Where do I go from here? Maintaining/Exercising/Etc.

OK, I'm a 44 year old, 5' 10" tall male. I've dieted for 23 weeks now and
lost 50 lbs or so. At 148, down from 200. My goal was 150.

Now what do I do?

I've been down this road before (3 years ago I lost 50 pounds also), but
didn't make an effort to keep the weight off. I'm assuming that's because I
never had "A PLAN" (tm). Well, this time I'd like it to be different.

Weight loss has never been difficult for me once I'm "into it", or in "the
zone" (no realtionship to any book). Getting "into it", of course, is the
trick.

My weight loss (this time) was due to decreased calorie and fat intake, and
exercise. Less than 1000 calories per day (although I rarely felt hungry).
At least 30-40 minutes on the treadmill daily, and 30 minutes or so of
weight lifting every other day. Exercise was NOT present in the previous
times I have lost weight.

I have joined a fitness club, and plan on going there as much as I can, at
least 4 times a week, maybe more.

Several things I do NOT want to happen.

a) Increase in my waist line. I just gave to charity 15 pair of my "fat
pants", and have just bought 5 new pair of "skinny" (er, proper weight)
pants. I don't want to have that money go down the drain.

b) Increase my weight by more than 5 lbs, if it means increasing the waist
line. Can I lift, and gain muscle/tone myself, WITHOUT increasing my waist
line? If I do this, how much might I gain, and how long would it take?

c) Become a muscle bound he-man. Heck, I don't even want any large muscles.
I just want to be toned. I am not one to care one whit about having big
muscles. I have read (through anecdotal evidence) that this is almost
impossible to have happen anyway, unless I LIVE in the gym.

d) Become obsessed about my weight. Reputable studies have been done on
people who have been successful in maintaining their weight after a loss,
and one of the (among many) traits is that they weigh themselves daily.
Isn't this a little obsessive? I mean, what do they do, adjust their eating
habits daily?

e) Take anecdotal evidence as fact. If you have any advice, what works for
you, etc. Please label it as such. If you have a cite, please let me know.
I'm perfectly willing to listen to advice, as long as I know it's origin.
For example, "starvation mode" makes sense, and I see it all over the
internet, however, I have yet to see a study or something in a medical
journal that states this phenomenon. That, of course, doesn't mean it's not
out there, nor does it mean that it's not true, even if there's no
documentation...

Several things I DO want to happen.

a) Increase my muscle tone. Get rid of the excess skin that's hanging off
of my triceps, butt, and gut. I don't know my percent body fat at the
moment, but I would have to guess it's somewhere in the 15% range. I'm not
sure that bringing it down below 10% is very healthy, especially for a 44
year old.

b) Increase my caloric intake. How slowly must I do this without getting
fat again, knowing that my metabolism has slowed down (again, anecdotal
evidence, as far as I can tell).

c) Keep this weight off forever. 'Nuff said on that one.

Some questions:

If I eat enough to keep from going into "starvation mode", but exercise such
that I have a caloric deficit, would my body still go into starvation mode?

With weight training, do you actually increase the amount of muscle you
have, or does the existing muscle you have just become larger? Same
question for fat, in the opposite direction, of course....

Any comments, websites, cites, advice, is welcome.

Thanks,

Jeff.

Your problem is that you are guaranteed to put the weight back on
because you are eating too few calories. You are going to have
to eat more, so add another 20 minutes to your aerobic workout.
Also add other forms of exercise like yoga or T'ai Chi which
work your flexibility. I'm enjoying Tae Bo, I just finished
learning the basic workout and it is very aerobic. Find a
partner and go dancing. Whatever. Just get up to an hour long
workout every day and add low-fat high-nutrition food to your
eating habits.

JR wrote:

OK, I'm a 44 year old, 5' 10" tall male. I've dieted for 23 weeks now and
lost 50 lbs or so. At 148, down from 200. My goal was 150.

Now what do I do?

