Posts by asphyxiac

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Forum	Topic	Date	Replies
Weight Loss	50lbs to Lose? Lets do it together!	Aug 11 2009 03:11 (UTC)	116
Original Post by dkrous: Well, pballerina, As I stated, I lost 40 pounds and kept it off for 5 years until I got stupid and began eating and drinking everything and anything without care. The Scarlesdale Medical Diet is a healthy low fat; low carb diet. It's strict, which is why it's great for a quick fix, like a wedding in a month from now. When I was younger and had much more willpower, and much less stress, I was able to follow the dictates of the diet. Today, I have too much to deal with and much less will power to be able to deal with a strict diet. That's the only reason I'm not doing it today. I know it works; it worked for me in the past and for a long term...well, unless you don't consider 5 years of maintaining a 40 pound weight loss long term. Anyway, until you look at it, and try it, it's best not to negatively judge it, don't you think? And if you don't want to try it, well, that's ok too. But, then, you have nothing to judge it on, especially if you haven't even looked at it. Afterall, an MD created it; there are safty precautions built into the diet, (re: keytones and such), and there are literally thousands of people who have benifited from it still to this day. Check it out; I gave the link. I do recommend it because I know it works. Under different circumstances, I would be following the same diet today. Remember, it's two weeks on; two off. And good luck! Peace! I would not recommend adhering to a diet that prescribes only 700 calories a day. You will lack the energy to do anything, and will lose a lot of lean mass as a result. Even if you aren't tired all of the time, you'll still lose a ton of lean mass because 700 calories a day is not enough to sustain the body's muscles and organs, and thus some of it will be lost. In the long run, you will actually have far more fat loss with a sensible diet of 1500-1600 calories, some strength training, and a bit of high intensity interval training. On off days, you could do some moderately intense solid state cardio (walking, for example). Also, losing weight in a healthy manner prepares you for maintenance, so that you can keep the weight off, instead of gaining it all back. Low calorie diets are simply not sustainable and do not form the proper eating habits that are necessary to keep weight off.
Weight Loss	How long does it take to slow your metabolism?	Aug 11 2009 02:56 (UTC)	29
Original Post by melkor: Hunter et.al. : Resistance Training Conserves Fat-free Mass and Resting Energy Expenditure Following Weight Loss. Dieting groups who do no resistance training tend to lose muscle mass and experience significantly lowered REE both during weight loss phases and when calorie intake is normalized. This explains rebound weight gain - the effect is not the same one as the drastic slowdown associated with the extremes of low body fat(40%), rather it's on the order of magnitude of adaptive thermogenesis due to dietary restriciton, normally ~10%, 15-20% in cases of extreme restriction. Redman LM et al, Metabolic and behavioral compensations in response to caloric restriction: implications for the maintenance of weight loss. Pennington biomedical research center. In response to caloric restriction (CR/LCD combined), TDEE adjusted for body composition, was significantly lower by -431+/-51 and -240+/-83 kcal/d at M3 and M6, respectively, indicating a metabolic adaptation. Likewise, physical activity (TDEE adjusted for sleeping metabolic rate) was significantly reduced from baseline at both time points. For control and CR+EX, adjusted TDEE (body composition or sleeping metabolic rate) was not changed at either M3 or M6. That is not a minor drop in resting metabolic rate. Coupled with the significantly reduced energy expenditure from behavioral adaptations to the restricted energy intake you are looking at an explanation as to why a persistent undereater/non-exerciser will maintain at a significantly lower energy intake than predicted by the metabolic calculators based on subjects at maintenance intake. In other words, yes, exactly the scenario you think is unlikely. Note the effect of resistance training on this - aerobic exercise basically does nothing to slow down the adaptations or prevent muscle loss, resistance training does even in the face of pretty extreme deficits. If you're in a population where resistance training is counter-indicated, you're much more limited in how agressive your calorie deficit can be. Even if a 5'5'', 250 lb person with an TDEE of 2272 had a metabolic drop of 25% (higher than the one the above study found) eating 1000 calories a day (again more than what participants were fed on the LCD in the study quoted), and had a -560kcal drop in TDEE by M3, they would still continue to lose weight on 1000 kcal a day. I mean, up to a certain point, obviously. I'm not trying to start an argument, or anything. I'm just saying it is highly unlikely that a 250 lb person would stop losing weight at 1000 kcal a day. It's even more unlikely that this would happen if said person were doing some form of strength training, like you stated.
