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It's easier than you think...

The key to losing fat - (I say fat because even muscle loss = weight loss and who wants to lose muscle?) is understanding and applying the energy balance PLUS understanding how your body uses food as fuel and how those fuels differ (carbs, fats, proteins, alcohol).   Your body has a strong will to survive. It will not voluntarily give up its' fat stores. You have to coax and burn them off. You do this by creating a calorie deficit created by BOTH exercise and reduced food intake. Creating this deficit by intake alone will not take an obese person down to a healthy body fat percentage - at best, it will create a skinny fat person.   Calories In Vs. Calories Out is a bit too simplistic. 1000 calories of cotton candy and 1000 calories of skinless chicken breast are profoundly different. The difference in insulin response alone (not to mention other body chemistry) is huge! All calories are not equal.   Ponder this... "Joe" eats 1000 calories a day, day after day. He needs to lose 100 pounds. This low calorie diet gives him a deficit of 2000 calories a day. By this calculation he should be able to completely lose his excess body weight in 175-200 days....(Bet he doesn't)... But what if he continues this trend for several years? Does he completely disappear? Of course not. Because it's not just about calories in/calories out - it's about managing your metabolism via your energy balance.   I eat 1000 calories some days - I eat over 3000 other days. I still have challenging food demons, but I manage them. If I'm going to eat cheat foods, I do so on planned high calorie days. By cycling calories this way - combined with a challenging exercise schedule consisting of both strength and cardiovascular training - I keep my metabolism white hot. My body fat percentage continues to fall, while the scale stays relatively stable (small lean muscle tissue gains). This lifestyle allows fat loss on calorie deficit days and muscle gains on calorie surplus days.   There are several scenarios of posts on LBT that leave me grumbling... One of them is very low calorie diets. People who eat very low calories (600-1000) love the weight loss they initially see. But how much of that weight is lost muscle? Your body is a machine. If it's being starved is it going to give up metabolically active lean muscle tissue which is high maintenance to keep - or fat stores which costs next to nothing to maintain? Some of both, but the ratio is going to tip toward the lean muscle tissue. As muscle tissues decline, your body adjusts it's metabolism in a fight to avoid starvation, the weight loss slows and then comes the unavoidable - yet easily predicted plateau. They havn't lost weight in months, but hey, plateau's are normal right? No... they aren't normal - they mean your body has adjusted your metabolism accordingly to try to stave off starvation. It won't give up without a fight. But their doctor prescribed the 800 calorie low carb diet, so that must not be it... :rolleyes2:   Here's another one... I've read a lot of posts where people are eating 1000 calories and gaining weight and they try to suggest it's muscle gains... Not a chance... It is physiologically impossible to maintain that large of a calorie deficit and gain muscle tissue, which actually requires a calorie surplus. One person is starving themselves eating 800 low carb calories a day, while at the same time I sit here on a high calorie day snacking on Peanut M&M's dipped in peanut butter.   "So Brad, if your so damned smart and think this is so easy, then why did you get so fat you needed WLS?" Because I didn't understand the energy balance and how my body used fuel and how those fuel types differ - BUT now I do... And I want everyone else to know too... It may be simple - but it isn't easy... The band is a great tool to help you achieve your goals.   Your body is a wonderful efficient machine when properly understood. Fuel it appropriately and it will reward you!   Good Luck!   Brad
bambam31

bambam31

5
 

The Progress Continues...

