Lately I've been giving a lot more thought to a process called energy flux -- the total number of calories coming in and going out.
Some new-ish research shows that energy flux is the key to your metabolic rate. Since metabolic rate is key to weight control, energy flux is one of those concepts that deserves more attention.
Every weight-loss plan tries to get you to eat less and exercise more, but most of them miss a key element: The food you eat requires calories to burn, so if you limit food, particularly through drastic low-calorie diets, you shut down half the energy-flux apparatus. Thus, you slow down your metabolism, and make it harder, if not impossible, to lose fat.
Anyone who's read TAP knows that protein takes more calories to digest than carbs or fat, so the easiest way to increase energy flux is to eat more protein at every meal.
Another key component of energy flux is the "afterburn," or the extra calories you burn following strenuous exercise, over and above the ones you burned while actually exercising.
That's why strength training, which can generate a bigger afterburn than endurance exercise, is a better contributor to energy flux for some guys. I, for example, have so little natural endurance that it would be hard for me to exercise long and hard enough to burn a lot of calories and generate a significant afterburn.
But I can hit the weights pretty hard, and keep my metabolism cranked up for hours, if not a day or two, after a good workout.
Add all that together -- calories burned during exercise, "afterburn" calories, calories burned during digestion -- and you have the formula for weight control.
Cutting total calories is still important, but you have to cut the right ones, at the right time, to avoid slowing down your energy flux and perhaps negating the effects of your exercise program.
Thanks, Lou. In some of the past cardio vs. interval (FOR FAT LOSS!) discussions, the percentage of calories burned from fat was discussed.
It got me thinking to myself, "Roland (which is my name, by the way), I wonder what percentage of calories come from fat when you're just sitting there, compared to peddling this bicycle".
Your energy flux comments are good to think about. I often find myself willing to eat more and then cycle it back off. But, I was wondering if, from a fat loss perspective only, I was netting the same result.
Good question. I think there's a net gain from a higher energy flux, but your body gets used to anything.
Speaking from personal experience, every time I hit a groove where the workouts and diet seem to be in synch, I'll find I slip back out of the groove without noticing that I've changed anything. All of a sudden, there's a little extra something around the waist, and I'll have to go and make some more adjustments to get rid of it.
My experience has been similar to what Lou described. (I think)
Basically, I did not diet per say, but inpoved the quality of the food (or actually eliminated the crap I was eating)
I started out in mid-Sept (when I joined this list) with HGM beginners program. The only dieting that I did was to eliminate sugar (coke, all snacks) though I am not a big sugar guy, try to stop eating BEFORE I felt full, and cut down late night meals (which is hard beacuse I work until late). I did not want to "diet" and slow my metabolism. The result has been:
weight: 75-76KG down to 72-72KG
waist: Lost 2" +
I do not know about other measurements including bodyfat etc, but I am definitely stonger and muscles is growing. So since muscle is heavier than fat I figure I have "killed" more that 4 KG of fat (hence the wasting of the waist).
I am also a protein guy- I love meat so I have a fairly high protien diet without trying. Anyway, this is just anecdotal. I do not know if I am eating at maintenance or below it or above it and while I am still improving (gaining muscle while losing fat, I do not care), which is why I do not know my BF%, etc., at I'd rather spend my time doing somthing else rather than measuring and pinching.
Anyway, that has beeen my experience so far (anecdotal newbie experience at that)
Cheers
Peter
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Peter
After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend…
Originally posted by plutes:
I started out in mid-Sept (when I joined this list) with HGM beginners program. The only dieting that I did was to eliminate sugar (coke, all snacks) though I am not a big sugar guy, try to stop eating BEFORE I felt full, and cut down late night meals (which is hard beacuse I work until late).
Why would you want to cut down on late night meals? I may be wrong ( and someone please correct me if I am wrong) but my understanding is you should keep eating small meals every 3-4 hours.
Once I visited a dietician and she recommended that I eliminate chicken/fish from dinner. She reasoned that if high protien is consumed before sleep, it would not get enough time to be digested and it would sit on my body.. It did not convince me. From then onwards, I am on Adam's diet ( barring the weekends ).
Plutes I am not questioning what you are doing.. I am only trying to get my understanding straight. May be Lou or Craig or Adam can shed some light on this.
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