I've been down this road before (3 years ago I lost 50 pounds also), but
didn't make an effort to keep the weight off. I'm assuming that's because I
never had "A PLAN" (tm). Well, this time I'd like it to be different.

Weight loss has never been difficult for me once I'm "into it", or in "the
zone" (no realtionship to any book). Getting "into it", of course, is the
trick.

My weight loss (this time) was due to decreased calorie and fat intake, and
exercise. Less than 1000 calories per day (although I rarely felt hungry).
At least 30-40 minutes on the treadmill daily, and 30 minutes or so of
weight lifting every other day. Exercise was NOT present in the previous
times I have lost weight.

I have joined a fitness club, and plan on going there as much as I can, at
least 4 times a week, maybe more.

Several things I do NOT want to happen.

a) Increase in my waist line. I just gave to charity 15 pair of my "fat
pants", and have just bought 5 new pair of "skinny" (er, proper weight)
pants. I don't want to have that money go down the drain.

b) Increase my weight by more than 5 lbs, if it means increasing the waist
line. Can I lift, and gain muscle/tone myself, WITHOUT increasing my waist
line? If I do this, how much might I gain, and how long would it take?

c) Become a muscle bound he-man. Heck, I don't even want any large muscles.
I just want to be toned. I am not one to care one whit about having big
muscles. I have read (through anecdotal evidence) that this is almost
impossible to have happen anyway, unless I LIVE in the gym.

d) Become obsessed about my weight. Reputable studies have been done on
people who have been successful in maintaining their weight after a loss,
and one of the (among many) traits is that they weigh themselves daily.
Isn't this a little obsessive? I mean, what do they do, adjust their eating
habits daily?

e) Take anecdotal evidence as fact. If you have any advice, what works for
you, etc. Please label it as such. If you have a cite, please let me know.
I'm perfectly willing to listen to advice, as long as I know it's origin.
For example, "starvation mode" makes sense, and I see it all over the
internet, however, I have yet to see a study or something in a medical
journal that states this phenomenon. That, of course, doesn't mean it's not
out there, nor does it mean that it's not true, even if there's no
documentation...

Several things I DO want to happen.

a) Increase my muscle tone. Get rid of the excess skin that's hanging off
of my triceps, butt, and gut. I don't know my percent body fat at the
moment, but I would have to guess it's somewhere in the 15% range. I'm not
sure that bringing it down below 10% is very healthy, especially for a 44
year old.

b) Increase my caloric intake. How slowly must I do this without getting
fat again, knowing that my metabolism has slowed down (again, anecdotal
evidence, as far as I can tell).

c) Keep this weight off forever. 'Nuff said on that one.

Some questions:

If I eat enough to keep from going into "starvation mode", but exercise such
that I have a caloric deficit, would my body still go into starvation mode?

With weight training, do you actually increase the amount of muscle you
have, or does the existing muscle you have just become larger? Same
question for fat, in the opposite direction, of course....

Any comments, websites, cites, advice, is welcome.

Thanks,

Jeff.

On 18 Nov 2003 14:30:49 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

Yo-yo dieting leads to abdominal obesity, which is the worst. You've
got to keep yourself at the same weight if you want to be healthy.

I was interested in what evidence there is for this statement. Are
you referring mainly to men here?
I am the queen of yo-yo dieters but I have very little abdominal fat.
Even when I'm at the top end of my weight range, my fat distribution
always follows the same pattern no matter how many times I gain and
lose weight, and that includes a well defined waist, a relatively flat
stomach, and clothes that hang off me around the waist if they are to
fit me around the hips.
Just curious as to what was behind your assertion.
janice

On 18 Nov 2003 15:40:43 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

In article , janice wrote:
On 18 Nov 2003 14:30:49 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

Yo-yo dieting leads to abdominal obesity, which is the worst. You've
got to keep yourself at the same weight if you want to be healthy.