Weight Loss	How long does it take to slow your metabolism?	Aug 11 2009 02:37 (UTC)	30
Original Post by susiecue: Then explain the following: Person A and Person B are the same gender, age, fitness level, etc. They both start off weighing 175 and cut calories. Person A cuts her intake to 1500 calories per day and loses a slow and steady 1-1.5 pounds every week. Person B cuts her intake to 1000 calories per day and loses 10 pounds very quickly but then plateaus and cannot lose any more. After six months, Person A weighs substantially less than Person B even though Person A is eating more. The only explanation is that Person B is not burning as many calories every day as Person A. The most likely explanation is that, because she's undereating, Person B has no energy. So, she doesn't fidget at all. She walks very little. Even though they're both doing the same workout program, Person B isn't putting as much into the exercises. She can't; she has no energy. She doesn't realise any of this, of course. Effectively, her metabolism has slowed down. It's not just because she got smaller - because she's still bigger than Person A. Nobody's suggesting that undereating makes your heart/brain/whatever burn less calories, per se. But it does make your body as a whole burn less calories. And it doesn't violate the laws of physics. It's just sneaky. You're sort of missing the point here. I'm not saying that under eating DOESN'T make people less energetic and less likely to work out. It DOES do that. What I am saying is that, theoretically, if Person A and Person B had the exact same stats and were on the exact same work out schedule, Person B would continue to lose more weight than person A, until they reached a point of equilibrium. Which, at 1000 calories, would not happen for awhile. Weight loss would slow down, but it basically never stops. At 1000 calories a day, 175 lb, 5'5'', and a RMR of 1800 calories, you would have to see a reduction in the metabolic rate of nearly 50% to be plateauing at 1000 calories! Even if the person did NOTHING, and lay in bed all day long - asleep, their BMR is still 1500. That would be a 33% reduction in their core metabolic rate, meaning they would have to lose a lot of mass - mostly lean mass - to be plateauing at 1000 calories. This does NOT happen unless you get down to a very low weight. Especially if Person B was also exercising. And more so because 175 at 5'5" is considered very overweight - almost obese, and it has been shown time and time again that people with more fat mass lose more fat mass than lean mass. If Person B went down to 135 lbs, they would have a BMR of 1300ish and a sedentary RMR of 1600. Let's say that their metabolic rate slows down by 10% - their BMR would be 1170 (if they were catatonic) and their RMR would be 1440 (sedentary). Again, eating 1000 calories a day would still result in weight loss, though it would be slower. Even if their RMR dropped by -400kcal a day to 1200 a day, they'd continue to lose weight - but even more slowly. Of course, that's not counting exercise, or whatever. Eventually, the would plateau at 1000 calories, but if they reduced caloric intake to 500 calories, they would continue to lose weight once again. There have been studies done on this time and time again, which you can google if you really care. My point is simply that weight loss will continue regardless of how little you eat, until you're dead. Of course, this isn't something anyone should try, because it doesn't usually end well. And in the long run, eating more is certainly better, because it allows you to have the energy to exercise, and thus allows you to run a larger deficit, resulting in more weight lost (to a point - 2 lbs a week is basically the limit to weight loss without losing a whole lot of lean mass unless you are obese or doing resistance training). Dieting always results in some metabolic slow down, but it's less than most people think - 7-10%, not 20% or 30% (unless you're not eating at all, and at a very low weight - but 1000 calories is not SEVERE restriction - though it is unhealthy). This slow down can be mitigated by eating sensibly and engaging in strength and resistance training, but it can never be completely avoided. Just keep that in mind when you plan your diet. A plateau is not the end of the world, and it can be avoided if you adjust your calorie intake accordingly.
