"Starvation Idiots" And More Of Their Idiotic "Studies"

You may have read one of the many articles that were released recently reporting about a study by the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Some of the news pieces were entitled "No need to diet and exercise to lose weight" or "Exercise Doesn't Matter For Weight Loss".

Both the study itself and the way its findings have been presented in the media are misleading. I wanted to expose the half truths that are right now being presented as facts. My problems with the study are expressed in the following email I wrote to the lead researcher:

I recently read your study entitled “Effect of calorie restriction with or without exercise on body composition and fat distribution” and much of the subsequent reporting on various news outlets about the study.

Although it may not have been your intent, you have done a great disservice to the public. Your study is was in part meant to determine the effect of “exercise” on weight loss, fat loss and body composition. Yet your definition for what qualifies as exercise is not at all representative of what today’s public at large accepts as exercise, nor representative of what the fitness industry has long preached to attain the goals of fat loss and improved body composition.

It is well known that concern for lean muscle mass is equal to concern for a caloric deficit in the quest to lose body fat. And concern for muscle as it pertains to exercise is the most important factor in changing body composition (body fat to lean tissue ratio). In other words, exercise designed to induce muscle hypertrophy (resistance exercise) is the most important factor in a program of exercise designed to change a person’s ratio of body fat to total body weight.

It is also well known that the addition of lean body mass raises a person’s Basal Metabolic Rate – the ability to burn calories even at rest.

So why did your study not include exercise designed to increase lean muscle mass, knowing how crucial it is to a regimen designed to improve body composition? And worse why did you not represent your study as what it was - a study of aerobic activity, not of “exercise” as today’s fitness industry and public at large defines it?

For a subject who wanted to improve their body composition, lower their body fat percentage, and improve their ability to keep fat off, no educated exercise physiologist or certified fitness trainer would have simply prescribed - “Treadmill, exercise bike, stairmaster … your choice.” But that’s what you did, and you didn’t make it a point represent it that way.

The public at large is simply not going to read the full report. They’re going to read what the news reports about it. And what the news is reporting about it that “exercise” is no more effective at changing body composition than simply reducing caloric intake. This is not true! Resistance exercise, designed to induce lean muscle gains in combination with a caloric deficit does change body composition! aerobic activity alone (your version of “exercise”) does not!

Age and inactivity result in lean muscle loss. So does excessive aerobic exercise without any resistance exercise. Lean muscle loss results in a lowered metabolic rate. Lowered metabolic rate means it is harder to keep the fat off. This means continually declining calorie restriction in order to keep pace. This is not the way to healthy, long term fat loss. Yet the way you are representing your findings will simply encourage the public to restrict calories more and exercise less.

I assume that you and your colleagues are all very smart people. So I have to also assume that you are not ignorant of resistance exercise and its benefits. I can only surmise that your design of this study and reporting of its findings was meant to mislead the public.

After all, it is the mission of your organization to promote nutrition and preventative medicine, not exercise. People who have been empowered by a true fitness lifestyle, (one that stresses aerobic activity, proper nutrition AND concern for muscle), have less need for medicines. They have healthier body compositions and less need for calorie restrictive diets (or nutritionists for that matter).

I’m sickened. If you have any conscience at all, you’ll re-release your findings to the press and entitle it “Effect of calorie restriction with or without aerobic exercise on body composition and fat distribution”, and furthermore add the word “aerobic” before every instance of the word “exercise”. That is the true nature of your study.

I am encouraging all fitness professionals to respond at once through the various media outlets to put this study in its proper perspective. The way it has been reported on this far will have detrimental effects to the health of the public at large.

Exercise Helps Prevent Breast Cancer

Exercise may help prevent breast cancer, and help those who do get it cope, two new studies show.

The first study, based on interviews with 15,000 women, shows that women who get more than six hours of strenuous exercise a week, and have no family history of breast cancer, may be 23% less likely to develop the disease than women who don't exercise at all.

The second study shows a 12-week group exercise program may boost mood and physical function in women with early-stage breast cancer.

The researchers don't promise exercise will prevent breast cancer, or blame breast cancer on a lack of exercise. Many factors affect cancer risk.

But, they do report exercise appeared to have benefits in protecting against cancer for women of all ages.

Full article on WebMD

Lose 27 lbs Playing Video Games? Wiiiiiiiiiii

Video games no longer contribute to fatness and laziness! Well, at least not if your video game of choice is the Nintendo Wii!