I was interested in what evidence there is for this statement. Are
you referring mainly to men here?
I am the queen of yo-yo dieters but I have very little abdominal fat.
Even when I'm at the top end of my weight range, my fat distribution
always follows the same pattern no matter how many times I gain and
lose weight, and that includes a well defined waist, a relatively flat
stomach, and clothes that hang off me around the waist if they are to
fit me around the hips.
Just curious as to what was behind your assertion.
janice

Janice, it seems to be a contested topic, but I read about it
somewhere a while ago. When searching to answer your question, here's
a link you may want to consider:

``research indicates that when weight is regained after weight loss,
more fat accumulates in the abdominal area.''

http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/di...ses/ses80.html

Thanks ig. I had a look, but I note she doesn't give any citation for
this research, so as with all these things I have to take it with a
pinch of salt.
Interesting idea, though, because I'd always assumed that however many
times the weight is put back on it distributes itself in much the same
way as where it was before it was lost.
janice

On 11/18/2003 10:20 AM, janice wrote:
On 18 Nov 2003 14:30:49 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:


Yo-yo dieting leads to abdominal obesity, which is the worst. You've
got to keep yourself at the same weight if you want to be healthy.


I was interested in what evidence there is for this statement. Are
you referring mainly to men here?
I am the queen of yo-yo dieters but I have very little abdominal fat.
Even when I'm at the top end of my weight range, my fat distribution
always follows the same pattern no matter how many times I gain and
lose weight, and that includes a well defined waist, a relatively flat
stomach, and clothes that hang off me around the waist if they are to
fit me around the hips.
Just curious as to what was behind your assertion.
janice

I'd love to see some references as well. I was curious and I haven't
really been able to find much to support the above statement about
abdominal fat -- in fact, quite the opposite!

"Some people are concerned that weight cycling can cause more fat to
collect in the abdominal (stomach) area. People who tend to carry their
excess fat in the abdominal area, instead of in the hips and buttocks,
are more likely to develop the health problems associated with obesity.
However, studies have not found that after a weight cycle people have
more abdominal fat than they did before weight cycling."
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/46/2731_1663
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutr...s/wcycling.htm

--
jmk in NC

On 11/18/2003 11:42 AM, jmk wrote:


On 11/18/2003 10:20 AM, janice wrote:

On 18 Nov 2003 14:30:49 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:


Yo-yo dieting leads to abdominal obesity, which is the worst. You've
got to keep yourself at the same weight if you want to be healthy.



I was interested in what evidence there is for this statement. Are
you referring mainly to men here?
I am the queen of yo-yo dieters but I have very little abdominal fat.
Even when I'm at the top end of my weight range, my fat distribution
always follows the same pattern no matter how many times I gain and
lose weight, and that includes a well defined waist, a relatively flat
stomach, and clothes that hang off me around the waist if they are to
fit me around the hips.
Just curious as to what was behind your assertion.
janice


I'd love to see some references as well. I was curious and I haven't
really been able to find much to support the above statement about
abdominal fat -- in fact, quite the opposite!

"Some people are concerned that weight cycling can cause more fat to
collect in the abdominal (stomach) area. People who tend to carry their
excess fat in the abdominal area, instead of in the hips and buttocks,
are more likely to develop the health problems associated with obesity.
However, studies have not found that after a weight cycle people have
more abdominal fat than they did before weight cycling."
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/46/2731_1663
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutr...s/wcycling.htm

Here's a second citation:

"There was no indication of a preferential deposition of visceral fat
after weight regain (initial visceral fat area: 120 +/- 41 cm2, final
visceral fat area: 110 +/- 48 cm2; P = 0.087). On the contrary, there
was a slight tendency to accumulate subcutaneous fat at the expense of
visceral fat. It is concluded that weight loss followed by weight regain
neither leads to a greater body fatness nor to a larger amount of
visceral fat compared with before weight loss."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract


--
jmk in NC

On 18 Nov 2003 16:21:46 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

In article , janice wrote:
On 18 Nov 2003 15:40:43 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

In article , janice wrote:
On 18 Nov 2003 14:30:49 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

Yo-yo dieting leads to abdominal obesity, which is the worst. You've
got to keep yourself at the same weight if you want to be healthy.

