Weight Management

June 2001	Approximately 2002	June 26, 2005

The Approach

	Recommit to your health. Move past the "I don't want to" thoughts that are stopping you.
	Commit to 1 hour of exercise 7 days a week. Keep a calendar tracking your workouts where you will see it several times a day.
	Track your intake every single day with no exceptions.
	Get to bed early. You can not be successful at this without the proper rest. Learn how to develop a pattern for successful sleeping by going to bed and getting up at the same times every day even on weekends.
	No booze! If you have a problem with that then get to an AA meeting.

You will need 3 pieces of equipment:

	Heart rate monitor - about $35 for a Polar Beat. Do a Google.
	Digital food scale for weighing food
	Bathroom scale

Can I have my booze?

No booze and here is why. Alcohol/ethanol is metabolized as fat. It also has a tendency to increase appetite and decrease judgment. It also is an indulgence and that is a big part of the problem.

We have gone from a society that used to indulge very infrequently and only on very special occasions to one where we have opportunities to indulge several times daily. That's a BIG problem.

So not only do we want to eliminate those things that will undermine our efforts but we also want to gain back control over indulgence along with creating discipline.

self-discipline:
correction or regulation of oneself for the sake of improvement

discipline:
4 : training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
5 a : control gained by enforcing obedience or order b : orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c : SELF-CONTROL
6 : a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

self-control:
restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires

Process

	Determine your set point or daily calorie requirements. These requirements vary by about 100-200 calories a day as your activity levels fluctuate between sedentary and more active. This is a rough estimate and through trial and error you will be able to nail this down better over the next 13 weeks.
	From now through Sunday start with a 500 calorie deficit. For example a typical male might be 2000 calories. Add in your exercise calories say approximately 500 calories for 60 minutes of exercise/play at about a 60% HR which would equal 2500 calories to stay the same. Subtract 500 calories for the deficit and your intake for today through Sunday would be 2000 calories. Women have less muscle mass than men and are approximately 300 calories less. Try this calculator to get yourself started
	Make a meal plan for today that meets these requirements. Follow your meal plan making any changes needed.
	Exercise/play for 60 minutes at an average HR of 50-70 percent. If you haven't played in a while be prepared to deal with the tedium and revolt your body may subject you to. You are MUCH stronger than you think. Visualize yourself as an athlete while you play. Begin to think like an athlete but don't overdo it the first few days.
	For today please read this article.
	This is an enjoyable and rewarding process. Create this in your mind as something you enjoy doing.

Where's the fat go?

Fats used by or stored in animal tissues come from two sources—enzymatic synthesis and diet. The fat synthesized from carbohydrates intermediates followed by enzymatic resynthesis to form the fat characteristic of the animal, but some dietary fatty acids are absorbed directly and recombined in the body fat.

The manner in which fat reserves are circulated to the organs where metabolism occurs is incompletely understood. Radioactive-tracer studies provide some insight into this complicated process. It has long been established that when mobilization of reserve fat takes place the stream is directed primarily to the liver, where fatty acids may be partially desaturated; i.e., hydrogen is removed from the fatty-acid chains to produce unsaturated or double bonds between carbon atoms. This apparently facilitates subsequent oxidation in other tissues. Fatty acids also may be oxidized directly in the various tissues as well as in the liver. Fatty-acid metabolism is presumed to be by oxidation in successive two- and four-carbon stages. Intermediate products could be acetoacetate and acetate groups. If the mechanism is faulty, acetone is formed and excreted (acetonuria). The final products of normal metabolism are carbon dioxide and water.

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Tracking Software

I've done this manually looking up the numbers in calorie books but there is very inexpensive software that allows you to do this rather painlessly. I'm currently using FitDay and they have a free online version and a PC version for $29.95. I use the PC version. It saves me a bunch of time and is my "Quicken" for fitness.

http://www.fitday.com/

http://www.fitday.com/Pc/PcHome.html?gcid=14

Check out these screen shots:
http://www.fitday.com/Pc/Screenshots.html

April 6, 2005

So...
Intake=calories eaten-2769
Calories burned-3059
Deficit-290

Exercise-705 which was 35 minutes of cardio at AT (anaerobic threshold or 155 for me) and 40 minutes lower body resistance training. Right now my exercise is for endurance and not weight loss. Tomorrow and Friday will be in the very low end of my zone or approximately 100-110.

A heart rate monitor is like a tachometer on a car. I can pin point my workouts to achieve specific objectives. I can also judge how fast my recovery is so I can see the earliest signs of overtraining and back off. It is a really useful tool that takes the guesswork out of where you think your intensity is.

When I attempt the Pentathlon on Saturday, if I do, I will do a body pump class for an hour first as a warm up keeping my heart rate below 150 or at least that's my objective. Then when I do the arc trainer for 1/2 mile I will do that at 160 and when I run the mile I will do it at 160 for the first half mile and then the second half at 170. I have already experimented with those numbers and know that is where I can hit my peak performance and still not blow for the specified amount of time. It's like a histogram on your digital camera.

