"DRS" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
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> Gags <drgagnon@nospam_ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
> [email protected]
>
>
> > onset) diabetes. A good rule of thumb with dieting for fat loss is
> > to keep daily fat consumption below 40 grams per day. The best way
> > to achieve this is to buy one of the "Fats and Figures" books for
> > about five bucks from a bookstore and then keep a food diary for a
> > few weeks. You quickly get to know which foods to avoid due to their
> > high fat content and you realise how you need to adjust your eating
> > habits to keep below 40g of fat a day (it is actually quite a
> > challenge).
>
> There's no way you can advise anyone on their recommended daily fat
> consumption without knowing enough about their physiology, lifestyle and
> goals to properly calculate their actual calorific consumption, their BMR
> and then set their targets accordingly.
>
> I am currently reducing my body fat% and I'm eating accordingly - yet my
> recommended daily fat intake is (just checking the spreadsheet) 49.5grams.
> And I've lost about three kilos so far.
Hang on.......just getting up on my soapbox........
First up, good on you for making an effort to reduce your body fat %.
I find it hard to believe that you claim that I shouldn't reccomend keeping
daily fat intake below 40g a day and yet on the strength of some
spreadsheet, you can get your intake down to within 0.5 of a gram?? I have
spent considerable time researching and practicing fitness and fat loss
through various sources over the last 10 to 15 years but yet you are sure
that the spreadsheet that you have is the be all and end all??
I think that you may be making a mistake if you are judging your success by
how much you weigh. The recommended levels of SUSTAINABLE weight loss are
generally quoted at approx 1 to 1.5kg per week. A lot of diets that people
"go on" give people a false sense of success when they lose weight (mainly
through fluid loss) in the initial stages. Unfortunately, when these people
"go off" their diet, the weight generally is put back on. Rather than
losing weight, most people really wish to reduce body fat levels and the
most important factor for fat loss is the reduction of fat in the diet.
>The problem with the low fat
> message is that it's ******** and any honest nutritionist will tell you
the
> food pyramid we've grown up with is just accurate enough to be dangerous
> (there's a new one due out soon).
Scaremongering.......it
>For the past twenty to thirty years we've
> been steadily reducing our fat intake and yet as a society we've been
> getting steadily fatter. Think about it.
Almost true....the past few decades have seen levels of fat intake stabilise
and perhaps decrease slightly although there has also been an increase in
the fat percentage in the diet. There are suggestions that decreases in
demands for physical activity through the advent of mod-cons have more than
offset the benefits gained from people exercising more and this has
contribute to the rising rates of over fatness.
> I don't advocate a full Atkins diet (too many saturated fats for starters)
> but he was right about one thing: if you want to lose body fat you need to
> reduce your *carbohydrate* consumption. Cutting your fats intake - and
you
> need the good fats, the poly- and monounsaturated ones, plus Omega-3
etc. -
> without cutting your *sugar* intake (which, at the end of the day, is all
> carbohydrates are) is a recipe for... (wait for it)... GETTING FAT!
>
> Broadly speaking the macronutritional breakdown for someone exercising
> regularly should be (in this order of importance):
>
> Protein: 0.8g/lb Lean Body Mass (that's your weight minus your fat).
> Fats: about 33% of your target calories, of which saturated fats should be
> 33% or less.
> Carbohydrates: whatever is left.
It sounds like you are quoting directly from whatever eating plan you have
currently decided is right for you. As I said, I don't advocate any diets -
just long term changes to eating habits. I assume that by "good fats" you
mean fats that don't contribute to rises in blood cholestorol?? You are
right in that you do need fat in your diet which is why I am advocating a
low fat intake, not a zero fat intake.
The "GETTING FAT" that you refer to is I think a reference to the results of
a no fat, low energy diet where the body goes into famine mode and starts
storing fat.
I am interested to know how you calculate your Lean Body Mass??? There are
many methods for calculating bodyfat levels but unless you have access to a
hydrostatic weighing facility (ie measure weight in the water allowing for
air trapped in lungs) or a DEXA machine (Dual energy X-ray absorptiometer),
then the results that you will get will not be accurate.
Skinfold Measurements can give a reasonable estimate but results will vary
depending on the skill of the operator and this method is also not accurate
for obese subjects.
Bio Impedance Analysis (the scales that also put a small current through
your body) are reasonable but can provide varying results depending on your
hydration levels at the time of testing.