I was interested in what evidence there is for this statement. Are
you referring mainly to men here?

Janice, it seems to be a contested topic, but I read about it
somewhere a while ago. When searching to answer your question, here's
a link you may want to consider:

``research indicates that when weight is regained after weight loss,
more fat accumulates in the abdominal area.''

http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/di...ses/ses80.html

Thanks ig. I had a look, but I note she doesn't give any citation for
this research, so as with all these things I have to take it with a
pinch of salt.
Interesting idea, though, because I'd always assumed that however many
times the weight is put back on it distributes itself in much the same
way as where it was before it was lost.
janice


You could very well be correct. It seems that the idea that weight
cycling leads to abdominal obesity has been disproved.
i

Sorry, but I just have to ask - why then did you offer it as part of
your advice to the OP as if it was fact?
janice

"janice" wrote in message
...
On 18 Nov 2003 16:21:46 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

In article , janice wrote:
On 18 Nov 2003 15:40:43 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

In article , janice wrote:
On 18 Nov 2003 14:30:49 GMT, Ignoramus4244
wrote:

Yo-yo dieting leads to abdominal obesity, which is the worst. You've
got to keep yourself at the same weight if you want to be healthy.

I was interested in what evidence there is for this statement. Are
you referring mainly to men here?

Janice, it seems to be a contested topic, but I read about it
somewhere a while ago. When searching to answer your question, here's
a link you may want to consider:

``research indicates that when weight is regained after weight loss,
more fat accumulates in the abdominal area.''

http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/di...ses/ses80.html

Thanks ig. I had a look, but I note she doesn't give any citation for
this research, so as with all these things I have to take it with a
pinch of salt.
Interesting idea, though, because I'd always assumed that however many
times the weight is put back on it distributes itself in much the same
way as where it was before it was lost.
janice


You could very well be correct. It seems that the idea that weight
cycling leads to abdominal obesity has been disproved.
i

Sorry, but I just have to ask - why then did you offer it as part of
your advice to the OP as if it was fact?

That's the problem with health/fitness... There are so many "experts"
spouting nonsense, it's hard to know where to begin.

det

"JR" wrote in message
...
OK, I'm a 44 year old, 5' 10" tall male. I've dieted for 23 weeks now
and
lost 50 lbs or so. At 148, down from 200. My goal was 150.

Now what do I do?

I've been down this road before (3 years ago I lost 50 pounds also), but
didn't make an effort to keep the weight off. I'm assuming that's
because I
never had "A PLAN" (tm). Well, this time I'd like it to be different.

Weight loss has never been difficult for me once I'm "into it", or in
"the
zone" (no realtionship to any book). Getting "into it", of course, is
the
trick.

My weight loss (this time) was due to decreased calorie and fat intake,
and
exercise. Less than 1000 calories per day (although I rarely felt
hungry).
At least 30-40 minutes on the treadmill daily, and 30 minutes or so of
weight lifting every other day. Exercise was NOT present in the previous
times I have lost weight.

I have joined a fitness club, and plan on going there as much as I can,
at
least 4 times a week, maybe more.

I think you've found the key to keeping the weight off this time -
Exercise!!

Are you still in weight loss mode? If so, try adding a few calories to
your daily intake until you reach the calorie level at which you're no
longer losing. This should be very close to your maintenance level.

Weight training should be very helpful in toning the muscle. It will just
take time to see if the skin shrinks back and you get rid of the loose
skin. It won't happen overnight.



Several things I do NOT want to happen.

a) Increase in my waist line. I just gave to charity 15 pair of my "fat
pants", and have just bought 5 new pair of "skinny" (er, proper weight)
pants. I don't want to have that money go down the drain.

b) Increase my weight by more than 5 lbs, if it means increasing the
waist
line. Can I lift, and gain muscle/tone myself, WITHOUT increasing my
waist
line? If I do this, how much might I gain, and how long would it take?

