Nutrition - Free Fitness Library
Get real
By Lydia Campbell
It's the time of diets. Fat obsession is here again even though we all know diets fail us. Why? What should we do to shift the excess weight? To put our readers on the right path, Lydia consulted with Dr Daniel Kosich, one of the worlds leading experts in weight loss who's latest book Get Real is a terrific guide to help you achieve long term weight loss.
What is Get Real about?
Get Real is about how to combine self acceptance, adequate activity
and sensible eating to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.
How did you create the programme?
It's really not a start and stop programme. It's a way to create
a healthy lifestyle. After working with people with weight management
concerns for more than 15 years, it is clear to me that rigidly structured
programmes often don't work, at least for very long because people don't
like living rigidly structured lives. I created the concepts in Get
Real based on my experiences and the experiences and research of many
others, focusing on the real life, everyday choices we all make which
affect our body weight.
Why don't diets work as a permanent answer to weight loss?
Mostly because the body needs an adequate amount of the nutrients and
energy we get from food to work most efficiently. When we don't eat
enough on a regular basis, our body tries to adjust. Sooner or later
the body's demand for food prevails and the diet is abandoned. It's
kind of like trying to hold your breath. You can hold it for a while,
but before long you simply have to breathe again.
What are the weight loss trends for 1996?
One trend is the recognition that body image and behavioural issues
have a tremendous impact on the effectiveness of any approach to losing
weight. More and more research suggests that appropriate weight loss
can occur only when we accept ourselves and empower ourselves to get
more active and eat sensibly because that's what taking care of ourselves
is all about. Helping clients develop a positive self image is getting
a lot more attention.
Another trend is realisation that the absolutely crucial factor in losing weight is to be more physically active. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to burn more calories, not force ourselves to cut back on eating. And it's not just 30 minutes of exercise, 3 days a week. More active means to walk more often, ride a bike more often, use stairs more often. Research is showing that those who live a more active lifestyle have the greatest chance for success.
A third is the trend away from the rigid "8 week diet". Too many people have tried that approach, perhaps several times. They have discovered that they can lose weight for a while, but when the diet becomes too tedious, or boring, and they go back to their regular eating habits, surprise, surprise, the weight comes back on. Certainly, there are still a lot of structured diet programmes around, but more and more the approach is simply trying to eat sensibly most of the time. In Get Real, I call this the 80/20 approach. eat what you should 80% of the time, leave 20% for the foods you like but know aren't going to help you achieve weight loss goals.
For a long time in the fitness world, instructors have advocated
low impact, long duration aerobic exercise for the most effective fat
burning form of exercise. Now there is a swing back to high impact aerobics
or the return of high intensity, shorter duration. What's your opinion?
The key to burning the most fat is to burn the most calories. Those
in poor condition need to work at a low intensity for longer duration
in order to burn a lot of calories. If they try to work at a high intensity,
they will fatigue quickly, limiting total calorie burning. But as one's
fitness level improves, it's possible to work harder, burning a lot
more calories every minute, without rapidly fatiguing. So, duration
can be shortened without limiting calorie burning. Those in poor condition
don't have this option. The bottom line is that if I want to lose a
pound of fat this week, I need to burn about 3,500 more calories than
I take into my body. It doesn't really matter how I burn those calories.
The harder, the longer and the more often i can work, the greater is
more calorie burning.
Do you think certain body types/shapes have a tendency to put on
weight or do they genetically have more fat cells?
I think the research clearly suggest that there is some genetic component
to the whole spectrum of issues which impact weight management. Some
people do have more fat cells than others. And there are also lots of
different body shapes. But it's not body shape which influences gaining
weight, gaining or losing body weight is related to energy balance -
calories in versus calories out. Those who have a naturally higher metabolic
rate can eat more calories without gaining weight.
Do fat cells increase in women as they age?
Theoretically, in both men and women, the number of fat cells on the
body is set by the time we reach adulthood. But, in both men and women
(fat cells are the same in either gender), new fat cells can be made
even as adults if they become big enough. If excess fat is stored, first,
the cells that exist become bigger and bigger. But then, at some critical
size (threshold size), the fat cell divides into two smaller cells,
increasing the total number of fat cells.
There is a trend for women to have babies later in life. Many of
these women now have a weight problem due to late motherhood. What is
your opinion?
Weight problems following pregnancy are not limited just to those women
who have babies later in life. The reasons are not totally clear. Some
researchers attribute it to physiological changes associated with the
so-called "weight control set-point." If a woman gains a lot
of weight during pregnancy, there is also the possibility that new fat
cells could be made. Lifestyle changes following pregnancy, less activity
and/or more dietary calories, are also an issue in many cases. In my
opinion, there are undoubtedly a myriad of factors which are involved,
at any age. But regardless of what occurs in a woman that makes weight
control more difficult following pregnancy, weight management is still
an issue of calorie balance. Try to get more active to burn more calories,
and eat a sensible diet.
How would you advise our readers on how to have and maintain a healthy
body image?
As with most things, different approaches work for different people.
