Matt Metzgar

Portion Control

Quite a number of nutritional gurus advocate "portion control" as part of a weight loss strategy.  While this may make sense on the surface, it does not delve deeply enough into the problem to produce a legitimate solution.

The object of portion control is to control total calorie intake.  However, calorie intake can be controlled naturally with two steps, 1) eating the proper foods, and 2) using one's appetitie as a guide.

Consuming too many calories is usually the result of consuming the wrong foods, i.e. calorie-dense junk foods.  Fast food/junk food can provide a sizeable amount of calories in a small amount of food volume.  So if a person eats McDonald's 3 times a day, they would indeed consume too many calories.  But the solution here is not "portion control", but to instead switch to nautral foods that are much less energy-dense: lean meat, fruits, vegetables, etc.

Second, if a person eats natural foods their appetite is a quite suitable guide to the correct calorie intake (given a minimum level of physical activity).  After all, appetities successfully guided hunter-gatherers through millions of years of evolution.  And this is not because hunter-gatherers lacked food, and hence went hungry.  This research shows that food shortages were quite rare among hunter-gatherer tribes.

I never practice portion control - I eat until I'm full.  Some days I'm hungrier than others, some days I eat more, some days I eat less.  This is all a natural process as my body signals its needs and tries to get the needed calories and macronutrients.  I'll take my chances with this method versus any type of artificial restriction.

Running Hungry

I found some neat research on the hunger-exercise-food relationship.  The paper is titled, "Neuroprotective signaling and the aging brain: take away my food and let me run."

The paper discusses how inactivity and overeating are destructive to the human body, and how their opposites, activity and calorie restriction, are beneficial.  The paper discusses how calorie restriction can activate many processes that repair the body.  It is speculated that exercising while under calorie restriction may augment this process.

I'm not a fan of long-term calorie restriction.  I think intermittent fasting is more natural, and provides just as many health benefits.  Exercising while undergoing intermittent fasting most likely generates repair signals to the body as well, and is in my view superior to plain calorie restriction.

Hunger: The Ultimate Exercise Motivator

In the modern world with food abundance, it is hard to imagine that hunger has historically been the main motivation for exercise.  Hunter-gatherers woke up each morning with the same goal in mind: to acquire food for the day.  Off they went, walking and running, searching for meat and plant food to satisfy their hunger.

Nowadays, people exercise for different reasons: to maintain health, to lose weight, for sports, for aesthetic reasons.  Yet all of these motivations can wane over time, mostly since they are not our "original" source of motivation.

It can be useful to "simulate" the exercise-for-food relationship.  One easy way is to exercise right before a meal, with the meal being the "reward" for the completion of the exercise.  For example, I often exercise after work but before dinner.  Even though I'm hungry, I try to get out the door and quickly head away from the house.  Once I'm down the road to a turnaround point, I naturally have no choice but to walk/run back home in order to get dinner.  It's a simple idea, but it can be effective.

Body Composition

Fading body composition is one of those things that can sneak up on people over time.  Numbers on the scale may stay the same, but muscle mass is lost and fat mass gained.  While on the surface it looks like a person is maintaining their weight, they are in fact shifting towards a state of decreased muscle and a slower metabolism.

I know that this is true for me.  The 168 lbs I weigh now is not the same 168 lbs I weighed in high school.  I can tell this mostly by how clothes fit now and then.  My body composition has shifted a bit the wrong way, despite my best efforts to stop this from happening. 

Rectifying this situation is one of my main goals of 2007.  I could test my body fat and then set a target goal.  They do sell those body fat scales, though I am not sure they are very accurate.  Yet all this seems a bit too complicated for my purposes.

Instead, I will focus on my waistline, which in men is highly correlated to body fat.  I will attempt to regain my high school waist measurement (roughly 31 inches), and to do this I will be exercising the necessary 7 hours a week. 

After reading about LL Cool J's 3 to 10 percent body fat at age 38, and Sylvester Stallone getting in great shape at age 60, I have all the motivation I need.  And stating things here publicly won't hurt either.  So I'm headed out the door to finish my hour's worth of exercise for today.

Lucky Number 7

Exercise is the only long-term solution to weight management.  And people need to exercise more than they think if they want to lose weight at a decent pace.  A good target to shoot for is seven hours of total exercise per week, which will yield roughly one pound of fat loss per week.  Most of this can be walking, with a bit of weights and interval training also included to maintain/grow muscle mass and boost cardiovascular fitness.

Is it possible to get the general population to exercise 7 hours a week?  The American Council on Exercise already recommends this, saying Americans need 60 minutes minimum of exercise per day.  But information and recommendations alone aren't enough: people need motivation and more conducive exercise environments to take action.

In the upcoming year, I hope to focus more on this issue in the blog.  I love the details of diet and exercise, but the big picture is important, and I do want to focus more on that in 2007.