Weight Loss	How long does it take to slow your metabolism?	Aug 11 2009 00:27 (UTC)	34
Original Post by sadinplaid: Original Post by fitmom4life: Metabolism changes are normal, but also minimal for a person - they don't vary a huge % over a lifetime, but do lower with age, and occur in response to body weight and exercise. Persistent "undereating" that causes a drop in body weight, will naturally reduce the metabolism. Once you raise your body weight, metabolism raises accordingly. If you weigh 300 lbs and eat 1000 calories a day, then what happens when you weigh 250 and you're maintaining at 1000 calories, what then? Cut more calories and starve to death? Someone should link to the article about the obese person that eats 700 calories a day. If you eat too few calories and your metabolism adjusts to low that would be 'bad.' Since it makes continued weight loss and weight maintenence impossible. What? Fitmom4life is totally right. Also, what 250 lb person would maintain at 1000 calories a day? RMR doesn't really change until you get down to 5% body fat, and then it tends to drop down to about 50% of the original RMR - so 50% of 1700 calories. But this only happens at a very low BF %, and understand that 5% body fat is the bare minimum needed to sustain life - the reason your body would do this is to keep you from dying, although if you kept cutting calories, you would still lose weight. A 250 lb person with 5% body fat would have to be very, very muscular. In that case, they would need way more than 1000 calories. And if they were not very muscular, they would still burn way more than 1000 calories. And they would be more likely to burn those calories as fat as opposed to lean mass, since a 250 lb person is likely obese (unless they're very tall or a body builder). If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. It's simple physics. You can keep cutting calories, and guess what? You'll never STOP losing weight. Not until you die. Obviously this is not healthy, but my point is - minor drops in metabolic rate do not affect weight loss when drastically and unhealthily cutting calories. When losing weight the healthy way, the reason weight loss slows down or plateaus is because your calorie intake/outtake has to be adjusted to your new fitness level and weight, since you're not drastically cutting calories. Most people only run a 300-400 calorie deficit, which means that in 10-20 lbs, they will hit a plateau where they're burning fewer calories because they have less weight. Thus, you eat a little less, and work out a little more or whatever. This usually breaks the plateau. Sometimes eating a bit more and working out a bit more works as well. But this does not mean that a 300 lb person will end up maintaining at 1000 calories a day @ 250, especially since 1000 calories @ 300 lbs is eating drastically fewer calories than would be necessary to maintain that weight. No one's metabolism slows down that much at such a high weight. I mean, maybe if they had hypothyroidism, or something.
Weight Loss	Eating low calorie in restaurants	Aug 10 2009 23:45 (UTC)	37
Original Post by mlschafer: the July 2009 nutritional info (the one you posted is 2008) has tufu lettuce wraps at 135 calories per serving, 4 servings for the whole order. This comes to 540 calories. Unfortunately they no longer list fiber, but it is pretty high given that it is all vegetables and tofu. I think the chicken is slightly higher in calories, but around 600 total. They do have a lot of sodium though, but that is hard to control with most asian foods. 540 is lower than almost any entree there. The nutritional info pdf is a bit misleading-- make sure to check the number of portions per dish. Most entrees contain 2-4 servings-- even the kids menu! http://www.pfchangs.com/menu.shtml Kudos to them for lowering some of their calories. The Asian food/sodium thing is a bit a of a myth, though. I mean, Asian food tends to be salty, certainly, but there is no need for 2k mg of sodium in one dish. I've been on an Asian food kick for the past few weeks, making bento box lunches and various Japanese and Chinese dishes, and I still don't go over 2.5k mg of sodium per day. It's unfair to lump an entire category of cuisine in there, especially because I think it's less likely that Asian foods are full of sodium and more likely that restaurant food is full of sodium. Salt is a very cheap way to season foods. Almost all restaurant/frozen meal makers go overboard with it. On another note, tofu is notoriously low in fiber. This is due to the way it's processed, though a common misconception is that tofu is a high fiber food. There is a thread on that matter here.
Weight Loss	50lbs to Lose? Lets do it together!	Aug 10 2009 23:16 (UTC)	120
I'm 175ish right now, and in the long term, I want to get down to 130 and then gain 10lbs of (mostly) muscle to be at 140ish. What I really want right now though, more than anything, is to be in a healthy BMI range. I have 3 lbs to go until I'm there, so hopefully sometime in the next couple of weeks I won't be considered 'mildly overweight' anymore. I was well over 200 lbs when I started my diet in April. I still have a loooong way to go until 130. 45 lbs, phew. Also, you could maybe lose 7lbs in 27 days, but I don't know about 10. You would have to create a 6351 calorie a week deficit, which is about 900 calories a day. As in, eat 1600 calories and burn 2500 every day. Most people burn 2000 calories a day, so if you could put in a couple of hours of walking at 3.5mph, you could do 2500. But it would be difficult, and a 900 calorie a day deficit is pretty high. I think that if you had the energy, you could run a higher deficit. It really depends on the type of exercise you do, as well.
