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My Lap Band Journey

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Avoiding Starvation Mode

I will post articles that I find useful from sources that I trust. ********************************************************   From Body For Life website: http://www.bodyforlife.com/nutrition/articles.asp?cmsId=291 Go easy on calorie restriction   Q: I have really been restricting my calories, but I just don’t seem to be getting anywhere with my fat-loss program. What’s wrong?   A: When anyone severely restricts their daily caloric intake, their body rapidly goes into a starvation mode—a reaction we have all inherited from our distant ancestors who were forced to survive through long periods of famine. There is absolutely nothing that you or any of us can do to prevent this from happening except to never allow our caloric intakes to drop below 1,200 calories for women or 1,800 calories for men. When calories are restricted below these levels our bodies go into action to keep us alive by protecting us from starvation. In other words, the body instinctively kicks in all of its survival mechanisms to prevent death. The first thing to happen when we enter the starvation mode is our basal metabolic rate begins to slow down. This occurs primarily by a reduction in the release of thyroid hormone from our thyroid gland. With severe caloric restriction our resting metabolic rate can drop by as much as 40 to 50 percent.   Next, our bodies begin metabolizing our own muscle tissue, converting it into glucose for its primary energy source in order to preserve fat stores that are essential for survival. That’s right—all that hard-earned muscle starts disappearing. And as if all of this isn’t bad enough, the activity of our fat-storing enzymes increases and our fat-burning enzymes decrease so we become very efficient at storing fat. This is the exact opposite of what we are trying to achieve!   The key to avoiding this all-too-common scenario is to stay out of the starvation mode by creating a small caloric deficit of only 500 to a maximum of 1,000 calories a day below your maintenance level—as long as you don’t go below the 1,200 or 1,800 I mentioned above. This will assure a 1- to 2-pound weight loss per week—the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommendation for a safe weight loss. Remember, this is just a guideline. If you have a low body weight or you don’t exercise much, a 1,000-calories-per-dy deficit may be too much. And finally, we must be sure to eat about every three hours. Our bodies will interpret any missed meal as starvation.   The bottom line is, the more slowly we lose weight the easier it is to hold on to our lean muscle mass and take the fat off!   Lose fat the fast way!   Q: Which is the best way to lose fat—more exercise or fewer calories?   A: Exercise is by far the best way to achieve a caloric deficit because it does not trigger the starvation response, it increases metabolic rate, it increases all of the fat-burning enzymes and hormones, it targets body fat rather than muscle tissue for energy sources and it increases the sensitivity of all cells to insulin so carbohydrates are burned for energy and stored as glycogen rather than being stored as body fat.   Most people in America today try to lose weight by cutting their calories way back to starvation levels and exercising very little. It is the combination of muscle-building weight training and aerobic exercise that is clearly the best and only way to rid yourself of excess body fat and retain or even increase your muscle mass and, most important, improve your health.
TerriDoodle

TerriDoodle

2
 

August Exercise Challenge

Here is my August Exercise Challenge -- I wanted to be more specific with my goals and this is way too long to put in a signature line!   Wish me luck! Monday - Upper body + abs 2 of 4 (missed 1*)
Wednesday - cardio (cycle & elliptical) 4 of 5 (Missed 1**)
Thursday - Lower body + abs + cardio 3 of 5
Saturday - Full Body (no cardio, no abs) 3 of 4
Sunday - Swimming + Sauna 2 of 4 (missed 1)
Tracking pool laps: 8/12 - 12 laps total, 6 at one time. 8/13 - 15 laps total, 10 at one time 8/16 - 22 laps total (begin HIIT: can only do 1.5 laps at HI; takes 4 easy laps to recover)   *Quit smoking this day, quads are killing me from lunges and fighting an ear infection....just too tired and cranky...need rest) **Quads still hurting bad (wish I could take Advil!!) and huge attitude problem since quitting smoking. Not worried. I'll get back soon. Just need a rest. 8/29 Well, exercise has been almost a total loss this month because of quitting smoking which ruined my attitude, then a back injury from a bad masseuse. I'm trying real hard not to get too down on myself and friends here at LBT are helping so much. I guess I'll start over in September! What else can I do?!   Here's a link to 4 month progress pictures: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f91/shrinking-violets-april-07-bandsters-29472/index274.html#post533397   QUIT smoking on August 19th. Lord help me to not gain weight!!! :pray:   Major Revelation: Just because you CAN put away 1 to 1.5 cups of food, doesn't mean you SHOULD!! Let me clarify: I had gotten a SB frozen meal for lunch yesterday. I generally HATE any kind of frozen dinner but I was in a crunch. I nuked it when I got back to the office then ended up eating only about 1/2 of it....it was disgusting....and I injested about 150 calories worth of chicken and broccoli. I remained satisfied until 5:00! Ok, so what was my lesson here? 1) I don't need to feel the food backing up into my esophagus before I consider myself 'done eating'.[/color] 2) My instrux are to eat 1/2-3/4 cup of food at one sitting (regardless of if I feel 'full' or not) and that is what I need to do!!! (It's a RULE, dammit) Now, of course, this is totally contrary to the way I've trained myself to eat for the last 49 years and it will take a conscious effort to stop waiting for that full feeling and just follow the rule of 1/2 - 3/4 c of food. I simply need to stop overserving myself. If I am in a restaurant, I need to ask for the to-go box FIRST and load up the extra before I even begin my meal.   4th Fill on Aug. 22 - to 2.8cc's -- 8/29 - UNfill to 2.4cc   Weight loss for August was about 2.5#. Bleh.
TerriDoodle

TerriDoodle

1
 

28 Days Pre-Op

This is the beginning of a major new journey for me. This operation will change my life, both good and "bad", and I feel that it's important to record my thoughts and feelings.   I made my decision rather quickly after doing a couple weeks of research, lurking on LBT and then talking with Dr. Spivak. I actually think I knew I was ready to sign up before I even walked into his office for the seminar.   I wake up every morning with a new enthusiasm about life and its possibilities. I am trying to keep a level head and know that this isn't going to be easy, but at the same time I absolutely know that this is the right thing to do for me. I know a lot about nutrition -- I am grateful for that. (I fear for those who really don't have a clue because they are out there.) My challenge will definitely be the exercise component -- I've never been able to make that happen with any consistency. Maybe when I get down 30# or so I'll sign up for Jazzercize. Well....I'm getting ahead of myself.   I have had this monkey on my back since I was 10 years old. For 38 years I have been obsessing about my weight and how am I gonna get it off....and rarely did I succeed. The tape loop in my head is soooooo old and I am sooooo sick of it. I wonder how many times per day I thought about it? 20? 30? .....no, probably more like 50. I just caculated it...that's 693,500 negative head-banging thoughts. Surely it is time to move on.   And I am "only" 60-70# overweight!! But I've carried 30-40 extra my whole entire life. I'm sick of it. Clearly as I'm getting older (48 now) I am moving in the wrong direction and headed for some major health problems. It's gotta change. It's gonna change.   So is this the "easy way out"? It's about knowing yourself, your personality, your health issues, your body. For me, this surely is my only hope...."easy" or not. I really don't give a rat's a**.
TerriDoodle

TerriDoodle

1
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