I want to link to a blog post from Nick Tumminello in regards to The PERFECT Meal - What to Eat to Lose Fat & Burn Muscle. (click on the link to go to his article) He does of a great job of talking about the simplicity our diet plans should contain to stay healthy. These are many of the same points I have shared in this blog over the last few years.
I agree 99.9% with everything he had to share, the only thing we might disagree on is: Nick says: "Instead of eating three large meals (breakfast, lunch dinner), cut those in half and eat 4-6 smaller meals." I don't think it matters much as long as your total calorie count for the day is the same whether it is 3 large or 4-6 smaller meals (but I could be wrong). It is such a great summary article and the 0.1% is rather trivial, so I wanted to bring it here so others can hear the simple message of Eat a Complimentary Meal.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
There has been some growing research and understanding of ways to help reduce stress and improving our health can be associated with the mindset we take with a negative situation. People typically will see a problem with either a “fixed mindset” or a “growth mindset”.
Those with a fixed mindset will avoid challenges due to the failure risk associated with the situation. They are threatened by negative feedback. Someone with a fixed mindset often times has developed learned helplessness; they see problems as outside their control and that a negative experience will just lead to more negative experiences no matter what they do. They see these negative events as permanent ("it will never change"), personal ("it's my fault"), and pervasive ("I can't do anything correctly").
Those that take on a situation with a growth mindset will accept the challenge in spite of the failure that might follow. They understand that failure is a necessary part of change and that while there may be temporary set-backs; these will lead to success later. The growth mindset individual learns to appreciate criticism because it will make them better in the long term. Growth mindset is associated with a more optimistic explanatory model for negative events. They believe bad events are temporary and not permanent (“this is a temporary set-back”), these events are not because of a personal fault but rather an outside cause (“unfortunate bad luck caused this”), and the event also can be compartmentalized and not generalized (“I might struggle in this area, but that is because I’m more gifted in all these other things”).
Those of us with a more fixed mindset to problems and have a pessimistic view of them will have increased stress in our lives, which can lead to significant health problems. The good news is our mindsets can be changed and transformed just like our bodies can with exercise. We can recognize signs of learned helplessness (permanent, personal, and pervasive) and change our thoughts to be more optimistic. With practice this will become a more natural way of coping with negative experiences and stress levels will be reduced and our overall health will drastically improve. Take steps to “exercise” on having a more growth mindset.
Those with a fixed mindset will avoid challenges due to the failure risk associated with the situation. They are threatened by negative feedback. Someone with a fixed mindset often times has developed learned helplessness; they see problems as outside their control and that a negative experience will just lead to more negative experiences no matter what they do. They see these negative events as permanent ("it will never change"), personal ("it's my fault"), and pervasive ("I can't do anything correctly").
Those that take on a situation with a growth mindset will accept the challenge in spite of the failure that might follow. They understand that failure is a necessary part of change and that while there may be temporary set-backs; these will lead to success later. The growth mindset individual learns to appreciate criticism because it will make them better in the long term. Growth mindset is associated with a more optimistic explanatory model for negative events. They believe bad events are temporary and not permanent (“this is a temporary set-back”), these events are not because of a personal fault but rather an outside cause (“unfortunate bad luck caused this”), and the event also can be compartmentalized and not generalized (“I might struggle in this area, but that is because I’m more gifted in all these other things”).
Those of us with a more fixed mindset to problems and have a pessimistic view of them will have increased stress in our lives, which can lead to significant health problems. The good news is our mindsets can be changed and transformed just like our bodies can with exercise. We can recognize signs of learned helplessness (permanent, personal, and pervasive) and change our thoughts to be more optimistic. With practice this will become a more natural way of coping with negative experiences and stress levels will be reduced and our overall health will drastically improve. Take steps to “exercise” on having a more growth mindset.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Metabolism Part 3 of 3
Last week we discussed the control we have on basal metabolic rate. This week we will look at the other things you have control over and a few things you don’t have control of when it comes to your metabolic rate.
