Exercise does not make you lose weight

Ok, here we go...

EXERCISE DOES NOT PROMOTE WEIGHT LOSS

So, that dessert you think you can get away with because you just worked out, isn't guilt free and it will affect your weight.

The amount of people who tell me that they have joined a gym and are going 3-5 times a week and are NOT noticing a change - in fact they've put ON weight, is just astounding.  I often ask my patients if they've noticed a difference since starting at they gym and more often than not the answer is NO.

You see, exercise is good for you - it's a necessity for good health.  Exercise is associated with a diminished risk of cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, high blood pressure and even obesity - to name but a few.  Of course it does tone you up which can lead to a decrease in volume.  So don't throw out your trainers or cancel your gym membership just yet.

This is why so many people that make a New Year's resolution to lose weight and join a gym to do just that, end up getting frustrated and give up when they don't get any results or worse still, they get fatter.

So here's why your exercise plan is making you gain weight not lose it:

To start with is the type of foods you are eating.  Lots of people believe they need lots of carbohydrates to go to the gym, you know, for instant energy.  The truth is - you don't.  I have been going on for years about how carbs make you fat.  And they do, even if you work out a lot or run a lot.  Carbs are carbs whoever you are.  You only need high carb meals if you are a professional athlete or a marathon runner.  Energy drinks are also packed full of sugar and really aren't necessary.  POWERADE released a report stating that only athletes who are doing multiple, high-intensity training sessions, lasting longer than 60 minutes need extra fuel.  So, gels, protein bars and sports drinks just contribute to you piling on the pounds.

Now, I have also said that the AMOUNT of calories isn't the problem - and it isn't.  It's the TYPE of calories, as in where you get your calories from.  The body processes protein, fat and carbs in different ways and for different reasons and that determines if you  lose or gain weight.  However, many of us are unaware of:

a) How difficult it is to burn calories and

b) Just how many calories are in your favourite post workout treats.  

For example, a standard 20 minute workout will only just about cover the calories content of a large glass of wine... forget the chips and olives that come with it!

Be careful about calculating how many calories you burn.  A body burns calories even when you are doing nothing, just by functioning.  For example a man weighing 10st burns approximately 70 calories while lying on a sofa watching TV.  If he goes to the gym and rows on a machine for an hour, the machine will tell him he's burned 250 calories TOTAL, when in fact he has only burned an extra 180 calories - the other 70 he would have burned anyway!  But, I insist STOP COUNTING CALORIES; burned, ingested or otherwise - it won't get you anywhere.

Post workout latte = 180calories

Stress will also ruin any exercise results you could hope for.  When an unstressed person exercises the body releases cortisol, also known as the stress hormone.  High levels of this hormone causes the body to hold on to fat for survival.  However, if you are unstressed and your body is functioning correctly, the exercise also releases endorphins which balance out the cortisol increase and stops your body going into survival mode and storing fat.  But this doesn't work properly in a stressed person.  A stressed person already has high levels of cortisol circulating and the exercise releases even more making the level too high for the endorphins to balance out, so the stressed body goes into survival mode.  Cortisol also stores fat around the middle which is the dangerous kind that increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers such as breast cancer.

There is also the probability that you are rewarding yourself above and beyond what you need.  Quite often we reward ourselves with something delicious thinking; "I deserve this, I've just run for an hour!"  Well I have news, those rewards are usually carb based and 

REFINED CARBS MAKE YOU FAT!

Yes, I'm shouting!!!!!  The main foods that help you put on weight are:

Bread, pasta, potatoes, carrots, white rice, sugar... in other words: toast, sandwiches, pasta - with or without sauce, sushi (but not sashimi), noodles, croissants, doughnuts, biscuits, cake, chocolate, fries, cooked carrots (raw carrots in moderation are ok).

If you need an "on the go" high energy boost without eating carbs, try a small handful of RAW nuts - any type you like - except peanuts!

