Tag Archive for: weight loss

How to Bust a Plateau

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It happens to everyone when we lose weight: the scale stops moving downward even though we’re doing everything the same as we’ve been doing. How do we start losing again?

Patience. While the scale may not move, there’s a lot going on. Hundreds of changes are happening in just about every cell of your body as it adapts to your new eating and exercise regime. Those changes take time to happen, and you just have to ride it out. Don’t reduce your calories any more than you have. Reach for patience; remind yourself that great changes are happening even if you can’t see them on the scale.

However there are a couple of ways that exercise may help you start losing weight again. The keys are: do you have the additional time? And are you fit enough to do them? You probably need to talk to your doctor to know. To learn more, check out the Health Info paper titled Busting Weight Loss Plateaus.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

What’s Your Body Mass Index?

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You may be tempted to measure how you’re doing on the way to your health goals with body composition read-outs on scales and other outputs related to body fat analytics, but how accurate are they? If the device used is one that has you stand on a scale or hang on to handles of some sort, the accuracy of those numbers is very limited.

Those devices are based on impedance technology—the resistance of a very small current passed through your body. It actually can be very accurate when it comes to total body water, something very important for people with congestive heart failure. Everything else is based on algorithms that assume specific characteristics of the body. Those may be valid assumptions, but the variability is too great person to person. How do I know that? I worked on the impedance device as a grad student, so I know it well.

If you really want to track how you’re doing related to fatness, use the Body Mass Index. Every health insurance company uses that as a metric to assess your fatness.

“But I have bigger bones!” you say. Or maybe the weight recommended for you seems too high. In fact you may have a larger or smaller frame than average, and I explain how to know for sure with an easy measurement in the Health Info section titled Body Mass Index. Check it out today for an in-depth look at BMI.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Finding Your Health Partners

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I finished Thursday’s Memo by saying there may be hope for physicians when dealing with overweight patients. It was another viewpoint written by two clinicians. They say learning about diet and nutrition and how to interact with patients were not priorities in medical school; I’ve confirmed that with physicians I know. The authors put together ABCs of steps to treat obesity in patients. The very first one was the most important.

A stands for Ask for Permission: permission to speak to an overweight patient about his or her weight before discussing ways for the patient to begin to address excess weight. I’ll take that any day as the best first step. If physicians will do that, it shows respect for the patient. They further recommend addressing the purpose of the visit first and then asking if they could address excess body weight. That’s the way it should be. You can read the full article at the link below.

Paula, my family, and I have been blessed with some pretty special physicians and healthcare professionals who always listen to us and work with us to reach our health goals. Based on the feedback from the Thursday Memo, so have some of you. Too many haven’t, but there’s hope based on recognizing that it’s a problem in medical training as expressed in the article I cited.

If your doctor isn’t a partner to you, find a different one; that goes for specialists, dentists, physical therapists, and others. (Maybe not surgeons—I don’t care if he’s a jerk, I want the best I can find.) Ask friends and family for recommendations and check reviews online; as with anything online, take it with a grain of salt and read as many reviews as you can. If you’re staying in the same practice, find a graceful way to explain your desire to switch; you’d feel more comfortable with someone older (or younger), someone male (or female), and so on. Don’t be rude and demanding, but you’re the customer and if your optimal health isn’t the goal of the practice, maybe it’s time to start over.


The Bottom Line

I’ve spent the past two weeks addressing a different way to look at our health based on the books of Jane Austen and learning to love and respect ourselves. I’ve talked about healthcare professionals changing how they treat obese patients. But make no mistake about it: part of learning how to love yourself the way you are is to gain the confidence to address the issue to improve your health—not with the idea of being rail thin or running marathons, but by becoming the best version of yourself you can be, because that’s also a part of loving yourself.

What I envision is finding the physician or healthcare professional who will be your partner in the journey toward better health. You both have the responsibility to put forth your best efforts to try to do that. In every audio I record, I always say your physician should be your partner in reaching better health. I mean just that. So when you find that doctor, do your part; keep an open mind, do what you say you’ll do, and don’t make promises you know you won’t keep.

It all comes down to one question: what are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: JAMA Online. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.2352

Respect Yourself

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I finished last week by talking about self image: you must accept your body, for better or worse, exactly where it is right now. I used the phrase that you have “to love yourself.” Along with that, you have to respect yourself as well. Maybe that’s even harder to do. Most of us aren’t able to get past the times we’ve failed in our weight loss efforts. We lost 30, 40, maybe even 100 pounds, and those pounds always seemed to find their way back. That can make us feel like we’ve lost self control.

With the loss of control comes the loss of respect. I wish I could snap my fingers and say “Stop that!” and it’s over, but it just doesn’t work that way. As you work toward loving yourself, learn to respect your prior efforts, even if they didn’t result in permanent weight loss. If you go back and examine it, you’ll find something that you learned. Chalk that up as a partial success and something you use to guide your efforts in the future if you decide to try again.

