Conventional exercise, like aerobics, jogging, marathon running are not the best exercises for weight loss. That type of exertion actually trains your body to make and store more fat.
When you exercise for long periods at a time, like most people do when they go to the gym, you push your body into its “fat burning zone.” Most fitness gurus tell you to get into your fat burning zone and stay there for as long as you can take it… but that’s a problem. You don’t want to burn fat during exercise.
Burning fat during exercise tells your body it needed the fat. This trains your body to make more fat for the next time you exercise.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t use exercise to lose fat. In fact, it’s one of the most effective tools you can use to hit and maintain your ideal weight. I use it myself and I recommend it to my patients.
However, if you want to burn fat and keep it off, exercise in short bursts of high intensity. This is the basis of my PACE program.
How does it work? It has to do with what your body uses for fuel during exercise. For the first two or three minutes of a workout you burn ATP, your body’s cellular energy source. Then you start burning carbs from muscle tissue. After about 20 minutes you switch to fat.
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Exercising for short periods will use these carbs during exercise. Then you start to burn fat after your workout – while you replenish the carbs.
This is known as your “after burn.”
Researchers at Laval University in Quebec divided participants into two groups: long-duration and repeated short-duration exercisers.2 They had the long-duration group cycle 45 minutes without interruption. The short-term interval group cycled in numerous short bursts of 15 to 90 seconds, while resting in between.
The long duration group burned twice as many calories, so you would assume they would burn more fat. However, when the researchers recorded their body composition measurements, the interval group showed the most fat loss.
In fact, the interval group lost 9 times more fat than the endurance group for every calorie burned. Doesn’t this defy the laws of physics? No, it just illustrates that exercise continues to affect your metabolism after you stop. The short bursts stimulated a greater after burn.
You might think burning fat during exercise makes sense. But your body will adapt to any routine you give it, including exercise. And if you burn fat during a workout and you do that workout consistently, your body will make sure you have new fat to burn each time you go to the gym.
After a while your body becomes efficient at building and preserving fat necessary for long aerobic sessions in preparation for the next endurance workout. In doing so, it sacrifices muscle and preserves fat.
So don’t bother trying to use this strategy to lose body fat. Your body will fight you in the effort and you can only do it by sacrificing lean tissue like muscle and internal organs.
Durational exercise tells your body to build fat. That’s how your body adapts to this kind of activity. Then, if you stop your cardio routine, you’ll put on even more fat very rapidly. This is common as your body gets into the routine of making the extra fat.
It’s an endless cycle. And eventually, everyone stops doing cardio. Many just get bored. But many find they have to stop cardio because this unnatural activity has caused degeneration of their joints.
And another point: If you persist through middle age and beyond, cardio accelerates some very negative effects of aging. It lowers testosterone and growth hormone, boosts destructive cortisol levels and robs you of muscle, bone and internal organ mass and strength.
But short-duration exercise – like PACE – actually increases levels of growth hormone. Researchers from Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England tested growth hormone levels in sprinters and endurance athletes. On average, the sprinters had 3 times as much growth hormone as the endurance runners.3
The biggest point they missed is this: The most important changes from exercise occur after, not during, the exercise period. The way you exercise affects your metabolism for several days. The important changes begin after you stop exercising.
This is good news. It means all you have to do during your exercise is stimulate the adaptive response you need – like reducing your need for fat or building reserve capacity in your heart. Your body will continue making the important changes afterwards – while you rest.
You don’t need to go to the gym to get started. Even if you’re out of shape you can start with a challenge that’s within your reach.
Let’s take walking as an example. This is the easiest way to get started if you’re de-conditioned or facing a physical challenge.
Here are a few points to consider: When you’re walking, you need to start at a comfortable pace and slowly speed up until you feel your heart rate increase. When you feel this extra bit of exertion, maintain it until you start to feel winded. Then stop and catch your breath. Take a few minutes to recover and focus on your breath until you’re breathing normally. This will be your first “set.”
