valshealthblog.com

Hi,

This post continues our saga about fasting for weight loss.

We have found that you can lose weight on a fast, just as

you can lose weight on a diet.  The problem with both is

our metabolisms.

With both fasting and dieting your metabolism will slow

down.  Eventually you will stop losing weight and start

regaining it.  This is your body’s natural defense and

survival mechanisms kicking in.

At this point in time and to my knowledge there are no

studies showing exactly where this weight loss comes from. 

Is it from fat loss, muscle loss, chemical loss or even

bone loss?  No one knows. 

But, we can make some educated guesses. 

My guess, based upon past research and my own experiences

is that it comes from muscle loss. 

Almost every physiologist will tell you that weight loss on

a diet comes from fat and muscle loss. 

That is why exercise is always recommended by scientists as

part of an overall weight loss program. 

Just dieting, and fasting, will make you smaller not more

muscular.

Yes, you will lose weight and you saw in the last post that

a fast one time per week could help extend the weight loss

time period. 

But, it can’t work forever.  Just like a diet can’t work

forever.

My own experience with a fasting and exercise protocol are

in line with this.

This program had me fasting every 5 days and exercising

every day, including weights and high intensity aerobics. 

And I did lose weight.  I lost 5 pounds and I got smaller. 

My chest, thigh and biceps all got smaller.  My waist

stayed the same. 

These were not the kind of results I was looking for. 

Especially since the program stated that it was a body fat

loss program.  For the last little bit around the waist.

I do not have a six pack.  I do have a four pack and

sometimes you can barely see the outlines of a six pack. 

So I figured I would give this program a try.  At the end,

my muscles were smaller, I still didn’t have a six pack and

worst of all I had absolutely no energy. 

That was not fun.  And actually that wasn’t the worst of

all.  When I went back to my normal non fasting eating

patterns all the weight went to my waist. 

I was still exercising and doing intense cardio, but it

took almost 3 months for me to get back to my pre “fat 

burning exercise – fasting” regimen. 

I will say though that I was surprised that the first

couple of weeks I did not feel a drop in energy on the

fasting days.  But, as it continued, it did take its toll.

So do I recommend fasting?

I do, but with certain guidelines.  First off, if you have

any kind of medical conditions see your doctor.  If you are

a diabetic or prone to it, do not fast without your

doctor’s guidelines. 

Your blood sugar could drop quite a bit on your fast days. 

If you are pregnant, do not fast period.  You and your baby

need all the nutrients it can get and extra calories. 

If you want to try it, start out slow.  Try fasting for

short periods of time.

Now, almost all of us fast for 8-12 hours a day already. 

This is when you sleep.

You can increase this time, by making sure you don’t eat

anything 2-3 hours before you go to bed. 

Even though I believe in eating a full breakfast, if you

are not used to doing that, then skip eating when you get

up to add a couple of extra hours before you eat anything. 

I would not try to fast more than 1 time per week.  And I

would start with skipping a meal.  You might skip dinner or

a lunch 1 time per week. 

If that seems to be okay then try skipping both a lunch and

dinner 1 time per week. 

And you do have to exercise.  That includes a strength

building portion and a cardio portion.  I have written

about these in previous posts. 

You want to reduce the fat and keep the muscle.  You can

not do that just by dieting or fasting. 

Bottom line is that fasting for weight loss is okay to try

within the guidelines mentioned. 

 Thanks,

Mike Val

Related Blogs

• The Return of London Fashion Week | Starting Out London
• This Week in Review: Patch’s local news play, Facebook takes location mainstream, and the undead web » Nieman Journalism Lab
• Centering an img in a div both horizontally and vertically | The Largest Forum Archive
• Fitness Tips Presented by Muscle Milk: Chest « Transworld Motocross
• More HOPE Week pictures | The Lohud Yankees Blog
• The Growing Detachment of the Political Class | RedState
• MySQL cache class – PHP Classes

Hi,

The last post on fasting for weight loss we saw how just

fasting will work – like dieting – in the short run. 

But, over a longer period of time you will gain the weight

back.

In Dr. Levitsky’s study this weight gain came back within 1

week. 

However, Levitsky also found out that that while the

fasters regained all their weight they did not regain all

of their body tissue. 

Body tissue includes your fat, bones, organs, muscles, body

water, gastrointestinal tract contents, glycogen content

and more. 