You have to think in a different way from society. There’s a lot of negativity out there and for some reason, people think they should point out that “You could stand to lose some weight—you’ll feel better.” That makes no one feel better.

There’s one place that seems to be more demotivating than just about any place else. Think on that until Thursday; I think you’ll be surprised where that is.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

My Weight Loss Experience and Goals for 2019

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As the author of the Optimal Performance program, I want to tell you about my experience with the Weight Loss Cycle. I had used the Basic Program to train my body to use fat as a fuel. I use the strategy in Energy on Demand when I need to be at my best whether for a time of day, an entire day, or for an event that lasts a week. I’ve used the approach in the Fat-Burning Plan for years. Here’s my experience on the Weight Loss Cycle.

My goal was to lose 16 pounds in six weeks; normally I recommend no more than two pounds a week. I determined my caloric intake based on my exercise program and activity level. When I didn’t meet my weekly weight loss goal, I decreased calories for the next week. In those six weeks, I lost 12 pounds and almost three inches off my waist. I missed my overall goal, but because I began after already losing over 30 pounds and maintaining it for a couple of years, it was unrealistic to lose the remaining weight in that short a time; don’t make the same mistake if you choose to use the Weight Loss Cycle.

The Weight Loss Cycle explains how to maintain the lost weight and what to do until you decide to do another cycle. I chose to ignore it and went back to my typical caloric intake just to see what would happen. It took eight months to gain back the 12 pounds. The reason I did that was to show that if you’re going to lose weight and maintain it, you have to defend the weight you lose by adjusting your calories to maintain that weight.

The Optimal Performance program isn’t based only on my personal experience. In addition to keeping up on the science on weight, metabolism, and physical training, I have over 30 years experience in the field of weight loss and physical performance. This isn’t one of those “do as I say but not as I do” situations; I’ve lived it, I know it’s possible, and you can do it, too.

My Goals for 2019

I’m going to limit my goals to physical changes; my blood pressure, blood lipids, and other metrics have stayed in the excellent range.

My goal is to lose 18 pounds by April 15th—15 weeks. I’m going to break it into two six-week cycles with three weeks of maintenance between cycles. The reason for that weight loss goal is that it will put my BMI into the normal-weight category. I’ve never been there in my entire adult life.

At that point, I’m going to spend the next six months adding seven pounds of muscle while losing the remaining fat around my waist to get it to an actual 34 inches. I’ll use the Fat Burning Plan in a three-day cycle every week. That takes me to October 15th.

If I can accomplish those goals, I’m going to maintain the weight, muscularity, and body fat to the end of the year.

Those are my goals and I’ll write about my progress. But while this Memo was about me, the real question is what are your weight loss or weight gain goals and how are you going to achieve them? Remember, you can use any diet you want with the Weight Loss Cycle. It’s the process that will make you successful to get to the weight you always wanted and to maintain it.

Join me for the journey.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

The Science Behind the Weight Loss Cycle

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One of the tenacious problems with weight loss is that people don’t lose all the weight they want to lose and then don’t keep it off. In trying to find out why that happens, I narrowed it to two studies that pointed the way to a solution.

The first was a study that attempted to develop an app for people to provide help exactly when they needed it. In reviewing studies to create the app, they used data from four studies on weight loss and weight gain. While they couldn’t identify the precise point for every individual, they could identify a time frame in general where people start to hit a plateau: about week 11 of any diet. That’s the point where people begin to stop paying attention to their meal plan as closely as they did when they began, and their weight gets stuck.

Another study used was the Minnesota Starvation Experiment from World War II in which lead investigator Ancel Keys severely limited calories for a group of conscientious objectors who volunteered to be starved; much of what we know about calorie restriction and helping famine victims comes from that study. It’s the only study ever in which every subject lost weight in a linear fashion. How? Researchers adjusted the subjects’ calories the following week to keep weight loss on track.

Using those two studies, I developed the Weight Loss Cycle, a way to responsibly get to your ultimate weight loss goal and then maintain it, and as far as I know, this approach is unique. What makes the Weight Loss Cycle different is that it’s not a diet with good foods and bad foods, no meal plans or recipes. You can use whatever eating plan you want; the Weight Loss Cycle shows you how to use it to achieve your goals and stay there.

If you’ve hit plateaus in the past or gained back the weight you’ve lost, the Weight Loss Cycle in the Optimal Performance program could be your key to success.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:

1. Am J Clin Nutr 2014;100:787–95.

2. Keys A. The biology of human starvation. University of Minnesota Press, 1950.

Which Products Were Tainted?

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The logical concern is this: what products were on the list of supplements that made up all those headlines? There were over 700 products on the FDA list of tainted products, so I think there’s a better way to ask the question: what were the categories of products?

1. Sexual performance was the overwhelming leader.
2. Weight loss was second.
3. Muscle building also made the list.

The problem with the sexual performance products was that they contained actual Viagra, Cialis, or one of the other medications used for erectile dysfunction. The weight loss products contained a pharmaceutical that has been taken off the market because of side effects. Most of the problematic muscle-building products contained anabolic steroids. When people take these types of medications pitched as dietary supplements without knowing what’s in the product, the potential for unexpected consequences is substantial and could threaten their health.

