Keeping Fit after Aging Out - A new diet book

[atlvalet]

While we're on the topic, is there anyone else here that can't do the elliptical? My knees are shot after drum corps, and running's tough, but the elliptical kills me! Most people are surprised by this, since they're really meant to be BETTER for the knees, but I think it's because the motion of the elliptical is very similar to the motion of marching, which is why they hurt in the first place.

Is this just me?

I don't know the kinesiology on why an elliptical would hurt your knees, but spinning should be a great alternative. The other bonus of spinning is you have someone pushing you. And yes, I know I can't shut up about spinning, but it rules. It's not free like running, but it suits me.

Besides running and spinning, boxing is another great cardio workout.

Also, the one thing I have noticed about some people, is that they don't push themselves enough. While any form of exercise is good, many people convince themselves that what they are doing is hard, when it's really not. Like some people think that marching band is just as hard as drum crops, when we all know that it's not. For example, odds are if you don't leave spinning totally drenched, you aren't doing something right.

[BariEuph]

i totally hate the elliptical also. i'd rather bike or jog

[BDCorno]

Diet and exercise my friend.

I haven't found any kind of work out that helps like running does. I know, I know, we all hate it. Myself included. We all have bad knees, too. I was always the kid out on the field with both knees in braces while marching. If I went more than a block or two without them, I would be next to tears because of the pain. I hear you guys on the knees, I promise.

But, I was talking to some friends of mine who recently got into running, and they suggested I look into what's called ChiRunning. I watched some videos on YouTube, but didn't really understand the concept until I borrowed the book from my friend. There is so much good stuff in there, including how to run if you have "bad knees." So long as I focus on the technique throughout my entire run, I have no issues with shin splints or knee pain. I suggest you look into it. http://www.chirunning.com/

Plan your meals. Eat breakfast everyday. Eating less and skipping meals doesn't necessarily result in losing weight. Here's the big toughie for me: Don't eat before bed. Your body doesn't need all those calories to sleep. The easiest way to make losing weight hard is going to sleep for the night on a full stomach. It's comforting, sure. But it's not necessary.

I'll echo and endorse the Chi Running method. It's sooo much easier on the body...one friend referred to it as the "old guys gait", but it's for everyone. It's far more efficient than typical running gait, expends energy more efficiently and is easy on the joints. Don't wait until your joints are gone to look at and evaluated technique....unless marching drum corps has already done that for you! I'd venture to say that the near absence of high mark time has lessened the damage that the youngsters sustain to their joints, though the addition of other movement could add it right back.

In any event, get out there and stay dedicated! Sometimes the hardest thing to do is simply get out the danged door! Make the effort, and a half mile out you'll be glad you did.

[soccerguy315]

I compiled a circuit training routine for myself at the beginning of the summer, but only did it a few times... this thread is on Sept 1, so I will use today to start my rededication to this... and cut down my chip portion at lunch.

[emtbill]

This topic is where I feel I can help.

Background: RN specializing in nutrition and weight management. Before that, an ER nurse with 8 years experience.

Muscle burns fat. Period. Cardio is great, but building muscle mass will keep your body burning fat much more efficiently - and then you can eat a bit more. (honesty check: this is not my strong suit.)

When it comes to weight management, it's all about calories in vs. calories out. Most of us underestimate the calories we take in and over-estimate the calories we burn. ("I walked a mile, I can eat a couple of donuts today." Nope! Does not compute!)

- This is where I disagree. The human body is a lot more complex than just eating less calories in and exercising more to burn off calories. If you look at the hormonal response (i.e. insulin) to food, our body reacts differently to carbohydrates, proteins and fats. A pound of body fat is estimated to be worth 3,500 calories. So taking out 500 calories in your diet per day should equal about 1 pound of weight loss per week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories = 1 pound fat). I have never found this to be true. What science is finding out is, "You are what your body does with what you eat."

There is no magic dietary bullet. Lots of unprocessed fruits and veggies is the bulk of a healthy, balanced diet. Add to that a couple or three servings of lean protein sources, 2-3 whole grain sources and 2-3 dairy sources and you're good to go. Just be careful about added sugars and fats. The food pyramid is your friend.

- I agree with unprocessed veggies, but not lots of fruit. Fruit has fructose (fruit sugar), which can promote fat storage. I would even say people don't need that much grain if at all, and not that much dairy either. Eating more fat and protein and less of the carbohydrates helps quite a bit. Low-carb diets do show better correction in HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides, cholesterol, and change in particle size of the LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). The Atkins diet works well for initial weight loss, but its difficult to maintain that low of carbohydrates long term. So any diet with some carbohydrate restriction (less than 120 grams per day) seems to work well. And no, Dr. Atkins did not die of a heart attack, he died of brain trauma. And the food pyramid is upside down. We feed cows a lot of grains to fatten them up before slaughter. Its no wonder why America has an obesity problem.

