Old School Weight Loss, Part 2

Last time I revealed the old but oft-ignored secret of weight-loss that combines Diet plus Exercise. Thus far we covered the Exercise portionTo summarize the earlier points on Exercise:

(1) Exercise is not only beneficial in a might-be-nice sort of way, but downright essential to proper body functions such as those responsible for thoroughly distributing nutrients and eliminating waste products.

(2) Treating exercise just like any other important appointment helps ensure you will stick to your commitment. It also bears mentioning that you choose a fun but challenging activity (walking, jogging, swimming, etc.) that you can work up to completing about 90 minutes a session.

(3) One can generally set aside time for exercise, as difficult as that might seem at the outset. Some people use their lunch hour, some go after work, and others simply wake up earlier in the morning to get it out of the way.

On Diet

The big questions on these always seem to be "What?" and "When?". We all want the quick and easy answers when looking for what we should and shouldn't eat, and when to do so. It seems that there is so much information (read: commercials) out there promising the simple answers, good or bad. On one hand we see ads in popular media tempting us with not-so-wholesome snacks and fast foods, and on the other we come across books and videos being hawked on television that want to sell us the latest system or philosophy on eating, and some of them even seem to contradict each other.

The real danger, I believe, is us, and our power to convince ourselves that the simple, general facts from these systems are all we need to solve our problems. There is a lot of potential for abusing the system, with us the consumers as unwitting instruments of our own failure.

Take for example, the quite recent popular trend of consuming fewer carbohydrates. A closer look at many major systems that employ this avenue shows a division into phases the amount and quality of carbs over time, in fairly precise amounts and deadlines.

However, most of us just hear that we must "cut out the carbs" and do whatever we think this means, as is convenient for us. The result? A haphazard implementation of the system at random times and amounts, based on our interpretation (read: guesswork) of those four words. Every now and then you can still come across somebody who claims to be on a low-carb diet--ask them what Phase they're in, and half the time you won't get a straight answer, because they didn't really read the material!

This is neither to discourage nor promote using the low-carb systems; I'm just using this particular instance to illustrate what many of us tend to do in the face of large amounts of information, namely to summarize and condense everything into an over-simplified, over-generalized capsule which bears little resemblance to the original.

I've always said that the best lawyers are people on diets: Tell someone to eat 2,000 calories a day and that person will eat 1,900 calories, then stay up past midnight for another doughnut! On a low-carb diet? No problem: gobble down as much melted lard, stale butter and whiskey as you want! No carbohydrates in those, right? Eating Low-Fat? Did you know Hershey's Syrup and Jolly Rancher hard candies were fat-free? Sounds like a dieter's bonanza, doesn't it? To push the point further: There's no fat in sugar, no sugar in salt, and no sodium in fat. There is too much to think about, it seems. It's easy to get lost in all this, and anything that promises results seems to be a welcome relief.

So are we being lied to by the low carb diet-system industry? Not exactly. The systems work when you follow them very closely and diligently, and if you match they general profile for whom the diet is meant (usually someone who eats a typical American diet and at least a few pounds overweight). And towards the end there is a gradual reintroduction of carbohydrates when according to the diet books, the body has hormonally adjusted enough. Most people overlook this end-phase and assume carbohydrate intake will be permanently suppressed. They may even assume all carbohydrates must be taken away regardless of quality, as in an "all carbs are bad" attitude, where everything from cotton candy, pasta and vegetables are fanatically avoided with a quasi-religious fervor.

And it's not just low-carb: not too long ago there was the-would you believe it-the high-carb craze, where experts stressed that people ate too much meat, which wreaked havoc to your energy levels, slowed down your metabolism, and was bad for your kidneys, arteries and what-have-you. And before that people were made aware of cutting fat from their diets, a more recent development from merely counting calories.

These are all things that we know that to some extent are actually healthy for us and should not be completely absent in a healthy diet.

Mark my words: less than a decade from now someone will stumble on this fact: a few days before each event, bodybuilders begin to restrict their water intake. This has been proven very successful in improving muscular definition, and in addition shrinks fat cells which live in water. With this knowledge and very believable proof, someone will come up with (tah-dah!) a Low-Water Diet and convince people to stop drinking so much water, lest they retain excessive amounts of it. Sounds convincing, doesn't it? Almost as well as banning those other pesky essential nutrients from your dinner plate.

The sad part is that there are a lot of people who will buy into such a system. But sadder yet is that others will devise their own, based on their layman interpretations. This will no doubt lead to at least disappointment, if not physical harm to those who do so.

So what is that all-encompassing, magic key to diet, that allowed me to lose some sixty pounds? It's not some new-fangled, exotic secret. In fact, you could even say it's old-fangled and ordinary. It's as old as a pyramid.

To be precise, the food pyramid.

It has changed a bit from how you might remember it from your school days. Back in the 80's (and earlier) it was a poster in the corner of the classroom that showed how much everybody was supposed to eat, end of story. Nowadays you can go to mypyramid.gov and by simply entering your age, gender and activity level, you can obtain a recommended caloric intake, as well as how those calories should be broken down in terms of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fats) or rather how much meat, grains, vegetables and fats should be ideal for you. This numerical breakdown is different for everyone, and in fact it can even change for you over time.

You'll notice there is no cotton candy, chocolate caramels or crème-filled cakes in the pyramid. While we are able to eat them, we are not really supposed to because of the sad lack of nutritional value in them. I call those Television For Your Mouth.

That answer the question of What; the question of When is a bit trickier. Most experts agree to eating 5-6 meals a day. This runs contradictory to the traditional 3-meals-a-day regimen most of us were raised with, plus one or two coffee breaks somewhere in between. I think this is why it seems difficult for most of us, because it's counter-intuitive at the beginning.

My own schedule runs thus:

6am - Breakfast
9am - Snack
12nn - Lunch
3pm - Snack
6pm - Supper
9pm - Snack (optional)

You'll notice (1) that I eat every 3 hours (when the hour is a multiple of 3) and (2) this actually mimics the 3-meals pattern, with snacks. There was really not a whole lot of re-working of my daily schedule. It's surprisingly realistic for most of us normal people. The major change is the meals are apparently smaller than I was used to, because the calories are distributed in more points throughout the day. When you are supposed to eat, say, 1500 to 1800 calories a day, each meal breaks down to about 300 calories each, give or take. What this does is let the metabolism handle fewer calories at a time without starving you, because you will eat in another 3 hours. Think of your metabolism as a fire you must feed constantly with tinder. Dropping logs on a fire that does not burn that fast will actually bog things down. The same goes for having a very heavy meal, which is why you feel sleepy after a big dinner or lunch.

In summarizing Diet:

(1) Go to mypyramid.gov to get a starting amount of calories for your age, gender and activity level.

(2) Take note of how much of these calories should be protein, carbohydrates and fats. Follow the recommended sources for each.

(3) Divide the calories up into 5-6 meals to know how much to eat at a time. Eat every 3 hours.

I should also add that a great help is to keep a little notebook at the beginning week or two, to record every time you eat. This shows your own eating patterns, what time of the day you eat the most, and perhaps what you were happen to be doing at the time. It will reveal helpful patterns you hadn't noticed before. For example, I found that I (like most people) tend to eat more while watching television at night. Changing this behavior made a great difference in my results.

So there you have it, my old-school, simple (but not easy!) secret to lifelong weight loss. I hope this has been helpful for you, and I wish you the best. May you always change for the better.