Revisiting Health After 60………….

In the original post to this blog series, A Book Is Judged By Its Cover, I had looked at how others perceive your appearance. Good or bad, right or wrong, you are judged and if you are overweight or heroin skinny, you are judged as unhealthy, you are judged as someone lacking character, you are judged as lacking discipline.  I had written about attaining normal, looking healthy, looking for that happy medium. In the following years, I have written about looking better than normal, exceeding and excelling and beating the odds against a sedentary, processed food lifestyle. During my personal journey, I have found that if you work hard, are dedicated, are consistent and thoughtful of where you are and where you want to be, you can make gains on that Last 10 Pounds. There are no secret shortcuts, there is only hard work.

So in this entry, I will look at specific sections of that original blog post and add lessons learned, correct misconceptions and just generally update that original entry. The original post, A Book Is Judged By Its Cover, was made in January, 2011. I had written it a good 6 years after I had begun my own journey to a better lifestyle, a healthier lifestyle. It was originally intended as a weight loss/fat loss guide………I had never imagined that it would turn into a Mark Jennings personal journal on exercise, nutrition and supplements, health factoids or a ‘my vision for me’ script. However, that’s where it ended up and I refer to it routinely.

Where Did the Weight Go, Part II………………

In my last few entries (since the first of the year) I had noted a weight loss that I attributed to a change in supplements, additional activity or something. So in mid-June I quite taking all supplements and the weight loss stabilized……at approximately 185 with a body fat estimate of 16%. I had also changed my workout routines from the Power Macro to the Endurance Macro……this curtailed the limited cardio associated with the Power routines. And after a week or so off supplements, weight steadied out at 183 to 185.

This first thing I noted by not indulging in supplements (besides the normal brain fog described in earlier blogs) was a bit of digestive discomfort, specifically constipation. Remember, fiber is your friend and if you are active in any recreational activity that causes dehydration, you will suffer through some level of constipation. As soon as I reinstated the fiber (1 tbs morning and 1 tbs evening); what a wonderful relief! Adding 1000 mg of fish oil 2 weeks later further improved bathroom encounters. However, no changes in weight……yet.

At the 3 week mark, reintroduced BCAA (1 tbs morning and 1 tbs evening) and went to 2000 mg fish oil. At this point I also started to look at morning blood sugar. The average fasting glucose after waking was 100 to 110 and, 40 minutes ‘after’ taking this morning supplement stack, blood glucose would drop to 100 to 105. As long as supplements don’t raise blood sugar, I’m golden.

 

The second reason I started looking at blood sugar in the AM is twofold; 1) I have been branded by my pill pusher as a practicing diabetic (higher than ADA recommended fasted glucose) and 2) noting that AM exercise raises fasted blood sugar (and most likely basal insulin levels). The raise in blood sugar was noted 2 years ago in the blog entry titled “The Next Round” (August 2015) were I had discussed ‘Dawn Effect’. Without exercise or food in the AM, blood sugar and any associated insulin levels are stable. And as I have written about (April 2017 entry; “Here We Go Again”) in my quest to conquer those stubborn love handles, insulin (and insulin sensitivity) may be the ultimate culprit. By virtue of my new job, I have curtailed eating and any heavy exercise in the wee hours. Could this be connected to the weight loss? Most recently I have read a couple of articles on this subject. It seems that a Dr. George Cahill, a starvation expert, stated that “Type 2 Diabetes may have been an evolutionary selective advantage in a starving population”. Studies associated with this hypothesis show that the “Dawn Effect” is the result of a Type 2 Diabetic being insulin insensitive in the AM and insulin sensitive in the PM. It is a purposeful event based on the 10 to 12 hour fast (mini-starvation) during sleep. Not so much a liver dump and the hepatic feedback loop not working correctly but as an individual, not working with the liver and its feedback and the natural rhythms that you are born with, e.g. I was built to starve……..maybe! Could my genetics and my circumstance of no exercise and no food in the AM combined with some magic combination of supplements be witling away at my great nemesis, my love handles? It would be a windfall if were true.

