Fit Communications

Here’s an interesting piece from MSNBC.com, in which three-quarters of obese people surveyed by telephone said that they have healthy eating habits and perform “vigorous” exercise three times a week.

75 percent of obese people say they eat healthy
More than three-quarters of obese Americans say they have healthy eating habits, according to a survey of more than 11,000 people.

I think it’s likely that the vast majority of these people don’t have a clear concept of what healthy eating and vigorous exercise are. I’d guess that the majority of Americans don’t get it either.

Healthy food choice is part of the equation; appropriate portion size is too.

OK, most people know that fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are good things and that saturated fat is a bad thing. That may be the level of most folks’ dietary sophistication.

But when you throw in the effects of advertising, how’s the average person supposed to know that filling up on fat-free this and low-carb that is just as likely to make you fat as snacking on Krispy Kremes?

As for vigorous exercise, I suspect that when one is seriously overweight, even the mildest form of movement feels strenuous and unpleasant. When I was 30 pounds overweight and out of shape, just walking up the hills in the neighborhood got me out of breath. Was that walk vigorous exercise? Not really, but because I was out of shape, mild exercise was difficult. 

In early July my training partner struck up a conversation with a beautiful, buff young woman who also trains at our gym. Turns out she is a fitness competitor who was just days away from competing in the 2006 Figure Nationals in New York City.

Well, we saw her again on Wednesday evening, and she told us she had won her class and earned her pro card.

Congratulations, Nina DeTommaso! You look gorgeous!

Check out her context pix here.

A story posted in mid-July on MSNBC.com’s diet and health section begins as follows:

With excess weight a greater problem than ever, the question of whether
changing eating habits or exercise is more likely to produce weight
loss is vital.

No, that question isn’t vital. It misses the point entirely.

Here’s the point: Most of us aren’t as healthy as we could be because we make poor food choices, eat too much, and move too little. As a result, the majority of the population is overweight. These are indisputable–the kind of obvious conclusions the U.S. government presents in its 2005 Dietary Guidelines.

If those factors are endangering our health, the solution is striving for greater health by making better food choices, eating the appropriate amount of food for our activity level, and engaging in regular physical exercise.

So why does this article’s author–a registered dietician–pose the irrelevant question "should we eat better or exercise in order to lose weight?"

The problem–overweight–has multiple causes, including too many calories and too little activity. The solution has to involve both food choices and physical exercise.

You can find the full article here.

Here’s a cool trend: more women (about 20 percent) now say they do strength training at least twice a week, and more people over age 65 are also pumping iron.

Check out the Associated Press story on msnbc.com:

Sculpted trend spurs women to the weight room
Women are pumping more iron, with nearly 1 in 5 doing twice-a-week workouts, a new federal study shows.

What a difference from when I first entered a weight room (1975 or 1976). Hardly any women.

This study is a nice antidote to the depressing flow of bad news about how the rate of obesity is rising.

This is on my mind because of a recent conversation between myself and a good friend and training partner.

I announced that I’d like to tighten up a bit by the time I reach 50 this September. My goal—a somewhat scary one—is to get back to 125 or thereabouts. It’s scary because 130 is such a comfy setpoint for me. Since I reached my fat-loss goal in April 2005, I’ve usually weighed between 130 and 132, with a low of 128 and a high of 134 (a few weeks ago, when I noticed that either all my pants had shrunk or my butt had expanded).

So my friend said, I’d like to lose 10 pounds by your birthday. My response was, that’s great—what changes will you make to your diet and activity level?

She replied that she was eating pretty clean already, and she figured our gym workouts and her morning walk (three times a week) would do it.

Keep in mind, she’s lifting once or sometimes twice a week. She also enjoys eating out (who doesn’t?). And probably all of you know how hard it is to eat moderately at restaurants.

My point was that if she’s maintaining her weight on the amount she’s eating and the amount she’s working out, why should she expect 10 pounds to drop off if nothing changes?

I’ve been where she is.

During my weight-loss journey, I stayed on a plateau for six months or more because I refused to count calories and just kept thinking, How come I’m not losing weight? I’m eating clean.

Yes, I was eating clean—eating just enough clean calories to maintain my weight. Duh!

When I finally made the commitment to keep a food journal and track my calories, the pounds came off. That’s what I’m doing now to get down to 125. I’m also walking most mornings, doing cardio at the gym about five days a week, and lifting three days a week.

I keep a food journal and also a separate log that tracks the date; whether I walked, lifted, and/or did cardio that day; my waist measurement and scale weight; and how many calories I consumed per day.

I don’t weigh or measure every day, but at the end of the week, the scale and tape measure tell me whether I’ve made progress or not—and the calorie and activity charts tell me what it took to make progress (or not).

Then I know whether my efforts are working or not, and I have a clue what I need to do in response.

Sally Squires’ “Lean Plate Club” columns (on The Washington Post website) are worth checking out, and if you enjoy them, you can subscribe to a weekly e-mail version.

This week’s column, “Losing in the Limelight,” focuses on the pros and cons of telling everyone your weight-loss goals.

Sally mentions a physician, Dr. Nick Yphantides, who used to weigh 467 pounds. Yikes! Nick lost a gob of weight and has maintained his loss for five years. Read about him here.

Today Reuters published a story about the consequences of obesity in teens. The upshot is, the heavier one is at 18, the more likely one is to die in middle age.

Here’s the blurb:

Overweight at 18, maybe dead in middle age?
Young women who are overweight at the age of 18 have a higher risk of dying young, but medication and behavior therapy can help young people lose weight, U.S. researchers reported Monday.

I’d love to see the so-called fat activists—the people who maintain that being overweight poses no health risks—explain this one.

I can’t read a magazine these days without seeing an article or a blurb about antioxidants—for heart health, for cancer prevention, for healthier skin. It’s all good motivation for me to continue improving my diet.

About a year and a half ago I went on a big crusade to eat more fruits and vegetables (primary sources of antioxidants), and although my intake has been higher than it had been before, I’ve got a long way to go.

Have been reading Dr. David Katz’s books (The Way to Eat; The Flavor-Point Diet) and finding them interesting. He talks a lot about fruits and vegetables, and again, I’m on a crusade—not following a new “diet” but seeking greater health.

Because I’m always in a rush and rarely take time to cook, the trick for me is to go raw and focus on food I can wash, pack, and eat in a trice. So berries, apples, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and baby carrots are good options. I always have healthy snacks with me (I get overly hungry most days if I don’t eat every two to three hours), so it’s just a matter of carrying fruit/veg snacks in addition to my usual South Beach cereal bars, yogurt, whole-wheat pita, and light mozarella sticks.

The best news of all: coffee is one of the best sources of antioxidants in the American diet. I’ve got that one covered.

Guys, 50 is staring me in the face. In about two months, I enter a new decade. The thought is fairly mind-blowing, although I’ve been coming to terms with it ever since, um, turning 49.

I’ve got goals to meet.

I’ve been a little sloppy in the past couple of months, so the new gym membership (and attendant kick in the motivational pants) couldn’t have come at a better time.

I think I’ve written about this before: the fact that the body is so responsive to whatever we do or fail to do. So I’m not worried. I know what I need to do.

Here’s the dumb part. I was actually wondering whether my favorite jeans had shrunk (and my favorite shorts) because they were, well, tighter.

Hello! The pants haven’t shrunk; my butt has simply expanded!

I know the cure. The Rush has a whole raft of elliptical trainers and a very, very smooth leg-press machine that I’m just loving.

And tomorrow is leg day . . .