We all know increased activity means burning more calories. Exercising with increased intensity and time we will burn more calories, which can help reduce our weight. Some caution with long slow cardio sessions needs to be understood though. When your immediate stores of energy for activity get used up, your body will pull energy from muscle and fat. If the intensity is low and duration is long, the body will tend to pull more from muscle. The reason is all that muscle is not needed to produce the low level force but lots of energy can be taken from the muscle to allow you to go for a long time. Increasing intensity over time can help with weight loss through improving metabolic rate, but make sure you are medical able to increase intensity. Remember goal should be to minimize muscle loss to help boost BMR but done safely so not to injury yourself. With all the talk of importance of muscle, you can probably see the importance of strength training. Strength training is probably the hidden gem missing from so many people’s efforts to lose weight. Strength training is vital to increase muscle mass which improves BMR and also increases activity levels. Don’t forget activity is not just the time spent exercising at the gym or going for a walk, this can be achieved with just daily activities as well. Think about how to move throughout the day more as compared to sitting or lying down.
Thermogenesis is a big word that is sometimes thrown around with weight loss, but lets’ understand a little more about it before we think it is the missing link in weight loss. Yes, processed foods are easier to break down and require less energy (less thermogenesis) than whole foods. But remember this effect will help your metabolic rate some, but it is small. Eating whole foods is more important for other health reasons, not so much from a thermogenesis standpoint. Also eating more times in a day does not increase your thermogenesis. If you take in 2000 calories in 3 meals or 6 meals for a day it requires the same energy to break those 2000 food calories down.
There are few things you don’t have control over when it comes to your metabolic rate. First is your genetics, some people are gifted with better genes that increase their metabolic rate. Next is sex, men typically have lower body fat percentage because they have more testosterone to increase muscle mass and don’t need to carry fat that is essential for child bearing that females do. But a fit woman is better off than a fat man when it comes to metabolism. The last one is age; the reason age can be a factor is that we lose muscle mass as we age past around 30 years of age and we have talked the importance of muscle mass before. Thus again one more reason strength training is so important.
The last thing on metabolism is there are supplements and “super foods” that claim to affect your metabolism. Some supplements can improve it, such as ephedrine, but the side effects are more likely to kill you then help you much. Many of the other supplements and “super foods” are just that, claims with no evidence or exaggeration of the evidence (you would have to consume more then possible to even make a difference). They have lots of fancy marketing to get you to waist your money for no real change in your metabolism. So again keep it simple eat healthy and balanced and avoid the hype.
We all know increased activity means burning more calories. Exercising with increased intensity and time we will burn more calories, which can help reduce our weight. Some caution with long slow cardio sessions needs to be understood though. When your immediate stores of energy for activity get used up, your body will pull energy from muscle and fat. If the intensity is low and duration is long, the body will tend to pull more from muscle. The reason is all that muscle is not needed to produce the low level force but lots of energy can be taken from the muscle to allow you to go for a long time. Increasing intensity over time can help with weight loss through improving metabolic rate, but make sure you are medical able to increase intensity. Remember goal should be to minimize muscle loss to help boost BMR but done safely so not to injury yourself. With all the talk of importance of muscle, you can probably see the importance of strength training. Strength training is probably the hidden gem missing from so many people’s efforts to lose weight. Strength training is vital to increase muscle mass which improves BMR and also increases activity levels. Don’t forget activity is not just the time spent exercising at the gym or going for a walk, this can be achieved with just daily activities as well. Think about how to move throughout the day more as compared to sitting or lying down.
Thermogenesis is a big word that is sometimes thrown around with weight loss, but lets’ understand a little more about it before we think it is the missing link in weight loss. Yes, processed foods are easier to break down and require less energy (less thermogenesis) than whole foods. But remember this effect will help your metabolic rate some, but it is small. Eating whole foods is more important for other health reasons, not so much from a thermogenesis standpoint. Also eating more times in a day does not increase your thermogenesis. If you take in 2000 calories in 3 meals or 6 meals for a day it requires the same energy to break those 2000 food calories down.
There are few things you don’t have control over when it comes to your metabolic rate. First is your genetics, some people are gifted with better genes that increase their metabolic rate. Next is sex, men typically have lower body fat percentage because they have more testosterone to increase muscle mass and don’t need to carry fat that is essential for child bearing that females do. But a fit woman is better off than a fat man when it comes to metabolism. The last one is age; the reason age can be a factor is that we lose muscle mass as we age past around 30 years of age and we have talked the importance of muscle mass before. Thus again one more reason strength training is so important.