At the 4 week mark, I upped the fish oil to 4000 mg, and started the 2000 iu vitamin D and 100 mg zinc daily. I also added the daily 400 mg of magnesium back into the mix. This is where the weight loss started again. To verify it was not a water weight, I started drinking copious amounts of water……...no gains, still losing.

The problem with additional magnesium is that you will go from nice comfortable bowel movements to ‘Fire Hose’ mode. 400 mg taken at night will ‘clean you out’ the next morning. Any water you drank the night before will be discharged through your anus……...at high pressure.  It was too much………I backed the magnesium out of the equation after just a week. However, the weight loss continued. I slid past 179 total weight July 25 with a positive downward trend. I will tell you right now……….its the Fish Oil……that’s key to weight/fat loss. A good diet (by default intermittent fasting), exercise timing and Fish Oil supplements……..in excess of 3000 mg Omega 3 per day….…..will give you a cut like there’s no tomorrow. I plan to continue the fish oil and see where I bottom out. Hopefully somewhere around 175………

From Dr. Google, the reason that the omega 3 is so effective is that it counteracts the effects of omega 6 intake. Omega 6 fatty acids are from seeds, nuts and their associated oils, the most common in processed food is soybean oil. These fats and oils turn on fat storage. They make you insulin resistant. The quoted ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 from Dr. Google is 2…3 to 1. The whole time I was in Asia and up until this last January/February, I ate lots and lots of almonds and peanuts, several handfuls a day. Lots of omega 6, closer to a ratio of 20 to 1, by virtue of the nuts alone, maybe not realizing the consequence of this evil fat. Is the ratio of 6 to 3 the smoking gun?  

 

A Book Is Judged Part II………..

·         Smoking……….In the original post I had stated that if you are a smoker, you need to stop smoking as a priority and then worry about weight/fat loss. I am still very addiment that smoking is a death sentence. Believe me, I was one….close to 30 years. However, we are NOT talking about nicotine use. We are talking about the tars and rubbish in what you’re inhaling when you smoke. The lungs are one of the gateways to a better life. If you breathe better, lots of fresh air, non-polluted air, you will feel better, you will look better, you will lose weight/fat, you will gain muscle. At a molecular level, as the mitochondria in every cell produce energy from fats and sugars, the largest byproduct by percentage is CO2, you need your lungs, you need clean air to ensure you have enough differential pressure to expel this byproduct. If you can’t get the CO2 out, your mitochondria shut down, your metabolism drops.  Smoking is like putting a potato in your exhaust pipe, you won’t get very far and eventually you will quit…….and die!

·         CO2………Since we mentioned CO2 in the last bullet, take note that two years ago (winter 2015/2016), monitoring my sleeping zone had shown high CO2 levels; generally, I would see 2000 ppm CO2. When you sleep and the body is repairing itself from the previous days exercise, you need the lowest levels practical, you need to lower that differential pressure between your lungs and the environment. There have been anecdotal studies that show low CO2 concentrations do indeed help with weight/fat loss and help with other metabolic stresses. 1 ½ years ago, I reconfigured my homes ventilation system and it’s a rare day that I see greater than 800 ppm CO2 in the bedroom. Every little bit helps, right? And I do believe higher atmospheric CO2 will eventually kill us all………by keeping us fat.

·         Nicotine……….In the last few years I have played with low dose nicotine, in the form of patches, in the form of lozenges. It has it uses as an advanced supplement. It has the potential to sharpen your focus, it has the potential to improve your ability to concentrate on the task at hand, it has the ability to help you deal with mental fatigue. It does increase your metabolism, no doubt. However, higher doses pose a risk in raising blood sugar, in raising blood pressure, increasing your heart rate. These need to be monitored…….you can be overstimulated. Like any other beneficial substance, nicotine has the potential for overuse, for abuse. My favorite stimulant stack is a 2 mg nicotine lozenge and a cup of coffee…..or two. This stack can improve your workout capacity, improve your endurance, increase your resting metabolic rate, you just need to respect what it is.

