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drscottI was your usual fat, out-of-shape geek until around age 28, when I took up running -- at first to and from work, then longer and longer distances. I got fitter but retained a lot of fat. I looked rather like a pencil with a thick rubber band around the middle -- not so great, but I just assumed it was my genetics.
Fifteen years later, I switched to weightlifting for primary fitness, with running and aerobic work secondary. I started to gain muscle, but retained the same old fat deposits, especially around the middle.
I had what was supposed to be a nearly perfect diet pre-2000: lots of whole grains, veggies, lean meats in moderation, fiber. But still something seemed to be keeping the fat on, so I started to read up.
I developed a diet that borrows liberally from popular ones like Atkins and The Zone, but is tailored for guys in middle age who work out and need to keep up muscle mass while dropping the flab.
As historical background, note that the advent of agricultural societies changed the typical diet for the worse -- while they could support many more people on farmed grains, the health of those people declined when compared with the conditions under which the species evolved -- hunting/gathering of lean meats, fish, berries, and nuts.
Fat deposition occurs because humans (especially the subcategories adapted to northern climates) who carried a dense store of usable fat on their bodies were more able to survive famine or long periods of intense energy use. Your body stores fat when a) your blood sugar levels are way above needed to run your body, so conversion to fats saves this energy for later; and 2) when the body has been stressed by low blood sugar levels enough times to reset the storage mechanism to store even more fat, just in case. Fat is not only stored in the layers just beneath the skin that we all feel, but in tissues throughout the body, intramuscularly and between major organs in the belly.
How do you avoid this higher level of fat storage? Be sure the body has what it needs to operate all the time. Supply it with many small meals, each balanced, and (especially if you exercise a lot) be sure each meal has enough protein. Secondly, keep blood sugar levels as stable as possible by avoiding large servings of foods that make blood sugar levels rise too high, too fast; these are called high glycemic index foods, the glycemic index being a measure of how quickly the food makes blood sugars rise. In this you will be acting as if you were diabetic, since diabetics use this same avoidance of high glycemic index foods to manage their blood sugar levels.
An excellent explanation of how to do this (and tables of food glycemic indexes) appears in "Dr. Bob Arnot's Revolutionary Weight Control Program." In general, reduce portions or avoid entirely breads, starches, potatoes, rice, and pasta. When you do indulge, try to stick to whole grain versions. While fruits contain large amounts of sugars, some are worse than others -- bananas are particularly bad, while apples and apricots, for example, are better.
For maximal fat loss, you seek the metabolic state of ketosis. This occurs when you have reduced carbohydrate consumption below what is needed to survive, and the body utilizes alternate metabolic pathways to consume fat for energy. This state reduces fat levels rapidly, but strains liver and kidneys as the breakdown products of long-stored fat must be removed from your bloodstream. This is why liquid protein diets got a bad name some people already in ill health were placed on these diets and suffered organ failure as a result. However, if you are in general good health and havent abused your liver and kidneys by drinking or indulging, ketosis is a useful tool for getting that last layer of fat off.
OK, but how does a person leading a normal life manage to eat this way?
0) It's what you do habitually that matters most. Change those habits, and the occasional pizza or late-night chocolate dessert has little effect -- you're free to treat yourself in moderation. It's like doing an energy audit -- focus on what you eat every day and change the habits that cause the most trouble first.
1) Small meals more often. Standard breakfast/lunch/dinner should be supplemented by a mid-afternoon meal and a late-night meal (the last optional, this is really aimed at bodybuilders who need to keep as continuous a level of protein building blocks in their bloodstream as possible.)
2) Every meal should have at least 30 g quality protein (if you weigh c. 180 lbs) -- one can of tuna, medium chicken breast, one cup of low fat cottage cheese, 2 scoops whey protein powdered drink, protein bar, etc. Learn to love salmon! Again, it doesn't have to be a full 30 g for non-bodybuilders.
3) Carbs of all sorts, but especially starches, need to be restrained to small portions and low daily amounts. Particularly likely to trigger fat deposition and blood sugar swings are the high glycemic index carbs (see http://www.glycemicindex.com/) -- bread, some fruits (bananas), potatoes, etc. Anecdotally, a rule against any carbs after dinner seems wise. Particularly avoid regular consumption of typical mass-produced foods that use high-fructose corn syrup as a cheap sweetener -- this is a product worse for you than normal sugar, used primarily in the US because the sugar lobby has successfully driven the US price of true sugar so high.
It helps to use artificial sweeteners to avoid the glucose pulse one would otherwise suffer from after consumption of sweet drinks -- this is why sucralose (Splenda) is typically used to make protein drink mixes taste good. There are other reasons to avoid fizzy soft drinks (e.g. long-term effect on tooth enamel), but if you must, a diet drink is better.