Weight Loss	Your last meal?	Aug 10 2009 22:54 (UTC)	7
A portobello mushroom steak with a swiss cheese sauce. Also, a regular steak. Filet mignon. With seared foie gras. Haven't had that since February!
Weight Loss	How many grams of sugar should we be consuming per day?	Aug 10 2009 22:52 (UTC)	32
I keep my sugar under 35-40g a day. I sweeten everything with xylitol instead of sugar (keeps the cavities away). The sugar I do eat mostly comes from green vegetables (and sometimes orange ones, like carrots :D).
Weight Loss	Eating low calorie in restaurants	Aug 10 2009 22:48 (UTC)	39
Original Post by mlschafer: lettuce wraps at PF Changs-- an appetizer, but I eat them as an entree. Either tofu or chicken-- the tofu is so good! Meat eaters will like it. I dont remember the calories, but I know eating the whole plate of these was 6 points on weight watchers, wich is pretty low for an entire meal. Most of these chain restaurants have their nutritional info online. A word of warning on the lettuce wraps - I used to eat them as an entree as well, thinking it was a healthy dish. When I realized how many calories there are in it, I figured out how wrong I was. The dish has over 1000 calories, and 2000mg of sodium. So basically, half my calories and my entire RDA of sodium were filled by that one dish. Sucks. A way better alternative is the steamed dumplings. 260 calories for the whole dish, and that way you can have a large order of the tasty spicy green beans (193 calories for the whole thing), coming to a grand total of 453 calories and 738mg of sodium. PF Chang's Nutrition Info
Weight Loss	I'm so hungry	Aug 10 2009 22:25 (UTC)	14
I second the whey protein powder. Also, egg whites. My favorite breakfast consists of morningstar vegan meatless crumbles, egg whites, onions, and some herbs and spices. I toss in like 1 cup of egg whites (117 calories + 27g protein) and 2/3 cup of the crumbles (80 calories + 10g protein + 2g fiber) and my onions and spices, and scramble the whole thing. It has almost 40g of protein and only 200ish calories. It's really a tasty, filling breakfast. For lunch, I might make myself a boca grilled vegetable patty (70 cals + 12g protein + 4g fiber) with an Arnold's sandwich thin (100 cals + 5g protein + 6g fiber) and some Laughing Cow Light Swiss Spread (35 cals + 2.5g protein). I add whatever veggies I want (lettuce, tomato, whatevs). Dinner could be a veggie stir fry (70ish cals of veggies, depends on which ones you use) with seitan (130 cals + 24g protein + 3g fiber) and shirataki noodles (40 cals + 4g fiber). Snacks could consist of a protein shake w/ almond milk (150 cals + 20g protein) or a high fiber tortilla (100 cal + 5g protein + 8g fiber) and some reduced fat swiss cheese (60 cal + 7g protein) melted into a quesadilla. I usually have a fourth meal as well, but you get the idea. The meal plan above has 950ish calories, 112.5g of protein, and 23g of fiber. It also leaves about 550 calories worth of room for whatever you want. Another meal, dessert, whatever you like. There are a lot of options for high protein, high fiber vegetarian meals out there, you just have to explore them. Also, sugars and starchy carbs tend to make me feel more hungry, not less. I usually feel full after a carb-y meal, but the fullness only lasts for a little while before my blood glucose crashes and I'm ravenous again.
Weight Loss	losing without exercising	Aug 10 2009 22:14 (UTC)	2
I don't know how necessary exercise is for weight loss. I think it's more like calorie intake vs calorie outtake. I sometimes have off-weeks where I don't work out, and I end up losing the same amount as my extra-super-workout weeks. Also, where in Asia? I'm part Indian, and whenever I go to India, I always lose a ton of weight, mostly because I'm wary of eating any of the food, haha. Also, I end up walking around a ton (mostly photography, wandering, cultural absorption, and shopping - everything is so cheap!). Unless it's the summertime. But no one goes to India in the summer, anyway. It gets all gross and humid and rainy and hot. All at once.
