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How To Lose Body Fat Part One

Claudia Wilbourn IFBB Hall of Famer and Women's Bodybuilding Pioneer




















Matching Carbohydrate Intake To Activity Levels

Recently Katie P from Thin Enough To Go To The Gym asked:

Carol
I agree with not viewing carbs as evil. Like you, I don't do very well on 20-30g carbs because of how much I exercise.

Could you please remind me how you cycle your carbs and whether you match low/medium/high carb days to particular workouts.

I am doing my first BFL challenge after following a low carb eating plan for almost a year and I am finding controlling the carbs challenging.

My answer is that I do tend to cycle carbohydrates to match my workout load. A no exercise day is usually low carbohydrate (10 to 50 grams) as I’m not going to need carbs to fuel a workout. Mid-level workouts like playing soccer with my son, swimming, aerobic dance or any aerobic exercise of about one hour requires a medium carb intake (40-75 grams). On days I blast it and do Power 90X combined with an additional aerobics session (a program called Power 90X Doubles I did all summer) I particularly pay attention to eating adequate carbs (75-150 grams) to fuel a grueling workout schedule.

For an example of my workload check out this one hour Power 90X workout that’s typical of my program and includes 24 exercises in all: Power 90X Chest Shoulders Triceps Workout

At least a few low carb advocates and dieters will argue you do not need carbohydrates at all to fuel your workouts and that your body will use fat for fuel through a process called gluconeogenesis. But these people are not engaging in the levels of activity we’re talking about. They usually report workouts of low to moderate aerobics of less than one hour or low impact resistance training (or none at all). Relying on this mechanism to fuel intense workouts – especially one’s like Power 90X, Body For Life, endurance running, intense weight training, or long duration aerobics, is unnecessary. It forces the body to work harder to produce its fuel and lessens energy levels which lowers performance. The less intense your workouts, the less rewarding your results.

You can read more on my carbohydrate cycling experiences here.

I lost scale weight (from 124 down to 114) and body fat (7 percent lost) doing 3 months of Power 90X Doubles combined with carb cycling. Not to mention quite a few inches off my waist, hips, and thighs (my measurements are listed on my sidebar). It works for me.

And I enjoyed portion controlled servings of high carb foods like pizza, beer, whole wheat bread, sour dough bread, tortillas, apples, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and other healthy but taboo foods to low carb dieters. The key is portion control and timing when carbs are eaten.

Most importantly, I added muscle mass of about 4 pounds which equates to roughly 200 calories burned daily just from having that added muscle. I'll wager those low carbers who don't do resistance training added no muscle to their bodies and might have lost some muscle mass.

I'll put together a few of my menus with my workout schedule soon to demonstrate better how I cycle carbs and post them.

By the way, I did Body For Life in 2000 after the birth of my son and lost fat while building muscle. I still have my Body For Life t-shirt. You’ll find it quite doable and effective I think.

Thanks for dropping by, Katie!
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How The Body Loses Body Fat

This brings up an excellent point many low carbohydrate advocates and dieters overlook. Active amateur and professional athletes including those who weight train or pursue bodybuilding have different energy needs than sedentary and moderately active people.

The physiological mechanism behind low carbohydrate weight loss theory is ketosis. Ketosis is one way the body uses body fat. The mechanism “is a stage in metabolism occurring when the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies which can be used by the body for energy.” Read more here.

But ketosis is not the only way to lose body fat. If it were moderate and high carbohydrate diets like Weight Watchers, Nutri-system, and The Dr. Oz Diet would not work at all. And we all know these diets work if you stick to them. My brother once lost over 100 pounds on Weight Watchers and kept it off while he stuck to their principles. He only gained it back when he returned to eating processed and junk foods, stopped exercising and ignored portion control.

The human body will lose body fat in several situations besides low carbohydrate induced ketosis:

Increased Energy Demands Including Exercise

Calorie Deficit

Increases In Metabolism Including Adding Muscle Mass

Illness and Wasting Diseases

Increased Energy Demands Including Exercise - It’s quite possible to lose body fat through increasing your energy demands alone. You will still have to be aware of your diet and eat within your daily energy needs (example: daily caloric requirement of 2000, daily calories consumed between 1800-2200).