4) Fats: avoid "bad" fats, supplement with "good" fats. "Bad" includes particularly the hydrogenated varieties of oils used in processed and baked goods. "Good" includes olive, canola, flax, sunflower, borage, etc. oils. One of the concepts behind the Atkins diet is that attempts to decrease fat consumption often lead to a greater rise in carb consumption, since the body needs some fats and feels starved when it doesn't get a good mix. Adding a tablespoon of flaxseed oil to a cup of lowfat cottage cheese, for example, makes a tastier mix that provides important EFAs (essential fatty acids.) Snacking on small amounts of soy nuts and sunflower seeds, instead of bread or potato-based products, is satisfying and furthers the program.
5) Optional lipid chemistry supplements: ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid), CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid), Omega 3-6-9 capsules, or just cheap Omega 3 supplements. These are not strictly necessary if you are getting a good mix of the above-mentioned oils but improve fat metabolism -- I take these several times a day.
6) Help out your digestive system by getting enough fiber -- lots of veggies, plus maybe a good high-fiber cereal (I like General Mills FiberOne, which tastes great and keeps carbs to a minimum by using a no-cal sweetener.) Also give your liver and kidneys a break by drinking lots of water, especially if you use caffeine or drink alcohol, which tend to dehydrate the body.
The effect of this kind of diet is to increase use of fat for energy (allowing you to break down your existing stores) and decrease its deposition (by avoiding high blood sugar pulses and keeping a constant supply of necessary fats and proteins.) It takes months to see significant results, and you may experience some loss of energy for a few weeks as the transition to use of other metabolic pathways is not necessarily smooth. Full results of the changeover are only seen after a year (or longer, if you have a lot of fat to lose). Oh, and as you age you'll be more likely to avoid heart disease and stroke.
And all of this presumes a good exercise program, which should at least get your heartbeat up to 150% of its resting rate for a half hour a day some of which can be accomplished by walking places. If you want to be built as well as lean, then you'll be needing to hit the weights unless you are genetically blessed. If you do a lot of heavy weight training, be sure you're getting at least the minimum 30 g per meal of protein, and reduce your other exercise accordingly, since your cardiovascular fitness needs will be partially met by weight training.
Fifteen years later, I switched to weightlifting for primary fitness, with running and aerobic work secondary. I started to gain muscle, but retained the same old fat deposits, especially around the middle.
I had what was supposed to be a nearly perfect diet pre-2000: lots of whole grains, veggies, lean meats in moderation, fiber. But still something seemed to be keeping the fat on, so I started to read up.
I developed a diet that borrows liberally from popular ones like Atkins and The Zone, but is tailored for guys in middle age who work out and need to keep up muscle mass while dropping the flab.
As historical background, note that the advent of agricultural societies changed the typical diet for the worse -- while they could support many more people on farmed grains, the health of those people declined when compared with the conditions under which the species evolved -- hunting/gathering of lean meats, fish, berries, and nuts.
Fat deposition occurs because humans (especially the subcategories adapted to northern climates) who carried a dense store of usable fat on their bodies were more able to survive famine or long periods of intense energy use. Your body stores fat when a) your blood sugar levels are way above needed to run your body, so conversion to fats saves this energy for later; and 2) when the body has been stressed by low blood sugar levels enough times to reset the storage mechanism to store even more fat, just in case. Fat is not only stored in the layers just beneath the skin that we all feel, but in tissues throughout the body, intramuscularly and between major organs in the belly.
How do you avoid this higher level of fat storage? Be sure the body has what it needs to operate all the time. Supply it with many small meals, each balanced, and (especially if you exercise a lot) be sure each meal has enough protein. Secondly, keep blood sugar levels as stable as possible by avoiding large servings of foods that make blood sugar levels rise too high, too fast; these are called high glycemic index foods, the glycemic index being a measure of how quickly the food makes blood sugars rise. In this you will be acting as if you were diabetic, since diabetics use this same avoidance of high glycemic index foods to manage their blood sugar levels.
An excellent explanation of how to do this (and tables of food glycemic indexes) appears in "Dr. Bob Arnot's Revolutionary Weight Control Program." In general, reduce portions or avoid entirely breads, starches, potatoes, rice, and pasta. When you do indulge, try to stick to whole grain versions. While fruits contain large amounts of sugars, some are worse than others -- bananas are particularly bad, while apples and apricots, for example, are better.
For maximal fat loss, you seek the metabolic state of ketosis. This occurs when you have reduced carbohydrate consumption below what is needed to survive, and the body utilizes alternate metabolic pathways to consume fat for energy. This state reduces fat levels rapidly, but strains liver and kidneys as the breakdown products of long-stored fat must be removed from your bloodstream. This is why liquid protein diets got a bad name some people already in ill health were placed on these diets and suffered organ failure as a result. However, if you are in general good health and havent abused your liver and kidneys by drinking or indulging, ketosis is a useful tool for getting that last layer of fat off.