Finally, variety is the spice of life.  Just as I encourage you to be as varied as possible in your diet, try changing your workout routine.  Our bodies are capable of getting used to doing the same thing over and over again, so spice it up and keep it on its toes.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Just how long does it take to burn off the calories from that fast food lunch you just ate?

It is no news that the western world is eating it's self to death out of laziness.  Yes, I know that sounds harsh, but most blame it on lack of time and too much stress.  Yes, we are all stressed with work, homes, kids, schools, after school activities, etc..  So, grabbing a McDonald's for lunch or ordering a pizza for dinner is so quick and easy and it has become the norm.  Moms and Dads tend to take the easy option and avoid planning home cooked meals due to lack of time.

A new study from Texas has found that if information as to how much exercise you would need to do in order to burn off the fast food you just ate is given a long with the calorie information of that meal then the consumers tend to make healthier choices.  It is a plan that has been devised to "scare" people into eating better.

So how long does it take?

We all burn calories in different ways, an overweight person will always burn more than a normal weight person.  The exercise information (based on a 68kg person) should be as follows:

• McDonald's Egg McMuffin - 300 calories - 32 minutes of running at 5mph
• Starbucks Cinnamon Roll - 500 calories and 85 minutes of dancing - nonstop
• Dunkin' Donuts Cholocalte Frosted Donut - 230 calories and 1 hour of walking at 3mph
• Wendy's Large French Fries - 540 calories and 77 minutes of cycling at 10-12 mph
• Taco Bell Beef Burrito Supreme - 410 calories and 70 minutes of dancing.
• Domino's slice of medium cheese pizza - 210 calories PER SLICE and 22 minutes of cycling at 12-14mph for each slice you ate.
• McDonald's Mighty Kids Meal of Double Cheeseburger, Fries and chocolate milk - 840 calories and a solid 4 hours and 3 minutes of frisbee-playing - do you really want to put your child through that?

The study, carried out by the Texas Christian University, to find new ways to help people make better choices, proposed adding the exercise information to the calorie information on the menus.  The principal investigator on the study, Meena Shah says that hers is the first study centered on examining the effects of knowing how long you would have to walk at a fast pace in order to burn off those calories, the results were presented at the Meeting for Experimental Biology 2013 held in Boston in April.

For the study, 300 men and women were recruited between 18 and 30 years of age who were invited to eat at fast food restaurants.  Without explaining the purpose of the study, a menu was assigned to each participant at random.  All the menus had the same appearance and consisted of a hamburger, chicken nuggets, salad, french fries, dessert, soda and water.  However there were 3 things that differentiated them:

1. The first menu was accompanied by calorie information and the amount of exercise needed to burn off what was chosen and then eaten by the participant.
2. The second menu was accompanied solely by the amount of calories associated to it.
3. The third menu didn't have any accompanying information.

I think it is fairly easy to guess that the participants that ate the fewest calories were those who chose from menu Nº1, followed by those who were given menu Nº2 and those that consumed the most calories were those who had menu Nº3.  The reasoning behind this is that for the general public, caloric information for food is difficult to understand, however the minutes or hours of physical exercise needed to burn it off is much easier to apply to daily life as it is easy to visualize the effort needed to eliminate those calories.

Meena Shah said that a lot of the participants were surprised to see just how much physical exercise is needed to burn off the calories from some of the menu options: 

"For example, a woman would have to walk vigorously for about 2 hours to burn off the calories from a double quarter pounder with cheese".

However, the authors have stated that the sample group was made up of people under the age of 30, which means that it would be erroneous to suggest that the results are representative for all the consumers of these types of foods.  Therefore, the team intends to repeat the study with a more diverse group with older people.

Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Myth Busting... again...

For years (and I mean years) most of the studies done on Nutrition were funded by the big corporations. For example... studies on the benefits of milk produce funded by Danone, or the importance of breakfast cereals funded by Kelloggs (I made these up so you get the gist!).  However, luckily for us, more and more money is being injected into nutritional studies by governments and universities.  This is great as we are finally getting an unbiased opinion as opposed to a bought one!  But, this can be very confusing for many as all the new information seems to contradict the old:

"A calorie is not a calorie." for example.