It may look something like this: You put on a comfortable pair of walking shoes and some loose-fitting clothes. You start off on the sidewalk or on a quiet street. You could also go to the gym and work on a treadmill.
You warm up by walking at a normal, comfortable pace for 1 to 2 minutes. Then you slowly start to walk faster. As you increase your speed, pick a target and then maintain it. This is a little subjective, so you’re going to have to get a feel for it.
For example, when you start off walking at a normal pace, imagine your top walking speed and then work back from there. So tell yourself, “I’m going to walk normally and then increase my speed by about 15%.” Then hold that speed and maintain it for a few minutes.
If you don’t feel like that increase is giving you a challenge, go up a notch until you’ve increased your speed by 20 to 25%. Then hold that speed and maintain it for a few minutes.
This is how you gauge your exertion level. You know you’re getting close when you feel your heart rate go up. And when you feel this extra exertion, look at your watch and see how long you can sustain it. If you can do it for 2 to 3 minutes, great. If not, it doesn’t matter. Just follow this pattern.
After you’ve challenged yourself for a few minutes, stop and rest. Ideally, you should feel winded. You should be breathing heavier than you usually do and you should feel your heart beating faster. Now begin your recovery period. Allow your heart rate and breath to return to normal.
When you’ve completed your first set, try another. At this point, repeat your first set without increasing your intensity. If you want to ramp up the challenge, increase the amount of time you walk at a faster speed.
By walking and first gauging your exertion capacity, you can do a productive PACE routine at your own level. It doesn’t matter how quickly you can walk. Even if your top exertion speed is just above your normal walking speed, you can give yourself enough of a challenge to expand your lung volume and build reserve capacity in your heart.
This gradual build up in cardio-pulmonary power will get you to higher levels and extend your endurance. Little by little, you’ll become more and more conditioned and better able to handle more intense challenges.
When you feel you’ve improved your exercise capacity - or if you want to start with something more challenging than walking - use this same formula with swimming or biking. Both give you a good heart and lung workout.
Swimming is helpful if you have a disability as the water’s buoyancy will take the strain off your joints and make it easier to move. Biking is also very effective for de-conditioned beginners and you have the option of doing it outside or in the gym.
Like walking, take it slow and evaluate your exertion level. Don’t strain yourself. Take small, deliberate steps and stay with your program. Within the first week, you’ll start to see progress.
By gently encouraging your heart and lungs to maximize their output, you’ll be able to improve right away. What’s more, you’ll be able to successfully start a productive PACE routine, no matter what your age, condition or personal history.
As you progress, do less walking and put more focus on swimming and biking. And when you feel ready, try some of the basic routines in your PACE book. Once you’ve made headway with your heart and lungs you’ll be able to increase your challenge and activate your native fat burner.
With a sufficient challenge, you’ll start to burn fat after your PACE routine. This fat burning will last as long as 16 to 24 hours after you finish. But your first goal will be to build cardio-pulmonary power by establishing a PACE routine that accommodates your current situation.
This in itself is a major victory. A lot of folks can’t get past the false assumption that they’ll never be able to do it. With PACE, you never have to make excuses, as you can always find a routine that perfectly matches your current level.
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Weight and Middle Age Women.....Consequences!
LONDON - Being fat in middle age may slash women's chances of making it to their golden years in good health by almost 80 per cent, a new study says.
American researchers observed more than 17,000 female nurses with an average age of 50 in the U.S. All of the women were healthy when the study began in 1976. Researchers then monitored the women's weight, along with other health changes, every two years until 2000.
For every one-point increase in their Body Mass Index, women had a 12 per cent lower chance of surviving to age 70 in good health when compared to thin women. Researchers defined "healthy survival" as not only being free of chronic disease, but having enough mental and physical ability to perform daily tasks like grocery shopping, vacuuming or walking up a flight of stairs.
Experts consider people with a BMI between 19-25 to be healthy, while those from 25 to 30 are considered overweight and those over 30 are obese.