Most Americans have no idea what a portion size is, and we have been trained to love the taste of high fat, high sugar, highly processed foods. I was one of those people, and I had the pounds and the 2X size clothes - and the blood pressure - to show it. Woo. Go American food industry! (and the truth is that most of us with weight issues have refused to look in the mirror to examine what the real problem is. If we as a culture would stop buying all that crap, the food industry would respond. It's already happening a little, which is good.)

- Now that I agree with. Agribusiness has no concern what so ever for your health, they just want your money. Watch the movie Food Inc. to get a better understanding of this. It is on Netflix.

Restaurant eating is difficult - portion sizes are enormous, social pressure to eat large is enormous, they bring chips or bread to your table without asking, and then there's the whole appetizer/main course/dessert trio of death. I've learned to ask for what I need and avoid what I don't. The customer wins when the customer goes in informed and ready to be specific.

- I agree with that also.

Look. The simple fact is that when our government started telling us to eat less fat, we just got fatter. Eating fat doesn't make us store fat, we store a some and use some for energy. However when we eat a lot of carbs.... our bodies can only use so much blood sugar at one time, so it has to put the excess somewhere. In our fat cells. So when we eat a lot of carbs, they pretty much demand to be used as an energy source first, before fat. So with the American diet, a lot of us don't use our fat for energy, we just store more and more of it. If you don't want to be overweight or obese like 67% of Americans, don't eat like them.

Here's some links to reinforce this. Happy reading.

http://www.nmsociety.org/

http://liberationwellnessblog.com/

http://www.why-low-carb-diets-work.com/ This one explains the science really well.

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/

If you want more info or have questions, you can send me a message. And if you want to make sure I'm the real thing, I'm the last person on the bottom of the page. http://monarchmedical.net/our_team.php

[atlvalet]

Another dietary idea to consider is the Paleo Diet. I have personally see it work wonders. It's not a fad, it's based on human dietary anthropology.

[year1buick]

1. Don't eat more than you need. (duh) Many of us (most?) don't do this. If you pay attention--really pay attention, you can tell when you're at a "comfortable" point in eating a meal. (The truly ambitious can count serving sizes, etc. Sure, it can help, but, realistically, almost no one has time to do this. Just pay a little more attention to your serving size and stop filling the tank when you feel comfortable.) Sometimes it takes changing a routine--eating at the table instead of the couch. Slowing down. Resisting the compulsion to finish whatever the waiter brings you, regardless of plate size. (The to-go box is your friend.)

2. Eat less crap, more "good" stuff. Mostly common sense, but the food pyramid really is a decent guide for this. But again, no need to over analyze this--a little common sense goes a long way. Variety = good. Balance = good. (Whole grains, veggies, some fruit, less red or fatty meet, easy on the fried food, sweets, etc. You know the drill.) There's no need swear off any one particular food for the rest of your natural life--trying to is pointless. (But when you decide to eat a cookie--keep it to just one. Go ahead, treat yourself. Just don't eat half the bag!) NOT ROCKET SCIENCE > balance, moderation and variety...

3. Exercise some. (again...duh) No need to go all P90X. Don't need a gym membership either. Don't need to do it every day. Just a few days a week, get that heart rate up for 30 minutes or so. If you can... situps, pushups, weights help too. Don't fret too much on the specifics though--SOME kind of physical activity that gets the ticker going.

Doing this won't bring about an overnight change but, if you stay with it (and don't think of it as a "diet" or "regimen"), you WILL eventually get in better shape. (The problem is, for me at least, I find it all too easy to come up with excuses for why I don't have time to exercise, or why that second plate of cheese laden nachos is just fine.) In my mind, all of the specifics (this many grams, this many reps) are secondary to change in attitude and motivation. Get those down and the rest will follow.

[FWIW, I made up my mind a few years ago to change my attitude and do something about it. No special diet or exercise plan--just those three things. It wasn't drastic, but within several months, I'd lost nearly 20 pounds, and felt a lot better. I've since relapsed, but it's not because I don't know what to eat or how to exercise-- I just haven't had my head in the right place. That's the important part...]

[TerriTroop]

Thanks for the reply and clarifying points. It's so good to have people like you to keep us on on our game!

I was oversimplifying about calories in and calories out because the science behind it gets complicated for most of us. But as a general rule, the concept can work as a baseline point of knowledge, right? My point was that people tend to reward themselves after exercise with high-calorie foods, and that's a bad habit to get into because in the long run that usually doesn't equal sound weight loss strategy.