The last thing on metabolism is there are supplements and “super foods” that claim to affect your metabolism. Some supplements can improve it, such as ephedrine, but the side effects are more likely to kill you then help you much. Many of the other supplements and “super foods” are just that, claims with no evidence or exaggeration of the evidence (you would have to consume more then possible to even make a difference). They have lots of fancy marketing to get you to waist your money for no real change in your metabolism. So again keep it simple eat healthy and balanced and avoid the hype.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Boosting your metabolic rate the direction you want it to go.
Last week we talked about metabolism and the three primary components that make up your metabolic rate. Let’s take a closer look at some the facts about improving your basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Basal Metabolic Rate is probably the most important as it is about 60% of your metabolic rate, so you get the most bang-for-your-buck by improving this. Let’s look at some interesting facts: A pound of muscle at rest needs 30-50 calories a day to survive, a pound of fat needs 5 calories. So a 175 pound person will need different calorie intake to maintain their weight depending on their body fat percentage. The more body fat compared to lean muscle the less calories needed to maintain your weight, which means you have to eat less the higher your body fat percentage gets even if you weigh the same.
Let’s look at where “yo-yo” diets can get you into trouble with this. Let’s take for example you lose 30# in one month when you go on a diet only to regain that weight back over the next year. When you lose weight you lose both fat and muscle weight. For this example let’s say you lost 20# of fat and 10# of muscle. When you gain the weight back it comes back in the form of fat, not fat and muscle unless you are doing strength training exercises. With the change in your body fat percentage going up with this example you will now have to eat about 300-500 less calories per day just to maintain your weight prior to going on this “yo-yo” diet even though you weigh exactly the same before and after. How much food is 300-500 calories? 2 pancakes, bowel of cereal, or a small plate of pasta less each day you can eat. While the equation and numbers in reality get a little more complex on how your body adjusts its metabolism, I want to point to the general picture – “yo-yo” diets mess with your metabolism in a bad way.
Many diets have you starving yourself, sometimes below your BMR. Simple thought is based on the formula: that if calorie intake is below metabolic rate you will lose weight. Which is true, but this is where the simple formula gets a little more complex. Your body and brain work together very closely to make sure you survive to the next few days. When they get signaling that starvation is happening over a few days it changes your metabolic rate to slow it down so that you won’t run out of energy to keep yourself alive until the famine passes and food is available again. It does this through slowing your BMR and taking energy stores from muscle instead of fat when it is needed. The body knows that it requires more energy to keep that muscle alive than fat, so the less muscle the better during a famine. So while this may seem like a good idea to lose weight you can see that it can quickly mess up your metabolism and not for the better. Faster weight loss will usually have increased muscle weight loss, where slower weight loss will usually be more fat weight loss. More fat weight loss means lower body fat percentage. That is why the fastest weight loss you would want is only 1-2 pounds or 1% of your body weight per week.
Next week we will get into the importance of activity, thermogenesis effects.
Basal Metabolic Rate is probably the most important as it is about 60% of your metabolic rate, so you get the most bang-for-your-buck by improving this. Let’s look at some interesting facts: A pound of muscle at rest needs 30-50 calories a day to survive, a pound of fat needs 5 calories. So a 175 pound person will need different calorie intake to maintain their weight depending on their body fat percentage. The more body fat compared to lean muscle the less calories needed to maintain your weight, which means you have to eat less the higher your body fat percentage gets even if you weigh the same.
Let’s look at where “yo-yo” diets can get you into trouble with this. Let’s take for example you lose 30# in one month when you go on a diet only to regain that weight back over the next year. When you lose weight you lose both fat and muscle weight. For this example let’s say you lost 20# of fat and 10# of muscle. When you gain the weight back it comes back in the form of fat, not fat and muscle unless you are doing strength training exercises. With the change in your body fat percentage going up with this example you will now have to eat about 300-500 less calories per day just to maintain your weight prior to going on this “yo-yo” diet even though you weigh exactly the same before and after. How much food is 300-500 calories? 2 pancakes, bowel of cereal, or a small plate of pasta less each day you can eat. While the equation and numbers in reality get a little more complex on how your body adjusts its metabolism, I want to point to the general picture – “yo-yo” diets mess with your metabolism in a bad way.
