And So Are You!!!!!
The following article is for those that have issue with looking overweight. The article is not intended to make you feel comfortable with your weight or be sensitive to your Plus Size but deals with just one truth; no one wants to look fat. The article is for those people that feel so self conscious about their saggy looks that they end up hiding; whether it’s baggy cloths, locking the doors from your mate until you’re dressed or ending as much social contact as possible, you feel your life is ruined, over, and not worth the double chocolate mocha cappuccino supreme you’re about to dump down your gullet.
Again, the truth; looking overweight or fat is embarrassing. Example; even though you may think it’s unprofessional or even illegal to hold prejudice against people who look overweight, it is a common practice.
For instance, I have been a hiring manager at a company that had to great the public and work closely with a client, I wanted normal. No bulging bellies hanging over poor fitting slacks, muffin tops in low rider jeans or bodonka butts squeezed into stretch pants; just normal. I really don’t care about your sunny personality or your qualifications or even your impeccable previous experience. I don’t want a fat person representing my company.
Lambasting; myself, as the hiring manager, was as fat or fatter than those potential employee but my perception of normal was still the same. First Impressions Matter!!
If you smoke you can stop right here. This program is for Non-Smokers. Two issues; first and foremost, the program as described below will require strength and discipline, neither of which is perceptible from smokers and second, smoking changes your metabolism forcing weight loss. Bottom line, if you are a smoker and overweight you need to stop smoking as a priority and worry about the weight once you have control over the smoking.
Weight Management for the Serious
My name is Mark Jennings. I am not a doctor, a trainer, a biologist, a nutritionist, a dietitian or any type of expert in human metabolism. I am just a simple observer of human nature with a knack for dead pan honesty. Using basic academic tools plus the lessons leaned from my own weight management issues, I have come up with a weight management plan that you may be interested in. In fact, this weight management program might actually work for the long hall. Truthfully, I’m pretty sure this basic plan or its various iterations have been around for some time but because there is no psycho babble, ‘gimmicky’ food pretences (eat this, don’t eat that), a ‘Fix All’ pill or chrome plated ‘marketing’ schemes, it just isn’t popular. Plus, how many people, when they hear the word ‘hard work’, can get motivated??
This weight management plan is based on one of the most fundamental rules of thermodynamics; Energy In = Energy Out. Since our bodies are very efficient power plants, very little gets wasted. Any energy in the form of food calories that you take in gets burned or gets stored. Just like the gas tank on your car; fill it up, burn it off (energy in, energy out). The problem is that if we take in (consume) more energy than we can use; we store that excess fuel in the form of fat. Unfortunately, unlike the tank in your car that overflows when it’s overfilled, there is No Limit to the size of your fuel tank, e.g. that ever expanding waist and hip line.
If you are carrying excess fat and serious about losing it, you will need to determine just how much fuel you need, what it will take to burn through that extra fuel you’re carrying and do this safely and effectively. Keep in mind, fat loss isn’t going to happen in the short term; there are no quick fixes. Weight management is a Lifestyle Change and is NOT for the weak hearted. You will find this weight management plan easy to talk about and think through yet demanding. Without courage and discipline, it is pretty much a guarantee, you will fail!! The truth sucks, doesn’t it??
The first question you need to ask yourself; am I really fat? Are you basing your weight management on some unrealistic ‘Barbie and Ken’ image? Are you using a Body Mass Index (BMI) or insurance company actuarial that categorize people into standard profiles? Keep in mind that your body is made up of bone, blood, muscle, sinew and fat. Are you overweight if you carry to much muscle? We know the answer to that and we also know that being overweight or obese is always associated with excess fat.
Everyone carries some amount of fat. Fat is healthy and is an essential component of the body’s metabolism. Everyone needs a little extra fuel in the tank. Also, one must keep in mind that no matter how hard you try, because of who you are and your ancestry (genetics), you can’t rearrange where you store fat. All you can do is gain and loose it. So maybe the real question is; what’s MY healthy amount of fat? What is MY perceived normal?
The books say (% body fat);
Men; 18 to 23% not exceeding 25% and most definitely never above 30%
Ladies; 25 to 30% not exceeding 35% and most definitely never above 40%
Normalcy also takes into account waist-to-hip ratios.
