can

burn calories, but the metabolism is raised only temporarily and then

returns to normal. Think aerobic is more for oxegenationg the blood

via increased lung capacity, and burning fat temporarily due to

increased heart rate). At 1400 calories I stabilize.

I have the choice of either trying to cut my calories even further to

maybe 1000-1200 or to increase my muscle mass so I can eat 1400 and

burn more/lose weight.

(yes, it IS unfair! Why can my husband eat like a pig, not exercise

and stay at 165? Why am I eating so little and going to the gym and

actually slowly gaining. It's such a pisser! It caused me to go on a

prolonged plateau as described below. But unfortunately, that's the

hand I was dealt.)

I'm uncomfortable eating 1200 calories...I find I get hungry and

cheat and end up eating even more. But I can maintain 1400

comfortably.

A month ago I started weight lifting and strength training. I

finally broke a plateau after about 3 weeks of training and then

suddenly lost 9 pounds in the last two weeks.

It's important to know that building muscle requires doing fewer reps

and working the muscle to fatigue. This is done by doing the highest

weight you can where by the end of the third set you can't or can

barely do the last 2-3 reps. Many people make the mistake of doing

lower weights and more reps, and this is not efficient at building

muscle mass. Experts recommend three sets of 6-10.

So this method is helping me to go round two of my weight loss. I

lost 90 pounds the first year, stabilized for 8 months, and have now

lost another 40 in 4 months.

There's a wonderful book by Dr. Miiriam Nelsom " Strong Women Stay

Slim " available at most libraries.

Well, that's where I'm at.

By the way, just because I have a method and goals surely doesn't

mean I EVER do it perfectly. I have alreay eaten two mini

butterfingers and one blow pop today!! Aaargh!!! If knowledge

translated to deeds, I would have never gotten fat in the first

place. I believe overweight people are almost all nutrition experts,

and most can quote calorie contents of food of the top of their head!!

Vicki A.

P.S. Thanks Barb

November 1, 2002

In a message dated 11/1/02 4:01:59 PM Central Standard Time,

vickiang@... writes:

<< The second benefit is that a person can actually increase their fat

burning rate by increasing their muscle mass. This is a permanent

change in meatabolism, not a temporary 2 hour jolt. >>

---------------------------

I thought that it IS temporary, i.e. that in order to maintain muscle mass,

ya gotta keep exercising. Any weight lifter I ever knew " shrunk " immediately

within a very short time of stopping a regimen. So, if you lose muscle mass,

don't you then slow down the metabolism as well?

Carol A

November 2, 2002

Vicki, thanks for this post. It echoes my experience almost exactly --

I'm finding that the more muscle I develop, the better I burn fat. And

my fat-burning superpowers seem to have really picked up when I started

to beef up my weights routine. I started out with little two-pounders,

then threes, then fives...but when I moved to eights and tens, things

really started to change for me. Last week, I was doing upright rows

using 18-lb. weights, and was totally amazed at myself. I don't plan to

look like one of the ultra-muscled uber-babes on the covers of

bodybuilding mags, but I have to say that I do like having well-defined

shoulders, and a back that ripples with strength, rather than waves of

fat.

As for how much I eat, sometimes I am afraid that I am eating far too

much, but the number on that scale just keeps moving downward, slowly

but surely. I'm in the 1500 calorie range right now, and planning to

boost up to 1600 next week if I've lost again tomorrow. I attribute

most of this to my fitness activities.

Last week, one of my instructors called me over after the class, and

said that she thought that if I ever wanted a change in careers, I

should consider becoming an instructor myself! I was blown away by this

-- I mean, this woman should know from watching me that I have two, and

sometimes even three, left feet, and can never remember the transitions

and choreography of cardio classes! But she wasn't talking about that.

She said I could learn that easily enough -- the main thing was the

phenomenal change she'd seen in my body over the past year. She felt

that this could be an incredible inspiration to other over-40,

overweight women who might want to become more fit. I think I kind of

stuttered and stumbled when she suggested this, but once I'd taken it

away and thought about it for a bit, I felt really pleased, and not a

little proud of myself!

--

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RNY September 19, 2001

Dr. Freeman, Ottawa General Hospital

BMI then: 43.5

BMI now: 23.2

-145 lbs

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November 2, 2002