weight loss and being able to empathize

In your circle of family and friends inevitably there may be one or several people who do NOT struggle with weight control issues. You have seen these people drink alcohol, eat high-caloric food sources and perhaps not exercise. The nature of their metabolism is such that weight control is not an issue.

How do you feel about these people? Do you feel resentment? Jealousy? When you are with them and they are imploring you to join in with the eating/drinking festivities, do you feel angry?

It is a normal human emotion to feel this way at times. "Why me?" with the slow metabolism?

As physicians I do feel we have a responsibility to act as somewhat of a "role model" for our patients..i.e. not smoking, trying to maintain a reasonable body weight etc.

Try to NOT feel resentment at people in your world who have no weight control issues but at the same time kindly reinforce to them that you are on a weight control mission and need their help...not their sabotage!

weight loss and metabolism

We all have noticed that over time, our metabolism seems to become slower and slower. Personally, I went off to college 155 pounds and most definitely ate at least twice as many calories (and drank many more times alcohol) then I do now, and I am about 20 pounds heavier. Additionally, I now exercise every day, and when I went off to college, exercise was more like an intramural softball game. For women, it is incredibly more pronounced as to how much metabolism slows down. This affects almost everywoman, but is most notable in women who have gone through pregnancies.

What can de done to ramp up the metabolism? First and foremost is challenging the GI tract with small amounts of food (high protein especially) frequently...i.e. NOT skipping meals and getting proper snacks in during the day. NOT eating later at night also seems to have a positive effect on metabolism. Regular exercise seems to also benefit the overall metabolic rate.

There is nothing we can do to slow down the calender aging , but there are most certainly things we can do to slow down the adverse metabolic effects of aging. Metabolic slowdown does accompany calender aging but we can all do things to minimize the effects.

weight loss and individual differences

Genetics/inheritance of DNA plays a large role in our body morphology. Obviously, there is almost no one who enters our program who professes to have a "very fast metabolism". Almost everyone feels their metabolism is slow. However, there clearly are differences between people on how they assimilate/burn off calories.

I have has several patients tell me that "they heard it was okay to take one day a week and eat what you want." Many, many people who have weight control issues CANNOT do this. If they take one day (or more of course) and eat high-caloric foods, weight will NOT go down even if the first 6 days of the week were well planned and conducive to their efforts.

Some people can "get away with" eating lots of food and not gain weight (hello many males) but for most women, especially over 30 years old, this is not the case.

matching food intake to age

I would bet that most of you, certainly including me, eat far less than we did when we were in our late teens/early 20s. Despite eating many more calories back then (and lots more alcohol) weight issues never seemed to be a problem. Metabolism was such that the calories seemed to just burn off quickly. Then, especially for women, as you progress through the 20s, 30s, 40s, metabolism seems to slow down dramatically. You find that if you even came close to eating the amount you used to eat in college, the weight starts packing on.

Matching caloric intake to age-adjusted metabolism issues is very difficult because its not as if there is some computer chip in your head telling you just how much you can consume without putting weight on, with adjustments based on age. The key for weight control is monitoring your weight and then adjusting caloric intake and exercise to establish a weight that you want. Clearly, as time progresses we need to adjust downward the caloric intake or weight will increase.

Time for a run at the park with Tanner the dog. Have a great Sunday!

"I Wish I Could Go Back To College..."

There is a hilarious Broadway musical called "Avenue Q" and in this show, the actors all walk around with puppets that are the main characters. One of the show songs is called "I wish I could go back to college" and in this number, the chatacters (most of whom are in their mid 20s-30) lament that life was easier and more fun when they were all in college and their parents were paying for eveything.

One of the lines from this song was:

" But if I were to go back to college...

I would sit in the quad

And say "Oh my God!"

All the kids are so much younger than me..."

What the heck does this have to do with blogging about weight loss? Okay..here goes: I am in Williamsburg VA this weekend with my family and last night after dinner at a pizza/sub place we went to a bar near the college of William and Mary. The kids were so much fun to watch...lots and lots of beer, wings, other drinks etc being imbibed, and yet, most of the students appeared thin. I started thinking that at that age, most of us ate pizza, subs, drank beer after beer, and yet we had no difficulties controlling our weight. Over time, we started eating and drinking less, yet weight became more of a struggle.

The slowing of metabolism is subtle, yet over time, we find ourselves putting pounds on because we do not initially adjust our eating/drinking to the slowing metabolism. If I ate and drank what I saw these kids doing in a consistent manner, I would be over 220 pounds for sure. Adjusting our eating and alcohol usage as we age is a very important part of not developing a signifcant weight issue over time.

I went back to my alma mata Binghamton State University several years ago and gave a lecture about serotonin and weight loss to their biochemistry department. It was so cool to see the college campus again...memories drifted in like a breeze on a balmy summer day. I wish I could go back to college...I would sit in the quad....and say "Oh my God"...The kids are so much younger and thinner than me"