Unfortunately, Levistsky did not measure exactly what was

lost.  He did estimate that it would take 10 days for

everything to get back to pre-fasting levels.

What all this means is that just using body weight is maybe

not the best way to measure what is happening with your

body.

You all know that you have daily weight fluctuations. 

Women notice it more than men, because of their monthly

cycle. 

But, everyone has weight fluctuations depending on what

they eat, when they eat and when they get rid of it. 

If the weight loss that was measured came from body fat,

then if you did a weekly one day fast maybe over a longer

period of time you could extend the benefits of your weight

loss. 

If the weight loss came from muscle loss, then you will

definitely be on the wrong track.  Muscle actually helps

your keep your metabolism raised.

If fasting causes muscle loss then you get a double whammy.
You get a lower metabolism from fasting and from muscle

loss. 

Obviously more studies are needed to determine where this

weight loss comes from. 

The next post will draw on my personal experiences with

fasting for weight loss and some recommendations. 

Thanks,

Mike Val

Hi,

Last post we talked about how to increase your metabolism with the foods you eat. 

This post will talk about increasing it with exercise.

But, exercise is what?   If someone tells you that they are going to go exercise, what are they actually doing.

Are they running, biking, weight lifting, doing yoga or what?  It could be all of those things.

Any exercise program you go on should incorporate two things.  One is enhancing your strength and the other your cardio fitness. 

If you do one over the other you are not being as efficient as you can be in raising your metabolism.

Muscle uses more calories than anything else in your body.  Now we all have the same number of muscles, so to use more calories you need bigger and stronger muscles.

They don’t have to be much bigger, but the more you move and use your muscles the more calories you will burn every day.

Estimates of the extra number of calories you will burn in a day range from 40 to 100 calories.  While that might not seem like a whole lot, these calories will be burning 24/7/365. 

Even if it is only 40 extra calories a day, that equals just over 4 pounds a year.  And those pounds will be almost all from body fat. 

And that is by doing nothing extra.  Just having stonger muscles does it. 

The second part of your exercise should be some kind of cardio training.  But, not your normal cardio.

If you really want to up your metabolism then try some high intensity cardio.  This involves high intensity cardio mixed with lower intensity cardio.

For example you could run, walk, bike or swim as fast as you can for a period of time.  Then slow down to a leisurely pace for a period of time.

When first starting you might want to try 10 seconds of fast and 30 seconds of slow.  This depends upon your current fitness levels.

As you get better try to get to more time spent in the fast phase and less time spent in the slower phase. 

Doing cardio this way will do one thing that normal cardio (30-60 minutes at the same intensity levels) can’t do.

And that is to burn calories after the exercise session is done.  Regular cardio – if done long enough – will burn calories and fat while the cardio session is being done. 

But, once the session ends, then the burning stops. 

The alternating intensity – if you reach a high enough intensity – will also burn calories during the session.  And it will also burn extra calories and fat after the session is done.  

Part of this is because the regular cardio does not affect your fat burning hormones.  That way they never get stimulated for the after burn effect. 

The higher intenstity training does affect your fat burning hormones.  They go into action and your fat burning after effect is ignited. 

The same holds true with your strength training.  If you do an exercise and then rest for 2-3 or more minutes, you will not get an after burn effect.  Especially if the exercise did not tax you. 

An intense bout of strength training with minimal rest will definitely get your fat burning hormones lined up.

This after burn effect can last up to 48 hours after the exercise session is over.

So, it increase your metabolism, use strength training and higher intensity cardio sessions.   Then your body will be a fat burning machine.

Thanks,

Mike Val

Related Blogs

• Business English: Communications (Education) – iApper
• Yahoo Gets Rights For Online English Premier League Highlights
• Global Voices in English » Morocco: English as the Second Language

Hi,

So just how often should your exercise?

There have been many exercise gurus that say you should exercise every day for over an hour a day. 

That is way too much for the average person and it is not necessary to build and maintain your fitness levels.

On the other hand, how long can you go without having to exercise?

Should you do something every day or every other day?  Can you skip a week or even a month?

Turns out this wasn’t really studied too much.  That is until some researchers got together and decided to figure this out.

If someone is on bed rest, how long would it take for the muscles to start losing size and strength? 

These researchers put 8 men on complete bed rest and put one leg in suspended traction. 

Every one of them had a significant amount of muscle loss and strength in just 3 days. 

Just one holiday weekend without any activity and now you have to work twice as hard just to get back to where you were. 