·         Alcohol………At the beginning of my journey, like many 48 year old men, I drank and I drank allot. In the original post, I had quoted 1 drink per day. After I had dieted down to a ‘normal’ weight, my one drink turned to two, sometimes three (or more) per day. It took me a long, long time to figure out that even at a low dose, alcohol wasn’t doing me any good. No matter what Dr. Google tells you (the 2 drink per day rule for men), in any amount…….booze interferes with weight/fat loss and muscle development. Do not justify the two per day rule, it will slow your fat loss efforts. In fact, in one entry posted in October of 2015, I had noted that I had drank over 1000 calories, empty calories, in one week. And some weeks, I guarantee it was more……..rarely less. And as you get older, you cannot recover from the constant alcohol intake. Your liver needs to do its job of converting fat to glycogen, not perpetually clear your system of alcohol. If you are drinking more than a glass of wine in a week, you are drinking too much.

·         Meal Timing…………In my original post I had quoted 6 to 8 small meals spread through the day. I think every nutritionist in the country at that time plus the litany of articles on bodybuilding said 6 to 8 meals spread throughout the day. In several early posts, I had experimented with intermittent fasting (thank you Martin Berkhan, Lean Gains) with some success but it wasn’t until recently that I had tied fasting glucose to elevated basil insulin and working more with my internal clock. Basically, if you have a higher fasting glucose in the morning, don’t eat. Eating just jacks up the glucose and basil insulin levels causing a higher percentage of fat storage. Same with PM high glucose, don’t eat and make it worse. You need to find the time of the day, that widow of opportunity where your body needs the nutrients to rebuild muscle and vital organs. You can discover this through blood sugar monitoring. If blood sugar is elevated, don’t eat. If blood sugar is low, eat. It’s that simple. It’s too bad I have only recently realized that if you have AM hepatic insulin resistance (Dawn Effect, higher blood sugar), it is basically a sign that you probably shouldn’t eat……….unless you’re attempting to get fat.

·         Exercise Timing………For years I have been a proponent of morning fasted exercise. Then the ‘niggly’ hip injury and the new job curtailed my morning activities. And what did I discover; weight loss, fat loss. The determining factor; not exercising in the AM (and not eating in the AM). Again, because of a morning high fasting glucose combined with exercise causing a secondary glucose dump from the liver, you end up with an even higher blood glucose levels.…….with an associated increase in basil insulin level and higher fat storage. With my workouts scheduled in the PM and not eating until noon or later, I feel I am finally working with my personal genetic makeup, my built in circadian rhythm, to effectively process food and exercise dosages.

Bottom line; if you wake up with higher blood glucose level (greater than say 90), don’t eat, don’t exercises, that makes it worse. Especially any fasted endurance related exercise, that drives blood glucose (and insulin) even higher. Basically, if you wake up and feel the need for something in your stomach, take two tablespoons of omega 3 fish oil (liquid, not gel tabs), mix in some psyllium fiber, drink your coffee and sit on your ass until your blood sugar starts to drop naturally. Fats and psyllium fill you up and they do no effect blood glucose, it’s a win, win!.

·         The White Stuff………..Added sugar is the biggest issue in any diet. It is what jacks up your blood glucose, it is what makes you insulin resistant, it is what makes you fat. Really, really, really be mindful of what you are eating. Don’t buy anything off the shelf without knowing the added sugar content. I’m not talking about the natural sugars from fruits and dairy, I’m talking about the white stuff, we’re talking sucrose; 50/50 glucose/fructose.

·         Omega 6………Omega 6 seems to be a devious contributor to fat storage. It is in crackers, breads, cereals, anything baked and processed. It also hides in chicken and eggs. It is in the nuts and seeds and things that are touted as good for you. It needs to monitored and controlled. It needs to be counterbalanced with Omega 3. So, if you are on a protein rich, fat rich, lower carb diet, make sure you monitor your omega 6 intake. Like alcohol and sugar, it needs to be controlled.

·         Supplements………NOW, I am a firm believer in the positive effects of Omega 3 fatty acids, for joint lube, for heart health and now, for fat loss, for countering the effects of Omega 6 intake. If you want to lose weight/fat……..fix your diet, increase exercise intensity (time under tension, heavier mean loading, etc….) and supplement with at least 4000 mg of Omega 3…….plus 2000 iu vitamin D and BCAA. With these three ingredients; you will be a fat burning dynamo. These are the big three missing from the standard American diet, especially as you get older and are recovering from a lifetime of bad eating habits. And then there’s fiber……….constipation sucks, add psyllium to your stack and you will no longer have to………strain!

