The things that just aren't taught

[hethathathears]

Last September I went and did a magic show for 3 Kindergarten classes. When I was done, I asked, "Now I want you to raise your hand if you think I'm really magic." Some 70 kids all raised their hands. About a month ago I went and gave a talk to a group of Relief Society Sisters on the Magic of Weight Loss and I did the same tricks for them. When I was done, I got a round of applause, however, when I asked them how many thought I was truly magic, nobody raised their hands, instead they just laughed at my question. I tried to explain to everyone that there is no magic, it's just that I know how to do the illusions.

The process with Weight Loss is the same, there is no magic to Weight Loss, it is just knowing how. The problem is, a lot of the information out their actually makes it harder for you to loose weight. In this Blog I would like to put forth some ideas that I have been teaching about weight loss that have fallen through the cracks. My goal is to put the information out there, what people do with it is up to them.

1- Muscle- All my life I have heard about burning calories and fat for energy. The problem was nobody connected the dots for me and told me that this burning process happens within the muscles. Fat doesn't burn fat. Its these muscles that we develop within our bodies that burns the fat. Now it is said that we burn about 50 calories per day for every pound of muscle that we have, but as I have dug a little deeper I found that it is more like 30 - 90 calories per day for every pound of muscle that we have. It is around 30 calories if we are basically getting no aerobic exercise at all, while the upper end of it is if we are very athletic.

But here's where it gets a little dicey. In my presentation I hold up 3 pieces of meat. One is a nice piece of lean steak, another with a lot of streaks of fat marbled throughout, and then I hold up some bacon that is 85% fat, With these 3 example we can learn from the old adage, Use it or loose it. When a calf is young, it runs around a lot, jumping and playing, and if it is butchered, then the muscle would be very lean with very little fat. As the cow gets older and cuts back on it's movement marbles of fat develop within it's muscle. The less the muscle is used, the more fat there is that develops within the muscle.

The same is true with us. It is said that we start loosing about 1% of our muscle each year beginning at age 25, and if we live a sedentary lifestyle, we loose even more. And at 40 we can loose up to 2% on average. But again, for those coach potatoes or office people that get no exercise, their muscle is just marbling away. What this means is that by age 40, we are seeing a lot of people getting those pot bellies. This is due to the fact by this time, many people have lost 20% - 30% of the muscle that they had gained from their youth. They also gain weight because we tend to become insulin resistant, and so it takes more insulin in our blood stream to burn the glucose that is moving through our veins. And as you might know, insulin not only lets the sugar into the cells to be burned, but it is also the fat storage promoting hormone.

But the good news is that we can change that. If we use our muscles, and challenge them, instead of loosing them, we can actually make them grow. Remember, the more muscles we have, the more calories and fat burning potential we have.

Our house is the neighborhood hangout, and all the teenagers in the area not only always come to our house but they spend all their time here and even eat all their meals here and as a result. That means that when we go shopping each week, we can spend up to $250.00 to feed the neighborhood kids because instead of feeding just 3 children, we are feeding 15 teenagers. The same is true with muscles, if a person just walks and builds up their leg muscles, then those will be the primary muscles doing the burning of fat and calories while the rest will be marbling away, however, if we challenge a large group of muscles, then they will all become primary fighters in your quest for weight loss. Now men have 10 times more testosterone than women and that is why we can bulk up, so ladies, if you are worried about bulking up, don't. It is only those ladies that spend 4 to 6 hours a day in the gym that really become body builders. But building muscles is the easiest way of loosing weight.

Maybe another way to put it, because of the high price of gas I have a little motor cycle that gets around 70 miles to the gallon. That means I can drive it to work all week long for about $15.00 per week. My wife has a little Kia that gets about 35 miles to the gallon. I also have a Chevy S-10 that gets about 18 miles to the gallon. If I drive that to work instead of my motor cycle, it costs me about $150 per week. And then we have an old Ford one ton truck that gets about 8 miles to the gallon that we only use around that park. I have learned by these that the smaller and less powerful the engine, the less gas is used to get them to run, while the bigger the engine, the more the they burn through large quantities of gas. The same is true with the body. As we develop muscle all over our body, it chips away at our fat cells, all over our body. And just like with the engine, the larger our muscles, the more calories it takes to just keep them idling let alone pushing them on to bigger and better things.