A new study by Liverpool John Moores University found that regular use of the new Nintendo Wii video game console could help burn up to 27 lbs a year!

In case you didn't know the Nintendo Wii is a new video game system that requires the players to perform various body movements with the handheld controllers to make the action happen. For instance if your two kids were playing Baseball on the Wii, one of them would have to swing their controller like a baseball bat, while the other would perform a pitching motion. This type of gaming keeps kids moving and buring calories, promoting better health.

Full BBC Article

Happy FIT Tuesday!

Well it's Fit Tuesday once again, and one day closer to Spring!

In case you were not aware, Fit Tuesday (also called Mardi Bonne Santé in the French Quarter of Louisiana) occurs every year on the day before Ash Wednesday. It is a day where people worldwide celebrate fitness and good health by exercising vigorously, eating their recommended daily veggies, drinking plenty of water, and deciding what fattening food or or poor health habit they will give up forever starting at the stroke of midnight (the beginning of Lent.)

It's a big fitness party to which everyone in the world is invited!

Here's two great tips to make your Fit Tuesday hot, hot hot (as in heat energy released by burning calories)!:

1. When you hit the gym today, try out every single different cardio machine for 10 minutes. This makes 40-60 minutes of fat burning exercise seem almost too easy to be true. It also keeps cardio from getting boring - today is a party after all!
2. Tonight when you hit the club or bar (or Bourbon Street), dance 40 minutes for every alcoholic beverage you drink. Why you ask? Well number one, dancing is more fun than drinking AND two, dancing for 40 minutes burns about 200 calories, which is slightly more calories than your average can of beer, glass of wine or martini. So, you burn off that alcohol instead of turning it into gut fat!

How many calories will you exercise off on Fit Tuesday, and what unhealthy habit will you give up forever when the clock hits midnight?

I'm going for 800 and KFC.

Enjoy Fit Tuesday!

11 Natural Ways to Increase Your Metabolism

The higher your metabolic rate, the more efficient your body is at converting food into energy, instead of converting it into body fat! Here are 11 simple ways to boost your metabolism.

1. Eat for what you’ll be doing the next 3-4 hours. Your body will retain less fat for stored energy, because you’re consistently giving it the fuel it required for the immediate task at hand. People burn more calories during the active parts of their day – work, play and exercise! Yet, most people make dinner by far their highest calorie meal of the day, then do nothing afterwards but “wind down” for a few hours and then go to sleep. So are you really burning much of those dinner calories? Of course not! It’s common sense if you think about it.
2. Get some aerobic activity EVERY SINGLE DAY! Walk! Jog! Horse around with your kids! Have sex! Dance! Play ball! Surf! Swim! Bike! I don’t care what it is – just get your heart rate up for at least 20-30 minutes every day. Our bodies are amazing at adapting – it becomes what we do. People that sit on their butt most of the time, have bodies to match!
3. Eat Breakfast! When you skip breakfast, your body slows metabolism down as a protective measure. You haven’t had food in 8-12 hours! How can you expect your metabolism to get going if you’ve given it nothing to metabolize? Food, especially complex carbohydrates, fuels your metabolism.
4. Maintain and tone your muscles through weight training three days per week. Every ounce of lean muscle tissue on your body demands nutrients to sustain itself. In response, your body burns calories faster and stores less calories as fat. Ladies, please don’t worry. Unless you’re on steroids or have unnaturally high testosterone, you are NOT going to look like a bodybuilder. Instead you’ll look like a covergirl for Shape magazine – those girls lift weights. Believe it!
5. Snack smart and snack often! Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains stoke your metabolism, and keep your blood sugar steady. Steady blood sugar prevents you from becoming too hungry, and also keeps you from craving sweets. When you’re too hungry, you are more likely to lose control over what and how much you eat.
6. Purposely do things the hard way. If you’re overweight, then you need to always be looking for easy opportunities to burn calories. Take the far parking space. Choose an after-dinner stroll instead of dessert. Take the stairs. Use a shovel, not a snow blower. Buy a traditional lawnmower, not a self-propelled one. Use a mop or a vacuum, not a darn Roomba!
7. Eat more complex carbohydrates and lean proteins, and reduce fat and sugars. Complex carbs boost your energy and keep your metabolism working hard. Lean protein is used by the body to create muscle, which makes us burn calories at a faster rate – even when we’re sleeping!
8. Keep alcohol to a minimum. Avoid it completely if you can. Alcohol slows your metabolism and raises your appetite simultaneously. Did you know that alcohol has SEVEN calories per gram, almost as much as pure FAT. Many alcoholic drinks are loaded with sugar to boot!
9. Drink .8 ounces of water per pound of bodyweight daily (80 oz if you weigh 100 lbs). Water is required for your liver to effectively metabolize body fat! Carry a bottle of water with you and drink frequently throughout the day. Drink water between meals, not during meals - you’ll digest your food better.
10. Have 8-12 oz of black tea or coffee before aerobic exercise. Every study done on the effects of caffeine during aerobic exercise has shown an increased reliance on body fat for energy when a small amount of caffeine is consumed prior to exercise. Remember; use caffeine sparingly and in small doses. If your body is adapted to regular excessive caffeine use, it will not see the fat burning effect described here!
11. Last but not least… DON’T STARVE YOURSELF! 1200 daily calories for women and 1800 men is a bare minimum just to sustain life function and healthy tissue while at rest (BMR) – not even taking into account the energy it takes to get out of bed and move around (TDEE*)! When you don’t eat enough, your body will find the calories somewhere – it will breakdown your healthy muscle tissue to burn for energy. Less muscle = lower metabolism = you get fatter faster. This is why most people who have gone on very low calorie diets end up being fatter over the long haul.

