Hi guys,
It is my first fun day today. (I don't like to call it a cheat day....I cannot see myself as cheating...)
I have 2 open house parties to go to this evening...I have not been to one of these in at least a year.

But I have been anticipating that today will by my first fun day. I have no idea what will be served, and what I will eat. However, I had a very low cal breakfast and lunch.

So, o wise ones, what should I do tomorrow?

All the way back to phase 1? or just limit carbs?

: sp:

I would suggest doing a Phase 1 day.
Unless you have a strong reason not to, try Maintenance as written for the first month. Then start playing around with it, if you want.

Yah, Do P1 tomorrow. and then go back to regular maintenance until your next fun day. When I began P4 I overdid my fun day and it eventually caught up to me. Now I do a better fun day and sometimes I do two P1 days after my fun day.

Have fun at the events and the great thing about the fun day is no measuring or worrying about having enough of this or that!!!

Congrats on making it to P4!!! WOO HOO

Have fun Cindy..you will enjoy it. Hopefully you will only need a Phase 1 day for one day.

Ishbel, Sewingmomma, Patns, and Delgen..I thought that this was interesting. Of course now I am looking at other people working out and wondering if they are burning off more calories.
Patns: Good for you telling your friends that you cannot eat like everyone else. I get that a lot also..why I am obsessively eating salads at work and being the only one at a baby shower, not eating the cake.

I guess the the thing that I get out of the article is that we may not be normal, even if we have lost weight. We may need to eat lower calories and need to exercise more. Mainly whatever we need to do, we need to be vigilant and determined.

Here is the author's comment on how to fix the problem.


Weightlifting To Raise Our Lowered Metabolisms?
OK, so I was kicking all this info around in my head while I was doing cardio this AM (and burning 20% fewer calories than everyone else …grrr… ) and thinking about what this means in the real world. Is there any way that we can RAISE our metabolic rates that have been lowered by losing weight? Dr. Leibel says that small doses of leptin will do the trick, but unless someone’s got a leptin lab in their basement, that’s not available to help us out. Maybe someday, but not today.

Then I remembered the numbers that he had on the slides during his presentation: normal and obese people need 50 calories per kg of LBM to maintain weight as compared to the reduced obese, who only need 42 calories per kg of LBM. He didn’t say for sure, but I’m assuming that LBM = Lean Body Mass. LBM is your total body weight minus the number of pounds of fat on your body – it’s how we determine our body fat percentages.

Here’s my thinking – if we increase LBM, then we increase the number of calories that we can eat in a day and still maintain our new weights, right? More kilograms of LBM that need those 42 calories of energy mean that we can eat a little more or exercise a little less without gaining.

How do we increase our LBM? By adding muscle to our bodies. Every additional kilogram (not pound) of muscle in a normal weight person will burn an additional 50 calories per day, according to Dr. Leibel’s research. For us reduced obese, with our lowered metabolisms, every additional kilogram of muscle will still burn an additional 42 calories a day. So we want to add muscle in order to be able to burn more calories.

How do we add muscle? By lifting weights. Strength training, bodybuilding, resistance training, toning, weight lifting, whatever you want to call it – it’s all the same thing. Lifting weights builds muscle. More muscle increases our LBMs. More pounds of LBM mean that we can eat more food and continue to maintain our new weights. It’s the only way that I can think of to overcome the lowered metabolism caused by weight loss.

I was never really obese, but I do have lots of lean muscle (body fat under 20%). I still don't think I can eat as much as many diets would suggest without gaining...

The whole lowered BMR thing is quite interesting.
Basically, momto2cs, even at her "high" of 20% body fat, should be able to eat
2213 calories:
145lbs x (1-.20) = 116 lbs, 116 lbs/2.2kg per lb =52.7 kg, 52.7 x 42 calories

Stay with me here...
If she had never been overweight she should be able to eat 2635.
However, BMR might vary as much as 28%-32% between the top 5% and the bottom 5% of people at the same lean body mass.

Based on this, at the expected 50 cal/kg, and using 30%, we might expect her BMR to be 35 cal/kg, 52.7 x 35 = 1845. If maile's research adds a new variable to this (the study didn't say if the data was adjusted for those that had lost weight), then we are looking at 30% less of 42, which gives us 29.4 x the 52.7 for a BMR of 1549.

So with a BMR of 1549, it would kind of explain why she really can't eat at 2000 a day and maintain her weight.

I would think that if someone had heavy bones, and that the bones were more of the LBM than muscle, that would mean a lower BMR. I have no research to support that, just an assumption that only muscle is really active in the calorie burning at rest.