The sad thing is that my beloved bride had gastric bypass surgery which resulted in her loosing a good 140 pounds. And she really is a lot thinner, however, of that 140 pounds, 27 lbs of it was muscle. That means that now her body doesn't burn as many calories as it used to. The same is true if we go on a supper calorie restricted diet, if we require 2000 calories per day, but we only eat 1000, we will burn 1000 calories of both fat and muscles to make up the difference, and as a result our metabolism will begin to shut down because it will think that there is a famine in the land. Many have gone on fad diets and have cut way back on calories and have lost a good 15 lbs., for which they are truly happy, however, of that 15 lbs, 3 lbs of it was muscle. What that means is from from that point forward, they have to eat 150 less calories per day to maintain the same weight, or gain more muscle back.

And the truth is, you are never to old to develop muscle. There is a member in our gym that is 86 years old. And she walks around with a walker and is thin and fit. Her husband waits for her in the car reading the paper. I would say that he weights about 250 lbs.

Actively building muscle is the best way to lose weight. But you have to really challenge your muscles, for if you just lift a 6 oz soup can 400 times your not going to do anything. But if you can only lift something between 8 -12 times, that is where the muscle growth begins. Challenge your muscles and see the pounds melt away. If you can't lift it up to 8 times it is too heavy. If you can lift it more that 12 times it is too light. Pilate's is a great method for keeping the muscles from marbling away. It might not build big muscles, however, it is enough to keep you from loosing what you have.

The same is true with our Spiritual Health. Some have found that they are Spiritually lethargic due to their Spiritual muscles marbling away. For some, as they pull out their weekly day planners, out of 168 hours a week, they can give the Lord 3 hour a week. But there is no spiritual growth there. It is by daily feasting upon the Word of God, and daily prayer and thought about God that we move closer to God.

The next truth that slips through the cracks is knowing what your body wants to burn. Your body prefers to burn glucose, that is carbs that the body has turned into sugar. Some carbs the body takes a long time to turn into glucose like complex carbohydrates, while other carbs are just simple sugars like candy and soda that is turned very quickly. And then we have fat, fat is the endurance fuel. If we do something and do it for some time, our body will switch from burning glucose to burning fat.

Once I went to a weight lose program with my wife, and while I was sitting there, the ladies behind me began making plans. They said, after the meeting, we will all go for a one hour walk, and then afterwards, we can go to Baskin and Robins and get some ice cream. I debated long and hard on whether I should say anything or not, and finally I caved. I turned around and apologized for butting in, but I explained that if they go out and exercise for that one hour, that would be very good, and after 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, their bodies will switch from burning glucose to burning fat. But then I went on, that if they would go and eat some ice cream, the minute that sugar would hit their blood stream, their bodies would switch back from burning fat to burning glucose and their fat burning session would be over. However, if they would exercise for one hour and then drink water, watch T.V., read a book...... for another two or three hours before eating, the entire time they are doing that, the body will be chipping away at their fat cells for energy.

Why? Because your inners is like a cave with no information coming in. And your brain will not burn fat or protein. Your brain will only work on glucose. What this means is that when your body has just been charged up by eating and is running on 100% glucose, it will only burn glucose. However, if you go out for a good long walk, or mow the lawn or go shopping for the day, or play tennis or any kind of activity, your body will start burning that glucose. And after you have burned up to 50% of your storage with no more glucose coming in, then your body will say, oh no, we are running out of glucose, and our primary organs and brain can't run on fat or protein, we had better run off of fat cells for our primary energy and save the glucose for running our brain and organs UNTIL MORE GLUCOSE IS EATEN AND HITS THE BLOOD CELLS.

The problem is, if we are always buying treats while we shop, or snack as we exercise, then we are refilling our glucose cells, and so no fat burning takes place.