When I said lots of fruit and veggies I was lumping them together. Sorry about that. I'm definitely on the "more veggies, less fruit" bandwagon. Regarding grains, I eat much smaller portions but spread them out over the day. It's portion size and frequency that makes or breaks my own weight loss journey.

South Beach diet works very well and is an excellent alternative to the Atkins diet, IMO. My doctor recommended it to me and my first 30-40 lbs. came off very easily.

Food Inc. is an excellent movie that everyone should watch.

This topic is where I feel I can help.

Background: RN specializing in nutrition and weight management. Before that, an ER nurse with 8 years experience.

Muscle burns fat. Period. Cardio is great, but building muscle mass will keep your body burning fat much more efficiently - and then you can eat a bit more. (honesty check: this is not my strong suit.)

When it comes to weight management, it's all about calories in vs. calories out. Most of us underestimate the calories we take in and over-estimate the calories we burn. ("I walked a mile, I can eat a couple of donuts today." Nope! Does not compute!)

- This is where I disagree. The human body is a lot more complex than just eating less calories in and exercising more to burn off calories. If you look at the hormonal response (i.e. insulin) to food, our body reacts differently to carbohydrates, proteins and fats. A pound of body fat is estimated to be worth 3,500 calories. So taking out 500 calories in your diet per day should equal about 1 pound of weight loss per week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories = 1 pound fat). I have never found this to be true. What science is finding out is, "You are what your body does with what you eat."

There is no magic dietary bullet. Lots of unprocessed fruits and veggies is the bulk of a healthy, balanced diet. Add to that a couple or three servings of lean protein sources, 2-3 whole grain sources and 2-3 dairy sources and you're good to go. Just be careful about added sugars and fats. The food pyramid is your friend.

- I agree with unprocessed veggies, but not lots of fruit. Fruit has fructose (fruit sugar), which can promote fat storage. I would even say people don't need that much grain if at all, and not that much dairy either. Eating more fat and protein and less of the carbohydrates helps quite a bit. Low-carb diets do show better correction in HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides, cholesterol, and change in particle size of the LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). The Atkins diet works well for initial weight loss, but its difficult to maintain that low of carbohydrates long term. So any diet with some carbohydrate restriction (less than 120 grams per day) seems to work well. And no, Dr. Atkins did not die of a heart attack, he died of brain trauma. And the food pyramid is upside down. We feed cows a lot of grains to fatten them up before slaughter. Its no wonder why America has an obesity problem.

Most Americans have no idea what a portion size is, and we have been trained to love the taste of high fat, high sugar, highly processed foods. I was one of those people, and I had the pounds and the 2X size clothes - and the blood pressure - to show it. Woo. Go American food industry! (and the truth is that most of us with weight issues have refused to look in the mirror to examine what the real problem is. If we as a culture would stop buying all that crap, the food industry would respond. It's already happening a little, which is good.)

- Now that I agree with. Agribusiness has no concern what so ever for your health, they just want your money. Watch the movie Food Inc. to get a better understanding of this. It is on Netflix.

Restaurant eating is difficult - portion sizes are enormous, social pressure to eat large is enormous, they bring chips or bread to your table without asking, and then there's the whole appetizer/main course/dessert trio of death. I've learned to ask for what I need and avoid what I don't. The customer wins when the customer goes in informed and ready to be specific.

- I agree with that also.

Look. The simple fact is that when our government started telling us to eat less fat, we just got fatter. Eating fat doesn't make us store fat, we store a some and use some for energy. However when we eat a lot of carbs.... our bodies can only use so much blood sugar at one time, so it has to put the excess somewhere. In our fat cells. So when we eat a lot of carbs, they pretty much demand to be used as an energy source first, before fat. So with the American diet, a lot of us don't use our fat for energy, we just store more and more of it. If you don't want to be overweight or obese like 67% of Americans, don't eat like them.

Here's some links to reinforce this. Happy reading.

http://www.nmsociety.org/

http://liberationwellnessblog.com/

http://www.why-low-carb-diets-work.com/ This one explains the science really well.

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/

If you want more info or have questions, you can send me a message. And if you want to make sure I'm the real thing, I'm the last person on the bottom of the page. http://monarchmedical.net/our_team.php

[atlvalet]

Double Post Fail.

Edited September 2, 2010 by atlvalet

[atlvalet]

3. Exercise some. (again...duh) No need to go all P90X. Don't need a gym membership either. Don't need to do it every day. Just a few days a week, get that heart rate up for 30 minutes or so. If you can... situps, pushups, weights help too. Don't fret too much on the specifics though--SOME kind of physical activity that gets the ticker going.

If you want to get into really good shape, this is not the recipe. If you just want to take some air out of the spare tire, this should work fine.