The obvious method to increase the energy demands on your body is exercise. This can be through a combination of increased daily activity (taking the stairs instead of the elevator), aerobic exercise (treadmill, jogging, dance), and resistance training. As long as you burn more calories than your body requires you will lose body fat.

Calorie Deficit – This can be achieved through cutting calories alone or by limiting a macro-nutrient - carbohydrates, fat, or protein - as long as you do not increase consumption of other macro-nutrients (limiting protein is not recommended for healthy active individuals). Combined with exercise a caloric deficit is doubly effective.

One of the pitfalls of low carbohydrate diets when not combined with portion and calorie control or at least awareness of portion size is you can out strip your diet by eating too much. Dr. Atkins warned of this in his “Atkins For Life” book.

I read a LOT of blogs and I can remember reading one entry by a low carb dieter who went out to dinner after a brief fast and ate two slabs of prime rib with vegetables. One 12 ounce restaurant portion of prime rib is 1187 calories, 105 grams of fat, 56 grams of protein, 0 carbs. Two restaurant size portions of prime rib with vegetables will run you over 2400 calories, 100 grams of protein, and 60 grams of fat. Unless you’re Jay Cutler or Ronnie Coleman there is no way you need that much calories, protein, or fat in one sitting. And these pros know better than to eat that many calories, protein and fat at one meal. That meal would have been enough for two or three Jay Cutler sized meals!

Later in the entry this blogger wondered why his one day fast combined with the low carb meal (mega-feast) didn’t result in weight loss. Simply put, this dieter outstripped his daily caloric requirement by indulging in gluttonous amounts of low carbohydrate food at one meal. It's a low carbohydrate diet fallacy that calories don't count. Check out Dr. Atkins "Atkins For Life" pages 73-75 if you don't believe me.

Beware that cutting calories too drastically (under 1200 for women and under 1800 for men) for long periods of time lowers your metabolism and slows body fat loss. It will also result in loss of muscle mass and other vital tissues. The pitfalls of extreme low calorie dieting are discussed here.

Increases In Metabolism – Metabolism – specifically how many calories we burn in a day - is influenced by factors you cannot control including age, sex, genetics, and by factors you can influence, particularly how much muscle mass you have and how many calories you burn through activity. Adding muscle to your body is an efficient metabolism booster with a plethora of other benefits.


A pound of muscle is more compact than a pound of fat and more metabolically active. A pound of body fat burns roughly 3 calories a day while a pound of muscle burns roughly 50 calories a day. Muscle is firm and attractive while body fat is soft and in too great a quantity unappealing. Muscle increases your strength, endurance and metabolism.

People who are sedentary or ignore resistance training naturally loose muscle mass (about 3 percent a decade between 30 and 80 years of age). This is the chief reason people experience a slowed metabolism as they age. With loss of muscle mass comes a lowered calorie demand. If you eat them same amount of calories as you did before losing muscle you will gain body fat.

Illness and Wasting Diseases – not a desirable method, folks. I just mention it because it’s a common phenomenon.

Previously printed at Kudos For Low Carb blog.

Celebrating a Milestone

Greetings everyone, this is my first post here so let me introduce myself. I'm Lady Rose from the Diet Pulpit. I am celebrating a very big milestone today - the scale now reads under 200 (weighin for week 75 is 199.5 to be exact), which means I've lost 94 lbs all together. I still have a few pounds to go (about 50ish) but I already feel like a winner each and every day no matter what the scale says because I make my health as my first priority.

I didn't always feel that way. I have been trying to lose weight since I was about 13 years old with the first 5 or 10 lbs almost every girl thinks she needs to lose (even though she doesn't). Decades of dieting led to my top weight of 293.5 lbs at the age of 51. May 1, 2006 I decided I had to change my LIFE, not just my weight. I was diagnosed with symptoms of heart failure, my knees and other joints were in constant pain, I could barely breathe when I went up a small flight of steps. I was frightened I would fail yet again and never lose the weight - but I was more frightened of how bad my health was getting so I set aside everything I had ever done before and set forth on a NEW path (that I call the Tao of Weigh).

