“Just In Time to Slim, Shape, and Sculpt Your Body For The Season of Shorts, Shirts, Swimsuits…And Just Being Comfortable In Your Own Skin. Let’s Sex Things Up For Summer!”

Body sculpting with explicit instruction in my body shaping secret weapon: Fit Quickies™

Conference call workouts and guidelines to build your best body sculpting routine ever.

Lift and Shape your seat, thighs, abs, and arms.

Coordinate targeted sequences with your favorite full body workout.

Get your gams, glutes, abs and arms ready for summer!

May is my birthday month and here’s my gift to YOU: Gams, Glutes, Abs, and Arms for Summer.

I’ll not only be sharing how I personally and successfully implement Fit Quickies™ in my workout rotation, but I’ll teach 8 of them to you as well.

These deliver big time in terms of body shaping, keeping you trim, flexible and energetic. And in concert with my dietary plan, you have a winning ticket.

Click HERE for the entire scoop, and reports from students in the February Class AND to jump to Earlybird Registration (save $75)

Including, from my FitDream Files:

• Top Ten Muscles to target for body sculpting – and specific exercises to do just that. If you’ve read my Special Report “The ‘Forgotten’ Body Shaping Secret That Gives You Results in the Places You Want Them”, then you’ve got a jump start on this topic; in May, you’ll learn specific exercises to target these areas.

• Research-proven, most effective exercises for glutes and hamstrings. Learn my customized combination for lifting the seat, sculpting beautiful hamstrings, and creating beautiful shape through that tough-to-target zone, the “bu-thigh”.

• Research-proven, most effective exercises for the abdominals. My customized combination for taking the melt off the belt and cinching in with your natural-girdles, the obliques.

• Topless Muffins: my secret weapon for taking the top off the back of the muffin. I do this move several times a week to lift the seat, make that cute little dent in the side of the seat, and create a flow from the back into the seat. It’s fun, effective, and it feels good, too. I promise you’ll likey!

• More 7 Seconds to a Flat belly: advanced variations on this move to target that place below the belt.

• Inner thighs: squeeze and tease, chair squeeze, and thigh mistress – it’s a favorite triple play for tightening up this tough-to-target area. I make it simple.

• Triceps: Take the “never ending wave” out of YOURS with my triceps challenging sequence. They’re tough, but they don’t take much time and they get the job done. Isn’t that what we’re looking for?

• Dietary Plan: what I do and tips to get your summer skinny on.

Join us!

Click HERE for the entire scoop, and reports from students in the February Class AND to jump to Earlybird Registration (save $75)

Chronic inflammation spells bad news for our health, plain and simple.

And though inflammation is a natural and necessary way that the body stimulates healing,  when inflammation becomes continuous and chronic, it becomes damaging.  The most common causes of inflammation in the body are physical inactivity and diet.

And until recently, high-intensity exercise has been considered a factor in inflammation as well.

However, new information tells us we've only been seeing a part of the picture.  This is good news!

Microscopic view of cell inflammation

Exercise scores again:  a new look at the evidence

For some time, high intensity exercise has been seen as a source of inflammation to the body.  By high intensity, we're talking something that pushes the muscle to perform and makes you reach deep to build new muscle:  interval training, intense resistance training, long distance running.

The kind of training that you know from the burn you feel in the muscle that the muscle is breaking down a little bit.

Yes, this natural response is inflammation at the muscle as the body scrambles to repair and build new muscle (see Taking the mystery out of how muscles are made).

However, that's just a piece of the puzzle.

This "pro-inflammatory" view has also been adopted also due to the detection of  the release in the body of myokines, a type of cytokine, as a response to muscle contraction.  And cytokines are seen as pro-inflammatory markers.  One cytokine that has been correlated with high intensity muscle demand is one known as IL-6.

But hang on a minute. This IL-6 release in response to intense exercise is evidently not the whole story.