Many diets have you starving yourself, sometimes below your BMR. Simple thought is based on the formula: that if calorie intake is below metabolic rate you will lose weight. Which is true, but this is where the simple formula gets a little more complex. Your body and brain work together very closely to make sure you survive to the next few days. When they get signaling that starvation is happening over a few days it changes your metabolic rate to slow it down so that you won’t run out of energy to keep yourself alive until the famine passes and food is available again. It does this through slowing your BMR and taking energy stores from muscle instead of fat when it is needed. The body knows that it requires more energy to keep that muscle alive than fat, so the less muscle the better during a famine. So while this may seem like a good idea to lose weight you can see that it can quickly mess up your metabolism and not for the better. Faster weight loss will usually have increased muscle weight loss, where slower weight loss will usually be more fat weight loss. More fat weight loss means lower body fat percentage. That is why the fastest weight loss you would want is only 1-2 pounds or 1% of your body weight per week.
Next week we will get into the importance of activity, thermogenesis effects.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
It's all about the Calories
Just recently read another news release about looking at what can lead to obesity. See the article at this link:
Excess Calories, Not Mix of Protein, Fat, or Carbohydrate, Key in Causing Obesity
The study in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) showed that the increase in calories was the major factor in increasing body fat in people and not if it was low, normal or high protein diet. One strength of this study was it looked at actual body fat increase and not just the scale weight number or BMI, which I've pointed to problems with them before.
The diet low in protein did effect the individuals differently metabolically compared to the normal and high protein diet. They gained less weight, but their body fat went up the same. This makes sense since protein is important in developing muscle mass. You will be learning more about that during the Metabolic posts in the next few weeks.
Another study to point to keeping it simple: control your portions and balance your diet.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Metabolism Part I
Metabolism is a medical term often thrown around when it comes to weight loss, but what does it really mean and do you have any control over it?
In simple terms, metabolism is the chemical reactions (energy) needed to sustain life. This energy is usually calculated in terms of calories when it comes to food consumption. The rate your body burns these calories to sustain life and do daily activities is known as metabolic rate. If you match the calories you take in with your metabolic rate you will maintain your same weight. More calories then your metabolic rate, you will increase in weight; and like wise, with less calories then your metabolic rate you will decrease weight. While this equation seems rather simple (and it is) the process your body and brain uses is a little more complex.
This whole process is controlled by hormones from your thyroid gland which gets its signals from the hypothalamus, a portion of your brain. This process is similar to your heart rate, in that it is not under your conscious control. You can’t really think your heart rate faster or slower to whatever rate you want it to be. But you can indirectly change your heart rate by what you do. Start running up some stairs and your heart rate will go up. Stop and lie down for awhile and it will go down. So you can’t really think your metabolic rate to speed up or slow down, but there are things you can do that will change your metabolic rate. Your brain is taking in all sorts of info from the body and calculating what it thinks your metabolic rate needs to be to allow you to survive for the next few days.
Your metabolic rate is primarily made up of three things: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), activity and thermogenesis. Your BMR is the energy your body needs to sustain life with no real activity except to be at rest. So even when you are sleeping your body still needs energy to keep all your cells and systems alive and working, your heart pumping, muscles to allow for breathing and your brain to keep working. In general your BMR is about 60% of your total metabolic rate. Next is your activity level which is about 30% of your metabolic rate. Obviously we all know the more active you do the more calories you burn. The last is thermogenesis, which is about 10% of your metabolic rate. This is the thermal effects of the food you eat; it requires energy to get the energy from food into a form that our body can use.
Just a few other side notes about metabolic rate before we get into what you can do to change your metabolic rate for your benefit when it comes to weight control next week. There are medical conditions that can slow your metabolism for example hypothyroidism and Cushing’s syndrome. While these are very rare, they do happen, so if you have extreme fatigue, depression, dry skin, hair loss along with decreased sex drive you may want to see a physician to do a few simple tests to see if you have these medical conditions. If you don’t have either of these medical conditions then you can use the info on how to boost your metabolism we will get into next week.
