Posted by Bob on September 12, 1999, at 16:24:55
In reply to Exercise and calories, fat, for men and women, posted by Justitia on September 12, 1999, at 11:51:36
One nutritionist I saw six or seven years ago gave me this rule of thumb: you need 10 calories per pound you weigh to maintain your weight. More recently (this past year), I saw a nutritionist who was part of an obesity research center here in NYC (St.Lukes/Roosevelt). She had higher numbers than that. Given my stature, she thought 2800 cals would be more of a maintenance level. In any event, the first nutritionist gave me an 1800cal/day diet plan for diabetics that is published by Eli Lilly. No particular reason for choosing a diabetic plan other than it's a very sound eating plan for *anyone*, not just diabetics. On that diet and vigorous exercise 4x/week, I was able to drop 40lbs in three months and drop my cholesterol to 170. If anyone is interested in the plan, please email me (instead of posting "send me a copy" messages here!) and I'll see what I can do with my scanner and Acrobat.
I liked your exercise advice, too, Justita. I was working on a pure aerobic workout, but I'm switching back to weights. Like you said, muscle burns more calories to maintain than fat, so adding muscle actually raises your resting metabolic rate. If anyone out there is wondering about weight training but clueless about starting up, Ellington Darden (one of the co-inventors of Nautilus equipment) has a great book out called Living Longer Stronger (ISBN 0-399-51900-9). A couple of the principles he talks about are things to take to heart. The most important, I feel, is knowing how and when to increase the amount of weight you use on a machine. What he advocates is a "double progression". Take leg curls as an example. First you need to find the heaviest weight you can curl for a set of 8 reps. You only do one set at each machine per workout, and you keep pushing to do more reps in a set. You stay at that weight until you can do 12 reps. Next time, you increase the weight by 5%. You'll probably be able to do between 8 and 12 reps, so you work at reaching 12 again. The first progression is the number of reps; the second progression is the weight you're lifting. This method is designed more for toning than for bulking up. Another principle he stresses is working pairs of muscles. If you do crunches, then do back extensions. If you do leg curls, then do leg extensions. He has a number of recommended workouts that help you pair these up ... they also increase in the number of machines you work with over time.
Finally, one really cool (figuratively and literally) thing he talks about is water. He recommends drinking about a gallon a day, working up to 1.5 gallons eventually. You may think you could never drink that much water, but it you drink one 12 oz. glass an hour, you can do it easy. He also recommends drinking water that's as cold as you can bear. Simple thermodynamics -- you'll pull your core body temperature down, so your body will have to burn calories to heat it up to normal.
Cheers,
Bob
poster:Bob
thread:10121
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990829/msgs/11493.html