Though the release of cytokines as been lumped together as pro-inflammatory when detected in the system, evidently it makes a difference what the cause of the cytokines release happens to be.

Are you still with me here?  Let's take a closer look.

Whenever we move, our bodies release signaling molecules that communicate to the rest of the body.  Muscle, like fat, has been proven to have endocrine properties. When it comes to muscle, myokines are released in response to voluntary contraction of the muscle.

These myokines give instructions to the body about how to function, and they hold the key to controlling chronic inflammation. The most important myokine related to muscle and inflammation is Interleukin-6 (IL-6). When muscle contracts, IL-6 is released. (4)

The myokine IL-6 has previously been linked with a pro-inflammatory response in the body.  It was thus concluded that intense muscle workload, stimulating the release of IL-6, was inflammation inducing.

But as it turns out, intense exercise is good anti-inflammatory medicine. What we're finding out is that when IL-6 is released during intense muscle workload, it is unique in that as part of this response, major anti-inflammatory inhibitors are released as well.

Thus, seeing the complete picture (anti-inflammatory cascade) rather than part of the picture (IL-6 release) makes a huge difference in how we can classify the effects of intense exercise.

IL-6 is a well-known cytokine and has long been thought to be inflammatory in nature as part of what is known as the inflammatory triad: TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6. However, like people, IL-6 seems to behave differently depending on its origin, amount, and other cytokines around with it. When released from muscle, and in high concentrations without TNF-alpha and IL-1, IL-6 is anti-inflammatory. In fact, IL-6 acts to reduce the amount of TNF-alpha and IL-1 in circulation by increasing the cytokine inhibitors IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-lra) and soluble TNF receptors (sTNFR). IL-lra antagonizes the IL-1 receptor, decreasing IL-1 effects, while sTNFR binds up TNF-alpha before it can react at its target cells. At the same time, IL-6 triggers the release of the major anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10.

Properly performed exercise releases signaling molecules that stimulate a unique healing response that couples both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mechanisms to repair, regenerate, and grow stronger tissue.  Unlike drugs, which have single targets and ignore the web-like interactions in the body, exercise works with the body's innate intelligence to produce broadly beneficial effects that improve whole-body function. High-intensity, short-duration movement that is tailored to the individual, uses short rest periods… may be the chief means of attaining anti-inflammatory effects from exercise. (4)

Background

Increasing evidence demonstrates that persistent, low-grade inflammation is a predictor of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  Not only that, but experimental evidence shows that markers of chronic inflammation, such as the proinflammatory cytokine [interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-)] and the acute-phase reactant C-reactive protein (CRP) play a direct role in the atherosclerosis and insulin resistance.

More about IL-6

Initially, IL-6 was thought to be a pro-inflammatory cytokine but recent results have suggested that IL-6 has an inflammation-controlling role and is important to the return to homeostasis after an inflammatory challenge….Interestingly, recent findings have shown that strenuous exercise is also a powerful inducer of elevated concentrations of IL-6 in plasma

The finding in two longitudinal studies that regular training induces a reduction in CRP level suggests that physical activity as such may suppress systemic low-grade inflammation.

Exercise and Inflammation

The health benefits of exercise are far – reaching: disease prevention, improved immunity, stress reduction, and improvements in sleep, mood, coordination, flexibility, bone density and insulin regulation.  Yet exercise that challenges the muscle also causes tissue damage, which causes an inflammatory response as the body's resources scramble to repair and build the damaged area. At the same time, though tissue damage turns on inflammation,  inflammation also promotes necessary growth and renewal, which is a positive effect.   It is, in fact, the only way to build muscle.

Making more muscle cells via regular exercise is good for you in a lot of ways. In each new muscle cell, there is an increase in the size and number of mitochondria, the "powerhouse" components of the cells that provide energy.  And trained muscle cells become more efficient in their uptake and use of fats and oxygen from the blood.

