Djburney's Journal, 17 September 2012

I have an aunt who did the calorie in/out diet. She lost nothing but gained 20! Then she started watching her calorie intake, with a limit of 1500 a day. While walking 1 hour up to 2 hours per day, starting off slow at first. She lost from 400 lbs to 130 in two years! She has even managed to keep it off! That was 12 years ago, and she has never gained past 140. So from what I seen as a kid, the calorie in/out method does not work. But, that's just my opinon. 

Ok, maybe I am a little dense. The calorie in/Calorie Out method is what exactly? Is that when you eat say 1800 Calories and you expend 2400 calories a day so you have a calorie deficit? I think that just doing that you can lose weight but it can be slow. I think excercise activates something inside you that acts like an engine that streamlines the burning of excess calories. Let's face it, fat/added body padding is nothing more than our bodies' way of storing energy. In order to reduce that, you have to burn more than you take in. Now, the body has certain tricks up its sleeve. It will reduce the total body metabolism if you go too low with your caloric intake. SO, In my mind at least, you need to maintain a minimum level of calories to make sure that your body does not go into that defense mode. The tricky part is to make sure you keep your calories down but high enough that you aren't slowing down the metabolism. For me, carbs are my enemy...bread, pastries, rice, pasta, french fries, chips...that stuff makes me gain weight. Proteins, veggies, fruit, nuts...that stuff helps me drop weight. When you get in tune with your body you can see what works and what doesn't. As for the losing weight on a portion of your body..That is true. You will lose weight all over and its probably tough to target a particular area. The most you can do is build muscle in the area.  

I am not sure what you mean, angel. It sounds like you said that calories in/calories out doesn't work, then went on to explain how it did work for your aunt. What I meant by that is that creating a deficit through a combination of diet and exercise doesn't work. It's so much about the food, and Hildi you are describing what I'm talking about by listing those foods that work and don't work. Calories are important though, so that we don't eat more than we need...but you can't replace a low calorie diet with exercise for most overweight people. I'm learning about a protein hormone called "leptin" that regulates satiety and energy storage and expenditure...more to come in this exciting (to me) topic! 

Calories in/out does work; however, as Hildi said, your body has a bag of tricks. Calories in/out = starvation. Body responds to starvation by breaking down either triglyceride (fat) or protein (muscle) deposits; however, since body needs to protect itself in the long run, metabolism slows down as well. In order to counter act this, exercise is needed. Exercise and localized exercise in particular promotes muscle build-up while shaking up fat deposits in the area and making triglycerides more readily available in blood stream. Cells then assess that since muscle is needed to be built up, proteins must remain for that purpose only, and since triglycerides are now available for consumption, it will focus on that for their energetic needs, therefore bringing the metabolic rate up, inducing lipolysis (using up fat) and protein synthesis for muscle. So calories in/out does work, but exercise is needed - otherwise, just being sedentary about it, will not work. 

I do belief that exercise is vital for overall health, but it plays a small role in my weight loss on the scale. I've lost over 50 lbs with very little exercise, which has resulted in an 11 inch reduction in my waist measurement. I'm finding that all of this is so complicated, but truly fascinating! Panda, I googled "leptin" and there is some really interesting stuff coming out about how it affects your hypothalamus and appetite. Don't misunderstand...I think exercise is extremely important to my health and well-being. I am exercising now, and I love the way it makes me feel strong and alive and energetic. It also reshapes my body, which dieting also does by removing the fat, but exercise makes everything look better, even when no weight is lost.