For every 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) gained since age 18, women's odds of surviving past 70 dropped 5 per cent, researchers found. Women who were already overweight at age 18 and then gained more than 10 kilograms later in life only had about a 20 per cent chance of surviving to age 70 in good health. The most commonly reported diseases were cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
The study was published online Wednesday in the medical journal, BMJ. It was paid for by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center.
"People may think they can safely gain weight through their 20s, 30s and 40s, but there is no evidence that gaining weight is natural," said Aviva Must, professor and chair of the public health and community medicine department at Tufts University School of Medicine. Must was not linked to the study. "These results suggest that small weight gains are not innocuous," she said.
A British study published earlier this year found people with a BMI from 30 to 35 die about three years earlier than normal while those who were morbidly fat, with a BMI above 40, die about a decade earlier.
Other studies have found similar trends in men. Qi Sun, a research associate at Harvard University and one of the study authors, said men were probably equally at risk, since fat acts largely the same way in both genders.
Experts said the findings underlined the importance of preventing obesity in the first place.
"If you are on the obesity track early in life, it could get very dangerous by the time you are middle-aged," said Stephan Rossner, an obesity expert at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. He said it was uncertain if people could regain the health benefits of being thin if they lost weight later in life.
While average life spans have increased in recent years with scientific advances in treating illness, experts warned the obesity epidemic could ultimately undo those gains.
"We know we're extending life span, but we don't know if we're extending healthy survival," Must said. "If one is going to spend the last three decades of one's life with compromised physical and mental function, that may not be the picture of aging we have when we think of living into our 90s."
American researchers observed more than 17,000 female nurses with an average age of 50 in the U.S. All of the women were healthy when the study began in 1976. Researchers then monitored the women's weight, along with other health changes, every two years until 2000.
For every one-point increase in their Body Mass Index, women had a 12 per cent lower chance of surviving to age 70 in good health when compared to thin women. Researchers defined "healthy survival" as not only being free of chronic disease, but having enough mental and physical ability to perform daily tasks like grocery shopping, vacuuming or walking up a flight of stairs.
Experts consider people with a BMI between 19-25 to be healthy, while those from 25 to 30 are considered overweight and those over 30 are obese.
For every 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) gained since age 18, women's odds of surviving past 70 dropped 5 per cent, researchers found. Women who were already overweight at age 18 and then gained more than 10 kilograms later in life only had about a 20 per cent chance of surviving to age 70 in good health. The most commonly reported diseases were cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
The study was published online Wednesday in the medical journal, BMJ. It was paid for by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center.
"People may think they can safely gain weight through their 20s, 30s and 40s, but there is no evidence that gaining weight is natural," said Aviva Must, professor and chair of the public health and community medicine department at Tufts University School of Medicine. Must was not linked to the study. "These results suggest that small weight gains are not innocuous," she said.
A British study published earlier this year found people with a BMI from 30 to 35 die about three years earlier than normal while those who were morbidly fat, with a BMI above 40, die about a decade earlier.
Other studies have found similar trends in men. Qi Sun, a research associate at Harvard University and one of the study authors, said men were probably equally at risk, since fat acts largely the same way in both genders.
Experts said the findings underlined the importance of preventing obesity in the first place.
"If you are on the obesity track early in life, it could get very dangerous by the time you are middle-aged," said Stephan Rossner, an obesity expert at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. He said it was uncertain if people could regain the health benefits of being thin if they lost weight later in life.
While average life spans have increased in recent years with scientific advances in treating illness, experts warned the obesity epidemic could ultimately undo those gains.
"We know we're extending life span, but we don't know if we're extending healthy survival," Must said. "If one is going to spend the last three decades of one's life with compromised physical and mental function, that may not be the picture of aging we have when we think of living into our 90s."
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Corn Chowder Poblano by the Mayo Clinic
Dietitian's tip:
Dark green poblanos take on a smoky flavor when roasted. That smokiness makes them a perfect contrast for the sweet corn flavor of this filling main course.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 poblano or Anaheim chilies, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 or 3 Yukon gold or red-skinned potatoes, about 1 pound total weight, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 red bell pepper (capsicum), seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 4 ears corn) or frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cups vegetable stock or broth
1 cup 1 percent low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (fresh coriander)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Directions
Preheat a gas grill or broiler (grill). Position the cooking rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.