The carbohydrates that should be increased in the diet are not the sugars,
but instead the complex carbohydrates such as starches found in wholegrain
bread, potatoes, brown rice, cereals, etc. It is pretty hard to get fat
from eating just starches.
> The thing is this. Your body is incredibly good at keeping itself alive
and
> it will use whatever it has to.
True
>Having said that, it prefers certain energy
> sources to others, and since losing or gaining weight is ultimately all
> about manipulating energy levels you can use that fact to your advantage.
> Roughly speaking your body will use carbohydrates, then fats and lastly
> proteins as sources of energy. So, when you cut back on the carbohydrates
> it will go for the fat stores next - which is what you want. However,
don't
> cut your calorie intake too far below maintenance or your body will kick
> into starvation mode, and it will do everything it can to avoid using its
> fat stores, so it will start targetting your muscles. Breaking down
> proteins to use as energy is inefficient but in starvation mode it will do
> that rather than use your fat stores.
It is not a simple as the body using one source of energy, then the next,
then the next. Initial exertion will use phosphates in the form of
Adenosine Triphosphates (ATP) and Creatine Phosphate that are stored in the
muscles (normally about 10 seconds worth). This can be replenished in 1 or
2 minutes ready for the next 10 second burst. As activity is extended for a
further minute or two, the body starts utilising the Lactate Systems which
is provides energy by anaerobic(no oxygen) glycolysis (breakdown of glucose)
to pyruvate. To utilise fat as an energy source, the body needs to use the
aerobic(with oxygen) energy system and enter the Krebs cycle. This results
in the body using a mixture of Glucose and Fat as energy sources. The
percentages of each source used will vary with the intensity and length of
the session. Generally speaking, lower intensity exercise will result in a
higher percentage of fat being utilised.
For the body to start breaking down proteins, it needs to be in a pretty
extreme situation and it should not be applicable in general day to day
life.
> So, having calculated your BMR and your actual daily calorific
consumption,
> if you want to lose weight healthily set a target daily calorific
> consumption about 500 calories below maintenance, keep your protein and
fat
> intake at their correct levels, drop your *carbohydrate* consumption
> heavily - and you'll see your body fat% drop slowly but steadily. There's
> roughly 3,500 calories per pound of fat so this regime should consume
about
> one pound of fat per week, not including any loss of weight due to water
> loss.
Once again, how do you calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)?? Unless
you have access to a metabolic chamber where all heat loss is measured for a
24hr period, your accuracy is restricted by charts that do not take into
account differences between individuals.
Daily energy consumption cannot be calculated without keeping some form of
food diary.
If you keep your energy intake below your maintenance level of your BMR, you
are not allowing for exercise (the initial subject of this thread) and so
your energy requirements could be far more than what you are taking in.
Very low energy level diets have the effect of reducing BMR which is counter
productive and not healthy.
Generally a low fat diet will be a high carbohydrate diet which is good
given that the energy value of fat (9 kcal/g) is double that of
carbohydrates (4.5 kcal/g). Fats consumed are also much more easily stored
by the body as fat than carbohydrates consumed are. It takes about 25% of
the energy content of a gram of glucose (carbohydrate) to be stored as body
fat compared to about 3% for the body to store a gram of fat as body fat.
The conversion of carbohydrate to body fat is known as "de novo lipogenesis"
and rarely happens except in the case of force-feeding of carbs (ie. carb
loading that elite athletes sometimes perform).
DRS, I am not just naysaying everything that you said and I think it is
great that you are actively looking at improving your body composition. I
just seem to get the impression that you are currently on a diet/program and
are quoting a number of precise percentages and levels as if they are
gospel. I do not know the level of your experience in this field but I
believe that many of your comments are ill-informed. There are a million
and one diets out there and most will result in some initial weight loss due
to reduction in energy intake......I hope that the one that you have chosen
gives you the results that you are after. Personally, with the risk of
sounding vain, I believe that how you look in the mirror and how your
clothes feel are better indications of progress than purely your weight. A
combination of a sensible exercise program and low fat (but energy
sufficient) eating habits will result in a reduction in your levels of
bodyfat. By slowly changing your body composition and increaseing the
percentage of FFM (Fat Free Mass) in your body you will improve the way you
look, increase your health, and increase your BMR.
Anyway.....time to get off my soapbox.
Gags