Exercise also increases the proportion of energy derived from fat and lowers lactic acid production as they develop endurance.

Acute exercise

In conclusion, regular exercise protects against diseases associated with chronic low-grade systemic inflammation. This long-term effect of exercise may be ascribed to the anti-inflammatory response elicited by an acute bout of exercise, which is partly mediated by muscle-derived IL-6.

Physiological concentrations of IL-6 stimulate the appearance in the circulation of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-1ra and IL-10 and inhibit the production of the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-. Moreover, IL-6 stimulates lipolysis as well as fat oxidation. The anti-inflammatory effects of exercise may offer protection against TNF-induced insulin resistance. Recently, our group proposed that IL-6 and other cytokines, which are produced and released by skeletal muscles, exerting their effects in other organs of the body, should be named myokines. Here we suggest that myokines may be involved in mediating the health-beneficial effects of exercise and play important roles in the protection against diseases associated with low-grade inflammation. (3)

In English?

Several studies conclude that the levels of  IL-6 ideal for the anti-inflammatory response are best stimulated by exercise intensity.  Intensity that allow for periods of recovery within the session, such as interval training. Positive correlations have also been found between glycogen exhaustion of targeted muscles as a stimulus for the IL-6 anti-inflammatory cascade.

In other words, the kind of  exercise that uses short bursts of all-out effort that significantly alters muscle and dips into liver glycogen stores.  Such as when you dig deep into your reserves to work a muscle to its limit, pause to recover, then target another muscle or group of muscles.  Or when you do supersets, alternating muscle and muscle group activity.

This ushers coveted muscle workload interval workouts into the anti-inflammatory winners circle:  Interval training, Fit Quickies circuits, Supersets, and Bar Method.

There are other reasons that this type of activity is of benefit. Short intense bursts of exercise also stimulate growth factors – factors that offset chronic inflammation.  This is also the type of exercise that:

…creates a hormonal environment that produces sustained fat-burning as well as muscle growth.  The amount of glycogen reduction is directly correlated to IL-6 release, and high-intensity exercise is shown to increase IL-6 and catecholamines together.  Catecholamines have their own independent effect in lowering TNF alpha and IL-1, synergistically enhancing IL-6. Combining these known effects with techniques that can deliver the same benefit in less time presents the opportunity to supply these anti-inflammatory effects in short time periods.

Related studies conclude that any exercise, irrespective of the intensity and the individual's cardiovascular fitness, will elicit an acute anti-inflammatory response. (5)

Obviously, more data on the effects of different modes and intensities of exercise on inflammation is in demand.

But if you have been concerned that the localized inflammation of muscle that occurs when challenging it to change via resistance,  apparently you can rest assured that this inflammatory response is not only necessary for muscle to grow, but a stronger anti-inflammatory response comes along with it, hand in glove. Previous limited views of the IL-6 factor have been preempted by this discovery only recently.

There's more! Exercise induced IL-6 has multiple other positive effects on cortisol, adipose tissue, and insulin resistance.  The door has just been opened on this one.

There are several forms of exercise that by their nature perhaps have diminished IL-6 factor response in the first place, yet by their very nature of moving the body are powerful anti-inflammatory tools.

But as now know, the anti-inflammatory exercise window is bigger than we thought.

Note: In patients with a chronic inflammatory disease, both acute and chronic exercise might elicit different inflammatory responses (i.e., exaggerated after acute exercise & attenuated after training) compared to healthy matched controls. However, the results reveal a major gap in our knowledge regarding the effects of acute and chronic exercise on inflammatory markers in patients with a chronic inflammatory disease. Results are often inconsistent, and differences in training programs (intensity, frequency and duration), heterogeneity of disease populations studied, and analytic methods may be just some of the causes for these discrepancies. To optimize exercise prescriptions and recommendations for patients with a chronic inflammatory disease, more research is needed to define the nature of physical activity that confers health benefits without exacerbating underlying inflammatory stress associated with disease pathology. (7)

© Lani Muelrath, 2010

Resources:

1) Ostrowski, et al. "Physical activity and plasma IL-6–effect of intensity of exercise". European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2000;83:512-515.