Coming to terms with exercise

Keep in mind that you are going to need to do some resistance exercises or weights to not only maintain muscle mass but to increase it as well. I can't say enough how important the weights will be to your long term success.

The same voice that tells us we can have that ice cream sundae and that we "deserve" a little indulgence is the same voice that tells us it's OK if we don't exercise. Worse than that when we do exercise "IT" throws a fit like a small child rebelling to no end.

So we need to keep thinking rationally about all this and follow that thinking BECAUSE it is in our best interest. I tried doing weights in the winter for several years and after 6-8 weeks it was good riddance. What caused me to change my perceptions?

When the doctor told me my A1c test showed a 7.1 and that I was borderline diabetic I attended a nutrition class where the nutritionist explained what was happening to the insulin. It was not being absorbed by the muscles and just kept cruising around in my blood.

She drew a diagram explaining how the muscle cells were the key to letting the insulin in. She went on to explain that exercise and weights especially cause those cells to DILATE letting the insulin in and controlling blood sugar.

So my mom had send me a glucose meter and some test strips and low and behold when I checked my glucose levels after the weights I was dropping about 20 points. My cells were dilating! I also thought back to my weight loss from 1995 and began to understand why the weight came back so quickly.

I had ONLY done aerobic exercise and LOST (cannibalized) some of my muscle in the process. This loss of muscle also contributed to lowering my BMR or basal metabolic rate. I thought anew. I needed to not only speed my metabolism up but also keep those muscle cells dilated. As I sat on my stationary bike and rhythmically pedaled away I had an epiphany, an illuminating moment, an AHAA!

How stupid was I? The weights were my FRIENDS! They were trying to HELP ME! I looked over at the weights sitting on the floor and smiled and decided from there on in that I would spend time with this "friend" that was only there to help me.

From that moment on my perception of weight training and along with that the aerobic exercise had changed. I now see them in a different light and that other voice has ceased to appear. Logic prevailed.

Intensity of exercise

My simple Polar Beat HRM wasn't working today for some reason so I used my smaller numbers Polar XTrainer HRM which has an interface that lets me download the data.

This was sampled at 15 second intervals. The first 45 minutes was on the Arc Trainer and I did a lactate threshold workout including 3 intervals.

The second 45 minutes was my leg weight resistance workout. You can see where I wait for the HR drop and then hit the next set.

This was a pretty intensive workout.

OBSTACLES!

“People know they have to eat properly and that exercise is good,” he said. “Something is not allowing them to move in the proper direction.”

We need to look as this constantly. What obstacles are keeping you from starting? What obstacles are holding you back? Do you just need to get over the next "hump" only to be faced with another "hump" when you do? Is there something that keeps you from the next level?

Nike HRM videos...excellent!

Video: Getting Started
Video: Setting Goals
Video: Smart Training
Video: Overtraining
Video: Motivation & Progress
Video: Success

Review: This is what you should be doing by now

	Tracking intake.
	Aerobic exercise, 60 minutes a day OR 420 minutes per week.
	Weight resistance exercise 2 times a week, full body in addition to your aerobic exercise.
	If your health permits interval, anaerobic exercise integrated into your aerobic workouts 2-3 times per week.
	Staying rested getting enough sleep at night and a short nap during the day if schedule permits.
	Reducing stressful areas in your life.
	Planning and shopping for nutritional needs to insure you have on hand what you will need for your meal plans.
	Forming strategies from the insights you are having from your experiment.
	Keeping yourself motivated and on track.
	Weighing yourself for benchmark purposes. Additionally measuring body fat if you have the tools to do so, calipers are about $20-$30.

Objectives

	Permanent systemic change. Creating a new adaptation and lifestyle changes.
	Being able to manage and change our body composition using exercise and food management techniques on a consistent basis.
	Creating a less stressful environment in which we can make prudent choices that leverage our health and well being.
	To stay rested and be able to manage and be in control of our energy levels so that we are able to function at higher levels.
	To live a long and healthy life free from chronic diseases as much as possible so that we may enjoy our family, avocations, friends and aesthetic challenges that make for a rewarding and meaningful existence and to avoid becoming a burden for others to care for.

How my diet has changed

	I enjoy a salad every day now and find I like the taste of good lettuces.
	I eat more for energy requirements and less for indulgent needs. I've found this to be more satisfying in the long run and can now enjoy foods I once wouldn't have considered.
	My diet has evolved over a long period of time. I have found small incremental changes easier to adjust to and tolerate. I picked 1 or 2 food items at a time and stopped eating them or replaced them with better choices.
	I eat smaller more frequent meals. I average about 4-5 meals at 500-700 calories each meal now . I've found that as my work load shifts throughout the year the timing of my eating has to adapt also to the changes.
	I eat 5-6 different fruits a day, a salad at dinner and often a complex carb vegetable at dinner also.
	I no longer use salt on my plate food but use it sparingly in cooking, same with butter, milk is skim, no soda but lots of water, coffee I still drink a lot but not as much as in the past, portion sizes are smaller, no more cookies or pastry unless a special occasion such as a birthday party, non fat fruit yogurt sometimes mixed with fresh fruit instead of ice cream for a nightly snack.

