CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Exercise and Metabolism
===========================================
Aside from the energy needed to keep you alive and healthy, there are three types of energy expenditures that help determine your metabolic rate:
1. Energy spent while resting.
2. Energy spent in digesting food.
3. Energy spent while doing physical activities.
By following a few simple instructions, you can learn to use all of these metabolic activities to your advantage for maximum weight loss. Your resting metabolic rate will go up; the energy you spend while exercising will increase, and the food you eat may cause you to burn more calories.
===========================================
A person who is physically fit burns a lot of fat all day long not just during an exercise session. A one-hour workout in the morning could cause your body to burn fat all day because your metabolism will remain high — as much as 25 percent above average for up to three hours after a good workout. The body will continue to burn fat the next day because of that one-hour period of exercise. This is called the continuous exercise effect. Your body will still be actively burning fat long after you stop exercising. Never eat candy, cookies, or ice cream after an exercise session. Also avoid sugar-sweetened drinks and foods that contain lots of fat. If you do, you may lose the continuous exercise effect.
===========================================
Using Physical Activity for Appetite Control
===========================================
Exercise can delay hunger. After a good exercise session, it is not necessary to rush to the nearest restaurant and fill up on your favorite food because you will not be hungry. While you are exercising, your body will take nutrients from storage and flood the bloodstream with glucose and fat. These nutrients will help suppress your appetite while you are active. After an exercise session, you will have time to cool down, relax and rest before you get hungry again.
During an exercise session, the body floods the bloodstream with glucose and fat so that energy will be available for the exercise. After a good workout, the body continues to burn fat just as if you were still exercising. Also, while you are exercising, the body will stop digesting any food you may have eaten before starting the exercise session. Your body will start back digesting food again when you stop exercising.
===========================================
When you relax and rest after a long exercise period, your body will take the excess glucose and fat from the bloodstream and place it back into the muscles and liver.
Note: Intense exercise causes huge energy expenditure and may stimulate the appetite to make up for calories burned while exercising. Therefore, you may have a strong appetite if you over exercise and reduce your glucose reserves.
===========================================
Lose Weight by Increasing Activities
===========================================
When you gained weight, it probably came on slowly. You might have gained all of your excess weight at between two and five pounds per year. The causes of weight gain vary widely among people. Some of the reasons are listed below:
• Environmental (family and friends who love to eat)
• Behavioral (inactivity)
• Psychological (eat when you get upset or depressed)
• Biological (medical problems)
• Genetic (inherited fat genes)
• Metabolic (thyroid problems)
• Dietary (unbalanced diet, no veggies, whole grain, and excessive sweets)
===========================================
People can gain weight because of fast food, too much television, thyroid problems, inherited fat genes, or a combination of the reasons listed. Many children gain weight because of overindulgent parents, where treats and fast food are concerned.
If your weight gain resulted from any of the reasons listed above, you can lose weight by avoiding raw sugar and excess fat and raising your activity level. This will allow you to reverse the weight gain process. By eating a balanced diet and exercising in twenty-minute sets every other day, you should be able to lose twenty to fifty pounds per year.
===========================================
Lose Weight with Exercise
===========================================
When you start an exercise program, you will start building muscle density as soon as your activity level increases. As your muscle density increases, they will demand more energy. Because of the increase energy usage and muscle density, you may go through a period of time before you see results from your hard work. Depending on your level of fitness, you may go as long as twelve weeks before you see a real weight loss from your program. In the meantime, you will lose body fat and experience a weight shift.
In the beginning you will be starting slowly while doing only light exercises at low to moderate intensity. This may result in very little weight loss from exercise. You might even have a slight weight gain because it is possible to gain muscle density faster than you lose body fat. Since lean muscle is much heavier than fat, your scales might show a weight gain. This will probably be a shift in your body weight.
===========================================
The weight shift will occur because you might be consuming a full nutritional allowance, which will allow you to gain the muscle density you need. Since you will be gaining muscle from the exercise, your body will be storing extra nutrients to support the growing muscles. The increased muscle density will allow you to continue to exercise every other day at a slightly higher intensity level. It is this dynamic process that may cause a noticeable weight gain in the first few weeks.
===========================================
The temporary weight gain is enough to cause some people to quit the program. If nothing else, it might raise their frustration level and cause them to exercise more. Since they will not be losing weight, they might think that they are not working hard enough and will be tempted to put more effort into exercise. Strong determination such as this may result in more of weight gain and cause exercise burnout. When you feel that the weight loss program is more trouble than it is worth, you might just give up, especially if you have nothing to show for your work.