In the beginning of my personal journey, again a good 6 years prior to starting this blog series, prior to writing the original A Book Is Judged, when I initially lost weight to get a handle on mid-life metabolic issues (high cholesterol, Type II Diabetes, etc…), I was spending a plot of time traveling (I was working in Texas and living in Washington). I ate one heck of a lot tuna right out of the can (daily)……. and ate at least twice a week at Red Lobster; the salmon dinner. I did not keep a lot of snacks around, minimal cookies and crackers……..rarely anything baked. I did eat a lot of Lean Cuisine and dinners out but stuck to salads, steak and fish…...never pasta, never rice.  My lowest weight was 165…….I just wonder what the effect of those Omega 3’s (in the fish) were during that diet, a high Omega 3 diet, and just didn’t realized or understand. I certainly do now, I wish I’d have connected the dots then.

·         Sleep………..One of the key factors in managing weight/fat is quality and quantity of sleep. For the male of the species (I can only talk about males here because I are one), full restful sleep releases a ton of Growth Hormone especially after a very, very intense workout session. And with that comes a release of testosterone, e.g. you are anabolic when sleeping. You will know just how well you are doing when you wake up in the AM with your intimate parts ‘painfully’ erect. This is a positive indication that all systems are working the way they are supposed to, fat is metabolizing, muscles are repairing, you are getting stronger and leaner and your brain is rebooting. If you are not getting quality sleep, caused by excessive stress, or you are sick, or you had one to many beers the evening before…….your system will be out of whack and you should take note; a limp member in the AM indicates something is not as it should be, you’re not gaining on that Last 10 Pounds.

Last Rest Week, Endurance Macro……..

So after the third cycle of this Endurance Macro, there are some lessons learned in sticking to ‘Down the Rack’ rack routines.

·         Legs……The main show, Down the Rack front squat, 4 sets of 2-3 reps at 195, 4 reps at 145, 6 reps at 95 to 115. Generally on the 4^th set have to deload 5% or so. There is a 1 minute rest between sets. Kneeling squats are next, 4 sets of 8 reps at 200 to 225. Then leg press Down the Rack and leg curls Down the Rack. These last two bouts, leg press and leg curls are heavy and fast to get a good pump after the main heavier sets. Things to remember…….go heavy and fatigue out on the main show, then go for the pump on the ancillary sets.

·         Chest……The main show, Down the Rack dips, for sets of 3 reps at +30 to 40 pounds, 3 reps at +20 to 30 pounds, 3 reps at +10 to 20 pounds, 3 reps at body weight. This gives you 12 reps per set. There is a 1 minute rest between sets. Land mine rows are next, 4 quick sets at 150, 30 second rest between sets. The 3^rd bout is Down the Rack pull ups with 3 reps at +30, 3 reps at +20, 3 reps at +10 and 3 to 4 reps at body weight. The finally is straight arm land mine pull overs, 4 sets, decreasing weight, 8 reps per set This is all about not fatiguing before you finish the entire workout. The straight arm land mine pull overs are the bomb, they will challenge you from your pec’s down to your hips, very isometric in the abs and obliques. The biggest lesson learned…….stretch the pec’s before you get into the weight dips by getting into the lower position with something under your feet or the use of a counterweighted station.

·         Wings and Legs…….These are Down the Rack curls and Down the Rack calf raises. You are going strictly for the pump. Do as many sets as you can as heavy as you can, getting a good lactic acid burn. I usually at 20 reps plus with each set. This workout should only take 45 minutes max. It is almost a rest day…..however, twice a week will pump up those biceps and those calves (LOL).

My last month of this Endurance Macro will be interrupted by a vacation to NY. I will be driving back and on the road for several days. If there is a treadmill at any of the motels I’m staying at, we’ll do some limited cardio. I will pick up the last month when I get back……albeit at some lower weight.

So run, jump, squat, pull….up the rack, down the rack….its all good when chasing that Last 10 Pounds.

 

MMJennings