Keep an open mind to your likes and dislikes regarding food and don't be surprised if your tastes gradually change. Fats and sweeteners including artificial sweeteners mask our taste buds and are addicting and when we wean ourselves from these foods BY DESIGN then we uncover a more discerning palate that is able to appreciate the bounty that nature offers us.

Health Aspects of Resistance Exercise and Training

Resistance training may enhance cardiovascular health by mitigating several of the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease by producing such changes as
1. decreases in resting blood pressure, particularly in individuals with elevated pressures;
2. decreases in exercise heart rate, blood pressure, and rate pressure product at a standard workload;
3. modest improvements in the blood lipid profile and;
4. improvements in glucose tolerance and decreases in hemoglobin Alc in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Resistance training may result in improvements in body composition by maintaining or increasing lean body mass and producing modest decreases in the relative percentage of body fat.
Resistance training can produce increases in bone mineral density and may help delay or prevent the development of osteoporosis by reducing the age-associated loss of bone mineral density.
Resistance training may reduce anxiety and depression and may result in improved self-efficacy and overall psychological well being.
Resistance training can reduce the risk of injury during participation in other sports and activities. When performed correctly and properly supervised, it is in itself a safe activity with low injury rates.
Resistance training increases muscular strength and endurance, resulting in an increased ability to perform active daily living, and reduces demands on musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems.

http://www.nsca-lift.org/Publicatio...shtml#Explosive

The Four Cornerstones

	Track your intake.
	Exercise as much as possible but not so much that you burn out.
	Be willing to do whatever it takes with no conditions!
	Stay motivated.

The final word: EATING IS NOT A RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY!!!

It took me about 15 years or so to develop my weight loss but once I did and I had the motivation (holding off diabetes, heart disease and arthritis as long as possible) It seemed to take.

If everyone could visualize that call from their doctor or maybe an ambulance coming to pick them up off the sidewalk I think the reality and rational thinking would hit home and give them the motivation needed.

We are still a culture very much in denial, very much into living for the moment and have cultivated extreme indulgent behaviors as normal everyday patterns. We lack a high degree of personal autonomy. By that I mean the ability to govern our behavior prudently just because we say so and not due to outside sanctions and influences.

Had I known what was possible for me 20 or 30 years ago in regards to my own fitness I doubt it would have made a difference. A light switch has to go off inside somewhere and then with the illumination it gets real clear, the cobwebs show up and then it's time to clean house and repaint.

Update: October 6, 2005

I've kept my weight off for 10 months now using the methodology I've disclosed here. I had realized from losing and gaining back cycles I've had previously that I needed to change some things. One thing I added was the addition of resistance training or weights but I also realized I needed to box myself in somehow and that I couldn't count on will power alone.

Strangely I discovered a competitive side I had ignored most of my life. I was never a sports person. Doing that first tri this year I felt way in over my head. I felt I had no business competing with athletes and by the end of the event my body told me in no uncertain terms not to ever try anything so foolish again.

I did 8 triathlons this summer (7 sprints) with the last one an Olympic distance with a 1 mile ocean swim, 24 mile bike and 6.2 mile run. I did a 5 mile road race the day after doing the Boston Tri and beat a local cross country coach by less than 10 seconds who was younger and had been running much longer than me. I learned (kind of) how to swim and found that I liked it and that it was good exercise.

Currently I'm studying running and I'm learning it. A woman asked me a couple of months ago if I would ever run a marathon and I told her unequivocally that I never would and wouldn't even consider it, that my knees and joints were too old and I didn't see the point. No marathons for me, nope.

Well this month I'm running my first one as a training and pacing exercise. I've only had 4 weeks to prepare so am not ready to do a full on marathon. I plan to run about 3 hours or hopefully 15-20 miles and then bail out. It's a very hilly marathon.

Then 2 weeks after that I'm running a second Marathon and I'm going all the way and looking for a time under 4:30. We'll see...

So what I've discovered is this competitive drive to compete and enter races keeps me on the straight and narrow with my eating and exercising and that seems to be a good thing.

In light of that I think it is prudent to develop a long term structure that supports you somehow in maintaining any gains you've made in your health and fitness. Never, never, never give back that which you've worked so hard to achieve but in order to do so you need something more than just relying on chance.

Update: November 2, 2005

I never did the second marathon as I completed the first one in under 4:30. See my fitness blog and marathon log.

My goals for the 2006 year are:

Webster Triathlon-3rd place or higher in age group

Greenfield Triathlon International Distance-3rd place or higher in age group

Firmman Half Ironman Triathlon-complete in under 6:00

The MDI Marathon-complete in under 3:45 to qualify for Boston