The weight you gain while on this program might be similar to the plateau dieters experience when they first start a diet/exercise program. They start with a reduced nutritional allowance and experience a temporary weight loss right away. After they lose a few pounds, their activity level increases, which encourages them to become more active. As they become more active, they gain muscle mass, which causes a weight shift rather than a weight loss. They refer to this point in a diet as their six-week plateau.
===========================================
Dieters usually give up before they get over the plateau. This happens most often to people who do not understand the dynamics of weight loss and exercise. They are likely to say, “Hey, I am dieting and exercising but still not losing weight. What’s happening?”
After you have been on this weight loss program for a while you may see the results in the mirror long before you see it on the scales. You will look and feel better and see other positive changes about yourself. You will be more comfortable in your surroundings, and your clothes will fit better.
===========================================
When you first start a weight loss program, the only way you will be able to tell that you are actually losing body fat is by your “Body Mass Index” (BMI). Your body mass index is how you look compared to how you should look according to your ideal weight. If you look like you have lost weight, but haven’t, you probably lost stored fat and gained muscle mass. If you look like you have gained weight, you probably have gained body fat.
Keep in mind that weight reduction is a long, slow process. Be realistic in your expectations and think logically about what is happening to your body. If it took one year to gain five pounds, it is not likely that you will lose five pounds in two weeks. When you rev up your metabolism and exercise enough to burn an extra 3,500 calories over a period of time, you will lose one pound of stored body fat. The exercise for this task can be spread out so that you lose one or two pounds per week or one or two pounds per month. However, people who are physically fit can exercise enough to lose two pounds in a week.
===========================================
If you continue to diet and exercise, your body composition will change from a fat form to a more lean form. Make sure you use a sensible exercise plan that will help you burn the maximum amount of fat for the time you spend exercising. Never do exercises that are too stressful because they might cause injury, and never over exercise because it might lead to burnout. Do not do heavy exercise sessions on diet-day because it might trigger your appetite and cause you to overeat.
===========================================
According to all fitness experts and researchers, your body goes into a fat burning mode only after you have been exercising for twenty minutes. In the areas of fitness, exercise, weight loss, and conditioning, experts find many things on which to disagree: What to eat, how much to eat, and what exercise program is better for you? However, none of them disagree on how long it takes before the body starts burning fat after you start exercising. It is not nineteen or twenty-one minutes. They all agree that it takes twenty minutes. There is probably some latitude, but given this strong point of agreement among researchers, you should make your exercise sessions a minimum of twenty minutes.
===========================================
You Can Burn More Calories Walking at 2 MPH, Confirmed!
===========================================
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder confirmed that people burn more calories per mile walking at two-miles-per-hour than walking at a moderate to brisk pace of three- to four-miles-per-hour. Researcher Ray Browning said that walking slowly burns more calories per mile due to moving more weight over the same distance as that of a skinny person.
See Reference Note in back of book: A paper by Browning
Compare Fast and Slow-Paced Exercises
Compare the differences between the amount and type of energy used while walking and running by overweight people and non-overweight people.
===========================================
Normal Weight Example:
A 150-pound man who runs one mile in six minutes can burn 103 calories in mostly sugar.
A 150-pound man who walks one mile in fifteen minutes can burn 103 calories in mostly fat.
===========================================
Overweight Example:
A 220-pound man who runs one mile in six minutes can burn 150 calories in mostly sugar.
A 220-pound man who walks one mile in fifteen minutes can burn 150 calories in mostly fat.
===========================================
How Fat Reduction Works
===========================================
Active people who have high metabolism can process and use more than seventy grams of fat per day. (Seventy grams of fat is equal to 1/4 cup of oil).
An ideal nutritional plan would allow your body to use the 70 grams of fat from your stored body fat, so that you will not have to eat fat in your meals, but some outside fat is necessary. High metabolism and exercise will allow your body to burn even more stored fat. In 30 days you could burn up to 4 pounds in excess fat just from high metabolism and light exercise activity. In six months you could lose about 24 pounds of fat. This is a safe and healthy weight loss goal and the weight will stay off. Therefore, it is safe to suggest that you can take in 35 grams of fat per day and still lose up to three or four pounds per month if you are active.