2) Pederson, et al. "Searching for the exercise factor: Is IL-6 a candidate?" Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility. 2003;24:113-119.

3) J Appl Physiol 98: 1154-1162, 2005; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00164.2004  8750-7587/05

4) Jade Teta ND, LAc, CSCS "Exercise is medicine: the anti-inflammatory effects of high intensity exercise"

5) Fletcher, Emma; Betts, Jeffery J.; Harrison, Michael; Moyna, Niall M. FACSM; O'Connor, Paul; Visich, Paul S. Effect Of "Exercise Intensity On Pro-and Anti-inflammatory Cytokines In Trained And Untrained Men": 743: May 28 1:30 PM – 1:45 PM

6) PubMed: Epidemiology. 2002 Sep;13(5):561-8.

(7) Ploeger HE, Takken T, de Greef MH, Timmons BW. Exerc Immunol Rev. 2009;15:6-41.
"The effects of acute and chronic exercise on inflammatory markers in children and adults with a chronic inflammatory disease: a systematic review."

When it comes to resistance training, is "super slow" an effective way to build muscle?

A popular movement within the weight training world today is "super slow" style weight training. The idea is that by slowing the kinetics of weight training activity, you can utilize a lighter weight and make up the difference in the intensity provided by a sustained grip on the muscle.

This slow down does allow you to challenge the muscles as effectively as with a heavier resistance – it’s all in the technique.  And it allows you to more prudently address the safety and integrity of your joints .  This is paramount when it comes to resistance training.

Actually, joint safety is an essential consideration with any kind of training and exercise, but the stakes are higher when it comes to weight training.  This is because  of the potential for loading the joints in an  injurious fashion.

Recall that resistance training comes in many flavors:  isometrics, dynamic tension (single or multi-joint exercises) as well as that which comes most often to mind when we hear "resistance":  training with weights.   Isometrics and dynamic tension are for the most part gentler on the joints.  The super-slow strategy promises to create a greater safety net when using weights for resistance as well.

Not all "Super Slow" is created the same

Recent research provides some specific guidelines about how to implement "super slow" technique with weight training  most effectively.

“Research published in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research shows that low-intensity resistance training (RT) can produce the same muscle strength, size and tone gains as traditional high-intensity RT (Tanimoto et al., 2008). RT intensity is determined by a percent of one-repetition maximum (1RM). High-intensity RT is defined as a load or weight that exceeds 80 percent of 1RM, while low-intensity RT is defined as a load or weight that represents 65 percent or less of 1RM.”

OK, translation please.  Give me something I can use!

Can do.

The effects of using a lighter weight for same strength results in this research pointed to a small window of opportunity for same.  Timing looked like this:

• Concentric phase (shortening of muscle, as when you train biceps with bicep curls it is the phase of  bending the elbow) AND
  
• Eccentric phase (lengthening of the muscle, or lowering of the weight) should each be 3 seconds. Slowing it down even more, say to 5 seconds, did not enhance the effect, as a matter of fact it reduced the effect.  Diminishing returns.

Here’s more good news:

Intensity: RT intensities as low as 40 percent of 1RM have been shown to cause several similar physiological responses as high-intensity RT and can thus be assumed to be as effective as 80 percent 1RM training (Koba et al., 2004). However, an intensity that represents 65 percent 1RM is recommended where appropriate.

In English? Even if you only lift 40% of your one-repetition maximum – one rep maximum meaning the most you could lift for one time only – with this strategy, you’re there!  This is very important for orthopedic concerns, or joint safety.   Upping it a little toward the 60% is beneficial,  If not contraindicated by your orthopedic concerns.

