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Cay Health Foods
News & Information
September 2009
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Greetings!
This issue my be a bit self-absorbed,
but I hope you find it interesting. I get asked a lot about weight management and decided to test some of my own advice...on me. Here's my story.
John
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The Dog Days of Summer
During
the course of my day I get asked a myriad of health questions. Most of the advice I offer is based on either
my personal experience or the experience of someone I trust. It's as if I'm a clearinghouse for both
positive and negative information on supplements and health issues. People tell me what works and what doesn't
and I try to incorporate the information with what I read in our educational
journals and pass it on to you. For the
most part this works out well.
One
of the issues I most often get asked about is weight management. My philosophy is not to worry about weight,
but instead live healthy and your weight will stabilize to a healthy
number. After all, for the quarter of a
century I've been in the health business, diets have come and gone and
Americans continue to get fatter and fatter.
I don't have anything against Dr. Phil or other "gurus" who tout their
weight loss programs, but Dr. Phil doesn't seem that fit or thin to me. It got me thinking about the advice I give
out. Am I qualified? When was the last time I actually tried to
lose weight? It's been awhile. I felt it was time to take my own advice and test
it.
First
some background
Back
in February of 1998 I purchased a Tanita Fat Monitor scale to measure weight in
pounds and percentage of body fat. The merits
of the "absolute accuracy" of fat monitor scales have been debated. Again accuracy is not nearly as important
as the consistency. If the scale measures
fat percentage consistently I can tell if my workouts are burning fat (good) or muscle (not
good) by the change in body fat percentage.
I started to log my weight and body fat percentage on a 3x5 card about
once a month or so. My first reading way
back in 1998 was 160.5 lbs and 14%. Over
the years it has stayed pretty close to that original number. When I was doing a lot of cycling I managed
to get down to 156 lbs and 11.5% in July of 2000. The
last five years or so my workouts have been less frequent and intense and my
weight crept up to 167 with 17% body fat.
Starting
Point & Goals
First,
I needed to set some goals. Most of you
have seen me, I'm not considered overweight, but like most 55 year old men I
put a few extra pounds around the middle.
More importantly, I felt I had lost a lot of muscle mass. Talking with a personal trainer in the gym
one day I asked what his clients were looking forward most to improving. Was it weight, body image, or something
else? He told me a very large
percentage of his clients were looking to increase muscle mass. Many of them, like me had lost strength over
the years.
So
here would be my goal: I would give
myself the 31 days of August and I would try to get back to my original weight
and fat level of 1998, 160 lbs. and 14%.
Just
for reference, for about the last year my exercise consists of about an hour a
week of gym time, 3 hours of tennis (it's doubles and not THAT strenuous), several
of hours of horseback riding (which can be work if done right), and about 3
hours a week walking Max.
My
Tools and a Plan
My
tools for this project were, of course my scale (I would weigh myself ONLY once
a week), my heart rate monitor to log the total hours and time spent in my
target heart rate zone, and my Excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything.
I
had a plan to put in 15 hours in the gym. I wanted at least 25% of that time to have my heart rate registering in my target zone (130-150 beats per minute). For my age and fitness level I had done some
calculations and found this target zone was the most appropriate for increasing
cardiac health and burning calories. These
15 hours were in addition to the tennis, horseback riding, and, of course,
walking Max, I was already doing.
My
supplements, besides my daily multi-vitamin (our Mega 7 Pack), would be CoQ10
100mg twice daily to help with muscle function and recovery, l-Carnitine
1,000mg once a day to help with fat metabolism, ribose and creatine (5 grams
per day) to help build muscle, and chia seed for energy.
My
plan was to increase my protein intake by using our protein powder (Jarrow Formulas MuscleOptimizer with a tablespoon of Colon Care Fiber added) as
a meal replacement, cut down on my carbohydrate calories, ("Hello, my name is
John and I'm a blue corn chip-a-holic), and abstain from my nightly glass of
red wine (or two).
The 31 Daze of August
Fitting
the workouts into an already busy day can be difficult and I realized it would
have to be early mornings. A 60 minute
workout on Tuesday and Thursday was easy to fit in without too much effort, but
that wasn't enough. I needed to find another
180 minutes. Some weeks I used Monday
mornings. Some weeks I used Friday and
Saturday mornings. My hour workouts
consisted of a short stretch and 10 minutes on the treadmill to get my heart rate
in the zone. (By the end of the month
this had increased to 15 minutes. As my
cardiovascular system got healthier I had to work harder to get in my target zone.) This was followed by 45 minutes of light free
weights working my shoulders and chest and then a five minute stretch at the
end of the workout.