Since the body needs carbohydrates to burn stored fat, you will have to include enough carbohydrates in your diet to burn the fat released into your bloodstream.
===========================================
1. Energy spent while resting.
2. Energy spent in digesting food.
3. Energy spent while doing physical activities.
By following a few simple instructions, you can learn to use all of these metabolic activities to your advantage for maximum weight loss. Your resting metabolic rate will go up; the energy you spend while exercising will increase, and the food you eat may cause you to burn more calories.
===========================================
A person who is physically fit burns a lot of fat all day long not just during an exercise session. A one-hour workout in the morning could cause your body to burn fat all day because your metabolism will remain high — as much as 25 percent above average for up to three hours after a good workout. The body will continue to burn fat the next day because of that one-hour period of exercise. This is called the continuous exercise effect. Your body will still be actively burning fat long after you stop exercising. Never eat candy, cookies, or ice cream after an exercise session. Also avoid sugar-sweetened drinks and foods that contain lots of fat. If you do, you may lose the continuous exercise effect.
===========================================
Using Physical Activity for Appetite Control
===========================================
Exercise can delay hunger. After a good exercise session, it is not necessary to rush to the nearest restaurant and fill up on your favorite food because you will not be hungry. While you are exercising, your body will take nutrients from storage and flood the bloodstream with glucose and fat. These nutrients will help suppress your appetite while you are active. After an exercise session, you will have time to cool down, relax and rest before you get hungry again.
During an exercise session, the body floods the bloodstream with glucose and fat so that energy will be available for the exercise. After a good workout, the body continues to burn fat just as if you were still exercising. Also, while you are exercising, the body will stop digesting any food you may have eaten before starting the exercise session. Your body will start back digesting food again when you stop exercising.
===========================================
When you relax and rest after a long exercise period, your body will take the excess glucose and fat from the bloodstream and place it back into the muscles and liver.
Note: Intense exercise causes huge energy expenditure and may stimulate the appetite to make up for calories burned while exercising. Therefore, you may have a strong appetite if you over exercise and reduce your glucose reserves.
===========================================
Lose Weight by Increasing Activities
===========================================
When you gained weight, it probably came on slowly. You might have gained all of your excess weight at between two and five pounds per year. The causes of weight gain vary widely among people. Some of the reasons are listed below:
• Environmental (family and friends who love to eat)
• Behavioral (inactivity)
• Psychological (eat when you get upset or depressed)
• Biological (medical problems)
• Genetic (inherited fat genes)
• Metabolic (thyroid problems)
• Dietary (unbalanced diet, no veggies, whole grain, and excessive sweets)
===========================================
People can gain weight because of fast food, too much television, thyroid problems, inherited fat genes, or a combination of the reasons listed. Many children gain weight because of overindulgent parents, where treats and fast food are concerned.
If your weight gain resulted from any of the reasons listed above, you can lose weight by avoiding raw sugar and excess fat and raising your activity level. This will allow you to reverse the weight gain process. By eating a balanced diet and exercising in twenty-minute sets every other day, you should be able to lose twenty to fifty pounds per year.
===========================================
Lose Weight with Exercise
===========================================
When you start an exercise program, you will start building muscle density as soon as your activity level increases. As your muscle density increases, they will demand more energy. Because of the increase energy usage and muscle density, you may go through a period of time before you see results from your hard work. Depending on your level of fitness, you may go as long as twelve weeks before you see a real weight loss from your program. In the meantime, you will lose body fat and experience a weight shift.
In the beginning you will be starting slowly while doing only light exercises at low to moderate intensity. This may result in very little weight loss from exercise. You might even have a slight weight gain because it is possible to gain muscle density faster than you lose body fat. Since lean muscle is much heavier than fat, your scales might show a weight gain. This will probably be a shift in your body weight.
===========================================
The weight shift will occur because you might be consuming a full nutritional allowance, which will allow you to gain the muscle density you need. Since you will be gaining muscle from the exercise, your body will be storing extra nutrients to support the growing muscles. The increased muscle density will allow you to continue to exercise every other day at a slightly higher intensity level. It is this dynamic process that may cause a noticeable weight gain in the first few weeks.
===========================================
The temporary weight gain is enough to cause some people to quit the program. If nothing else, it might raise their frustration level and cause them to exercise more. Since they will not be losing weight, they might think that they are not working hard enough and will be tempted to put more effort into exercise. Strong determination such as this may result in more of weight gain and cause exercise burnout. When you feel that the weight loss program is more trouble than it is worth, you might just give up, especially if you have nothing to show for your work.