Arrange the chilies skin-side down on the grill rack, or skin-side up on a broiler pan lined with aluminum foil. Grill or broil until the skins begin to blacken, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let steam until the skins loosen, about 10 minutes. Peel the chilies, discarding the blackened skin, and chop coarsely. Set aside.
Put the potatoes in a saucepan, add water to cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to a small bowl. With a potato masher, partially mash the potatoes and set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper and saute until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer. Stir in the roasted chilies and the partially mashed potatoes. Add the corn, vegetable stock, milk, pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer uncovered until the soup thickens, 25 to 30 minutes.
Ladle into warmed bowls and sprinkle with the cilantro and oregano. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Analysis(per serving) Serving size: About 2 1/4 cups
Calories 301 Cholesterol 3 mg
Protein 9 g Sodium 527 mg
Carbohydrate 52 g Fiber 4 g
Total fat 9 g Potassium 1,052 mg
Saturated fat 1 g Calcium 110 mg
Monounsaturated fat 6 g
Dark green poblanos take on a smoky flavor when roasted. That smokiness makes them a perfect contrast for the sweet corn flavor of this filling main course.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 poblano or Anaheim chilies, halved lengthwise and seeded
2 or 3 Yukon gold or red-skinned potatoes, about 1 pound total weight, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 red bell pepper (capsicum), seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 4 ears corn) or frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cups vegetable stock or broth
1 cup 1 percent low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (fresh coriander)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Directions
Preheat a gas grill or broiler (grill). Position the cooking rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.
Arrange the chilies skin-side down on the grill rack, or skin-side up on a broiler pan lined with aluminum foil. Grill or broil until the skins begin to blacken, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let steam until the skins loosen, about 10 minutes. Peel the chilies, discarding the blackened skin, and chop coarsely. Set aside.
Put the potatoes in a saucepan, add water to cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to a small bowl. With a potato masher, partially mash the potatoes and set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper and saute until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer. Stir in the roasted chilies and the partially mashed potatoes. Add the corn, vegetable stock, milk, pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer uncovered until the soup thickens, 25 to 30 minutes.
Ladle into warmed bowls and sprinkle with the cilantro and oregano. Serve immediately.
Nutritional Analysis(per serving) Serving size: About 2 1/4 cups
Calories 301 Cholesterol 3 mg
Protein 9 g Sodium 527 mg
Carbohydrate 52 g Fiber 4 g
Total fat 9 g Potassium 1,052 mg
Saturated fat 1 g Calcium 110 mg
Monounsaturated fat 6 g
Friday, September 4, 2009
More Protein Can Help with Weight Loss
In two words I’ll show you how to burn fat, build muscle and put an end to overeating.
More protein.
Protein gives you the feeling that you’re full, more so than carbs or fat. Protein boosts your sensitivity to a hormone called leptin. This hormone tells your brain that you’re full. As a result, you feel satisfied. Overeating stops.
Protein is important for both losing weight and gaining muscle. A very revealing study makes a point I always try to get across to my patients: People who increased their protein intake, lost fat and gained muscle.1
In fact, the people who ate a high-protein diet lost seven pounds in six weeks. The group who followed a standard diet didn’t lose any weight. And, the high-protein group simultaneously gained twice as much muscle.
Here’s the good news… Foods that are protein rich are the best tasting. Meat and eggs are your best sources. If possible, eat grass-fed beef. The flavor is great and it’s far better for you because it has the right kinds of fats. If you eat commercial beef, find lean cuts or trim the fat yourself.
Eggs are the perfect food. I eat them everyday. They are the “gold standard” by which we rate all other protein. This means that all of the amino acids are there in the ratios you need in one place. For best results, eat eggs that come from free-range chickens.
