Thanks, M2M, for your welcome. I understand what you mean. I'm definitely going to a lifestyle change here, and I never want to go back to the old patterns that led to me putting on weight.
When my grandmother died, Mum put together the order of service for her funeral, and she found a picture of my gran when she was in her 30s (about the age I am now) to put on the front. I was quite shocked to see that her
body shape then was a lot like mine is now. And this is the woman who needed two men to lift her when she was in her last months of life. It really made me think about what I'm doing with my life. That's not where I want to be when I'm in my 70s/80s.
I've been reading Steve's diary, which is full of loads of useful information, and I'll get back to it when I have some time. The trouble is, with all the extra questions and comments people post, it's growing practically as fast as I can read it, so it might take some time. So, I can refer back to it easily, here's what I posted this morning, and Steve's reply below.
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Hi Steve, I've been reading thorugh your diary (at least I managed the first 30 pages last night, so I still have a long way to go) and I think I'm getting a hang of the whole
weight loss/muscle building thing. If I tell you what I think I understand, could you tell me if I'm making sense or if I'm still way off here?
1. You can't lose weight (fat) and build muscle at the same time.
2. If you eat at your maintenance level and don't exercise, your weight will stay the same.
3. If you eat around 200-300
calories below your maintenance level and don't exercise, you will lose weight. (I figure this
weight loss will be pretty slow and steady.)
4. It's better to cut your
calories by a small amount because if you go down to (say) 1200
calories, your
body will go into
starvation mode, and your
weight loss will stall after a fairly short time.
5. If you are losing weight and not doing any resistance training, you will lose muscle as well as
fat.
6. By doing the right amount/kind of resistance training while you are losing weight, you can force your
body to lose
fat, while you maintain the muscle you have. (I figure this will make it seem as if you get results quicker because the
fat will disappear quicker, and you will start to see a better shape.)
7. If you eat above your maintenance level and do the right amount/kind of resistance training, you will gain muscle, but you will also gain some
fat.
8. If you eat above your maintenance level and don't exercise at all, you will gain
fat.
9. If you are wanting to lose weight, SS
cardio will burn
calories, but
HIIT is better because it continues to burn
calories after you stop exercising.
That's all I can think of right now.
I decided about a week ago that I wanted to lose more weight, and I immediately started with the cutting
calories right down/doing lots of SS
cardio approach. From reading your posts and seeing that's not the best way, I've increased my
calories again, and I'm looking into the right kinds of exercise.
I'll probably be back to ask loads of questions, if that's OK with you.
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Hi, Ali is it? Thanks for taking the time.
You have a lot of the basics right.
Few comments.
With regards to number 2, maintenance can be achieved by eating more and exercising more too. It does not have to exclude exercise. Maintenance is simply the theoretical point where you are consuming just enough
calories to sustain yourself, this including breathing, digesting, activity, etc. So if one of these variable go up, such as eating or exercising more, technically, you could eat more to retain maintenance.
With regards to number 3, any deficit will lead to a loss of tissue. However, the deficit that is optimal will be different for each person. I like to start with a 15-20% reduction from maintenance for most. However, things to keep in mind include, the more weight you have to lose, the deeper of a deficit you can go into without invoking a loss of lean tissue as well as the
starvation response.
With regards to number 4, I mainly avoid very deep deficits (ex. maintenance is 3500 and cutting cals down to 1200) not so much for avoidance of the
starvation response, but more-so for long term, lifestyle adherence. 1200 cals just isn't sustainable for most over the long haul, and with such a low cal intake, it becomes difficult to get all of the required nutrients in. The
starvation response is an overly emphasized issue IMO, however, it is also a very real phenomenon. Does it halt
weight loss entirely? No. See anorexia. Anorexics keep cutting to dangerous levels in caloric intake, and although the
starvation response is triggered to try and sustain life, they go below any level of
energy consumption that is manageable for your
body, so it has no choice but to expend tissue. This said, you can see how invoking the
starvation response is unnecessary. You don't want to play the game of always trying to stay below an ever-slowing metabolism, constantly having to cut cals.
With regards to number 5, whenever you invoke a calorie restriction or
energy deficit, you will lose both muscle and
fat.
With regards to number 9,
HIIT is not necessarily better than SS
cardio. This comment is very dependent on
goal and individual. If your
goal is
weight loss, yes,
energy balance is the ruler of success. And triggering a larger
energy expenditure is optimal, which can be accomplished by use of
HIIT types of training. However, since it is individual too, it may not be right for you. It depends on your health and
fitness level. It is a very
energy intensive mode of exercise, and if there are any medical issues (CAD, hypertension, hypercholesteralemia, etc) you should get cleared by a doc first. Also, if you have not previously conditioned yourself, it would be better to gradually work toward such an
energy intensive exercise. Start with SS, move to IT, than
HIIT. Progression is the name of the game.
Hopefully that adds to your understanding thus far. Feel free to stop by whenever you'd like.
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So, my first thought on this is that I'm probably best off to go for SS
cardio for now, and build on that. And in any case, it was that that got me fit last time and got me through that bad asthma attack, so it's certainly something I'll want to include in the long term whatever else I do.
I'm still playing around with
diet and exercise ideas and trying to figure out what's best for me, so I'll have more of a think on that later.
I went up to the
gym in the village this morning, and had a look around. To my totally uneducated eye, it looks like they have all the equipment there that I'm likely to need, so I've left my phone number, and they're going to contact me to arrange an induction session. Hopefully that will help me to work out a good exercise plan too.
And I'm definitely going to carry on with the walking, whatever else I do. I'm really enjoying that.
