When Fitness is a Lifestyle
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When Fitness is a Lifestyle |
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I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving holiday! Things are really going well for us. We have a new office located at 7985 Vance Drive, Suite 304B, Arvada, CO 80003. We have set it up to do complete exercise and metabolic testing. In this newsletter I want to deliver some basic nutrition truths. Additionally, I’d like to give you some ways to avoid gaining unwanted body fat this holiday season. Remember calories taken in versus calories out equals your body weight. Our body requires fuel to operate just like an automobile or any other thing in motion. The human body uses three types of major fuel: carbohydrates, fats, and protein. These units are measured in calories. What is a Calorie? A calorie is defined as the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius. Energy exchanges associated with biochemical reactions are usually reported in kilocalories (1 kcal = 1000 cal) or large calories. This is important to know, because our bodies are always using calories to maintain life functions and to keep our bodies at 98.6 degrees. All foods have a caloric content. Meaning, how much energy does this food produce? Carbohydrates and proteins have 4 calories per gram, and fat holds 9 calories per gram. Why is this important? Let’s look into each one more closely. Why are Carbohydrates Important? Besides milk, all carbohydrates are derived from plants. Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred fuel source. Our brains can only use glucose for fuel, simply meaning carbohydrates. We store carbohydrates in our muscles, and in the liver for stored energy. When we deplete our carbohydrate storage, our bodies go into gluconeogenesis. Typically, the average person has 1 to 2 days of stored glucose (carbohydrates). If this stored glucose (carbohydrates) is depleted or removed from the food sources, your body will turn your protein (most of the time it’s muscle) into glucose. That is why the high protein diets are dangerous in the long run. Carbohydrates hold 3 grams of water per gram. So, when people on a high protein diet say they lost 10 pounds in one week it is water and muscle that they have lost. I believe that every nutrient source needs to be eaten in moderation. I would recommend carbohydrate intake in the form of mainly fruits and vegetables. Stay away from empty carbohydrate calories like those found in cookies, cakes, pastries, donuts and other white flour sugary products. Reserve those foods as an occasional treat. Are All Fats Bad? Most Americans eat fats typically in animal products such as meat and dairy. These are known as saturated fats. Saturated fats are the high cholesterol-building culprits. Unsaturated fats are present in nuts, seeds and most vegetable oils. In moderation, these can be helpful fat types. Added fat makes meat more tender, pies flaky or gravy creamy. Fat also makes us feel full and give us satiation. Generally speaking, dietary fat has been ruled the culprit for overweight people. Evidence is appearing that this is wrongfully so. Dietary fat provides the following functions; helps with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins, protection for our eyes and kidneys, nerve connectivity, body warmth and energy storage. Researchers have discovered the benefits of eating fish provide a good kind of fat called essential fatty acids (EFAs). I will get into that more in another newsletter. Americans went through a period of thinking, “if it’s low fat, it must be good”. Remember energy taken in versus energy out equals your body weight. The main problem in our society is the size portions of food at a given meal, not necessarily the type of fat intake. The preferable foods with the good fats in them would be in the form of fish and unsaturated fats. Protein – The Miracle Food? Proteins can be found in meats, beans, nuts, and most other foods. Protein plays a significant role in tissue rebuilding. Protein is a complete food when all the amino acids are present. Meat and dairy are considered complete. Due to the lack of all amino acids present, foods like soy and grains are considered incomplete. You can combine grain types to make a complete protein. Most people in the United States are not protein deficient. There are a lot of books claiming that protein is the miracle food. Protein has an essential role, but moderation is the key. Besides, foods high in protein are typically high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Good protein choices would be fish, white poultry meat, and some dairy. Energy in Versus Energy out Equals Body Weight Let’s look at our bodies as automobiles and food as the gasoline needed to operate the vehicle. We will estimate the fuel tank in my car holds twenty gallons. Since I have been driving my car all day I will fill it with 25 gallons, even though it only holds 20 gallons of gas. Where does that extra 5 gallons go? If it’s my car, it spills out all over the ground. Using the same analogy, look at the how we use our bodies as the vehicle. With the use of a BodyGem test and my activities factored in, my daily energy expenditure is 3500 calories (energy out). Throughout the day I eat 4000 calories. The extra 500 calories, more than likely, will be stored as body fat. One pound of body fat has 3500 calories. So, you can see it is not at all surprising that people are overweight. This is all simple math. If I take in more calories than I burn, I will gain weight. If I burn more calories than I take in, I will lose weight. This sounds simple, but if it were that easy we would not have a weight problem in our country. Why Diets Fail Diets fail 99% of the time. I did not say people who are on diets fail 99% of the time. The diet itself was not effective. Most people who go on a diet do so by severely restricting calories, or jump with both feet into an exercise program hoping for a quick and easy fix. It did not take two weeks to gain that extra 25 pounds. So, do not think that you can lose that same weight in less time then it took to gain it. Bookstores and libraries are full of diet books. Some tell you to eat only carbohydrates, while others say not to eat carbohydrates and to only eat protein instead. All the diet books in the world are trying in different ways to achieve the same result. That is for you to eat fewer calories per day. The only way to lose weight is to use more fuel than you take in. However, unless you know exactly how many calories to take in, the chances for long-term permanent weight loss are pretty slim. Dr. James Mault the man who invented the BodyGem realized this weight management dilemma early on. Dr. Mault is a cardiothoracic surgeon. He developed the BodyGem, a metabolic device that measures metabolic rate (calories out). With this device and accompanying software Balance Log, learning how many calories per day to eat and knowing how many calories you burn just made weight loss much easier. Knowledge is Power (RMR) Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the amount of energy needed to sustain life. If you were to lie in bed all day without moving, the number of calories required to do basic life support would be your RMR. Factors that effect RMR are; weight, amount of lean tissue, male or female and age. Strength training increases lean tissue, thus increasing your metabolic rate. You can take a 10-minute BodyGem metabolic test in my office and find out exactly how many calories to take in per day. This information and tracking your calories throughout the day using the BodyGem Balance Log (www.healthetech.com), will empower you to know where you stand in your weight management on a daily basis. Bottom Line I guarantee that if you take the BodyGem test, apply that information along with an exercise program, that you will achieve permanent weight loss. What are you waiting for? There is no miracle pill or diet. Stop waiting for something to magically happen. Take control, and make the change. |
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