So here I am going to try and dispel some of those confusing statements based on evidence from new studies and I hope to clear up some of those myths:

Exercise does not burn off kilos:

This it TRUE.  Yes, I know, you are all going to start screaming and pulling your hair out wondering why you are paying for that expensive gym membership or "wasting" your time running every day.  Let's just clear one thing up, the fact that it doesn't burn off the kilos does not mean it isn't good for you so keep going to the gym or running as much as you like and you will still reap the benefits - they even say it makes you more intelligent!  But first, here are the facts:

A study with 411 female participants who worked out for over one, two or three hours a week for six months showed that these participants did not lose significantly more weight than those who devoted their time to sedentary pursuits such as video games or watching TV or crossword puzzles.  A review of another 15 similar studies came to the same conclusion: moderate workouts don't lead to weight loss, possibly because they tend to make us hungrier.  But there is also a more scientific explanation.  As with weight loss, one of the ways in which your body adapts to an increase in exercise is to lower your resting metabolic rate by roughly 7%, so you actually end up burning fewer calories - anywhere from 50 to 75 fewer per day, or so the scientists said.

So what are the benefits?  Well while exercise won't actually burn off that spare tyre it does help to reduce your waist circumference and generally tones up the body to make it firmer and leaner, not to mention the other benefits of having an active lifestyle.

Is it better to eat several small meals a day or just the regular 3 - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner?

The reasoning behind the myth of eating several smaller meals during the day - about 5 is that your blood sugar level won't drop so much between meals, you will feel less hungry and you won't suffer from cravings when your blood sugar level drops.  

The facts are that in a study by the University of Missouri has found that people who eat 3 square meals a day are often no hungrier than those who eat smaller, more frequent meals. "Often people misinterpret the size of a mini meal and end up taking in far more calories than they realize, "says lead author Heather J Leidy. "Also, more meals means more exposure to food, which creates more opportunities for overeating."

It is my opinion that this is a very personal question.  There are people who feel better eating varias smaller meals per day rather than just 3 bigger ones.  As long as you are aware of what you are eating and you don't go overboard on quantity then go ahead and eat several times if that works for you. 

 Is it best to set more attainable goals or to be more ambitious and set a very challenging goal?

For years, weight loss specialists have said that setting an unrealistic goal for your weight loss means you will become easily discouraged and give up quickly.  In a recent Dutch study of 447 overweight adults, researchers found that the more weight loss the participants strived for, the more effort they made, and the more weight they reported losing after two months.  The theory is that being ambitious about your weight loss has a psychologically energizing effect, fueling your commitment and drive.  If you are over weight and need to shed the kilos set yourself a high goal of losing up to 14% of your current weight, this is the target that, on average, motivated the higher-reaching dieters in the Dutch study.

To lose half a kilo you have to cut back on 3,500 calories!

This is so FALSE!  This is a commonly quoted equation that doesn't account for the slowdown in your metabolism as you drop the kilos, say researchers at the National Institute of Health.  "It drastically overestimates how quickly people will lose weight," says senior investigator Kevin D. Hall.  His team has created a more accurate computerized model.   As an example a 46 year-old woman weighing 77kg by the traditional method she should drop half a kilo a week by cutting back on 500 calories a day and therefore lose 11.8 kg in six months.  The new model shows that the loss is more likely to be approximately 9 kg in the same time frame.  The truth is that where you get your calories from is very important.  The body does not metabolize the calories from protein in the same way it does the calories from carbs and if you add that to the fact that when you have been on a diet for a length of time the body slows down metabolism because it thinks it's going to starve!

If you know what to expect, you will not become so easily discouraged when the weight loss seems to slow down.

If you have been a yo-yo dieter for years your chances of weight loss success are ruined.