This signicant loss of size and strength did not all of a sudden happen on the third day.  There was a small but measurable loss happening almost from the beginning of the bed rest. 

Of course absolute bed rest is something you probably don’t do and any activity is better than nothing.

Based on these finding though you might want to consider doing some exercise at least every other day. 

It doesn’t have to be the 60-90 minute exercise sessions that are so popular. 

In fact just a few seconds several times a day will help you more than those long unproductive sessions. 

We’ll get more into this in later posts.  Stay tuned.

Thanks,

Mike Val

Related Blogs

• US-Korean Exercise Focuses on Anti-Submarine Warfare, Air Defenses | Navy News at DefenseTalk
• Exercise and Type 2 Diabetes | HEALTHY ARTICLES
• Census day – Beyond The Commons – Macleans.ca
• Trinidadian training concludes with counter-terrorism exercise | Soldier of Fortune
• Class Action Against U.S. Military On Behalf Of Sexual Assault Survivors — Feministe
• Best of the rest (Renault team review) | F1 Fanatic – The Formula 1 Blog
• Cocktail Class

Hi,

Just how long should you exercise?  It used to be that most exercise gurus told you that you had to exercise for at least an hour to 90 minutes every day.

I remember one specifically saying your should weight train for 90 minutes to 2 hours every day.  And on top of that you should do aerobics for at least 2 hours 3 times a week.

Geez dude, if I had that much free time, even I wouldn’t spend it in the gym.

On the other hand you have people that say you only need to exercise for 20 minutes 2-3 times a week. 

So who is right?  Neither. 

Instead of thinking of exercising for a certain period of time, think about what you are trying to accomplish and how you can accomplish it. 

Someone that is in pretty good shape and not overweight can get by with a minimal amount of time if all they want to do is maintain. 

However, they do have to actually do something.  Your body adapts pretty quickly at any task it does.  That is why it is important to always challenge yourself. 

If all you do is arm curls for 20 pounds you will not maintain your arm strength fo a long period of time.  That is because your body will perceive 20 pounds as not stressful enough to build muscle or even to maintain it. 

Your body wants to be pushed. 

On the other hand doing 2-3 hour workouts 5-6 times a week is too much.  There is evidence that doing a vigorous workout for more than an hour does not provide any more benefits – from a health standpoint – than regular moderate exercise. 

The key word is regular. 

If you are consistent in exercising you will get the benefits of exercise. 

If you wish to build some muscle size or muscle strength then add some intensity, but only for a short period of time.

The same goes for burning fat.  Short intense exercise sessions will be more beneficial at burning fat.   Add in some moderate walking a couple of times a week for around 30 minutes and you have a pretty good exercise program. 

We will get into more about intensity when exercising in later posts.

Stay tuned form more about how long you should exercise.

Thanks,

Mike Val

Related Blogs

• Boingo Wireless iPhone / iPod Touch App (Free Hour of WiFi) » My Money Blog
• US-South Korean defense leaders announce Exercise Invincible Spirit | Defense & Security News at DefenseTalk
• href for a css syled image – HTML and CSS | CSS Guru How to CSS
• UVU Women’s Basketball Garners Top Div. I GPA in Nation « UVU Press Releases
• You can still use div | HTML5 Doctor
• flot in a hidden div « Bibliographic Wilderness
• Fitness and exercise: myths vs. facts : Washington Blade
• The Juniors’ Department: style file: daily fashion, party, and model news

Hi,

Everyone knows that whey protein is good for you and that protein is better at burning fat than carbs, for example.

But is it?

(Graph shows insulin spike after a meal.)

Here is the problem.  When your insulin levels are raised you will not be able to burn fat. 

That is because as your insulin levels go up, insulin is lowering your blood sugar levels.  It does this by shoving the blood sugars into your cells where they get stored as fat. 

The more insulin, the lower your blood sugar levels and the more fat gets stored. 

So what raises your insulin levels?  Things like very large meals, foods with lots of sugar such as candy, sodas and cookies.  Large portions of carbs like white rice and pasta.  And whey protein. 

The last one is probably a surprise to most.  But, whey protein is used to replenish your body’s muscles.  It needs this nourishment right after a workout.  And this is one of the times that you can get by with an insulin spike. 

So a whey protein shake with some carbs is a great after workout meal.  It can also be taken first thing in the morning, but even then it is not as necessary as after your workout.