There are good days and bad days. There are often long stretches of frustration and weeks where the scale is being uncooperative. BUT the "secret" to successfully losing weight (or any goal) is to NEVER EVER give up, no matter what, keep going. There is no magic pill; there is no miracle cure. I learned to focus on the bigger picture, to carry on in spite of disappointment or frustration, and "fix" what needed to be fixed on the inside and in the rest of my life so that eating healthy and getting fit became a natural part of an whole healthier lifestyle. I'm not perfect that's for sure, and I still have lots to learn and improve - but each day I wake up determined to make healthy choices and enjoy the day as it unfolds.

It sounds easy, but I know it can be a struggle and just how dark and lonely that long road back to health can feel. If there is one thing I can share with all of you today it's to tell you it is worth the time, the effort and even the struggles to start taking care of YOU - today, right now, put your health first. One choice at time, one day at time - begin today. Know that you are not alone, that you can reach out and connect with others for support, motivation and a shoulder to lean on.

Health and Happiness, Lady Rose

5 Tips For Low Carb Entertaining With Menu and Recipes

You’re on a low carbohydrate diet plan and you’re having success. Your waistline is shrinking but you don’t want your social circle to shrink with it. The holiday season looms with its parties, casual get-togethers and big family dinners. You’ve even committed to hosting one of these food fests. What’s a low carber to do?

Here’s a few tips to help you through:

Tip 1: Serve a predominantly low carbohydrate menu (sample menu and recipes below).

Tip 2: Don’t tell anyone your menu is low carb. If you follow the rest of the tips they probably won’t notice.

Tip 3: Rely on easily prepared and presented foods that almost everyone likes. Serve one or two low carb salads or soups, entrees or casseroles, a cheese platter, and fresh berries and cream for dessert. You’ll be able to stick to your low carbohydrate diet and your guests will be delighted with their food.

Tip 4: If guests ask what they can bring suggest low carb items like nuts, fresh fruits, or gourmet coffee and tea for after dinner.

Tip 5: If a guest brings an unexpected high carbohydrate dish allow your guests to indulge but choose wiser options yourself. Don’t let someone else’s non-diet offering derail you.

Here’s a sample menu for a casual dinner with recipes following.

Casual Dinner Menu

Appetizer - Crudites with Dip

Salad-Crab Salad

Entrées- Swordfish Steaks, Prime Rib

Vegetable Dish - Mediterranean Green Beans

Dessert – Fresh fruit, selection of cheeses.

Recipes

Edgy Veggies Crudités with Savory Dip

For Savory Dip:

1 cup cottage cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons Smart Balance mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/3 cup red onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

For Crudités:

2 carrots, peeled
6 celery ribs
1 small zucchini, peeled
1 small red bell pepper, seeded
1 small green bell pepper, seeded
1 cup radishes
1/2 cucumber
1 cup cherry tomatoes, rinsed

Put all dip ingredients in a food processor and combine until smooth and well blended. Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. Wash all Vegetables and let dry. Cut carrots, celery, zucchini and peppers into 2 inch by 1/2 inch strips. Slice radishes and cucumber. Place dip bowl in the center of a large serving dish. Arrange vegetables on outer edges and serve. Serves 6.

One serving of dip equals 2 tablespoons: 61 calories, 4 grams protein, 5 gram fat, 2 grams carbohydrates, 2 mg. One serving vegetables equals 1/2 cup vegetables: 28 calories, > 1 gram protein, > 1 gram fat, 7 grams carbohydrates

Company’s Coming Crab Salad Cups

4 large tomatoes, stemmed
1 – 6 ounce package cooked crabmeat, drained, flaked, and cleaned
½ cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
2 tablespoons chives, diced
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

Scoop the pulp from each tomato leaving a ½ inch thick shell. Drain tomatoes on
paper towels. Squeeze excess juice from tomato pulp and chop. Combine pulp with crab meat, celery, rice, almonds, chives, basil, lemon juice, mustard, and pepper in a bowl. Sprinkle salt inside tomato shells. Fill tomatoes with crab mixture. Serves 4. One serving equals one stuffed tomato. Nutrition facts per serving: 120 calories, 12 grams protein, 3 grams fat, 14 grams carbohydrates, 320 grams sodium, 44 grams cholesterol.