One element to add to this research study, that was not addressed in the literature, is the absolute importance of correct anatomical alignment and positioning when it comes to resistance training.  This has already been noted, but bears repeating.

It is very easy for us to “take the path of least resistance”, take the workload OUT of the muscle, and sit in the joints, compromising them.

As it turns out, correct positioning and safety result in more challenge because it takes the work out of the joint and into the muscle, where it should be.  Which ALSO translates to using lighter resistance.

This is important because of its implications for safety AND effectiveness, and is one of the foundations of  Fit Quickies™.

This information can be translated to all kinds of resistance training.  Remember, resistance means just that – resistance.  You can use weights, or your body's weight, or isometrics…it's all about muscle activation.  There are ingenious, simple yet effective ways to position the body so that you get an isolated muscle workload that is very effective at targeting specific muscles.  Combining isolated resistance training along with functional fitness is a dynamite package for overall health and beauty.

Stretch the muscle you just worked

Another note: be sure to  stretch those muscles after resistance training of any type.  Keep up with the flexibility training you mention, very important!

Have you tried Super Slow?  Tell about it in comments below.

Next: Diet for the new decade: Engine 2

© Lani Muelrath, 2010

This may not be as glamorous as my usual blog image, yet it tells an important story!

We all talk about building muscle, keeping muscle mass, and wanting to have good shape to our muscle.

But how is muscle really "made"?

How do our workout efforts translate to shapelier, stronger muscle?

You've no doubt heard that muscle growth is a result of damage, or slight tears, to the muscle.   This is true, so you've got the starting point.

Yet the physiological phenomenon of making muscles is actually a fascinating process, worthy of awe and respect. So why not take a closer look?

Your body is always poised to make muscle

Skeletal muscle – to differentiate from other muscle, such as the cardiac muscle and smooth muscle – is actually the single most adaptable tissue in the human body.

Let's hear it for the satellite cells!

Located on the periphery of your  muscle fibers are what are known as satellite cells.  These cells are poised to act on a moments notice to respond to muscle trauma, such as the slight tearing of fiber that occurs during challenge to the muscle.

That's right, when the resistance load – or the weight you are lifting – becomes too much for the muscle to manage it its current condition, these satellite cells scramble into action to build you some fine, new muscle.  We call it muscle hypertrophy, literally meaning increase in size.

Satellite cell fusion

In the effort to repair or replace damaged muscle fibers, the satellite cells fuse both to each other and to the existing muscle fibers.  This leads to an increase in the muscle fiber cross-sectional area.

As the satellite cells multiply, most of them undergo a rather rapid maturity process which readies them for fusion to existing muscle fibers to form NEW muscle protein strands.  They also work to repair damaged or torn muscle tissue.

Voila!  Increased thickness and number of the myofibrils of the muscle cells.

Muscle building in a nutshell

Here's a recap of the muscle-building process.  Simplified.

1. Resistance training that overloads the current capacity of a muscle to contract with the amount of resistance leads to trauma or injury of the cellular proteins in muscle.
   
2. Satellite cells are signaled to begin muscle growth and repair.
   
3. Adaptive change to the muscle in response to #1 – overload stress of resistance exercise – begins immediately upon the incidence of  muscle overload, resulting in muscle growth, or hypertrophy.

Muscle building may start right away, but we must be patient!

Even though our muscle "satellite cell" system is poised to play on demand, the actual building of muscle takes some time to complete.  It can take weeks or months to fully manifest, and is dependent on repeated, progressive demand placed on the current ability of the muscle.

This is why patience and persistence are so important to the muscle building process.  Initial changes in muscle strength are usually noted first and can happen quite rapidly, then progress more slowly from there, depending on your prior condition. The appearance – or how you look – of new muscle shape takes a little more time and is also dependent on becoming leaner, if necessary, so that your hard-earned muscle shows.