As amazing as it might seem, we can even loose fat when we sleep. If we eat dinner at 5:00 P.M. and go for a nice moonlight stroll with our husbands or wives, then we can chisel away at our glucose cells. That means that at 1 or 2 in the morning when our bodies have reached that 50% mark, it will start burning fat. Yes even when we are asleep. That is as long as we don't have a large bowl of ice cream right before we go to bed and refill our glucose cells. Another added bonous to this is if we exersise in the morning after we are already in the fat burning mode. That is as long as you haven't eated anything. Drink plenty of water though.

See this stuff isn't really magic, but it does work. I have sat through many hours of weight lose meeting, and really the only thing they teach is controlling eating and portion controls, and that's only 20% of the battle. I hope that shedding light on this can help someone in some way.

Edited September 13, 2008 by hethathathears

[BenRaines]

This is a great post. For years I have followed the bodyforlife.com system. The key, as mentioned in the beginning of this post is building muscle. You don't need to be musclebound or a big body builder to do it but the more muscle you build the more calories you burn. At the same time if you deprive your body of calories it will burn both fat, carbs and muscle if done wrong.

Ben Raines

[Yellowhill]

Very interesting on what you wrote, I have lost 26 pounds since June. I am now down to 214. I saw my doctor yesterday, my blood pressure is good, I am feeling better and better. I walk to the bus stop daily. It all started when i quit eating peanut butter. That led to other snack things, I now enjoy the feeling in my stomach of being slightly hungry. I watch my portions, and eat lots of home grown vegies. I also ask daily in prayer help from my Heavenly Father

[BenRaines]

Yellowhill, That is interesting because I try to start my day with at least a tablespoon of peanut butter :)

Ben Raines

[MorningStar]

This is where I get confused. I am good at denying myself treats and I can knock myself out trying to lose weight, but I keep gaining. I only lose when I'm pregnant. This time I got gestational diabetes and I managed my blood sugar very well. My dietician told me (shockingly) to eat nuts and ice cream every night to help my fasting blood sugar level and I thought I would gain weight. I was also eating more in general and I am now 30 pounds lighter than when I started. What gives? I don't get it. It came off effortlessly and the doctor told me to stop losing weight. Uhhhh ... I wasn't trying.

[hethathathears]

I'm not sure I know the answer for sure. I had to look up what gestational diabetes was. I am a diabetic and as a result have done a great deal of study on the subject. The one thing that I have learned is that when there is a lot of insulin in our blood streams, as a result of eating a lot carbs then all that insulin promotes the the body to store fat and to not use it because it wants to get rid of all the glucose, sugar, and insulin in your blood stream before it starts chipping away again at the fat cells.

However, if you are controlling your glucose and sugar to well, then it won't be required to make as much insulin. In the absence of insulin, your body produces the hormone glucion??? (not quite sure about spelling) that melts away the fat cells by the bucket full. (From the book Protien Power) This hormone is what made the Atkins diet so successful. With only trace amounts of insulin and carbs in your system, your body produces large amounts of this amazing hormone. It kind of sounds like this is what is happening in your body. You are controlling your snacking, insulin and sugars too well. When a person primarally has the hormon glucon in their system instead of insulin, then you could end up losing 1 to 2 pounds per day.

This is my best guess. I am a custodian and store manager by trade but I enjoy reading a lot, so this is where I get my knowledge. On the other hand, my teenagers don't think I have a clue. But maybe this might give you insight into where you are.

[Yellowhill]

Ben, once i start i don't stop till it's gone, Friday my doctors visit i have lost another 7 pounds, 28 pounds since june. Humm I did have a wonderful tasty peanut butter milk shake today, Boy it was good

[pam]

Peanut Butter milk shake? EWWWWWW

[YoungMormonRoyalist]

Ben, once i start i don't stop till it's gone, Friday my doctors visit i have lost another 7 pounds, 28 pounds since june. Humm I did have a wonderful tasty peanut butter milk shake today, Boy it was good

Art thou a brother, or a brethern? I salute you.

Personally I like mixing two scoops of chocolate milk powder, one of protein, and then add two eggs, peanut butter, milk, and if you want, ice cream. Delicious....and good for you to boot! If you're hitting the gym or exercising in general.

