January/February weight management challenge

[Giulianna23]

I more pound down 198 to 197 today...didn't get a chance to check with the scale last Friday due to the fact that I was off . Hoping to get rid of at least one more pound by this coming Friday.

[Triskeliongirl]

I am going to chime in here. Its been mentioned that some of you feel you have low body weight, yet have too much fat. In the body recomposition world, this is referred to as 'skinny fat.' This happened to me many years ago when I allowed myself to lose too much weight on weight watchers, on a diet that was too low in protein. When I look back at those records, what I realized is that at a certain moment my percent body fat stayed the same, but I started to catabolize my lean body mass (i.e. muscle). Then, without any change to my diet and exercise program, I started to gain fat. That is because muscle is metabolically active, so as it is lost caloric needs go down. In time I gained more weight, of course putting on muscle as well to carry the fat. But this time, I targeted losing only the fat, by eating a diet high in protein (~1g protein/lb of LBM). So today, I keep my weight in the 140s, with a LBM of 110. That keeps my percent body fat in the low 20s, which seems to be comfortable for me to maintain. However, it terms of clothes size, I can still wear the clothes I bought when I was a 'skinny fat' 115 lb. So, ladies that are losing, consider diets that preserve lean body mass, and set your goal not on an arbitrary number on the scale (or too low a number), but on having a high strength to mass ratio, which is really what we should care about as cyclists.

[Catrin]

....So, ladies that are losing, consider diets that preserve lean body mass, and set your goal not on an arbitrary number on the scale (or too low a number), but on having a high strength to mass ratio, which is really what we should care about as cyclists.

This is a very good point! I've a high protein diet (medically ordered to preserve stable blood sugar), but I think I need to tweak my carbs more on a seasonal basis... As of this morning my weight is less than 2 pounds more than it was last January, but I KNOW my body fat is higher because of the pants I can't fit in any longer I will check into your suggestion.

[goldfinch]

I am going to chime in here. Its been mentioned that some of you feel you have low body weight, yet have too much fat. In the body recomposition world, this is referred to as 'skinny fat.' This happened to me many years ago when I allowed myself to lose too much weight on weight watchers, on a diet that was too low in protein. When I look back at those records, what I realized is that at a certain moment my percent body fat stayed the same, but I started to catabolize my lean body mass (i.e. muscle). Then, without any change to my diet and exercise program, I started to gain fat. That is because muscle is metabolically active, so as it is lost caloric needs go down. In time I gained more weight, of course putting on muscle as well to carry the fat. But this time, I targeted losing only the fat, by eating a diet high in protein (~1g protein/lb of LBM). So today, I keep my weight in the 140s, with a LBM of 110. That keeps my percent body fat in the low 20s, which seems to be comfortable for me to maintain. However, it terms of clothes size, I can still wear the clothes I bought when I was a 'skinny fat' 115 lb. So, ladies that are losing, consider diets that preserve lean body mass, and set your goal not on an arbitrary number on the scale (or too low a number), but on having a high strength to mass ratio, which is really what we should care about as cyclists.

I was concerned about "skinny fat" when losing a lot of weight. I ate high protein and lost weight at the rate of a pound a week. I started out with a very high fat percentage, IIRC, something like 46%. So, the few little fat rolls on the plus size model are nothing to me. It still is high but not anywhere nearly as high. But is sure is not in the low 20s. But I have to keep in mind that I lost a third of my weight and I was extremely out of shape. So I am proud of where I am, even though I remain "too fat" with a body fat percentage of 30%. I went from never exercising to riding 1500 miles on my bike the first year and starting to strength train too. Maybe I will over time and with consistent exercise improve my muscle/fat ratio. But if I don't I am still a lot healthier than I was and will not feel like I failed.

[Anelia]

I am going to chime in here. Its been mentioned that some of you feel you have low body weight, yet have too much fat. In the body recomposition world, this is referred to as 'skinny fat.' This happened to me many years ago when I allowed myself to lose too much weight on weight watchers, on a diet that was too low in protein. When I look back at those records, what I realized is that at a certain moment my percent body fat stayed the same, but I started to catabolize my lean body mass (i.e. muscle). Then, without any change to my diet and exercise program, I started to gain fat. That is because muscle is metabolically active, so as it is lost caloric needs go down. In time I gained more weight, of course putting on muscle as well to carry the fat. But this time, I targeted losing only the fat, by eating a diet high in protein (~1g protein/lb of LBM). So today, I keep my weight in the 140s, with a LBM of 110. That keeps my percent body fat in the low 20s, which seems to be comfortable for me to maintain. However, it terms of clothes size, I can still wear the clothes I bought when I was a 'skinny fat' 115 lb. So, ladies that are losing, consider diets that preserve lean body mass, and set your goal not on an arbitrary number on the scale (or too low a number), but on having a high strength to mass ratio, which is really what we should care about as cyclists.

