Hi All
Last Wednesday Nessa and I visited the Lawnton Slimmers Group. I was invited as a Speaker, and Nessa came to provide information and to give out prizes to winners able to answer the quiz questions. It was a lovely group.
I share the content of the talk and the quiz questions for your interest.
So much research is being done about diet currently, especially in relation to diet for:
1. health purposes, eg. for better managed T2 diabetes etc, and also for
2. the most effective method to use to lose weight.
These methods can include:
1. surgery, like gastric sleeves, minimising the amount of food ingested
2. restricted eating ie reducing calorie intake
3. time-restricted eating ie having a 6, 8, 12 hour window to consume a selected number of calories
4. intermittent fasting ie using 5/2 ratio, eating normally for 5 days and having two days of significantly reduced calorie intake eg 500 calories or less.
Dietary research can also be used to try to discover what is the most effective way to maximise fat loss and retain muscle mass. For example an excellent study looked at:
1. a plant-based diet that had “good” carbohydrates like vegetables and fruit plus some protein, versus
2. a Keto diet which included mainly protein and fat with very small quantities of any type of carbohydrate. For those of you old enough (like me!) to remember the Dr Atkinson’s Diet Plan you will realise that the Keto diet is the modern version.
In this study the plant-based diet provided evidence of mainly fat loss and the Keto-based diet resulted in mainly muscle loss. Both groups lost weight but the type of tissue that was lost differed.
The biggest problem we have when we lose muscle (and it can happen through the ageing process, during sicknesses like cancer, and through a lot of bedrest and sitting around for most of the day) as well as through dieting using methods like the Keto method, is that the metabolism decreases and this causes the amount of calories we need daily to drop. And this is the last thing we want to happen when we are trying to lose weight.
One essential, in any weight loss situation, is to exercise. Physical activity like cardiovascular activity will elevate the metabolic rate while you exercise and for awhile post effort so this is a good thing to do daily to achieve a metabolic boost.
However the key to making long-term changes in our metabolism is to address muscle loss, and to do this requires we participate in “progressive resistance training” ie strength exercises where the resistance can be gradually increased to stimulate muscle growth, and/or strength exercises that are changed periodically to provide a similar challenge/stimulus. This muscle increase means you can even burn more energy when you are sleeping in bed at night because you have a bigger engine!
On a personal level I have worked for years to retain my muscle and this has resulted in a high metabolism and since I like to eat, I am happy about that!
Quiz questions
1. What are 2 self-help pathways patients with T2D need to take to help manage their condition?
2. What is the most effective form of exercise to stimulate muscle growth?
3. What is the key to losing fat rather than muscle when dieting?
Answers are on the back page. Enjoy
Cheers
Answers to the Quiz
1. Dietary modifications and exercise (especially exercise that will increase our muscle mass)
2. Progressive resistance training
3. Appropriate physical activity, combining CV and strength exercises