The weight you gain while on this program might be similar to the plateau dieters experience when they first start a diet/exercise program. They start with a reduced nutritional allowance and experience a temporary weight loss right away. After they lose a few pounds, their activity level increases, which encourages them to become more active. As they become more active, they gain muscle mass, which causes a weight shift rather than a weight loss. They refer to this point in a diet as their six-week plateau.
===========================================
Dieters usually give up before they get over the plateau. This happens most often to people who do not understand the dynamics of weight loss and exercise. They are likely to say, “Hey, I am dieting and exercising but still not losing weight. What’s happening?”
After you have been on this weight loss program for a while you may see the results in the mirror long before you see it on the scales. You will look and feel better and see other positive changes about yourself. You will be more comfortable in your surroundings, and your clothes will fit better.
===========================================
When you first start a weight loss program, the only way you will be able to tell that you are actually losing body fat is by your “Body Mass Index” (BMI). Your body mass index is how you look compared to how you should look according to your ideal weight. If you look like you have lost weight, but haven’t, you probably lost stored fat and gained muscle mass. If you look like you have gained weight, you probably have gained body fat.
Keep in mind that weight reduction is a long, slow process. Be realistic in your expectations and think logically about what is happening to your body. If it took one year to gain five pounds, it is not likely that you will lose five pounds in two weeks. When you rev up your metabolism and exercise enough to burn an extra 3,500 calories over a period of time, you will lose one pound of stored body fat. The exercise for this task can be spread out so that you lose one or two pounds per week or one or two pounds per month. However, people who are physically fit can exercise enough to lose two pounds in a week.
===========================================
If you continue to diet and exercise, your body composition will change from a fat form to a more lean form. Make sure you use a sensible exercise plan that will help you burn the maximum amount of fat for the time you spend exercising. Never do exercises that are too stressful because they might cause injury, and never over exercise because it might lead to burnout. Do not do heavy exercise sessions on diet-day because it might trigger your appetite and cause you to overeat.
===========================================
According to all fitness experts and researchers, your body goes into a fat burning mode only after you have been exercising for twenty minutes. In the areas of fitness, exercise, weight loss, and conditioning, experts find many things on which to disagree: What to eat, how much to eat, and what exercise program is better for you? However, none of them disagree on how long it takes before the body starts burning fat after you start exercising. It is not nineteen or twenty-one minutes. They all agree that it takes twenty minutes. There is probably some latitude, but given this strong point of agreement among researchers, you should make your exercise sessions a minimum of twenty minutes.
===========================================
You Can Burn More Calories Walking at 2 MPH, Confirmed!
===========================================
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder confirmed that people burn more calories per mile walking at two-miles-per-hour than walking at a moderate to brisk pace of three- to four-miles-per-hour. Researcher Ray Browning said that walking slowly burns more calories per mile due to moving more weight over the same distance as that of a skinny person.
See Reference Note in back of book: A paper by Browning
Compare Fast and Slow-Paced Exercises
Compare the differences between the amount and type of energy used while walking and running by overweight people and non-overweight people.
===========================================
Normal Weight Example:
A 150-pound man who runs one mile in six minutes can burn 103 calories in mostly sugar.
A 150-pound man who walks one mile in fifteen minutes can burn 103 calories in mostly fat.
===========================================
Overweight Example:
A 220-pound man who runs one mile in six minutes can burn 150 calories in mostly sugar.
A 220-pound man who walks one mile in fifteen minutes can burn 150 calories in mostly fat.
===========================================
How Fat Reduction Works
===========================================
Active people who have high metabolism can process and use more than seventy grams of fat per day. (Seventy grams of fat is equal to 1/4 cup of oil).
An ideal nutritional plan would allow your body to use the 70 grams of fat from your stored body fat, so that you will not have to eat fat in your meals, but some outside fat is necessary. High metabolism and exercise will allow your body to burn even more stored fat. In 30 days you could burn up to 4 pounds in excess fat just from high metabolism and light exercise activity. In six months you could lose about 24 pounds of fat. This is a safe and healthy weight loss goal and the weight will stay off. Therefore, it is safe to suggest that you can take in 35 grams of fat per day and still lose up to three or four pounds per month if you are active.
Since the body needs carbohydrates to burn stored fat, you will have to include enough carbohydrates in your diet to burn the fat released into your bloodstream.
===========================================