In simple terms, metabolism is the chemical reactions (energy) needed to sustain life. This energy is usually calculated in terms of calories when it comes to food consumption. The rate your body burns these calories to sustain life and do daily activities is known as metabolic rate. If you match the calories you take in with your metabolic rate you will maintain your same weight. More calories then your metabolic rate, you will increase in weight; and like wise, with less calories then your metabolic rate you will decrease weight. While this equation seems rather simple (and it is) the process your body and brain uses is a little more complex.
This whole process is controlled by hormones from your thyroid gland which gets its signals from the hypothalamus, a portion of your brain. This process is similar to your heart rate, in that it is not under your conscious control. You can’t really think your heart rate faster or slower to whatever rate you want it to be. But you can indirectly change your heart rate by what you do. Start running up some stairs and your heart rate will go up. Stop and lie down for awhile and it will go down. So you can’t really think your metabolic rate to speed up or slow down, but there are things you can do that will change your metabolic rate. Your brain is taking in all sorts of info from the body and calculating what it thinks your metabolic rate needs to be to allow you to survive for the next few days.
Your metabolic rate is primarily made up of three things: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), activity and thermogenesis. Your BMR is the energy your body needs to sustain life with no real activity except to be at rest. So even when you are sleeping your body still needs energy to keep all your cells and systems alive and working, your heart pumping, muscles to allow for breathing and your brain to keep working. In general your BMR is about 60% of your total metabolic rate. Next is your activity level which is about 30% of your metabolic rate. Obviously we all know the more active you do the more calories you burn. The last is thermogenesis, which is about 10% of your metabolic rate. This is the thermal effects of the food you eat; it requires energy to get the energy from food into a form that our body can use.
Just a few other side notes about metabolic rate before we get into what you can do to change your metabolic rate for your benefit when it comes to weight control next week. There are medical conditions that can slow your metabolism for example hypothyroidism and Cushing’s syndrome. While these are very rare, they do happen, so if you have extreme fatigue, depression, dry skin, hair loss along with decreased sex drive you may want to see a physician to do a few simple tests to see if you have these medical conditions. If you don’t have either of these medical conditions then you can use the info on how to boost your metabolism we will get into next week.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Get Fit this New Year, and don't worry about the weight number.
Just wanted to share some interesting discussion I have been apart of on a discussion board I take part in at SomaSimple.com. The topic thread is "The Cause of Obesity?", it was started by Anoop Balachandran from an article he wrote on his blog at EXERCISE BIOLOGY - The Science of Exercise & Nutrition here is his post The Cause of Obesity.
Also posted recently in the New York Times was an article by Tara Parker-Pope called "The Fat Trap".
Interesting reading for those thinking about trying to lose some weight for the New Year or if you know someone that is thinking about trying to lose some weight.
I think the important take home for everyone is let the New Year be a year to improve your fitness and health and worry less about fatness and the weight number. Anoop's first three recommendations in his article are excellent:
Have a Happy HEALTHY New Year everyone!!!!!
Also posted recently in the New York Times was an article by Tara Parker-Pope called "The Fat Trap".
Interesting reading for those thinking about trying to lose some weight for the New Year or if you know someone that is thinking about trying to lose some weight.
I think the important take home for everyone is let the New Year be a year to improve your fitness and health and worry less about fatness and the weight number. Anoop's first three recommendations in his article are excellent:
- We should focus more on health than weight or the cosmetic aspects.
- It is clear than moderate weight loss of 10-15 lbs of weight loss in obese people can have dramatic improvements in their health.
- It is also very clear that eating healthy and exercising has a beneficial effect on health independent of the change in body weight.
Romans 12:2 (Gods Word Translation): "Don't become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants-what is good, pleasing, and perfect."Instead of trying to be thin (people of this world), try being healthy (good, pleasing and perfect).
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV): "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"Something that is Holy by definintion is something that has been set apart as something special. If the Holy Spirit is in you, and it is in all of us, then you have been set apart as something special. Let's make that temple the most healthy it can be. Let the weight number fall where it will naturally and don't worry so much about it, but put your efforts into something you have the most control over and do what you can to be more fit and healthy: eat a little better, exercise a little more and stress less.
Have a Happy HEALTHY New Year everyone!!!!!
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