I can't get the study link to copy. It is in Wikipedia under "Basal Metabolic Rate" and is reference 9 at the bottom. I know Wikipedia isn't the best source, but in this instance it might be providing thought provoking information.

Just so I end on an upbeat note, a low BMR is a marker for longevity. (I might have read that elsewhere on wikipedia, so we can all just pretend that is true.)

Just a couple of quick questions:
Did the Doctor's study define what obese was for the purposes of the reduction in BMR? Is it clinically obese or does any weight lost over a certain amount or percent trigger it?

If I find the recipe for making Leptin, I'll post it in the recipe thread.

; )

Infoplease: I do not know if the doctor's study defined what obese was. That is interesting.is it any weight loss or just weight loss from being obese.
I did online research and found many studies supporting the fact that you lose leptin when you lose weight. However, I have not researched the dr's study.

Your information and comments were interesting. I like the lower BMR leading to longevity.

I went to the doctor yesterday and the nurse told me I had a heartbeat of 56...slightly below normal..She said people who are fit often have that. Progress!

Momto2cs Nice avatar! You finally figured out how to post a picture. You look GREAT!!

infoplease and maile love the conversation, you two are learning me (doing that on purpose maile as I know you're a teacher).

SO, I went for a 10 km run yesterday and it was a difficult day to stay on track...I think I pushed it too much, nibbled on things I shouldn't have and had WAY to much salt...it shows on the scale this morning. SO, instead of my usual breakfast, SHAKE it is!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

I used all that info and figured out I can eat approx. 1700 calories to maintain... good to know, good to know!

I started phase 4 today, and my coach determined that I need to eat 1,600 a day to maintain. That's with exercise. If I was a lump and did nothing, I'd need 1,400 calories. I didn't manage to eat that many calories, but I stayed within the guidelines set down by IP. So, all-in-all, it was a good day.

Maile, I'm doing cardio and strength training at my gym. I'm sure that the strength training will build up our lean muscle mass.

Congratulations!

I had a not so great weekend, and I am paying for it today. I hope the scale won't be up too high tomorrow. I definitely feel bloated.

Hello all...
I had a great time away... was non stop active the entire time. Went from a 3 hour hike to lunch to strength for an hour, cardio for an hour then stretch for an hour my first day. Second day was 2 hour bike ride in the morning lunch and rock climbing (didn't realize how intimidating this would be until I was looking up at the mountain knowing that I would be climbing it shortly). The food was a healthy person's dream. Small portions, lean, low fat options everything cooked healthfully. But I did have whole grain carbs with my meals. And had wine and a bite of a dessert one night. Came back feeling great. And went out for pizza with my husband and kids that night and went off the deep end for a week. Can't explain even to myself how I just let autopilot come on and decided that calories aren't real. Felt pretty gross but got caught right up on the carb train and didn't get myself off. Forced myself to step on the scale and I had gained 11 pounds from the last time I had stepped on the scale a week and a half prior. Ouch. Phase 1 started immediately. Finishing off my second day.
Maile- I had read something similar to your post about how reduced obese need less calories than one who has never gained weight. My understanding of the reasoning behind the 'free day' is that it increases leptin levels. When the body is hit with the increased calories it supposedly produces leptin. Also hence the reasoning with a 'reefed' wherein when one is on a diet and hit a plateau they eat a larger number of calories for a day and a resultant drop in weight is seen.
In regards to your other post about successful maintainers it all seems very true... and at odds with having a 'free day' when consistently healthy eating regardless of the day/ week/ holiday is the goal.
I have learned that me + vacation= being thrown off my maintenance mentality big time. It seems to not only be the change of routine but the change of attitude that comes with being away. More relaxed and easygoing and I don't return to 'routine' quickly enough. I am very upset with myself over my gains. And I'm not maintaining. I'm in full weight loss mode. And when I get back to goal I will be sure to keep my eating the same when I'm away as when I'm at home. And take my food conscious thoughts with me. Because it is very easy to gain weight.
For me to maintain at 140 I was eating between 1500-1700 calories a day. Carbs typically around 110 Fat 50-60 and protein 70-100.

I think I did well. I did not eat much, and chose a rhubarb crunch thing over chocolate cheese cake.

Did phase 1 on Sunday, which is hard when you are not in ketosis!

WI on Monday, and am down 2 lbs, down BMI and up in muscle...all since starting phase 4.

I am keeping close tack of everything on fat secret.com.

That is great! You transitioned very well to maintenance. But oh so right about the phase 1 days when not in ketosis!
Pat