OK, but how does a person leading a normal life manage to eat this way?
0) It's what you do habitually that matters most. Change those habits, and the occasional pizza or late-night chocolate dessert has little effect -- you're free to treat yourself in moderation. It's like doing an energy audit -- focus on what you eat every day and change the habits that cause the most trouble first.
1) Small meals more often. Standard breakfast/lunch/dinner should be supplemented by a mid-afternoon meal and a late-night meal (the last optional, this is really aimed at bodybuilders who need to keep as continuous a level of protein building blocks in their bloodstream as possible.)
2) Every meal should have at least 30 g quality protein (if you weigh c. 180 lbs) -- one can of tuna, medium chicken breast, one cup of low fat cottage cheese, 2 scoops whey protein powdered drink, protein bar, etc. Learn to love salmon! Again, it doesn't have to be a full 30 g for non-bodybuilders.
3) Carbs of all sorts, but especially starches, need to be restrained to small portions and low daily amounts. Particularly likely to trigger fat deposition and blood sugar swings are the high glycemic index carbs (see http://www.glycemicindex.com/) -- bread, some fruits (bananas), potatoes, etc. Anecdotally, a rule against any carbs after dinner seems wise. Particularly avoid regular consumption of typical mass-produced foods that use high-fructose corn syrup as a cheap sweetener -- this is a product worse for you than normal sugar, used primarily in the US because the sugar lobby has successfully driven the US price of true sugar so high.
It helps to use artificial sweeteners to avoid the glucose pulse one would otherwise suffer from after consumption of sweet drinks -- this is why sucralose (Splenda) is typically used to make protein drink mixes taste good. There are other reasons to avoid fizzy soft drinks (e.g. long-term effect on tooth enamel), but if you must, a diet drink is better.
4) Fats: avoid "bad" fats, supplement with "good" fats. "Bad" includes particularly the hydrogenated varieties of oils used in processed and baked goods. "Good" includes olive, canola, flax, sunflower, borage, etc. oils. One of the concepts behind the Atkins diet is that attempts to decrease fat consumption often lead to a greater rise in carb consumption, since the body needs some fats and feels starved when it doesn't get a good mix. Adding a tablespoon of flaxseed oil to a cup of lowfat cottage cheese, for example, makes a tastier mix that provides important EFAs (essential fatty acids.) Snacking on small amounts of soy nuts and sunflower seeds, instead of bread or potato-based products, is satisfying and furthers the program.
5) Optional lipid chemistry supplements: ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid), CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid), Omega 3-6-9 capsules, or just cheap Omega 3 supplements. These are not strictly necessary if you are getting a good mix of the above-mentioned oils but improve fat metabolism -- I take these several times a day.
6) Help out your digestive system by getting enough fiber -- lots of veggies, plus maybe a good high-fiber cereal (I like General Mills FiberOne, which tastes great and keeps carbs to a minimum by using a no-cal sweetener.) Also give your liver and kidneys a break by drinking lots of water, especially if you use caffeine or drink alcohol, which tend to dehydrate the body.
The effect of this kind of diet is to increase use of fat for energy (allowing you to break down your existing stores) and decrease its deposition (by avoiding high blood sugar pulses and keeping a constant supply of necessary fats and proteins.) It takes months to see significant results, and you may experience some loss of energy for a few weeks as the transition to use of other metabolic pathways is not necessarily smooth. Full results of the changeover are only seen after a year (or longer, if you have a lot of fat to lose). Oh, and as you age you'll be more likely to avoid heart disease and stroke.
And all of this presumes a good exercise program, which should at least get your heartbeat up to 150% of its resting rate for a half hour a day some of which can be accomplished by walking places. If you want to be built as well as lean, then you'll be needing to hit the weights unless you are genetically blessed. If you do a lot of heavy weight training, be sure you're getting at least the minimum 30 g per meal of protein, and reduce your other exercise accordingly, since your cardiovascular fitness needs will be partially met by weight training.
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no subject
Date: 2004-01-03 08:19 am (UTC)One of the better pieces of advice I got from
You should write more on this topic.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-03 06:15 pm (UTC)At the next Bearhug party, I'm going to definitely invoke #4: Fats: avoid "bad" fats, supplement with "good" fats. ;-)
no subject
Date: 2004-01-03 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-03 07:44 pm (UTC)Etiquette note: comments like "Thanks, that was healthy! [buurrrp]" are rude and uncalled for.
Ain't science wonderful?
no subject
Date: 2006-04-03 12:58 am (UTC)I dated a prof. water polo player when I was very young, (like 19), and he lived like this-- it's just more than I am willing to do. But I genuinly admire people who make this kind of commitment. I am more of a harm reductionist.
I think if most people just ate less, better quality food and walked to work, we would all look a little better. Thank goodness there are people like you who we can admire and gawk at :)