Fitness	August's 100 Mile Walk	Aug 10 2009 22:01 (UTC)	195
Whoops, forgot to post over the weekend: 8/8 1.5 miles 8/9 1 mile 39.8 miles/100 miles = 60.2 miles to go I didn't do much this weekend, since we had guests from out of town. I'm taking a 6.8 mile walk tonight, though.
Weight Loss	Waist Size?	Aug 08 2009 04:10 (UTC)	68
Height: 5'10.5" Weight: 175 Bust: 38.5" Waist: 28" Hips: 38" Before I gained a ton of weight, I had a 28" waist @ about 165 lbs. For some reason, I have the same measurements even though I am 10 lbs heavier.
Fitness	August's 100 Mile Walk	Aug 07 2009 22:53 (UTC)	217
8/7: 6.8 miles so far @ 3.4 mph Boo, I'm tired. I had to go to the airport at 1am last night. I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull another 5.2 miles tonight. Alas. I'll make up for it tmrw. 37.3/100 miles = 62.7 miles to go
Weight Loss	When you consume too many calories for breakfast......	Aug 07 2009 22:46 (UTC)	5
Hey, 600 calories for breakfast is not so bad. You can fit a lot of food into 900 calories, if need be. Examples are veggie stir-fry with 1 cup of rice for lunch (about 300 calories - I use wild rice), and then a low-cal snack of some sort (100 calories-ish) and a nice bowl of home made chili (less than or equal to 500 cals, depending on what's in it) for dinner. I mean, obviously you can switch the numbers about - but you have a lot of wiggle room. Don't fret! The key is calorie density. A lot of foods have really low calorie density, and you can just fill up on those. I've had days where I've gone to lunch and had like, an 800 calorie lunch. What did I do? I ate a whole lot of egg whites + steamed vegetables for the rest of the day, haha.
Weight Loss	getting drunk on a diet	Aug 07 2009 20:02 (UTC)	14
I do jack & diet coke. 1.5 oz JD @ 90 calories + Diet Coke @ 0 Calories. If the bartender is feeling extra nice, it might be a 120 calorie drink, but in that case, it's nearly 2 shots, and I'll be floored by my 3rd drink. 360 calories, not bad. Of course, it doesn't help with the next-day-water-retention blues.
Weight Loss	If you lose a lot of weight slowly, will your skin go back to normal, or will it still be loose?	Aug 07 2009 09:27 (UTC)	4
Age and diet are a large factor in your skin's elasticity. I've never had an issue with loose skin, but I don't smoke, I'm young, and I try to get my RDA of vitamins and nutrients from food on a daily basis. Also, I drink at least 1.8L of water a day, which might be unnecessary, but whatever. Judging by your age, you'll probably be fine.
Weight Loss	Does fasting affect weight loss?	Aug 07 2009 06:30 (UTC)	4
I am Muslim, and everyone in my family gains at least 5 lbs over Ramadan, because they fast all day and then binge at night, eating tons of rice and meat, and drinking this insanely sweet rose-flavored drink. Seriously, they consume at least 3k calories a day. No way anyone loses weight during Ramadan unless they abstain from festivities at night.
Weight Loss	Looking for a few ladies in their 20's...	Aug 07 2009 00:48 (UTC)	3
I'll join. I'm 23, I've lost 37 lbs, and I have another 38 to go until I reach my goal BMI of 20.1
Foods	Caffeine....a calorie burner??	Aug 07 2009 00:41 (UTC)	3
Caffeine is an ergogenic and a thermogenic. It can, for a short period of time, boost your body's ability to produce heat. It also increases the amount of work that you can do. With these effects, caffeine is an ergogenic, increasing the capacity for mental or physical labor. A study conducted in 1979 showed a 7% increase in distance cycled over a period of two hours in subjects who consumed caffeine compared to control subjects.[56] Other studies attained much more dramatic results; one particular study of trained runners showed a 44% increase in "race-pace" endurance, as well as a 51% increase in cycling endurance, after a dosage of 9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight.[57] Additional studies have reported similar effects. Another study found 5.5 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body mass resulted in subjects cycling 29% longer during high intensity circuits.[58]" See the full wikipedia article.

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