"Weighting" for the Perfect Diet?
New diets appear in the media almost every day. Which one is right for you . . . high carbs (carbohydrates) and low fat; low carbs and high fat; low protein or high protein? And what about supplements? Which ones should you take, in what amounts, and when should they be taken? There is so much information out there, no wonder it’s confusing! How do you know if your current diet is right for you?
Begin by considering the following common-sense questions I ask each of my clients about their diet:
- How does your diet make you feel?
- Do you have the physical stamina to endure a full day of work,
play, and home activities?
- Mentally, do you feel alert and focused, with a general sense of
well being?
- Does your diet give you a physique that pleases you?
If you answered "no" to any one of these questions, then your current diet warrants adjustment.
Whether you want to lose or gain weight, you first have to determine your resting metabolic rate (RMT) otherwise known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is the amount of energy or calories per day your body burns in order to sustain life while at rest.
To find your basal metabolic rate (BMR), use the following formula:
Men
10.2 x body weight in kilograms (kg) + 879 = calories per day or BMR
Women
7.18 x body weight in kg + 795 = calories per day or BMR
To convert your body weight in pounds to kilograms, use the following conversion formula: 1 pound = 454 grams or .454 kilograms.
Example based on a 140 lb. female:
140 lb. x .454 = 63.56 kg. (rounded to 64 kg.)
7.18 x 64 kg. = 459.52 (rounded to 460)
460 + 795 = 1255 calories per day or BMR
So based on your BMR number, reducing the amount of calories consumed results in weight loss, while an increase results in weight gain. This is where it is very important to know what type of calories, as well as the amount of calories to decrease (or increase, depending on your goals). Planned correctly, this will enable you to reach your bodyfat goals safely without decreased energy. If you desire more a more precise BMR reading, find a knowledgeable trainer to find your bodyfat percentage, lean mass, and scale weight to use a more detailed formula.
BMR does decrease with age. This is from a loss of total muscle mass due to a lack of physical activity or exercise, rather than from the aging process. People usually lose about 25% of their lean body mass per decade after age 30, resulting in a BMR decrease of 2-3% per decade.
A woman’s BMR is about 5-10% lower than a man’s because women usually have more body fat. Muscle, however, burns more calories than fat. This is why weight training is a more long-term method of maintaining low body fat!
Remember: Exercise, especially weight resistance training, helps to maintain or increase muscle mass and, in turn, increases your BMR! So dust off those dumbbells and lift!
Why Diets Fail
There are many Americans who are overweight, and yet, most of these people have been dieting on and off for years. Why have they failed to lose the weight and keep it off? Why have the diets failed?
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It is important to recognize that a healthy diet—with the correct balance of fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, and grains—brings better, long-term results than any "fad" diet. Forget the grapefruit diet or the all-protein diet!
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A healthy diet is a lifestyle; it is for life not just a few weeks or months.
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Set realistic goals. Prepare to lose the weight gradually. The weight didn’t suddenly appear overnight and it certainly isn’t going to disappear overnight just because you ate a healthy diet for one or two days!
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The main problem isn’t taking off the weight—it’s keeping it off. Statistics say 90% of dieters regain 1/3 to 2/3 of the weight lost within one year, and almost all of it within five years.
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Exercise and a healthy diet go hand-in-hand. Put down the fork, get out of the chair, and move!
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Starvation diets are a short-term fix. Anytime you diet, the brain signals the body that more food is needed. This is the body’s self-defense mechanism against starvation… metabolism lowers and more fat is stored. This makes it harder to reach dieting goals. With each repeated cycle of dieting, it takes longer to lose weight. The weight often returns faster and actually increases.
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Consult a physician before embarking on any diet. Obesity is a complex medical problem with many possible solutions. A chronic overweight problem cannot be cured, but managed.
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Stop blaming yourself for your size. Your brain can sabotage your best dieting efforts.
Remember: you can keep your weight in check by consistently eating healthfully and exercising regularly. Make healthy eating and exercise a fun and enjoyable routine!
Ways to Start a Healthy Eating Plan for Your Lifestyle
- Stop obsessing over your weight and appetite. Mental preoccupation is practically a guarantee to keep you overweight because you are always thinking of food.
- Decrease your carbohydrate intake. Many people are dedicated to their workouts and maintain their weight, but still end up craving and bingeing on high-carbohydrate foods. The old-fashion, high carbohydrate diet is not the ideal way to get lean and stay energetic.
Have you ever been hungry for sweets an hour after eating a high-carb meal? Have you ever been sleepy or irritable after a high-carb meal? From personal experience, I tried to continue eating my triathlon diet of "good" complex carbohydrate food (potatoes, bagels, etc) while preparing for bodybuilding. I even did cardio three hours a day, and still couldn’t get "ripped"—lean. Why? I was eating too many high glycemic carbohydrates, and not enough protein and fat with each meal. This leads to the next very important points.
- Increase lean protein at each meal. More and more people are finding out that a high-carb, low-fat diet just doesn’t work in the process of losing body fat. Protein helps keep your glycogen levels steady throughout the day. This helps combat low energy levels, sugar cravings, and mood swings.
- Don’t skip meals. Not eating at regular intervals convinces your body you’re starving, and increases its need to conserve fat. If you go on a severe low-calorie diet, your body breaks down not only fat, but muscle as well. This means that you’ll end up with a higher ratio of body fat to muscle mass. This makes your metabolism slow down—definitely not what you want to happen.
- Start or continue an exercise program. Weight training builds muscle, offsets muscle loss brought on by dieting, speeds fat loss, helps ward off osteoporosis, enhances endurance, and boosts the immune system and self-esteem.