Men should shoot for a ratio 0.9
Women should be in the 0.7 range
My favorite standard of normalcy (and the one we’ll be using for our weight management plan) is the U.S. Army’s weight-to-height ratios. The complete Army Standard is attached as a link (top left) to this article. Unlike most weight actuarial tables, the Army’s provides a basic % fat for male and female based on age. The standard also provides a means of establishing normal even when you’re husky or muscular. The tools needed to determine % fat by the Army’s standard are a tape measure and a scale, pretty simple.
Remember, matching the perception of normal is the battle. Heavy or husky (bone, blood, muscle….) is not fat and you can be heavy and still look normal.
If you really need to see normal, cruse the internet and take look at the paintings and sculptures of the renaissance, look at the art of Michelangelo, Rembrandt, etc… This is where normalcy is defined. I bet you won’t find any ‘stick figure’ Barbie or Kens nor will you find overweight or obese; just normal. You need to embrace this vision of normalcy. You need to burn the vision into your mind, so find a picture from the classics that you think looks like where you’re normal should be and bookmark, copy, print, buy the book or whatever so that you can reference and refocus on this visual on a regular basis.
Last point; these values and visuals are GOALS, not absolutes. These goals are set as something to work toward in a ‘continuously improving manner’. Also, goals are not just the destination, once you get there you will still have work hard to manage the process (your weight) or all of your effort will be lost.
What You Look Like Matters (Baseline Shape)
No matter how you think you feel about the way you look, the following will be one of the hardest thing you can imagine. You have to critique the way you look. Believe me, you CAN’T do it looking at a mirror or just standing on the scale. You need to measure, weigh and photograph yourself. Once you see the pictures and relate them to the dimensions, only then will you see the problem. You will also need a confidant to help you with this effort. Make sure that the person you ask to help with this initial baseline will support you through the entire process, one that could take several months, several years or even a lifetime to achieve.
The initial session is very important. Why; you need to see where you’re at so that you can be PROUD of your journey and EXCITED about where you’re going. So, get out your scales, your cloth tape and your camera and get started.
When you take the pictures, take full height (head to toe) front and profile shots. If the camera does not ‘Date Stamp’ the picture, include the date somewhere in the pictures. Ladies should be in a two piece (bathing suit, bra and panties, etc…) and men, just in shorts. You may feel a bit uneasy about this but rise above your embarrassment and just remember, it gets better from here. When photographing yourself, I recommend digital pictures. The reason, we can paste them on spread sheets and make numerous copies as motivational reminders.
As far as your baseline measurements, to make it easy, I’ve included a set of tables for you to record your initial weigh in. Just follow the links listed in the left margin.
What You Eat Is Everything (Eating Patterns)
After gathering your initial statistics, the next thing we need to establish is what, when and why you are presently eating. This is a fundamental component of any management program and is known as establishing a baseline. Once you see why, when and what you’re eating, then you can start to make those lifestyle changes that will move you toward your vision of normalcy.
The first thing you’re going to learn is to write down everything that goes into your mouth, when it goes in and how you feel just before and just after you eat. The information collected is needed to determine what changes are required for you to meet your goals. Also you will be establishing the first of many lifestyle changes; writing, recording or just plain thinking about what you are about ‘stuff in your mouth’.
Again, I have provided a table (just follow the link listed in the left margin) so that you can write it down. I cannot reiterate enough; you need to Write It Down. The reason; we need to analyze and make changes. We also need to determine what changes are working and what changes are crap.
Every day, for the next two years (as a minimum), you will keep a file of when, what and why you eat. For the first couple of weeks we’ll practice with just the when and what then move on to the why.
The table I’ve given you has eight potential entry times. If you are a perpetual grazer, enter the times as close as you can but most importantly, enter what you’ve eaten. With all entries, try and be as detailed and specific as possible.
Step two of process is to analyze and straighten out your eating patterns. The ideal is to consume your daily calories in smaller doses throughout the day. The ideal strategy is to feed yourself 6 to 8 times a day, loading up in the morning and tapering to a snack by dinner, e.g. a reverse pyramid. The reason; there are several metabolic processes that control fat storage that seem to work better if they are partially loaded throughout the day.