*Use the Positive Charge TDEE Calculator found on this web page to see what your daily calorie intake should be, then subtract 15% for fat loss or add 15% for muscle gain.

How Great Does it Feel to Finally Get Fit? Ask My Mom!

Dear Jason,

You know how I felt about Personal Training in the beginning, but my mind has been changed.

I am now 55 and been in the throws of menopause for the last 7-8 yrs.
I have had numerous problems along with developing Bi-Lateral Carpal Tunnel, arthritis in my knees,chronic neck pain, and the latest, 15% bone loss in my back. That was noticeable to me when ever I got up from sitting in the car and couldn't straighten out.

When I danced my knees would just slip or go out for a minute. My neck would hurt. I couldn't open jars, lift anything heavy, ride my bike without pain. Even swimming hurt my hands & wrists. Walking or riding up a hill took the breath out of me.

Since you came over to give me a personal training program to follow I am very happy to report...

"I HAVE NONE OF THE PREVIOUS SYMPTOMS."

Now I can even lift weights without my hands and wrists hurting. I have the strength!
I can open the jars and do most everything I did before ,but with no pain!
Remember when I couldn't hold the "Plank" for more than 8 seconds? Now I can hold it for a count of 50!

I rode my bike 12 miles in less than 2 hrs. this week, and although my hands were starting to hurt and stiffen, it didn't last once I finished my ride. No pain!
I can drive my car for longer periods of time and no pain when I get out.

Your training helped me so much in a natural way, without having to go on medications, which just cause more problems.

I am happy and grateful !
Thank you Jason!

You know there are millions of women my age all experiencing the symptoms of menopause. They could really benefit from an easy training program, that could be started right in their own home without a lot of expensive equipment.
They could feel as good as I do!

Love,
Your Mother

TDEE Calculator Online!

Based on my most recent blog posting, How Many Calories Should I Eat Each Day?, I added a TDEE calculator to the Positive Charge Blog permanently. It's on the right side of the page. Remember, once you know how many calories your body is burning on a given day, you can adjust your calorie intake accordingly to achieve your goal of fat loss, muscle gain, or maintenance!

How Many Calories Should I Eat Each Day?

If you really want to develop a nutrition plan that works for you, the first step you must take is to determine how many calories your body is burning every 24 hours. We call this number TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Once you know your daily calorie expenditure, you can determine your daily calorie requirement to acheive your specific goal. A safe rule of thumb is to subtract 15-20% from your TDEE for safe fat loss (negative calorie balance), add 15-20% for safe weight gain (positive calorie balance), or for you lucky ones who are already at their ideal weight just use your TDEE calorie number as your daily calorie intake to maintain your physique.

(Remember, though the following formula is highly accurate, it is based on averages. Caloric expenditure and requirements can vary widely; specifically for athletes, extremely active individuals, and people with medical conditions that effect metabolic rate.)

DETERMINE YOUR DAILY CALORIE NEEDS:

1) Determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) – this is the number of calories your body will burn over 24 hours in a resting state – before factoring in your daily activity level.