My 2 cents here. To keep the muscles and shred, I follow these:
1. Every meal should be rich in protein. I mean EVERY. Not once a day but 5 or 6 meals.
2. Strength training. Weight lifting or body weight exercises 2 or 3 times a week. Keeping all the muscles toned, your body preserves them. Because to do a heavy lift, you need muscles. And when you need something, your body is clever enough to keep it.
3. Supplementation with amino acids. When I diet, I decrease carbs and I do fasted cardio. Before and after the fasted cardio I take BCAAs to preserve muscles.
4. Don't cut too much the calories. Depriving your body of food will lead to muscle catabolism. Keep a deficit of no more than 400-500 calories/day.
So, girls, be patient, keep the good work and the results are rewarding.

[Crankin]

Thanks, Possegal. I's nice to see it all in numbers. I am so not a spreadsheet person, so I appreciate the work.
And DH liked seeing his name there.!

[Catrin]

Thanks Possegal! It really is quite helpful to see the numbers, thank you!

Regarding fasting cardio - has anyone done this who is prone to unstable blood sugar? I do get hypoglycemia, though not as often as at one time
I am trying to understand the purpose for fasting cardio and the best approach. So taking amino acids as a supplement prevents our body from using muscle as energy and thus uses fat?

[Crankin]

I would faint if I tried to do any intense cardio while fasting. Seriously. I can feel sort of OK going to a spin class in the early AM without eating a snack, but I still don't feel great.
I question the need for any supplements if you eat a healthy diet, unless you have some type of medical condition. Real food trumps pills, in my mind. I know some people really believe in this stuff, but I am very leery of this.

[indysteel]

Thanks Possegal! It really is quite helpful to see the numbers, thank you!

Regarding fasting cardio - has anyone done this who is prone to unstable blood sugar? I do get hypoglycemia, though not as often as at one time
I am trying to understand the purpose for fasting cardio and the best approach. So taking amino acids as a supplement prevents our body from using muscle as energy and thus uses fat?

The idea behind it is that it, because your liver is theoretically depleted of whatever stored glycogen it had when you went to bed, your body will then turn to stored fat as its energy source. I say allegedly because there is some dispute as to this basic premise. Just Google it and you'll get a sense of the debate.

I, personally, would proceed with caution if I had hypoglycemia. Try it on the trainer, perhaps, so that it's easy enough to stop and grab some food if you start to falter. I wouldn't recommend it for a ride on the road or trail.

[Triskeliongirl]

I do perform fasted cardio. I started after reading this paper: Physiol 588.21 (2010) pp 4289–4302 4289: Training in the fasted state improves glucose tolerance during fat-rich diet. Karen Van Proeyen1, Karolina Szlufcik1, Henri Nielens2, Koen Pelgrim1, Louise Deldicque3,Matthijs Hesselink4, Paul P. Van Veldhoven5 and Peter Hespel1

To me one of the most impressive aspects of the study was that the fasted exercisers had a 30% increase in transport of Glut4 receptors to the cell surface. I am a mild type I diabetic. While I have good insulin sensitivity, since I undersecrete insulin anything I can do to boost the action of the insulin I have makes a big difference. But I don't mean a 3 hour bike ride. Every morning before work, after just a cup of espresso, I go to the gym, and do a 35 minute workout on the arc trainer that my HRM and the machine say burns about 310 calories. Then I shower and eat. But if I am going to do a 3 hour bike ride, than I always eat a high protein breakfast like 2 turkey sausages, and then drink muscle milk lite on the bike. I do eat a low carb/high protein diet to manage my diabetes.

For the women that asked about hypoglyemia, try it in a gym, and bring your glucose monitor. That is what I did, and found I had no problem with my blood sugar readings. In fact, I find my blood sugar always goes up when I exercise since at least in the beginning glycogen is metabolized to glucose.

I do find this 'trick' is useful in my battery of weight control/blood sugar controls. I also incorporte this into an intermittent fasting (IF) protocol. For me it means I don't snack after dinner, and then delay breakfast until after my morning workout. The article I cite above is discussed a this link in more popular language, a site dedicated to the IF protocol that I follow: http://www.leangains.com/2010/05/ear...-training.html