Step three of the process is to zero in on the total calories consumed versus calories required. Basically this step is focused on the rule of Tens, e.g. what you want to weigh times 10 is what you should be consuming in calories. Yes folks, it’s that easy.
Rule of Tens
· Low Activity, Maintenance 10 X Weight
· Moderate Activity, Maintenance 12 X Weight
· High Activity, Maintenance 15 X Weight
Keep in mind that the rule of Tens is for weight maintenance so if you weigh more than your target weight and consume maintenance calories for you target weight, then you will lose weight. Also keep in mind, based on this rule of Tens, as you approach your target weight, the pounds come off slower and slower, e.g. rule of diminishing returns. The other thing to remember is that it will take two weeks or longer for your body to adjust and get used to the fact that you have made a change so patients is key.
Step four of the process is to make sure you are consuming the correct nutrients. This is basic food pyramid stuff. We want to make sure you are eating sufficient carbohydrates, protein and fats (50, 30, 20 rule). For information on what you should be eating, check out the USDA's website; Mypyramid.Gov (http://www.mypyramid.gov/)
White Food
When we discuss nutrients, a discussion of carbohydrates always comes up. I truly believe this is a carry over from all of those carb free diets, e.g. Atkins, Southbeach, etc… You need your carb’s, they feed the brain. All you really have to do is separate the good from the bad and yes, there are some REALLY bad carb’s.
Yep, we’re talking ‘Glysemic Index’ here and those white foods (potatoes, rice, sugar, white flour, etc…) at the top of the list will do nothing but slow down your progress. Now I’m not saying that you should stop eating ‘white food’, but limit your intake at meal time, e.g. ½ cup of white rice, ½ of a baked potato (no butter or sour cream) and keep your total white sugar intake down to less than 30 to 40 grams per day. To do this you'll need to read the packaging lables for sugar content.
The best outcomes in weight management are the ones where a majority of the daily carbohydrate intake is made up raw colored carbohydrates (orange, green, brown, etc…) and whole grains.
High Fructose Corn Syrup
This stuff is poison. If you consume this product on a regular basis you deserve to be fat. I really don’t care what the ‘Corn Industry’ says; your body just does not metabolize this particular sweetener the same way as other carbohydrates. And besides, when cattle go to the stock yard for slaughter, they feed them corn to ‘fatten’ them up. So why would you want to consume a ‘corn on steroids’ unless you ‘wanted’ to be fat. This also goes for artificial sweeteners; they’re crap, all crap!!!! Ditch the syrupy drinks and drink water. If it’s the caffeine you crave, tea and coffee should be your mainstays.
Exercise Is For Everyone (Activity Counts)
When you initially take control of your eating habits and begin to lose weight, you’re going to lose a combination of water weight, fat and muscle. Just take a quick look at starvation photos, there is no tone, just loose skin over bone. This is NOT normal and is more or less the opposite extreme to being overweight. If you are looking for normal you need a bit of muscle tone. In fact toning will allow you to carry a bit more fat and still present that normal appearance.
If you look at our rule of Tens, you will note different multipliers for different activity levels. Generally you have to assume you are at a low activity level. Lets face it, you get up, you shower, your drive to work, you polish a chair or stand in a confined area all day, you drive home and after dinner you sit down and watch TV for several hours. Within this scenario, you did NOT; dig ditches, chop wood, churn butter, carry feed or any other 8 hour stent of manual labor. In fact, 1 hour at the gym 5 days out of 6 is considered only moderate activity if you’re confined the rest of the day. To eat for a high activity level, you’d better be digging ditches all day and training for a marathon.
From day one of you’re lifestyle change, you need to include some form of exercise. In the beginning you will be tired, cranky and in an overall foul mood. Then it will hit you, this isn’t so bad, I feel better, I’m loosing weight, I’m gaining strength, I’m….., I’m…… and more I’m….. Yes, at this point you realize, it’s ALL ABOUT YOU. No one can do it for you and only you will reap the benefits.