Health “experts” usually recommend 50 to 60 grams of protein a day. But Americans in general eat far too little protein. To reduce your appetite – and lose weight – try one gram of protein for every pound of lean muscle.
If you weigh 180 pounds, and have 20 percent body fat, you have 144 pounds of lean muscle mass. So shoot for 144 grams of protein a day. If you don’t know your body fat percentage, the average man can estimate between 15 to 18 percent and women 18 to 22 percent.
If you’re not getting enough protein, supplementing with protein powder can help. A protein shake especially after working out is a reliable way to boost your protein intake. Make sure the powder is pure protein. It should have no more than a few grams of carbs.
Here’s another option. I call it the “forgotten fat burner.” Every doctor has this in his arsenal but few understand or know about its fat-burning ability.
It works for both men and women and always gets results. I’ve never seen it fail. My friend and colleague Dr. Jonathon Wright tried it himself and lost 12 pounds in three weeks.
He calls it his “starvation-free and gym-free weight loss secret.”
He’s right. This little-known strategy has nothing to do with dieting or exercising. And it doesn’t miss.
Human chorionic gonadotrophin or HCG was written up in the medical journals back in the 1950s and 1960s as a treatment for obesity. Today you don’t hear a word about it. That should hardly surprise you. If it can’t be turned into a drug, it gets dropped like a hot potato. And that’s what happened with this “forgotten fat burner.”
You can find the details in a report by Dr. Wright. He gives you the inside story and what to do if you want to try it yourself.
It’s worth a read. I recommend it.
More protein.
Protein gives you the feeling that you’re full, more so than carbs or fat. Protein boosts your sensitivity to a hormone called leptin. This hormone tells your brain that you’re full. As a result, you feel satisfied. Overeating stops.
Protein is important for both losing weight and gaining muscle. A very revealing study makes a point I always try to get across to my patients: People who increased their protein intake, lost fat and gained muscle.1
In fact, the people who ate a high-protein diet lost seven pounds in six weeks. The group who followed a standard diet didn’t lose any weight. And, the high-protein group simultaneously gained twice as much muscle.
Here’s the good news… Foods that are protein rich are the best tasting. Meat and eggs are your best sources. If possible, eat grass-fed beef. The flavor is great and it’s far better for you because it has the right kinds of fats. If you eat commercial beef, find lean cuts or trim the fat yourself.
Eggs are the perfect food. I eat them everyday. They are the “gold standard” by which we rate all other protein. This means that all of the amino acids are there in the ratios you need in one place. For best results, eat eggs that come from free-range chickens.
Health “experts” usually recommend 50 to 60 grams of protein a day. But Americans in general eat far too little protein. To reduce your appetite – and lose weight – try one gram of protein for every pound of lean muscle.
If you weigh 180 pounds, and have 20 percent body fat, you have 144 pounds of lean muscle mass. So shoot for 144 grams of protein a day. If you don’t know your body fat percentage, the average man can estimate between 15 to 18 percent and women 18 to 22 percent.
If you’re not getting enough protein, supplementing with protein powder can help. A protein shake especially after working out is a reliable way to boost your protein intake. Make sure the powder is pure protein. It should have no more than a few grams of carbs.
Here’s another option. I call it the “forgotten fat burner.” Every doctor has this in his arsenal but few understand or know about its fat-burning ability.
It works for both men and women and always gets results. I’ve never seen it fail. My friend and colleague Dr. Jonathon Wright tried it himself and lost 12 pounds in three weeks.
He calls it his “starvation-free and gym-free weight loss secret.”
He’s right. This little-known strategy has nothing to do with dieting or exercising. And it doesn’t miss.
Human chorionic gonadotrophin or HCG was written up in the medical journals back in the 1950s and 1960s as a treatment for obesity. Today you don’t hear a word about it. That should hardly surprise you. If it can’t be turned into a drug, it gets dropped like a hot potato. And that’s what happened with this “forgotten fat burner.”
You can find the details in a report by Dr. Wright. He gives you the inside story and what to do if you want to try it yourself.
It’s worth a read. I recommend it.
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