The
Experience
It's
tough getting out of bed at 5:30 am if you're not a morning person (I'm not). Once in the gym however, it felt good. Using the light weights worked out well and
I didn't have much muscle soreness or aches.
I did learn one goes through an incredible amount of laundry working out
that often.
The
one thing I did not count on was my increase in appetite. I was hungry quite often. Most times I would have a piece of
fruit. If that didn't work, I took a
fiber supplement to help me feel full.
Usually if I waited 20 minutes or so the hunger would go away. Other than the protein shake meal
replacement, I ate my usual way (a good lunch and a moderate dinner). I really missed that glass of red wine in the
evenings.
The
Results
Well,
I had met my time goals by logging 15 ½ total hours with 4 ¼ hours in my zone
(27%). The spreadsheet, as silly as it
sounds, really helped. Once a week as I entered
the numbers I could see my progress and it kept me motivated. As for the weight goals, I almost made
it. On the August 31st, I weighed
in at 161.5 lbs and 14.5%. I had lost
5.5lbs and 2.5% body fat.
What
I discovered is how difficult it is to lose weight and anyone who says it's
easy or quick just should not be believed.
I'll continue my workouts on a less frequent basis and see if I'm able
to maintain my muscle mass. I will
de-emphasize the workout intensity and return to concentrating on the things I think
are both part of healthy lifestyle and I enjoy doing. And, I'll know that when someone asks me for
weight loss advice I can talk to them from experience.
Post Script:
What the heck is Sarcopenia and why do I have it?
After writing this piece I ran across a
podcast about sarcopenia
(Clark, Josh. "What's sarcopenia and what can
you do about it?." 23
April 2009. HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://health.howstuffworks.com/life-stages/aging/sarcopenia.htm>
09
September 2009.)
Here's the definition of sarcopenia: the loss of muscle mass and
coordination that results from the process of aging.
This
sounded exactly like one of the reasons I had for undertaking this
project. This podcast offered some glimpses into why this condition
need not be the inevitable process of aging. Muscle is protein and sacopenia is all about protein synthesis.
First, it is important
to understand about the two main types of proteins the body needs to
utilize. The human body seeks a stasis
between protein production (synthesis) and usage (metabolism) for
energy and cellular structure. Our body can make some of these on its
own; these proteins, built from amino acids, are called nonessential proteins
because the body doesn't need to get them from an outside source. The
proteins our bodies require that it can't produce by itself are called essential proteins. We derive these proteins from foods.
So
we have two types of proteins: The ones our body can manufacture and
the ones we need to get from our diet. Then we have hormones that are
intricately involved in how proteins are used. Hormones like
insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), testosterone and growth hormone.
The body's production of these hormones decrease with age, so now we
have a double whammy: the body's ability to synthesize protein diminishes
and the body's production of hormones telling it to effieciently use
those proteins declines as well. Add to this that most older Americans
don't get enough protein in their diets and sarcopenia is right around
the corner.
The Cure for Sarcopenia: Resistance Training
One
of the first obvious examples of sarcopenia showed up in NASA
astronauts. Spacecraft are small and cramped places. The astronauts
don't have to fight gravity and their muscles tend to atrophy. The
solution for them seems to be the same solution for us here on earth -
resistance training (RT).
In one
study, elderly people aged 78 to 84 who went on a RT program
experienced an average increase in protein synthesis of 182 percent
[source: Hasten, et al].
Another
study, funded by the USDA, found that elderly participants who
did RT for 45 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks saw an average
increase of 32 percent for muscle fiber and a 30 percent increase in
strength. Of course, if you decide to undertake a resistance training
program seek professional help and talk to your doctor first to avoid
injury.
For more cool stuff check out the Stuff You Should Know podcast at HowStuffWorks.com
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Snippets
A Little Weight Loss Snippet
A school district in Germany gave students water bottles and installed extra drinking fountains in one of their schools. They then compared the weight changes of that school compared to schools in their district that didn't have the extra water. Compared to the control group the kids drinking more water lost weight, Researchers speculated the children were replacing higher calorie drinks with the water and consuming less sugar.
In another study where weight loss was linked to increased water consumption researcher determined that 40% of the net effect of weight loss comes from the energy your body burns to bring consumed water up to body temperature. Based on that theory drinking cold water would promote even more weight loss.
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