[Yellowhill]

Pam,if you like peanut butter you will like peanut butter milk shakes, yummy yummy says my tummy

[pam]

I love peanut butter but as a shake just doesn't sound very appealing...Guess you gotta try it to like it right?

[MorningStar]

I'm not sure I know the answer for sure. I had to look up what gestational diabetes was. I am a diabetic and as a result have done a great deal of study on the subject. The one thing that I have learned is that when there is a lot of insulin in our blood streams, as a result of eating a lot carbs then all that insulin promotes the the body to store fat and to not use it because it wants to get rid of all the glucose, sugar, and insulin in your blood stream before it starts chipping away again at the fat cells.

However, if you are controlling your glucose and sugar to well, then it won't be required to make as much insulin. In the absence of insulin, your body produces the hormone glucion??? (not quite sure about spelling) that melts away the fat cells by the bucket full. (From the book Protien Power) This hormone is what made the Atkins diet so successful. With only trace amounts of insulin and carbs in your system, your body produces large amounts of this amazing hormone. It kind of sounds like this is what is happening in your body. You are controlling your snacking, insulin and sugars too well. When a person primarally has the hormon glucon in their system instead of insulin, then you could end up losing 1 to 2 pounds per day.

This is my best guess. I am a custodian and store manager by trade but I enjoy reading a lot, so this is where I get my knowledge. On the other hand, my teenagers don't think I have a clue. But maybe this might give you insight into where you are.

Thanks for your input! At first I was avoiding all carbs, but then the dietician said I needed to have two servings at breakfast, two at lunch, and three at dinner (which equals a cup of pasta), because they didn't want me to burn fat, producing ketones that could be harmful to my baby. In the mornings, I could only stand fruit and protein, but I couldn't do the starchy stuff. I was nauseous the whole pregnancy and when I was diagnoed with the GD, I forced myself to eat all day. I thought for sure I would finally start gaining because I was eating more and was shocked when my weight started dropping even more. Before I was skipping meals a lot and kind of staying at a steady weight.

Now that my baby is born, I am hungry constantly and I don't know why. She nurses a lot, but I should be full after my breakfast I just had. I'm still not eating more than I should, but it sucks being hungry all the time.

[Moksha]

1- Muscle- All my life I have heard about burning calories and fat for energy. The problem was nobody connected the dots for me and told me that this burning process happens within the muscles. Fat doesn't burn fat. Its these muscles that we develop within our bodies that burns the fat. Now it is said that we burn about 50 calories per day for every pound of muscle that we have, but as I have dug a little deeper I found that it is more like 30 - 90 calories per day for every pound of muscle that we have. It is around 30 calories if we are basically getting no aerobic exercise at all, while the upper end of it is if we are very athletic.

To add to this if I remember right (the previous Turn of the Century seems so far off), muscles require glucose to be converted either through the Krebs cycle (adequate oxygen) or the anaerobic cycle (not enough oxygen) into the components that are needed for the muscle cells to work. When there is a lack of glucose, the body breaks down fats into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The fatty acids are converted to glucose and the ketone bodies are expelled as waste. The anaerobic cycle is much less efficient so it takes more glucose to produce sufficient energy.

[Guest DeborahC]

Great post. Thanks!

[miztrniceguy]

Pam,if you like peanut butter you will like peanut butter milk shakes, yummy yummy says my tummy

peanut butter and chocolate shakes are dewishious!!

[Moksha]

peanut butter and chocolate shakes are dewishious!!

That combo along with marshmallow and macadamia nuts, used to be my favorite at the famed Iceberg Drive-In. They no longer carry macadamia nuts.

[Jasmin]

Good post! Very informative!

[Dravin]

peanut butter and chocolate shakes are dewishious!!

The Peanut Butter Moo'd from Jamba Juice, tasty. Just don't confuse it for health food. :)

[Guest]

Great post!

I'd like to add 2 things: Protein helps build muscle. So, after a muscle-strengthening activity, eat something rich in protein.

And my #1 weight-loss program: Take your weight in pounds and divide it by half. Drink as many ounces of water as that every day.