And it should be no mystery that adding sufficient rest, sleep, and good nutrition deliver a winning ticket when it comes to muscle!     Next

It is with great excitement and pleasure that I announce the creation of something NEW at Fitness DreamMakers that promises to make your fitness, body shaping and weight loss goals of 2010 more fun and easier to meet than ever.

Fit Quickies launch  in January 2010; stay tuned for the special release of Fit Quickie #1! For now, here is the inside scoop….

Sneak Preview:  Fit Quickies FAQ

Q) What are Fit Quickies?

A) Fit quickies are quick audio workouts of targeted, body-shaping moves.  Fit Quickies laser in on those areas that are most difficult to shape.

You know what I’m talking about:

• lower belly
• above the belt line
• top of the muffin
• inner thighs
• seat droop
• hamstrings – (where the heck did they go?)
• triceps flap

You get the idea.

These areas have something in common. They are largely unused during the course of our regular daily activity.

As a matter of fact, in some cases they have simply checked out. Why work when you don’t have to?

Which is why I target them with Fit Quickies. I show you simple, quick exercises that will bring these muscles rapidly into play.

Q) What is included in my Fit Quickie purchase?

A) You will receive Two mp3 tracks with each Fit Quickie purchase:

1. the Instructional Track with details of the Fit Quickie exercise you purchased
2. the Practice Track with guided practice, including form checks and full sets of repetitions.  These can easily be stacked in your ipod for additional sets;  or budied with other Fit Quickies to vary your Fit Quickie sessions!

Q) In what format are Fit Quickies delivered after purchase?

A) The Fit Quickies are in mp3 format to be downloaded after purchase. Directly upon purchase, you will receive a confirmation email.  After you confirm this email, you will be emailed the links to download your Fit Quickie.

Q) You mention the principles of Fit Quickies. What are they?

A) Fit Quickies are grounded in principles that maximize body shaping as well as safety.

I call them PAIR: position, anchor, isolate, and repetition

The repetitions are designed as isolations intervals overload. That means we find the muscle(s) we’re targeting and focus in (isolate), work our repetitions (intervals) and go for some deep work with that muscle (overload!). Intense work in the muscles is how you change them. THAT is what we are after.

Each Fit Quickies Tutorial Track explains how the PAIR principles are applied for that particular Quickie. These principles are then reinforced and reflected in the Practice Track.

Q) How do I know which Fit Quickies to get?

You can choose the areas you’d like to target, and Fit Quickie them easily through the course of the day. Or put them together for an intense isolations overload workout. It’s up to you!

You can pick your favorites – or your most needed areas upon which to focus for targeted body shaping – and repeat them as often as you like during the week.

Perfectly flexible, targeted, and effective!

Q) What is the typical price of a Fit Quickie?

A) Fit Quickie #1 – including TWO audio track downloads – will have a launch price of only $9.97.

Q)  How long is a typical Fit Quickie?

A)   Under five minutes.  Of course, you can combine Fit Quickies for longer exercise sessions.  That’s the beauty of them – they’re flexible!

Q) How many Fit Quickies are currently available?

A) Fit Quickie #1 is scheduled for release early January, 2010.  7 Seconds to a Flat Belly is an easy, powerful move targeting the area right below the beltline.

Q)  Do I need to warm up for Fit Quickies?

It depends.  Fit Quickie #1 needs no warm up. For some Fit Quickies in production, for example Thigh Warriors, you’ll want to be sure the lower body is warmed up, especially the knees.

Fit Quickies launch early January 2010 – stay tuned for the special release of Fit Quickie #1!  For now, here is the inside scoop….
P.S.  Add your suggestions and wish list for Fit Quickie topics in comments below!

I don't know about you, but I love lower body work.  Good thing, because you NEED to challenge those lower body muscles to give the seat a lift. 

Seeing as in the thighs, butt, and hips we find the largest muscles of the body, maybe that's why when we give them a focused, intense challenge there is an  immediate connection with strength and shape.

It's almost a guarantee:  feeling glumpy, lumpy, and low energy?  Snap out some lower body work and in a few seconds you are ready to literally spring into action!

Not only that, but when you really challenge these large muscles big time, you get about the best calorie burn possible during – and even after – your workout.

Here's one of the all-time bests for building great muscle density and shape in the lower body.

But take care to watch the video and pay attention to important form and alignment details!  They are critical for:

~ preventing injury and "owies"

~ maximizing body shaping properties (note posture, alignment of knees, activation of abdominal wall)

Unless you have contraindications for this exercise, such as knee injury, you can work this successfully into your rotation for building lower body strength and shape and giving the backyard – the butt or "booty" especially – a nice lift.

And if you are already doing squats, this lunge is a great move to work into your lower body exercise rotation.

S-T-R-E-T-C-H after!

An essential component of muscle shaping and strengthening is stretching.  Take time after this split lunge to stretch quadriceps and hamstrings.

And of course, always warm up first!

© Lani Muelrath All Rights Reserved

Do you ever wish you could just force a fitness issue and be there NOW?

Even though you KNOW our bodies just don't work that way?

The question still comes up – how to move fitness or fat loss forward as quickly as we can.  I get it!

Sometimes we just need a refresher course.

And often the best way to clarify information is in response to questions.

The "Contact Me" form on my blog is serving up nicely just for this purpose!

I also have the opportunity to respond to questions on a variety of forums and blogs; here is a recent exchange about weight loss that I think you might find interesting.

Q. The way I understand it, starvation mode is a myth according to Brad Pilon and what really happens is that the fat is replaced by water which makes us look and weigh basically the same even though we could still be losing fat.

Am I right? If that is the case, do I have to worry about eating too little kcal? I have been eating really clean this week and I think I have eaten about 1000 kcal a day give or take.

I haven't weighed, measured or tracked anything, but I did before, and I'm pretty sure I'm eating too little, but does that really matter?

Can I keep eating the same way and then for instance fast and loose the excess water weight?

It takes so much time to track kcals, I don't have time for that, but if it's ok to eat "too few" I don't have to either!

Thanks!
Eva

A.  Hi Eva,

Actually, eating too few calories may well get in the way of your body recomposition goals.

It's not so much what we do in a day or two, but over the course of the week or weeks. We can't just force fat off the body – in its wisdom it prefers a reasonable shift of fat stores.  We need to keep that in mind when it comes to weight loss.

This means it is prudent not to reduce your overall (week average) calorie consumption below about 20% of your maintenance levels.

There are other problems with undereating day after day – it is darn near impossible not to start getting some serious "stored hunger" as we place ourselves in a deep chronic caloric deficit.

Remember also that though the mini-fast regime does not adversely affect metabolic rate, day-after-day fasting, say 3 days or longer, does. And eating VLCD (very low calorie diet) day after day may create a similar effect.

I know from personal experience, white-knuckle low-calorie eating ALWAYS backfired into overeating periods. I gave that up years ago and since then have maintained my huge weight loss and haven't binged ever since.

More about that here: 50 lb weight loss photos.

I'd also like to clarify regarding water weight, starvation mode, and Brad's work. The audio file of Eat Stop Eat to which you refer DOES report in about "starvation edema".  This report detailed the head-scratching phenomenon that many dieters experience where they are doing "everything right" but still see no visible or weight loss, quantifiable results.

Apparently the problem was the "hanging onto water weight" to which you refer.  Yet keep in mind this IS under starvation, or VLCD, conditions, something which we should seek NOT to emulate if we are desirous of consistent reduction of our fat loss stores without threat to the metabolic rate.

Hope this helps!

Lani

~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND I hope this serves as a reminder for any who might get too ambitious on the fitness quest with the start of a new year.  Remember, you can't just force fat off your body! 

Do you have a question you'd like addressed?

Find the "Contact" form linked in the navigation bar beneath the header and send it to me.