Do you know your body fat percentage? If yes, use formula B for the most accurate BMR result. If no, use formula A. (if you are obese or very muscular, formula B is best for you, so find out your bodyfat %)

A. For Men:
Your BMR = 66 + (13.7 X your bodyweight in kg) + (5 X your height in cm) - (6.8 X your age in years)

For Women:
Your BMR = 655 + (9.6 X your bodyweight in kg) + (1.8 X your height in cm) - (4.7 X your age in years)

B. For Men and Women:
Your lean bodyweight = your total body weight – (your total bodyweight X your bodyfat percentage)

Your BMR = 370 + (21.6 X your lean bodyweight in kg)

Multiply inches by 2.54 to get centimeters
Divide lbs by 2.2 to get kilograms

2) Now multiply your BMR by one of the following numbers from the following chart to determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE):

1.2 .......... You are Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job)
1.375 .......... You are Lightly active (light exercise or sport)
1.55 .......... You are Moderately active (moderate exercise or sports)
1.725 .......... You are Very active (intense exercise or sports)
1.9 .......... You are Extremely active (intense exercise of more than 2 hours, two-a-day workouts, intense exercise plus a physically demanding job)

3) Adjust your TDEE according to your goal.

LOSE FAT:
You need to create a SAFE negative calorie balance. It is well known that cutting calories too much slows down the metabolic rate, and causes loss of lean mass, so the question is how much should you cut? The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 per day for men. Even these calorie levels are extremely low. Reducing calories by 15-20% below your TDEE is a good place to start.

GAIN MUSCLE:
To gain lean bodyweight, you have to take in more calories than you burn, PLUS be participating in a proper resistance-training program designed to induce creation of new muscle tissue. Add an additional 15 - 20% onto your TDEE to find your recommended intake for muscle gain. Of course, of these extra calories, give your body the right nutrients to build muscle with, namely lean protein and fresh vegetables.

4) Make incremental, safe adjustments to your calorie consumption
Never make huge jumps in your caloric intake. Whatever you’ve been consuming on a regular basis, your body has become used to it. To suddenly jump 1000 calories in either direction can screw up your energy levels, cause rapid fat gain and a host of other problems. If your current intake does not match up with your newly discovered TDEE/Calorie Requirement, you’ll have to gradually adjust to get to that point. Add or subtract 200-300 weekly to get your body safely acclimated to your new calorie intake.

Don't Get Scammed by False Weight Loss Promises

If you do not know whether or not to believe a weight-loss or nutrition claim, check it out! The Federal Trade Commission (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/wgtloss.html) has information on deceptive weight-loss advertising claims. Even more about false weight-loss claims can be found at Quackwatch.org.

You can also find out more about nutrition and weight loss by talking with a registered dietitian. To find a registered dietitian in your area, visit the American Dietetic Association (www.eatright.org).

Binging is the most prevalent U.S. eating disorder.

Binge eating is the most common eating disorder in the United States. This is according to the results of a Harvard University Medical School study that were published on Thursday.

The study defined binge eating as "bouts of uncontrolled eating, well past the point of being full, that occur at least twice a week."

Binge eating is normally accompanied by a variety of emotional symptoms. Is is well known that depression is a major factor in causing binge eating, and that binge eating immediately results in feelings of shame, guilt and self-loathing. It is an awful, vicious cycle these people are trapped in.

I think there's another culprit we can place some blame on for this trend. I'm talking about fad diets: Liquid only diets, no carb diets, supplemented fasts, and other crash diets are rampant, and they are killing people. Most of these diets recommend such low calorie intake that the body must cannibalize its own healthy tissue just to sustain proper organ function. It is this breakdown of healthy tissue that causes most dieters to ultimately wind up fatter (and more depressed) then ever in the long run.

In addition, these ultra low calorie diets can result in frequent states of low blood sugar. This of course causes intense cravings which can clearly lead to just the type of eating binges described here.

One of my clients once told me that he "did best on 1200 calories". This is the daily intake that Jenny Craig had him on. This was a 5' 10", 185 pound man! (If you can't understand my shock and disgust upon hearing this, then you really need to read up on healthy nutrition.) I quickly reminded him that he had ended up fatter not too long after stopping Jenny Craig's "diet".

Too many people in this country are not learning the simple truth about how to eat for healthy fat loss, and if they are, too many of them are choosing to follow the false promises of the diet profiteers. We have to do more as fitness professionals to educate our fellow man.