However, after that you don’t need the insulin spikes. 

So what can you do?  You need a little more protein throughout the day if you are trying to build muscle. 

Use a casein and whey protein shake instead.  Casein digests slowly, so there is no insulin spike.  And the slow digesting means you are getting a little bit of protein for hours after digesting it. 

When does growth occur most rapidly in the human lifetime.  From birth to the first couple of years.   This growth spurt can be – in part – attributed to mother’s milk which is 50% casein and 50% whey. 

So do you want to grow like a baby?  Then use a 50/50 casein/whey protein supplement throughout the day. 

Use the whey only protein for after your workouts.  That will allow you to get the full fat burning effects of your workout all day long.

Thanks,

Mike Val

Related Blogs

• (4/10) Putting a Div Wrapper Around Your Main Content – UCLA Extension
• Whey Protein: The Healthy Choice | Sport Supplement
• Are protein shakes good for weight loss? | Diseases List – List of Diseases, Causes & Symptoms of all Diseases
• Obama declares Al Qaeda “racist” [Darleen Click]
• paper n stitch – Style Swap: The Anabelle Dress - A daily dose of handmade, design, and style inspiration
• The DIV-Net: Sources of Personal Income | Hacked By Black Sea Crew By-Taka Ft. RevoLLe
• Howell Wechsler, Ed.D., Director, Div of Adolescent & School Health at the CDC
• Download Insulin Resistance and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Pathogenesis, Evaluation, and Treatment free ebook| Free Ebooks download

Hi,

Dietary supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry.  So if you are spending money on your supplements it might be important to know how much you should be taking. 

(Image is of a trans fatty acid.)

I am going to talk about the dietary supplement CLA or conjugated linoleic acid.  But, what I will share with you could hold for any supplement you take. 

CLA has been shown to help people lose weight.  CLA is a trans fatty acid.  Whoa!!  Wait a minute, everyone knows all trans fatty acids are bad for you. 

Oh, if only it were that simple.  This is why you can’t always believe what the “news” tells you. 

CLA is also a cis fat.  The difference refers to the structure of the atoms as they line up.  Cis means on the same side and trans means across or on the opposite side. 

This might not seem like much, but for CLA it lowers its melting point and basically makes this trans fatty acid beneficial. 

CLA has other benefits beside aiding in weight loss, such as reducing the growth of cancerous tumors. 

But, getting back to weight loss.  It was found that taking 3.4 gms of CLA per day resulted in an average 6 pound weight loss while preserving muscle tissue.  From that we can assume that most of the weight loss came from body fat. 

This is a good thing.  It basically does this by keeping smaller fat cells from getting bigger. 

All this is great.  Here is the problem though.  If you didn’t read about the above mentioned study using 3.4 gms of CLA, then you probably don’t realize that you aren’t getting enough. 

A sample of the CLA supplements on the marketplace show that most of them come in 500, 750 and 1000mg softgels or capsules.  That would be 1/2 to 1 gm. 

Yet, the instructions on the bottles of the CLA recommend 1 to 3gms capsules a day.  Three grams was the highest recommended dose I found. 

Most recommended 1 to 2 grams per day.  If you had read about CLA and wanted to use it to help you lose weight, then you probably would not be taking enough. 

That means you would be wasting your time and money.  Taking 1-2 grams a day is from less than 30% to less than 60% of what you would need to get the full benefits.

So here is the problem.  Are you going to take the time to find the studies and figure out what you really need to take and how much? 

I would guess not.  But, no worries.  I love to do this stuff.  So all you have to do to know what dietary supplements to take, why to take or not take them and how much to take is to keep reading this blog. 

Pretty simple, huh?

Thanks for reading this one.

Mike Val

Related Blogs

• Krylon/Consumer Div 1618 Barbecue And Stove Spray Paint | Supermarket Shopping Online and Delivery Service
• I Have The Mobileremote By Mobile Src…? – windows phone – Have – Mobile – Mobileremote – Src… – Search 3G
• Shintaro Ishiwatari, Kil Woo Lee Impress at SRC Asia Volume 1 | All Sports Events & News
• A Natural Cure for Acid Reflux Says it All | Waterionizersnow
• Nature’s Alternative For Your Fatty Liver Symptoms | 6newsonline
• Another day at the races – World – Macleans.ca
• Fatty’s, In The Red added to Food & Drink guide
• self approval not equal to Div… « Nimble Books LLC