I reviewed the entire list of supplements on the FDA list and found no products—not one—offered by a reputable company. No multivitamins. No antioxidants. No herbals such as echinacea.

Here’s the bottom line: these were not dietary supplements, they were pharmaceuticals that skirted the FDA regulations for pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs and the FTC rules for honesty in advertising. But that’s not what the paper’s authors and the commentator said. We’ll finish this on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

References:
1. JAMA Network Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3337.
2. JAMA Network Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3329.
3. FDA Database: http://bit.ly/2Pyq0B3

 

Only Three Seconds Faster

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Eliud Kipchoge shattered the world record for the marathon by one minute, eighteen seconds. But breaking it down, that was about three seconds per mile faster. Sustaining that faster pace for the entire duration was an amazing physical feat but in its essence, it was three seconds per mile.

Let’s carry the logic to weight loss. If you want to lose 52 pounds in a year, that works out to one pound per week. One pound per week is 2.3 ounces per day. While the typical 3,500 calories in a pound of fat isn’t as precise as we’d like it to be, it’s close enough. That works out to be 503 calories per day. We either have to eat 500 fewer calories, burn 500 more calories, or some combination of both. That’s doable.

The key would be to be sustain that for 365 days in a year. Based on the best available research, we seem to do well until about week 10 of any type of diet you might try. That’s when we begin to return to former eating patterns—very slowly, but that’s when the plateaus and weight regain begin.

We could pick any health goal from lowering HbA1c to getting more flexible to reducing blood pressure and use the same approach. We need to know the variable that should be adjusted, from exercise and diet to taking supplements or medications regularly. We can break them all down to this: what do we need to do today?

What can help us sustain the effort once we know what we need to do? More lessons from the world record holder on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Toddler Health Tip: No More

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“No more!” Those are the words Riley says when he doesn’t want any more milk, food, or anything else we feed him. When he says “no more,” that’s really it—he’s done. At dinner last week, Paula said, “That pasta was great and I could eat more, but I think I’ll be like Riley: no more.”

Wouldn’t it be great if we would just use those words when our brains tell us we’ve had enough and our eyes tell us it still looks really good? No more. Say it out loud and really make a commitment. It doesn’t mean that seconds aren’t available. It doesn’t mean that a sweet dessert isn’t there. It just means you’re not having any more. You can say that any time during the meal or after you’ve cleaned your plate, but that lets you and everyone else know that you’re done eating. Period.

“Just one more bite.” I’ll bet you’ve done that a time or two or a thousand. I have. But you’ll take no more even when you’re putting away leftovers or getting the take-home box from the restaurant. And you don’t clean up the bite or two the kids left on their plates. No more means no more.

You can follow the ketogenic diet, the Mediterranean diet, a vegan diet, or any of the many ways to eat, but unless you learn to say “no more” on a regular basis, you won’t get to the body weight you desire.

Be like Riley. Say “no more” and see how it affects your weight.

The Bottom Line

The Memos this week have focused on a common-sense approach to health. We absolutely need to get ourselves checked out by healthcare professionals to make sure there’s no underlying disease going on. Once that’s done, remember that many times, the simplest solution is the correct one. That’s a common-sense approach to health.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Losing Weight with the Maduro Diet

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“Diets don’t work!” is a mantra of just about every health expert who doesn’t have a diet to sell. “I’ve tried eating less, and even counted every calorie, and I still can’t lose weight!” is something I’ve heard for the 30 years I’ve been doing what I do. Both statements are false.

Before you start your response or unsubscribe, read the rest. There’s a food crisis in Venezuela brought on by the government. I’m not talking about the merit of political systems, but the effect is a continuing lack of food for years now. It’s been referred to as the Maduro diet, named after the president of the country. As a result, the citizens have continued to lose weight. Some accounts have it as an average of 17 pounds in 2016 and another 24 pounds in 2017; I can’t verify the precise numbers. Hyperinflation also contributes to the food shortage; currently it’s 18,000%. One woman held up a plantain and said it cost as much as she’d paid for her house several years before. Some stores don’t count money, they weigh it. Let that sink in.

When people eat fewer calories than they need, they lose weight. The difference is that we’re fortunate that it’s a choice in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and most of Europe. It’s not optional in Venezuela. There’s simply not enough food and therefore, as a nation, they’re all losing weight.

Look at pictures of the populace in North Korea and you’ll see the same effect. In both countries, the leaders look very well fed, to put it politely. I have to think that makes hungry citizens even more resentful.

If you were not given a choice in the quantity of food you could eat per day, no matter where those calories come from, you would lose weight. Period. But most of us are fortunate to be able to make a series of food choices all day long, and that makes it extremely complicated. Still, it’s your body. It’s your choice. Choose wisely today and every day.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet