valshealthblog.com

Hi,

Do high protein diets work?  Yes and no. 

In the lab and under very strict condtions, yes they do help burn more body fat than a lower protein diet.  And it doesn’t have to be much of a difference in the amount of protein to get the fat burning effect.

A study reported in the Journal of Nutrition in 2008 showed that just 1/2 gram of protein per pound of body weight at two meals a day burned almost 3 times as much body fat. 

The actual weight loss in both groups was between 8 and 9 pounds.  But, the higher protein group’s weight loss came more from burning body fat than the lower protein group  (3.6 pounds vs 1.3 pounds over 12 weeks).

Part of this comes from the fact that it takes more energy to use protein than it does carbs or fats.  Also eating more protein has been shown to suppress one’s appetite. 

Okay, so if protein does all of this, then why did I say yes and no.

Here is the problem.  It is easy to lose weight when you are in a controlled environment.  Studies that show positive weight loss or fat loss  usually are closely monitored. 

That means calories are counted.  Micro nutrients are controlled.  Exercise sessions are monitored.  These kinds of studies are very expensive and hard to do.  That is why there aren’t many of them.

In the real world, where the results aren’t monitored as closely, a subject of the study could say that yes, they ate more protein.  However, without being able to monitor that, there is no way of knowing if they did eat more protein.  There is no way of knowing how much protein they did eat.  There is no way of knowing what kind of protein they ate. 

Someone in the study could eat a whey protein shake twice a day.  Another one could eat a double bacon cheeseburger twice a day.  They might both be getting the same amount of protein, but who do you think has a better chance of losing body fat or even body weight?

I think you already know the answer to that one. 

Why do I bring this up?  Because you read about “studies” all the time that “prove” that this product is the best. 

That this product, like protein, reduces body fat more than another product.  But, you are never given the parameters of the study.

Sure, eating a protein powder over a double bacon cheeseburger will “prove” that the protein powder is better.  But, if you don’t know that the protein powder was compared to the burger, then you will be more likely to rush out and buy the protein powder.

Which is exactly what the makers of the protein powder – who did the study – want. 

The bottom line is if you want to burn some extra fat, then yes, eat a little more protein.  But, eat healthy protein, not protein laden with fat. 

That way your high protein diet will work. 

Thanks,

Mike Val

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weight loss success

Hi,

Have you regained weight after dieting for so long?  If so you are not alone. 

Check out this post – actually a couple of years ago so I don’t remember the author – that shows what one person went through.  It is from The Capessa Blog: Sharing the Wisdom of Women

Losing weight and changing one’s eating and fitness lifestyle is hard work — that’s a given — but maintaining a weight loss is even harder. There’s no longer the challenge of juggling numbers or the reward of seeing them drop, and keeping up the enthusiasm and dedication necessary to stay at the weight that you worked hard to get to doesn’t come easy.

The National Weight Registry surveys and collects data from “regular people” who have managed to maintain a weight loss of 30 pounds or more for at least one year. Based on the data that they have received from more than 7,000 people, there are certain things that almost all successful “losers” seem to do to maintain their newer and slimmer figures:

• Participate in aerobic exercise for least one hour or more each day
• Focus on watching calories
• Keep food logs
• Choose healthier and lower fat foods

I never thought I would be (nor did I want to be) one of the many people who have lost a significant amount of weight only to gain a lot of it back. But, it is high time to admit that I have gained 15 pounds since the start of the year.

Yes, that’s right. I just admitted that on the world wide web, for all to see, that I have gained back 15 of the 50 pounds I worked so hard to lose.

So what happened?

Well, I stopped doing what successful losers do to maintain a weight loss. I stopped exercising as much as I was. I started to think, “a little bit of this and a little bit of that won’t hurt.” And I stopped writing in my food log, because if I don’t write it down, it doesn’t count, right?

I lost track of calories and stopped being accountable to myself. I started to neglect myself. I stopped preparing meals and snacks ahead of time. I stopped getting up early to get to the gym because I was busy and tired. My will power began to crumble, eating special treats everyday rather than on special occasions only.

I have been watching my weight creep up these past 8 months, and instead of getting back on the beam right away, it has become a bit of a vicious cycle.

You become depressed because you know better. You get angry with yourself because you can’t believe you let yourself go. You get paranoid about what people will think—especially since you write this blog about maintaining your weight. You get emotional because getting dressed puts you in a bad mood; pants you looked awesome in a few months ago, no longer fit.

The last thing you want to do when you feel so bad about yourself is get up early the next day, go to the gym and forego the ice cream as the last days of summer arrive. I have been struggling with not throwing in the towel, not caving in and eating everything in sight, only to see the scale not budge or go up!

Now that that skeleton is out of the closet, what do I do?

Well I pick up the tools that have been so freely given to me by the successful losers that have come before me; the same tools that have helped me to be successful in the past, and I apply them again (food logs, calorie watching, exercising more). And this time I try not to think that I am ever cured from my tendency to overeat and under exercise.

In admitting my weight gain I end it there. I hold myself accountable because no one can do this for me, but me.

That pretty much sums up the problems of losing and regaining weight .  Fortunately, there has been a lot of research that shows you how to easily keep it off for as long as you want.

Stay tuned as we explore this in future posts.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

You have probably heard that if you have more muscle that equals more calories burned. 

But, is it true. 

There have been estimates that having 1 extra pound of muscle will equal 50 extra calories burned per day. 

While it is true that having a more muscular body will usually equate to a higher rate of calories being burned per day, sometimes the truth gets stretched. 

If 1 pound of extra muscle means 50 extra calories burned each day, then 2 pounds should equal 100 extra calories per day. 

So if you could gain 10 pounds of muscle that would mean an extra 500 calories burned per day. 

While that seems somewhat logical there is a slight problem. 

Since 1 pound = 3500 calories that means with a 10 pound gain you would burn off 1 pound of body weight each week. 

Yet, somehow you have gained 10 pounds of muscle weight as you are burning more calories per day. 

To gain 1 pound you have to eat an extra 500 calories per day. 

So you are eating more (gaining), exercising more (burning) and as you are gaining you are naturally burning more. 

That means you would have to be eating a heck of a lot more than you are burning. 

Let’s say you doubled what you are eating – an extra 1000 calories per day. 

Now even if you were exercising more and building muscle do you really think eating an extra 1000 calories per day is all going to be muscle gain? 

If you do, then let me be the first to burst your bubble. 

It won’t be.  For most people most of those extra calories will go right to the adipose tissue.  Even if you are exercising like crazy, your body will not be able to process all of that extra food into muscle. 

And that is if you are eating clean.  Add any junk food or too many extra high glycemic carbs and muscle gains will be minimal. 

And you can see the consequences at any gym in the US (probably the world).  There are really big guys with lots of muscle who have even bigger guts. 

So why don’t all these big muscled guys have ripped bodies?

Because they eat too much.  Just having big muscles does not mean you will be burning so many extra calories that you will be ripped. 

Now, here is the thing.  Being more muscular will help you control your weight and fat levels.  You will burn a few extra calories per day – but not 50 calories per pound of muscle. 

Being more muscular will help you burn more calories per day, but that is because you are more active, you pay more attention to what you eat, you exercise regularly. 

All of these little things add up and help you keep any extra calories from going to your waistline. 

So yes, build more muscle and more calories will be burned throughout your normal day.  Just don’t think of it as a miracle way of burning fat. 

Thanks,

Mike Val

Hi,

I was reading an article on myths about weight loss and one of them was talking about your weight set point. 

It seems most people believe that they have a weight that they really can’t change because of that set point. 

This belief structure states that if you lose some weight then your set point adjusts so that you gain the weight back.  Same is true if you gain some weight, then your set point will increase your metabolism until you lose the weight. 

While there is some truth to the set point, it has been misinterpreted. 

So here is the scoop.  If you do lose some weight you metabolism will indeed adjust.  It will decrease.

But, it will not decrease so much as to make you gain weight back.  If you lose 5 pounds your set point will adjust downward to maintain that new set point. 

Now it does take some time for this to happen, because your set point does not react immediately.  How soon it reacts depends on your individual metabolism, you age, you activity level, your stress levels, how much sleep you get and much more. 

So why do people lose weight only to gain it back again?

Well most people want to lose more than 5 pounds.  And as they lose more weight the metabolism keeps slowing down. 

As the metabolism slows, the body slows and as you eat less and less your body slows more.  This equates to having no energy. 

And there comes a point where your body can’t slow down any more or you would die. 

This slowing down is very difficult to deal with for most people.  As the weight loss slows to a trickle most get very frustrated. 

Add that to the irritablility factor of having no energy and eating no fun foods and you can see why it is easy to go off of your diet. 

And what happens when you go off?  Well the weight gain comes back with a vengence. 

That is because you start eating more right when your metabolism is at its lowest point.   And remember it takes a while for your metabolism to catch up. 

So you can gain a lot of weight quickly, just because you are eating faster than your metabolism can catch up. 

As you can see, it is not so much your set point playing havoc with you, it is you playing havoc with your set point. 

One of the easiest ways to counter the ups and downs of dieting is to not try to lose weight so quickly.  Slow and simple is much more beneficial in the long run. 

I go into great detail along with a simple 6 step weight loss plan in:  Stop Dieting, Start Losing Weight and Keep it Off Permanently.

By following the simple plan in the ebook you won’t even have to worry about your weight set point anymore.

Thanks,

Mike Val

Hi again,

You have probably heard that eating certain foods will help you lose weight.

You might even have heard that eating some foods – like celery – will create negative calories.  Not true.

Will eating more protein help you lose weight?  Will eating less fat help you lose weight?

All these questions and more can be answered, but you might not like the answers.

Now a lot of nutritionists and even doctors will say that it is all about the calories and it doesn’t matter what you eat. 

And there is truth in that.  If you are eating more calories than you burn, then you will gain weight.  If you are eating less calories than you burn, then you will lose weight – to a point. 

You see, even though we know a lot more about losing weight, it is still a very complicated process. 

So let’s look at a study from the International Journal of Obesity and see if we can deduct something from it. 

This study followed 4 groups of people.  Two groups were told to reduce their calories by 1000 calories a day.  One of these groups (A) was told to eat two eggs for breakfast.  Group B was told to eat one or two bagels for breakfast.  That was the only diffence in the two groups.  Calories in both groups were the same. 

Even though the calories were the same, the egg eating group (A) actually lost 65% more weight and reduced their waistline by 34% more.  Not bad.

Groups C and D were not told to reduce their calories or even given any instructions except that group C was told to eat 2 eggs at breakfast and group D was told to eat bagels.

Now you might think that group C would lose more, just like group A did.  But, surprisingly enough, neither group C or D lost any weight at all. 

What does this mean to you?  Well it means that if you are attempting to lose weight then food choices become important. 

And that eggs (more protein) will help you lose more weight over eating bagels (carbs). 

But, if you are not restricting your calories then it really doesn’t matter what you eat for weight loss. 

Now that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter for health benefits.  And that goes for all four groups. 

Eating nutrient rich foods is always better for you then foods that don’t have much in the way of nutrients. 

To keep it simple, eat foods that grow and forget the rest. 

So, yes, there are certain foods that can help you lose weight, but only on a calorie deprived diet. 

That’s it for today,

Thanks,

Mike Val