Like your diet, you will need to write down or plan out your exercise program or what exercises you will be completing. There are several books and web sites dedicated to this or you can simply jot down what you plan to accomplish in the next week, and check it off as you go. You also need to enter how you feel before, during and after the workout so that you can fine tune your training and schedules. Remember; ‘continuous improvement’.
If you haven’t a clue, I’ve attached several examples that have worked for me. Again, just follow the links posted in the left margin.
You will need to place yourself on a strict schedule of when you are going to work out and then work to your exercise plan. Initially, just get to the gym and get in the habit of spending an hour or so there. If you can’t finish all of the exercise you had planned, it’s O.K., just modify your plan for the next round. Hire a trainer for a couple of sessions if needed to get into the swing. Have the trainer review your plan(s) or help you create one. Once you’ve developed the habit, then just about anything you do that resembles exercise will help sustain a weight loss, but only for the short term. Keep in mind that after about 4 to 6 weeks you will have to increase to duration or intensity to keep on tract.
After several months (4 to 6), you most likely have developed a split schedule, 3 days cardio and 3 days resistance. On resistance days, you’ll have a second split; upper and lower body every other ‘weight training day’. Sunday will be you’re only off day. Keep in mind; this is for the rest of your life, not just some temporary inconvenience.
So in your calendars, block out that part of the day that works for you, take your exercise plan and go. My personal hour starts at 4:30 am and goes through 6:00. I start out with a 15 minute warm up and finish with 10 minutes of stretching. Depending on the day, I complete a weight routine or a cardio routine, in between the warm up and the stretching. Every 6th week, I change my weight routines. On cardio days, I use a different machine every time. This may sound abstract and a bit overzealous but it is the only way to take control of the fat.
That last 10 Pounds (Advance Diet and Exercise Techniques)
So you’ve met your goal, you’re looking normal and maybe just a bit better, almost athletic. You’ve eaten clean, exercised hard, gained muscle and lost fat. All of your measurements confirm that indeed, there was a fat loss and a muscle gain. You’re running faster and further, you’re lifting heavier and more often and, all around, you feel 10 years younger, but you still have that last little bit of ‘giggle’ just below the naval. That little bit of padding that hides your abdominal rectus (ab’s) is probably the fist place you gained and I guarantee, it will be the last and the hardest to lose.
To get that six pack look, the only solution is to lose even more fat. Men will need to be below 15% total fat to just begin to look cut and generally below 10% to have that Hard Core look. For the girls, anything less than 20% and you stop looking like girls so please stop there. We know from earlier discussions that the best sure fire method to lose weight is diet and cardio, and lots of it. The problem; only cutting your diet and increasing your cardio, you end up catabolic, metabolizing your own muscle trying to get your total percent fat that low. This is O.K. if you’re into the ‘starvation look’. Keep in mind the original goal, “look normal”. Well cut, but normal
The trick is to maintain your weight and all of the muscular definition and structure you worked so hard to gain and lose just the fat. So, is there a best of both worlds that can accommodate fat lose without muscles lose? Yes there is, but there is also a price; a cleaner diet (not less but quality calories) and heavier resistance and higher intensity cardio workouts. Remember, that last 10 pounds is at the point of diminishing returns, e.g. you’ll work harder to lose less.
First let’s discuss diet because we know the real secret to fat loss is diet. So get out your food journals and let’s see what we’re eating. Keep in mind that to maintain the intensity necessary to convert that last 10 pounds of fat into 10 pounds of muscle, you need to eat. In fact you may need to bump up your daily calorie totals. As far as diet, we will be looking at the % protein, %carbohydrate and % fat that you eat daily. We will also be discussing supplements and pre / post workout meals.
The List;
Alcohol – you are allowed one (1) drink daily. 1 beer, 1 glass of wine or 1 mixer, but ONLY 1. Why, alcohol shifts the livers function from metabolizing fat into glycogen to cleaning the alcohol out of your system. We want your liver converting fat full time.
Caffeine – 1 cup of coffee or 1 Tea. Absolutely no soft drinks or sport drinks that contain caffeine.
Water – As much as you can hold.