Hearty Provincial Swordfish Steaks

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons coarse-grain country-style mustard
4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
4 – 5 oz swordfish fillet steaks

Preheat broiler. Spray broiler pan with non fat cooking spray. Spread steaks in a 9 x 13 baking dish. In a bowl combine lemon juice, soy sauce, mustard, garlic, oil and ginger. Pour marinade over swordfish to marinade and turn to coat Refrigerate 10 minutes. Transfer fish to broiler pan. Broil 4" from heat 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Plate fish. Serve hot. 4 servings. Nutritional Analysis Per Serving: 213 Calories Protein 29 grams Fat 9 grams Carbohydrate 3 grams

Company's Coming Prime Rib

1 - 5 pound lean prime rib roast, excess fat trimmed off
3 tablespoons cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
Meat thermometer

Place roast in a roasting pan with the fatty side up. In a small bowl, combine garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Spread mixture over the roast and let roast marinate in refrigerator at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Bake roast for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 325 degrees and roast about 60 to 75 minutes. Internal temperature of roast should be 145 degrees for medium rare. Allow roast to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serving size 4 ounces. 20 servings. Nutritional Analysis Per Serving: Calories 331 Protein 31 grams Fat 23 grams Carbohydrate - 1 gram

Mediterranean Green Beans

1 16 ounce package frozen cut green beans
Or 1 pound fresh green beans
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Place green beans in a large sauce pan and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt to taste. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender. Add cilantro and garlic and sauté until cilantro wilts. Serve hot.
Makes 4 servings. One serving equals 1/2 cup: Calories 160, Protein 1 grams, Fat 13 grams, Carbohydrates 8 grams, Sodium 74 mg, Cholesterol 0 mg.

All recipes from my cookbooks The Protein Edge Cookbook and Easy Gourmet For Diabetics by Carol Bardelli only available direct from JB Publications.

When You Get That Sinking Feeling Because Your Drain Won't Drain

I’m a former journeyman tile setter who now maintains rental property. I remodel and repair everything from rooftops to floors.

Every now and then some home maintenance issue comes up at home and I have to fix it. And I’ve been doing this stuff all day. I can still hear my wife, “Jerry! Fix it.”

This tip came about by accident. Our bathroom sink wouldn’t drain properly. I’d be shaving, or Carol would be doing, well whatever… And the drain backed up.

This is usually one of those time-consuming problems in the bathroom. Our pedestal sink has a pull up stopper. A pull up stopper is great usually. It stops large objects from clogging the drain.

The down side is that it’s stationary, you can’t just pull it out, and hair and smaller stuff collects around the stopper until the water backs up.

The normal way to repair this is to remove the stopper assembly from under the sink, think unscrewing the drain pipe. Then without using the sink, clean the stopper, maybe in the bath tub. The sink, it’s out of commission. It’s all a major effort, believe me. What a pain.

The short cut I found out by accident is to run the water in the sink until it’s a few inches full. Easy to do, the sink is clogged up anyway. Then use a plunger on it. Yes, use a big plunger on that little bitty drain This will pull the hair and other clogged up material up into the sink above the stopper.

The goop and gunk rises to the top.

Simply pull out the offending crap, ah I mean material, out of the sink with your fingers and with little effort you can get it all out. Problem solved. Small thing for sure, but anything to make life a little easier is cool. Rad. Bitchin’.

by Jerry Bardelli. Carol Bardelli lended technical assistance.

5 Bad Habits That Could Ruin Your Fitness Goals

1. Allowing your “cheat days” to get out of hand.

Although calorie and carbohydrate cycling is a valuable tool in losing body fat and keeping your metabolism high, allowing yourself too many high calorie or high carbohydrate meals can easily stop weight loss in its tracks.

2. Not eating enough calories.

Many people make the mistake of dropping their calorie intake too low (approximately 1200 for women and 1500 for men) and then sustaining this inadequate intake for too long. Sure, you may lose weight faster at first, but if you eat too few calories for more than a few weeks you risk a damaged metabolism. One way to avoid this is to cycle low calorie and high calorie days. If you eat below 1500 calories for 5 to 7 days straight throw in an 1800-2000 calorie day or two. This signals your body its not really facing a famine.

3. Lifting weights that are too light.

Many people lift weights thinking they’re challenging their muscles adequately. In reality, if you do 12 to 15 repetitions without muscle burn or getting close to muscle failure (unable to perform a complete rep) you’re not challenging your muscles enough for growth. Many women are guilty of “aerobic” weightlifting with weights that are too light. At least once a week you should lifting heavy enough to push to failure and include performing a few partial reps. These last and most difficult reps are what produces muscle stimulation for growth.