There isn't any one best way to create a healthy body image. In Get
Real I devote an entire chapter to exploring various ways to create
a healthy body image. I describe three important elements:
1. Recognising and resisting cultural messages. The media creates a
tremendous pressure, especially for women, to achieve the "perfect
body". I think the first step, then, is to recognise that there
is no such thing as the perfect body.
2. Reflecting on one's own body image history. It often helps to take
the time to think back over one's life. "What has influenced my
image of myself?" Family, friends, co-workers and others might
have had an influence which needs to be discovered before it can be
addressed. Writing the history might bring back some not-so-pleasant
memories. But it is the best way to discover what has led to current
beliefs, setting the stage for the third issue.
3. Replace old, negative ways of thinking, with new positive thoughts.
I commonly see what I call the "if...then" belief as a barrier
to a healthy body image: "If I can only get to 120 pounds, then
I will feel good about who I am today" It's kind of a paradox:
How can I like who I am if I want to lose weight? If I liked who I am,
I wouldn't want to lose weight? The answer is that liking who you are
is the critical first step to taking good care of yourself. It's much
more likely that one will make healthy choices if she likes who she
is. And it's the consistent lifestyle choices which ultimately affect
body weight.
How can you have two sisters with the same parents and genes where
one has never had a weight problem, whereas the other one has, even
if they live in the same household, are both active in sports and fitness
and eat the same foods in identical quantities?
Siblings do not have the same genetic make up, unless perhaps they are
identical twins. An offspring's genetics are a result of the multitude
of possible combinations of the mother's and father's genetic make up
dominant, recessive and all that stuff. While siblings may share a few
or several genetic characteristics, we are all uniquely individual.
There is a strong emphasis from nutritionists to lower one's daily
fat intake to a certain level with an emphasis on increasing ones carbohydrate
intake for energy. Can you put on weight by eating too many carbohydrates?
Weight gain occurs when calorie intake is greater than calorie expenditure,
regardless of the source of calories facts, carbohydrates or protein.
The American Dietetics Association recommends that nor more than 30%
of daily calories come from fat. (Not 30 grams. The gram intake would
be 30% of whatever the daily calorie intake is). About 55-60% of calories
should come from carbohydrates, the remainder from protein. The suggestion
that such a carbohydrate intake will lead to hyperinsulinemia, and therefore,
an increase in body fat is not supported by the vast majority of international
research. Hyperinsulinemia is more likely the result of carrying too
much body fat, which in the US is about 33% of the adult population.
Are there foods that speed up or stimulate ones metabolic rate?
It depends on what you mean. Yes, calories are burned when fats, carbs
and proteins are digested and absorbed. It "cost" more to
digest a protein and carbohydrate than it does fat. This is called the
"thermic effect of digestion", and accounts for about 10%
of a persons daily calorie expenditure. Are there certain foods which
will help increase the burning of fat? No, none that have been shown
to cause that effect in good research. Nicotine, caffeine, ephedrine
and many other agents are stimulants. But their impact on increasing
metabolic rate with regard to weight control is of little consequence.
"Eat this pill or this food and burn more while you sleep"
is an exciting fantasy!
Should women reassess their eating habits as they age?
One of the key dietary concerns with ageing, in both genders, is eating
enough food and drinking enough water. Many people experience a decrease
in appetite as they get older. Inadequate calorie intake not only impact
energy levels, but also leads to nutrient deficiencies. For example,
it's difficult to get enough calcium when the daily calorie intake is
less than 1,200 calories. The guidelines for sensible eating apply at
any age. However, following menopause, a woman should increase her calcium
intake if she chooses not to go on oestrogen replacement.
So many people talk about slow metabolism as being a cause for their
weight problem. Does a slower metabolism increase ones weight problem?
A naturally slower metabolism (resting metabolic rate) is part of the
energy expenditure side of the equation. It does not automatically increase
the potential for weight problems. The balance between calories in and
calories out applies regardless of resting metabolic rate. Those with
slower resting rates often simply need to get more active - burn more
calories - to effectively balance the energy equation.
Why do people plateau when losing weight?
Nobody knows for sure. But it's likely related to metabolic adjustments
the body makes. A lot depends on how the weight is lost. Low calorie
diets often result in a weight loss plateau in a week or two, most likely
the result of an acute decrease in resting metabolic rate (part of the
set-point theory). Plateau's are much less likely when the weight loss
occurs as a result of increasing calorie expenditure through exercise.
What is the safest, most permanent way to change ones shape/lose
weight?
In my opinion, the best way to get to a healthy weight is to live a
lifestyle which includes regular, moderate to vigorous exercise and
a sensible, but not rigid diet, and a positive self-image. Shape and
physique, can certainly be changed with a regular programme of resistance
exercise.
Finally, any additional words of wisdom?
Get active, eat enough of the right kinds of foods and feel good about
who you are.
Get Real is available from?
Daniel Kosich is the consluting senior director for the professional
development at IDEA, president of EXERFIT Lifestyle Consulting in Denver,
Colorado and is technical advisor to Jane Fonda Health & Fitness.
He has spent 15 years working with hundreds of clients who wanted or
needed to lose some weight.