Protein – you’ll want 30 to 40% of your diet to consist of QUALITY protein; fish, lean beef, lean lamb/goat, lean poultry. Also, don’t forget the eggs and dairy. For the fish, stay away from anything “FARM RAISED”, e.g. corn raised. For other meats, try the local butcher, smaller grocer that has a meat counter or even the local 4-H’ers. The more grass (or algae) and/or bugs the critters ate before they hit your table, the better.
Carbohydrates – you’ll want 40 to 50% of your diet to consist of QUALITY carbohydrates, e.g. unprocessed whole grains. As we’ve been over before, be shy of anything ‘white’. This is not to say you need to completely eliminate white potatoes, hamburger buns or even sugar from your diet but you do need to limit how much of the ‘white stuff’ you do eat. The ‘whites’ should be considered as a ‘treat’ if your looking to see those ab’s.
Fat – you’ll want no more than 10% of your diet to consist of QUALITY fats. These include nuts, avocado and olive oil (for cooking and salads). You need the oils (omega 3’s and 6’s) to stay healthy.
Pre workout meals are not essential if you’re routine is less than 2 hours. Believe me when I tell you that within the last 24 hours, if you’re eating right, you have more than enough glycogen (energy) stores to carry you through a 2 hour workout. In fact, if it’s a cardio day, the fist 30 minutes is just to deplete the stored glycogen. You’ll be operating on your fat stores after that. On weight training days, I doubt you could burn off your body’s stored glycogen in the hour you devote to weights. Bottom line, don’t eat (or drink sugary water sports drinks) at least 2 hours prior to a workout.
Post workout is a bit different and in fact the first 30 minutes are critical. To keep your body from cannibalizing itself (digesting you muscle stores or going catabolic) what you need is a bit of sugar (raw carbohydrates) and a bit of protein to 1) spike your insulin and allow your muscle cells to uptake the amino acids and 2) a source of amino acids (proteins) to restore and repair that cell after exercise. Now this doesn’t mean eat a chocolate cake with a tuna topping but, maybe something on the order of magnitude of an 8 oz glass of chocolate milk is more than perfect. The carb to protein ratio is for post workout recovery is 3 to 1.
So, the basic diet rules for that last 10 pounds are; no food 2 hours (minimum) prior to your workout and finish off with a nice cool glass of chocolate milk. Eat clean the rest of the day and you’ll be seeing that 6 pack before you know it.
Exercise intensity is next. You will need to virtually double your cardio, so if your endurance training is at 30 minutes of fairly intense cardio (for discussion sake, use a 5K run at 34 minutes or less) then you need to be at 1 hour (a 6K run) at the same intensity. You also need to cross train on your cardio days, so it’s 1 day on the bike, another on the elliptical and yet another on the treadmill and/or 30 minute splits on any 2 of your choice. And, do not underestimate the benefits of interval training; just keep in mind that your rest interval effort should be no less than your steady state effort (training pace).
Interval Training Notes:
Whether training just to loose weight or getting ready for a marathon, enough can not be said about interval training. It improves aerobic capacity and adds strength all in the same session. Two basic interval types are the more traditional High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Sprint Interval Training (SIT). Both should be an integral part of your training program.
HIIT – This is your classic 1 on, 1 off routine; e.g. after a warm up, 1 minute of hard followed by 1 minute of a ‘working’ rest. Realistically it should be ‘work hard’ to get your heart rate to 80% and recover at a slower pace and allow your heart rate to drift back to 60%. Almost all modern ellipticals, treadmills, stationary bikes, etc… have a interval feature. After 10 to 15 bouts, you’ll be tired. Try one, they’re great.
SIT – Sprint intervals are a bit different, you will work at your ‘maximum effort’ for as long as you can hold it (15 to 20 seconds) and then slow to a ‘working’ recovery pace for up to 4 minutes. Believe me; initially you will need those 4 minute recoveries.
As for your weight training, by now you should have graduated to completing ‘super sets’, e.g. two or more sets of complementing exercises with no rest period. You need to keep this practice up but at the same time increase the weight. If you’re not lifting heavy, at least 1.5 times your body weight when completing squats and deadlifts, you need to be and if you’re not lifting free weights, this will be your next challenge.
I’ve included a couple of 2 week weight and cardio plans that you can use or model your program after. Again, just follow the posted links.
Wishing you success;
Mark M. Jennings
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