4. Not doing enough aerobics.

How many exercise programs and products advertise “20 to 30 minutes of aerobics 3 times a week is all it takes to get in the best shape of your life!” This is even less than the government recommends and we know how trustworthy their advice is. Although this 20-30 minutes 3 times a week is enough for cardiovascular maintenance its not enough to create a large enough caloric deficit for fat loss. If you’re very overweight or unfit this is a place to start. But everyone should strive for increased activity for health and weight maintenance.

5. Doing too much aerobics.

Yes, you can do too much exercise and if preserving and building muscle mass is one of your fitness goals (it should be) doing more than 45 to 60 minutes of aerobics a day or more than five to six sessions a week can actually lead to muscle loss. Muscle loss equals a lower metabolism and less ability to burn fat. While not enough aerobic exercise is a minus, doing too much is too.

'5 Bad Habits That Could Ruin Your Fitness Goals' is a reprint from the Kudos For Low Carb Blog by Carol Bardelli

10 Easy Low Carb Snacks

You’re crunched for time. You have children to get off to school, errands to run, a demanding job, and extra-curricular activities with you kids in the evening. You’re sorely tempted to pick up a burger and fries at a drive-thru or grab a candy bar and soda and the 7-Eleven. What are you to do to keep your diet from flushing down the tubes?

The best strategy is to plan ahead and be prepared. If you don’t you’re leaving yourself wide open to every high carb / high calorie temptation in your path.

Set aside an hour or so on a weekend and prepare enough healthy snacks to last through the week. A handy appliance to have on hand is a Seal-A-Meal. You can easily make portioned packaged snacks to take while you’re on the go.

Another handy item is a small soft sided cooler or lunch box to carry your snacks. This allows you to widen your snack selections including perishables. This is a trick most bodybuilders use to stick to a clean diet, they carry their food with them.

The following low carb snacks are easy to prepare, convenient on the go, and tasty.

1. Mixed nuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts, any combo you like provides a delicious and nutritious snack.

2. Boiled or deviled eggs (recipe below) are easy to prepare ahead and make a tasty hand held snack.

3. Beef jerky is a great choice and you can actually grab a bag on the go at most mini-marts and grocery stores.

4. Individually packaged cheese sticks are another easy snack and readily available in most stores.

5. Tuna packets are now available in many flavors, they’re very convenient and go with other easy carry foods like celery, carrot sticks and lettuce leaves (for sandwich wraps).

6. Laughing Cow cheese is a delicious snack spread over celery sticks or paired with low carb fruits.

7. Cottage cheese is an old reliable that’s easily jazzed up with pepperoni slices, Canadian bacon slices, pork rinds, or real bacon bits.

8. Plain yogurt has less sugar than flavored and fruit added varieties. Add fresh berries and you have a healthy sweet snack.

9. Seeds like pumpkin and sunflower seeds are available shelled and easy to snack on anywhere.

10. Chicken strips are available in the deli section and also easy to make yourself if you’re on a budget. (Recipe below)

Quick and Easy Deviled Eggs

12 hard-cooked eggs
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Splenda
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Paprika

Slice eggs in half, remove yolks and set whites aside. In a small bowl, mash yolks up with a fork. Add mayonnaise,
Splenda, vinegar, mustard and salt and mix well. Spoon or pipe yolk mixture into egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika. Chill before serving.

Nutrition Information per egg: 70 calories, 0.5 grams carb, 6 grams fat, 4 grams protein.

Bruno’s Easy Chicken Strips


1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups pecans, finely chopped
4 tablespoons soy or almond flour
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning blend
1 pound boneless chicken breast tenders


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place butter in a shallow pie pan. In another shallow pie pan, mix together the chopped nuts, flour, and seasoning blend. Dip chicken tenders in butter, then press into the nut mixture to evenly coat. Arrange in prepared baking dish and drizzle with any remaining butter. Bake 25 minutes until chicken juices run clear.

Nutrition information per 4 ounce serving: Calories 424, 2 grams carbs, 31 grams fat, 35 grams protein.