This is also FALSE.  This comes from way back in the '80s when studies on rats found
that those forced to yo-yo with their diets became more efficient at gaining weight.  Humans, however, are much better off.  The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, has found that a history of losing, then gaining, then losing weight wasn't linked to any negative effects on metabolism.  Even serial yo-yo dieters who reported losing 9 kg or more on three or more occasions, were able to follow a new diet and exercise programme as successfully as non yo-yo dieters.

Women are more prone to yo-yoing by trying crash diets one after another.  The way to go is to make healthy lifestyle changes that lead to slow and steady weight loss, and stick to them.  Become more active it will help tone up as the kilos come off.

Milk drinkers lose more weight!

Those of you who have followed this blog know that I am dead against milk and milk produce, which makes it so great for me to be able to say that this myth is FALSE!!!!  Harvard researchers analyzed 29 studies on this subject.  They found that while dairy MAY help dieters lose weight in the short term, ultimately it's not a successful strategy.  In most of the studies that had lasted a year or longer and that didn't restrict calories, found that adults who drank extra glasses of milk or ate more dairy actually gained more weight than those participants who didn't.

Another thing I will add to this from my own findings with patients I have treated and conversations I have had is that people that don't diet specifically to lose weight but do suddenly cut out dairy from their diets for other reasons, find that they lose weight suddenly for apparently no explanation.  I was talking to the mother of an adolescent with severe dermatitis last week, she had taken her daughter to loads of different doctors to try and find a solution to the child's terrible dermatitis.  She had finally given up on the traditional doctors and taken her daughter to a Naturopath who instantly cut out milk produce and provided a specific plan.  Within a week the dermatitis was notably better and the mother commented on how her daughter, although not over weight at all, had slimmed down.

You have to watch what you eat forever.

I'm sorry to say that this is TRUE.  Once you have lost weight and reached your goal, you'll want to stay there - I hope.  So many people make the mistake of thinking that now they have lost the weight they can come off the diet and go back to eating the way they did before, many don't stop to think that the way they ate before got them over weight in the first place.  However, I hope that whatever regime you choose to follow that works for you, your journey to your ideal weight will TEACH you how to eat healthily and you will therefore maintain your weight loss forever more.  This does not mean that every now and again your can't enjoy a piece of birthday cake or a yummy ice cream on your summer holiday, but it does mean controlling what you eat on a daily basis so that piece of cake or ice cream doesn't stay with you forever.

Controlling your carb intake is the best way to keep the pounds off.

Lots of you will be pleased to know that this is FALSE.  At the beginning of a weight loss regime it is better to limit your intake of REFINED carbs and go for a high protein diet BUT with lots of fresh vegetables and some fruit, water and exercise.  But once you are at the maintenance part of the diet a proper healthy balanced diet with all the food groups is essential.

Now, most people when they hear the word carbs think of bread, pasta and rice.  But carbohydrates are found in fresh vegetables, legumes, fruits, and nuts too.  The most damaging carbs are the white refined type - bread, pasta and rice.  

A balanced diet plan was found to be better than the usual technique of counting carbs or fat grams in a study of adults who had recently lost a significant amount of weight.  The least successful method was the one that counted fat grams.  Healthy fat is essential for a healthy body, eliminating it from your diet is not going to do you any good at all.  Fat counting caused the biggest slowdown in metabolism, leading dieters to burn an average of 423 fewer calories a day.

The carb-counting plan was problematic because it caused and increase in cortisol and C-reactive protein levels - factors that may elevate your risk of cardiovascular disease.

However, the balanced plan caused a less extreme drop in metabolism (under 300 calories a day) and didn't trigger any heart harming consequences.  The plan included lots of whole grains, fresh vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, healthy fats like olive oil and lean fish and meats.  It excluded heavily processed foods like white bread and instant rice.  This is a low-glycemic diet and is based on regulating blood sugar and hormone levels and does not restrict entire food groups so it is easier to stick to.

I hope I have managed to dispel some of those nagging doubts you may have about dieting and healthy eating.  See you next week!

Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com