There are all kinds of recommendations for how to lose weight or get healthy. So many, in fact, we usually can’t sort them out. Eat this, don’t eat that, cabbage soup diets, Atkins diet, South Beach diet, all protein diet, all carb diet, raw diet, detox diet, etc. Most of us could probably name quite a few diets.
I really dislike diets. They don’t get us healthy. They may help us lose weight in the short term, but they do not make us healthy. And let’s make no mistake about this: just because someone might be thin does not mean they are healthy. Usually when we diet, whatever the diet may be, we’re depriving the body of something else that it really needs.
The Atkins diet, for example, was really all about cutting carbs out or severely limiting them. This diet is horrible on many levels. For one, our brains need glucose for energy. You take away carbs, you’re really impairing brain function. Because the brain is the executive center of…our life, we really need to be kind to it. The brain, unlike our muscles, uses glucose pretty much exclusively for fuel. That’s why when our blood sugar drops, we can get cranky, fatigued, and may even feel faint. Our brain cannot store glucose anywhere either, so we have to have relatively steady blood sugar levels. When we work out and talk about fatiguing the muscles and burning the sugar there, the muscles store sugar and can use fat for energy as a backup, which is a very good energy supply. The brain doesn’t have fat to use as a backup though.
Anyway, the simple concept of ‘calories in/calories out’ is one that I largely agree with when trying to lose weight. Activity levels, though, will really determine how many calories you need to maintain those activity levels. On the Biggest Loser, for instance, the contestants fall into this trap of thinking they can get away with eating less and working out more. Yes, this does make sense and seems to follow the general guidelines of calories in/calories out. However…when you are exercising (whatever the activity levels may be), the body still needs fuel. If you deprive the body of this fuel (glucose), it will enter starvation mode and turn everything you eat into fat. Humans were designed to do this. Our ancestors didn’t eat everyday necessarily and sometimes they’d have to walk miles just to get food. They adapted perfectly to their environment in this way, and we retain that same ability. No food, no problem. We just turn everything we eat into fat when meals are scarce.
Instead of using the word ‘diet,’ because that conjures up so many frightening images of stepping onto a scale, reading hard to understand labels, food restriction to the point of starvation…I’m going to use ‘nutrition.’ Nutrition is a much better word and encompasses so much more than the previously mentioned evil word. When I think of nutrition, it means that the body is getting the fuel it needs to function properly and getting things in the right amounts. It’s a much more holistic vision than ‘dieting.’ Dieting means we need to fit into a bikini; proper nutrition means we need to be healthy.
Nutrition also means we’re putting good fuel into our body; it means more than just calorie restriction. For example, if we workout for 4 hours a day every day but go home and eat McDonald’s and Burger King, we’re really not doing anything good for our body. Somehow, though, the body can turn even a Twinkie into some sort of usable energy (how, I have no idea). Even still, making it easier for the body to do this without building up toxins is ideal. I’ve heard this argument before which really irritates me: “I can eat aspartame. I’m an athlete. My body will burn it.” No. Aspartame breaks down into methanol and formaldehyde. Poisons. The body cannot ‘burn’ it. It does cause cell damage on its way out of our body. At any rate, proper nutrition also means eliminating some of these unhealthy foods. Even foods that are marketed as being ‘healthy’ may not be quite as healthy as we think.
In terms of also maximizing or making your workouts more efficient, it’s important to have a well rounded routine. Any workout routine should include cardio, weight lifting, stretching, and some type of resistance training. Most women fall into the trap, however, of just hopping onto the treadmill or the elliptical and that’s it. Often I see books propped up on the treadmill (or elliptical). This isn’t a good strategy towards a healthy body and mind.
Barring injuries or some medical issue, when doing a cardio portion of a workout, it is best to hit 60-70% of your maximum heart rate and sustain it for 20-30 minutes to really see benefits. At this intensity, there are so many benefits to the body, I can hardly list them all. The main thing is, our feel good neurotransmitters are released (dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins) and this can really ease anxiety, panic, depression, addiction, and other psychiatric disorders. Also at this level, the metabolism is being cranked up and the heart is getting a really good workout.
Now, why add the strength or resistance training in? Well, if we have more muscle mass, the body has greater caloric demands and burns more. So, if you want your metabolism to jump up, increase your muscle mass. Your resting metabolic rate goes up automatically. Also, after a workout that includes weight lifting, the body burns more calories for a longer time after the workout. Doing solely cardio does not have these same benefits after the workout is done. Strength training is important for both men and women. My mother, for whatever reason, doesn’t think women should have muscles. But whenever she has the image of a woman with muscles, it’s always those Miss Universe girls. Okay, most women do not have the capacity to do that. Most women when lifting weights will accomplish a nice even tone and definition. It’s truly hard for us to build bulk.
It’s important to get a baseline for what your individual caloric needs are, then you can modify your exercise and nutrition from there. I hope some of these broad concepts/guidelines can help. And since I do not know the medical histories of my readers, please consult with the proper people before engaging in any nutrition plan or exercise.