Smoke and Mirrors

Here's one of those studies I just have to shake my head at.  It's one of the countless "low-fat" diet interventions that have been done since the 1980s.  Here the subjects were split into two groups, a low-fat diet and a low-fat diet plus exercise.

Both groups lost weight over the 12 week study.  So is the low-fat diet the answer to losing weight?  No, no, and no.  First off, any dramatic shift in diet is bound to have an effect on the body.  If a person suddenly switches to a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet, they will lose weight.  Yet the weight will always come back.

Walter Willett, from the Harvard School of Public Health, says this nicely in one of his papers, "Dietary fat is not a major determinant of body fat": "In short-term trials, a modest reduction in body weight is typically seen in individuals randomized to diets with a lower percentage of calories from fat. However, compensatory mechanisms appear to operate, because in randomized trials lasting >or=1 year, fat consumption within the range of 18% to 40% of energy appears to have little if any effect on body fatness."

In other words, if you deprive the body of what it needs it will compensate and adjust over time.  None of these low-fat diets (or any other diets) show any significant weight loss over a couple of years.

I think history will judge this time period and the dietary studies being performed fairly harshly.  Researchers have known for many years now that diets aren't the answer to long-term weight loss.  Yet people keep cranking out these studies trying to defend their turf.  In the meantime, the US population gets heavier and heavier and the medical costs continue to rise.

Platinum Body

On a whim, I bought LL Cool J's new fitness book, "Platinum Workout".  I didn't have high hopes for the book, not knowing whether it would be written for teenage fans or adults.  Yet I was pleasantly surprised that LL did his homework.  Several exercise physiologists were interviewed throughout the book, and most of the information was backed by scientific research.

The workouts were nothing revolutionary, some circuit weight training and cardio.  Perhaps the biggest benefit I got from the book was his discussion about motivation.  He really became dedicated and got in shape when he was on tour for an album.  To say the least, that is the not the ideal setup for a fitness makeover: working late hours, sleeping in a tour bus, eating at roadside diners, etc.  Yet he was determined, did the best with what he had, and got in great shape.

I think this lesson about overcoming obstacles is important for everyone.  Most people have their hands full with their career, kids, etc.  Yet if you are determined enough, you can make time for exercise and achieve your physical goals.  It all hinges on determination, plain and simple.

I give the "Platinum Workout" a thumbs up.

A Holiday Message

Here's a short message to wish everyone a great holiday season.  Click to activate the control and play.

Vitamin D and the Flu

A reader pointed me to this new paper, which discusses the relationship between Vitamin D and the flu.  The idea is that people low in Vitamin D will be more susceptible to the flu.  Vitamin D comes primarily from sunlight, but it is also found in high doses in seafood.

What's great about this paper is that backs up people's intuitive thoughts about colds.  Most people would guess that colds are more prevalent in the winter than in the summer, and this is indeed true.  Some might think the cause of this is due to people spending more time indoors, and hence being exposed to more germs.  The researchers instead believe that is the lack of time spent outdoors in the sun, and hence the lower intake of Vitaimin D that leads to more colds in the winter.

And remember all those old stories about the benefits of cod liver oil (which I take)?  The researchers believe it is the large dose of Vitamin D in cod liver oil that increases resistance to colds.

This research is still in the early stages and there are other factors that affect flu resistance besides Vitamin D.  Yet getting lots of sunlight and drinking some cod liver oil this winter may just reduce your risks of the flu.

The Purpose of Health

Being as I spend a lot of time studing health issues, I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of health.  What's the point of being healthy?  On one level, it's a very simple answer: to be able to function and carry on.  Naturally, a part of this is selfish: a person wants to feel good, look good, be able to move efficiently, etc., just because it's natural to care about oneself and one's body.

Yet there are deeper motivations for health.  Here's a scenario: let's say a person achieves perfect health.  They are free of disease and all their systems are working.  But let's also say this person doesn't really do much with their life - they spend most of their time alone and don't feel a strong sense of purpose in life.  Would you predict this person will continue to exhibit good health?  I wouldn't.  Health cannot be the central goal in life - it is a means to other ends. 

I think motivation for health can come on two levels: for ourselves and for others.  It's great to set personal goals for weight, performance, etc., and then accomplish them.  It boosts self-esteem and provides a sense of control.  Yet I think the power of keeping ourselves healthy for our own sake only is limited.  Much greater motivational power lies in keeping up our health for the sake of others.  After all, how many people battle diseases for the sake of their family, their children? 

Staying healthy for others involves two reasons: 1) you can't interact with or care for someone if you're gone, and 2) you can't interact with or care for someone very well if your health is ailing.  We only have a limited number of years above ground - maintaining your health lets you get the most out of your time, and allows you to fully contribute to the lives of those around you.