I'm 194 days post op and I guess it's about time for another blog entry... My main thought these days is that had I known 20 years ago what I know now I would have enjoyed that period of time much more. But I guess it's still better than learning 20 years from now... I find I have to keep reminding myself that, as of this point, I've lost 81 pounds. I'm wearing clothes that I really didn't think I'd ever wear again (still surprised I kept many of them). Yet I tend to focus on the road yet traveled. There is still so much work to do. It's kind of like driving without being able to follow a map. I know my body fat percentage is headed south so I guess that's the road I'll stay on - while the end destination and route of travel remains a mystery. It seems everywhere I go these days I get compliments on my weight loss. It feels really good! Many people ask how I've managed to accomplish this feat. It's really a question I try avoid. Am I embarrassed that I had WLS? No. But it's not an easy question for me to answer. I don't credit all of my success to the band. Why? Does the band make me workout almost every day of the week? No! Does the band make the decision to choose healthy foods most of the time? No! Then it sounds to me like the band gets about 33.3% of the credit - the rest is distributed elsewhere. But If I start out by telling people that I have a band, they seem to immediately draw the conclusion that surgery is why I've had success - But that's not the whole truth! So this normally leads into a many-minute long explanation on my part. There are many people who've been banded but aren't enjoying success - or at least not to their satisfaction. The answer why is multi-faceted. Many people wrongly assume at the outset that the band itself will make them lose weight. Of course this isn't true. People need to do more research. I did a fair amount, but not as much as I should have. Secondly, many doctors are not telling patients the whole story. The plain fact is that if you plan to get anywhere near goal, you'd better plan on intense exercise - and lots of it. My experience has been that a lot of medical professionals dance around this issue. I believe they are scared that they'll chase patients away. After all, many patients see the band as a way to lose weight without exercise. What morbidly obese patient want to hear, "oh yah, and by the way, even though you have the surgery, you'll still have to exercise intensely most days of the week to achieve satisfactory results." We as a society want what we want right now - and don't want to work particularly hard to get it. Exercise is one area in which I've become more fluent, but nutrition is another. I believe everyone has a different combination. It takes trial and error to find a method of operation that illicits the results you desire. I've found my combination in a big way. I now know how to keep my metabolism fire burning so hot that even a wet log thrown in the flames barely slows it down. My average calorie intake for the past month is over 2000 a day. Fall off the wagon days barely have any impact on the weeks' results. Now I am just focused on keeping the burn going. I've set an arbitrary goal of 154 pounds. My main focus, however, is fat loss. My body fat percentage is right around 19% to 20%. My goal is 10%-12%. Basically, I'll be happy with whatever weight I end up at, so long as my body fat percentage is at goal. Keep fighting the good fight! Brad
bambam31

bambam31

2
 

Christmas Surprise

After being banded in August this year my weight loss was cranking right along. I lost the first 35 pounds with ease after which I started cheating more and more. :idea: Why the hell would I cheat when things were going so good? Beats me. It just goes to show you - the band is truly a tool that is almost worthless without an equal amount of will power. By the end of October, the weight loss had come to a grinding halt. I thought I was exercising ok but the scale wouldn't budge. :embaressed_smile: I saw an internet blurb from Bob Harper (you know, one of the trainers from the TV Show "The Biggest Loser") Well 'ol Bob was talking about "Spin" classes and how the show's contestants all burned massive amounts of calories on the Spin bikes. So I checked out the Spin website (www.spinning.com) and was intrigued. Low and behold our local gym (www.greatlakeshealthfitness.com) offered these classes. So my wife and I checked out the gym and their pricing and walked out the door certain to never re-enter. Way too much $$$... But they gave us a couple of free day passes to give the place a test drive. Upon returning to the car, we both snickered that "these passes will never get used." Well then on our Wedding Anniversary (13th) on Nov. 11, she decided we were going to use the passes and try a Spin class. After about 3 minutes on a Spin bike I thought I was gonna die. WTH I thought... I'd been exercising at home - how could I be this out of shape... Well that's all it took - I was hooked - and so was she. I found a way that night to work a couple of memberships into the budget. And as Christmas 2008 approached, I found that I had missed only a few days at the gym. According to my Polar F6 heartrate monitor - I was burning 4000-7000 calories a week - mainly from Spin classes. I knew Christmas week was going to be tough. The tempting foods would be everywhere. Family/Friend get togethers 5 days that week. Gym time would be cut short. All of this a bad combination. Up to this point I'd gone from 266 pre-surgery down to 207 on Dec. 21st - but what effect would Christmas week have? I said I'd stay away from the really bad stuff - yah right... I fell flat on my face. Ate the cake, cookies, fudge, ice cream, carmel corn, chocolate, and many other sweet treats. I was quite disgusted with myself and couldn't wait to get back to the gym, which is where I found myself on Saturday morning. I was well rested (having three consecutive days without working out) and gave it my all. Did the same Sunday. Now it was time for the dreaded moment. How much had I slid back from my awful week? Time to face the scale. So how many pounds did I gain? I LOST 5 pounds... Huh? LOST? Yep... Down to 202... Incredible. The time in the gym and focusing on keeping my metabolism on fire was able to offset and absorb that tough week. I'm still amazed. Relieved - but amazed. So now with 'onederland in sight I'm as motivated as ever. :cursing:
bambam31

bambam31

1
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