You'd be surprised how YOUR question, once expressed, may help other women in ways you'd never expect!

And as always, share your thoughts about this post in "comments"!

© Lani Muelrath

]]> http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2009/02/04/you-cant-just-force-fat-off-your-body/feed/ 7 http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2009/01/16/resistance-training-what-qualifies/ http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/2009/01/16/resistance-training-what-qualifies/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:51:50 +0000 Lani Muelrath http://thetruthaboutfatlossforwomen.com/?p=385 This question came across my desk this week:  "What counts as resistance training?  Does it need to involve weights to get the best results?"

And frankly, it is quite a common question, which inspires me to address it once again, right here.

More on Resistance Training: What Qualifies?

When it comes to weight control, over the course of the year, this adds up to an excellent metabolic advantage!

And it is an advantage that is relatively easy to create.

It also explains why you may discover, as you "move through time" – as I call getting older – that you may find your belt is inexplicably tighter and the shirt buttons easier to pop, even though you may not have (necessarily) changed your eating habits.

So what happened?

Metabolic Decline – A Function of Age or Simply a Reflection of Activity Levels?

A common complaint of the midlife woman – or those approaching same – is the refrain "my metabolism is slowing down with age".

You may be getting older, and your metabolism may indeed be slowing down – but they do not necessarily need to go hand in hand.

Let me explain.

While it is true that older people, on an average, burn less calories per pound of body weight each day than someone younger, this is usually due to the fact that the muscle mass of the older individual is usually less.

Yet here's the good news.  It doesn't need to be so.

If we look at the activity levels of the younger (under 35) vs. those in midlife and beyond, we can usually make a correlation between getting older and getting less active.  Thus, the shift in metabolism is more often than not a function of activity than of age.

And THAT is something, that you CAN do something about!

Reduced Muscle Mass = Slower Metabolism

In their groundbreaking work about controlling the aging process, Biomarkers, Evans and Rosenbern (Simon and Schuster, 1991) confirm that

…Older people's reduced muscle mass is … responsible for the gradual reduction in their basal metabolic rate." With reduced muscle mass comes a decline in caloric demand.  Keep in mind that muscle tissue is active, and comes with a steep nutritional demand.

By contrast, fat tissue is less metabolically active.

(I know, you didn't need me to tell you that!)

Interestingly, research has shown (The Weighting Game, Lawrence E. Lamb, M.D.) that muscle tissue itself maintains consistent levels of metabolic activity no matter what the age of the subject;  it is simply the amount of muscle mass quite often decreases over time, due to – yes, you guessed it – decreased activity.

Practically speaking, as muscle mass decreases, we need  fewer calories per day to maintain a stable body weight. That's due to the metabolic demands of the muscle tissue itself, and the energy to rebuild and move it around, as well. The problem is that we tend to just keep eating the same as we did before we might have experienced diminishing of that prized muscle tissue.  It is so much easier – and brings more eating freedom – if we just maintain some muscle by staying active!

Yes, nutrition plays a big role in weight management – but the primary solution for an "aging metabolism" is exercise.

4 Reasons Why Muscle Is So Important: In A Nutshell

1. Muscle is a significant component of your energy needs;  it is like money in the bank for getting and staying leaner.
2. Muscle is an active tissue that is constantly renewing itself therefore requiring energy (calories).
3. Muscle gives shape to your body.
4. Muscle helps you perform more energetically and optimally as a woman or man.

There is one way to build muscle, and that is with resistance exercise.  Personally, the workouts that I have found to deliver the most muscle-building resistance exercise are weight training, T-Tapp, and barre-type workouts that challenge the large muscles in the legs and hips.  Each has its own variety of mega-muscle work that delivers.

Create your own metabolic advantage by building and maintaining muscle mass and density!  I'd like to hear about what workouts YOU enjoy for building and maintaining muscle mass and invite you to comment below.

© Lani Muelrath, M.A.

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