If you're new to weight training you might be lucky and gain muscle easier
than someone who has been at it for sometime. I recently started
resistance training. Last weigh/measure session I had gained 1/4 pound but
lost 1.2% body fat. After the first two months I had only lost 6 pounds
but had lost 12 inches. A lot is going to depend on your current body
composition (bf%) and whether or not you're new to weight lifting.

c) Become a muscle bound he-man. Heck, I don't even want any large
muscles.
I just want to be toned. I am not one to care one whit about having big
muscles. I have read (through anecdotal evidence) that this is almost
impossible to have happen anyway, unless I LIVE in the gym.

It's very hard to become one of those muscle bound he-men. I doubt if many
of us have to worry about that.

d) Become obsessed about my weight. Reputable studies have been done on
people who have been successful in maintaining their weight after a loss,
and one of the (among many) traits is that they weigh themselves daily.
Isn't this a little obsessive? I mean, what do they do, adjust their
eating
habits daily?

For some people, stepping on the scales each morning becomes as much of a
habit as brushing their teeth. If I step on a see a gain I don't
automatically go into diet mode. I just watch what I eat and drink plenty
of water. Weighing weekly or monthly should be fine. You can also ditch
the scales and use the pants-o-meter. If they're starting to get tight
around the waist then it's time to watch the diet again.


e) Take anecdotal evidence as fact. If you have any advice, what works
for
you, etc. Please label it as such. If you have a cite, please let me
know.
I'm perfectly willing to listen to advice, as long as I know it's origin.
For example, "starvation mode" makes sense, and I see it all over the
internet, however, I have yet to see a study or something in a medical
journal that states this phenomenon. That, of course, doesn't mean it's
not
out there, nor does it mean that it's not true, even if there's no
documentation...

Several things I DO want to happen.

a) Increase my muscle tone. Get rid of the excess skin that's hanging
off
of my triceps, butt, and gut. I don't know my percent body fat at the
moment, but I would have to guess it's somewhere in the 15% range. I'm
not
sure that bringing it down below 10% is very healthy, especially for a 44
year old.

As I said above, give the skin plenty of time to shrink. A lot will depend
on your skin's elasticity properties, your age, lenght of time you were
overweight, etc. I can't comment on the BF%. I only know it for my age
and gender.


b) Increase my caloric intake. How slowly must I do this without getting
fat again, knowing that my metabolism has slowed down (again, anecdotal
evidence, as far as I can tell).

Slowly increase the calories until you hit the level where you're no longer
losing weight. This might take a few weeks of trial and error to find your
maintenance level.

c) Keep this weight off forever. 'Nuff said on that one.

Some questions:

If I eat enough to keep from going into "starvation mode", but exercise
such
that I have a caloric deficit, would my body still go into starvation
mode?

With weight training, do you actually increase the amount of muscle you
have, or does the existing muscle you have just become larger? Same
question for fat, in the opposite direction, of course....

http://www.fitnessgeared.com/showthread/t-7719.html

http://www.howstuffworks.com/fat-cell.htm


Beverly


Hope these can provide the answers on muscle and fat cells

Any comments, websites, cites, advice, is welcome.

Thanks,

Jeff.

"Beverly" wrote in message

Are you still in weight loss mode? If so, try adding a few calories to
your daily intake until you reach the calorie level at which you're no
longer losing. This should be very close to your maintenance level.

Maintenance for a 148 lb male should be around 2200 calories. If it takes
much less to maintain, he's lost a significant amount of muscle. At the
very low calorie intake he was at, I would be surprised if he did NOT lose a
ton of muscle.

If you're new to weight training you might be lucky and gain muscle easier
than someone who has been at it for sometime. I recently started
resistance training. Last weigh/measure session I had gained 1/4 pound
but
lost 1.2% body fat. After the first two months I had only lost 6 pounds
but had lost 12 inches. A lot is going to depend on your current body
composition (bf%) and whether or not you're new to weight lifting.

I recently started lifting agressively and gained 13 lbs - 9.5 of it was
muscle. Newbie gains rock!

det