Fun Fitness Friday #6

Ok, gather around everyone... Today is a very special day. We are going to put everything from the previous weeks together... and hopefully all of the puzzle pieces fit. Have you ever put a puzzle together with your brother or sister, and they try to jam that one piece of the puzzle to make it fit? Yeah, that was me. Wait, so that purple jelly bean doesn't go there? Ohhhhh... it's a puzzle of a duck?... I was waaay off.

So anyways, if you read the past installments of our little fun filled nutrition bits, you might have some of this information figured out already. I'm going to tailor this to people who want to lose a little weight, and the beautiful thing is that the same ideas and formulas work for someone losing 2 or 20 pounds.

The first thing to realize is that I like to write programs for a "life style change" and not a "diet". Studies have shown that weight that is lost on "diets" or "fads" are gained back in three years. The problem is usually because they are too strict, and no one sticks to them long term. Raise your hand if you want to eat grapefruit for the rest of your life. Not all at once now :) I know for a fact, some of you would not be happy campers if pizza was banished from you forever (Dawn) I include myself in that group. Life is about moderation in everything... so let's get going.

First, once again... figure out your BMR, by using the internet, or multiplying your bodyweight in pounds by 10 or so. So, for someone who is 155 lbs... they need to eat 1550 calories a day to maintain that weight. Now that we have a number to play with, lets use it up. Pretend someone gave you $1550 (that would be nice right?) today, and you have to spend it... hmm what to do?

I like to prescribe a ratio of 30/40/30 when it comes to macronutrients. These are percentages of protein/carbohydrate/fat you should take in a given day. What does that mean? Well, here's some super simple math you need to know... you won't even need a calculator.

Try and remember:
- 1 gram of carbohydrate or protein contains 4 calories
- 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories - see, it's more energy dense

This is important because if you measure out 40% of 1550 calories... you get... um... 620 calories. Divide that number by 4 and you get... 155 grams.

So if you weight 155 pounds and want to keep your current weight, you should aim for 155 grams of carbs per day. Do the same math but with only 30%, and you can figure out your protein grams. Take the calorie number for protein, but divide by 9 and you'll get the fat grams.

This comes out to be: 155 grams carbs (CHO), 112 grams protein (PRO), and 51 grams of fat. If a 155 pound person ate this and did no physical activity, they would stay healthy, and stay the same weight... as long as their food sources were good quality. Now... if you want to lose weight... you need to get moving...

Here's a nice number to remember... tell your friends about it... they will love you, and think you are very smart. There are 3500 calories to one pound of fat. That means you need to burn that many calories to lose one pound. Sure, you can do it in less... but it's probably water or inflammation in your body... which is another topic :)

One of the safest, and easiest ways to lose fat is by doing it slow. You want to be the tortoise, not the hare, in this race. A crash diet will work for a day or two, but they call it crash for a reason... you'll crash. A great number to shoot for is one pound of weight loss a week. That's not enough, you say? Well there's 52 weeks in a year. That's plenty of time to reach a goal. New year resolutions, bathing suit weather, a photo shoot... it can all be obtained, we just have to take it slow.

If one pound of fat is 3500 calories, and we want to lose one pound a week, what's the math on that? Well, there's seven days... so that makes 500 calories burned below your BMR/day. I love this idea because it's easy. Between diet and exercise, anyone can find a way to lose 500 calories. It's as simple as burning like 200-300 calories in the day, and then achieving the other 200-300 by eating right. A word of caution though... no matter how much or little you weigh... do not eat less than 1000 calories in a day (I know that sounds crazy, but that's a "more is better" mentality applied). This very low number of fuel causes your body to go into a "starvation mode" and store any calories it can... which results as fat retention. Remember, we were once hunter/gatherers who did not know when the next meal would come ;)
I don't want to go into information overload... so here's some tips to leave you with. They might be a little random, but then again, so am I.

• While we are technically counting calories here, don't go crazy counting calories. I think it's important to gain an understanding of how much you should be eating, and knowing portion control. Figure out how many grams you need of something, and take a look at what that looks like, so you have an idea.
• Take your gram numbers and space them out over 5 or 6 meals throughout the day. You always want a well balanced meal, because it controls insulin (remember?)
• Protein and fat with every meal... it stabilizes blood sugar and keeps you satisfied
• Try to have your starchy and healthy carb sources when your body needs it most... at breakfast, and before and after a workout
• Always strive for 5 fruits and vegetables
• Nothing increases your metabolism more than exercise... studies have shown:
• Metabolism increases for up to 4 hours post aerobic (jogging etc) exercise
• Metabolism increases for 24-48 hours post anaerobic (weight lifting) exercise
• If you eat 5-6 times a day... that's 35-42 meals a week... so don't feel bad if you have pizza for one or two of them. That's still a passing grade in my book, 40/42 is still an A.
  

Ok, I think that's going to be it. Let me know if you have any questions, and field any personal ones by email. Next week, I'll go into exercises you should be doing, and more tips you can use for healthier eating and managing your weight. Not all exercises and methods are created equal, but for now, I just want everyone to get moving more. Pull a Michael Phelps and start swimming... easy at first. Run if you like it, rollerblade like its 1992... do whatever you enjoy, that's the key. Exercise should be something you enjoy. I'm taking some cool Canadians into NYC today... wish me luck! I'll try and take some pics for all of you. I should really try gelato, too. Enjoy the weekend my friends :)
Dumb and Dumber
Tortoise