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September 23, 2009
Q: Is it true that drinking caffeinated beverages can help me lose weight?
A: The relationship between caffeine and weight management has been the subject of research studies for over 20 years, based on caffeine’s well-known stimulant properties. We know, for example, that coffee can wake us up when we’re feeling sleepy. It’s also rapidly absorbed and distributed  throughout the body. Because of this, caffeine increases the efficiency of many over-the-counter pain relievers and cold medicines. Given these facts… can we expect caffeine to increase the number of calories we burn when we drink it?
Thus far, the only positive effect associated with caffeine consumption has been its effect on stored fatty acids. When large amounts of caffeine are consumed in 30 minutes (approximately 5-6 cups of strong coffee in 30 minutes… not exactly a pleasant experience), caffeine has a tendency to release fatty acids from storage in your body, allowing them to be used for energy. However, this discovery relates only to the endurance athletes who would benefit from this additional energy source. In terms of what caffeine can do for the rest of us, it looks like we may have to continue logging those hours at the gym – caffeinated beverages have not been proven to help with weight loss.
Furthermore, caffeine has a number of known side effects that should actually discourage people from consuming it at all. Caffeine is a natural diuretic (which anyone who drinks coffee can vouch for). This alone isn’t cause for concern, however if you drink a great deal of caffeinated beverages before you exercise strenuously then you put yourself at risk for dehydration. In the summer, even less caffeine will put you at risk. And according to the National Institutes of Health, excessive intake of caffeine has been known to cause an elevated heart rate, nausea, vomiting, restlessness, anxiety, depression, tremors, and difficulty sleeping. In more extreme cases, caffeine consumption has been linked with fibrocystic breast disease, heart and blood vessel disease, birth defects, reduced reproductive function, and cardiac arrhythmias.
In the end, you’re actually better off without caffeine at all. (Personally, I cut out caffeine only recently and have already seen a huge improvement in my overall energy levels. Plus I have fewer headaches!) Caffeine is not a magic weight loss cure, as much as we wish it worked that way. The truth is, only a calorie deficit can cause weight loss – ideally through a combination of eating less and exercising more.
Read more on weight loss strategies:
10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work For You
The Secret to Seeing Weight Loss Results
September 21, 2009
The technique of using body composition measurements, rather than weight, to track your weight loss results is an effective way to see results right from the beginning. Body composition measurements themselves encompass several strategies to track your progress, including body fat percentage, waist-to-hip ratio and circumference measurements which are the easiest, most inexpensive way to measure your weight loss success.
That being said, no measurement is more critical to weight loss than body fat percentage. At any given time, your body is a combination of lean body mass (muscle, bones, skin, tendons and organs) and fat. Body fat is actually necessary for the proper functioning of cell membranes and hormones, transportation of fat-soluble vitamins and the provision of essential fatty acids. Because of this, you always want some fat on your body. The key to having enough, but not too much, is body fat analysis.
BMI v. Body Fat: What’s Important?
You might remember your doctor or school nurse talking to you about BMI, or body mass index. Long touted as the standard for assessing health risk, BMI uses your height and weight to tell you whether you’re overweight or not. Here’s the formula:
BMI = Weight (kg) / Height² (m)
That’s it – just height and weight! No measurement of muscle mass, body fat, where you carry your weight or any other standard that would assess actual risk of disease and account for genetic differences between body types.
On the BMI chart, most of my fellow trainers would be considered overweight or even obese, based on their weight – because weight alone doesn’t distinguish between muscle and fat. My colleagues have a low body fat percentage with a great deal of muscle, and they weigh heavier on the scale as a result. Similarly, you can be “skinny” in terms of your actual weight while still having a high body fat percentage. You simply cannot determine health from weight alone. This is another reason to ignore the bathroom scale – your weight doesn’t matter as long as your body fat is healthy! So forget about your weight and BMI. Body fat analysis and circumference measurements are the absolute best ways to determine your actual health risk, and I’ll show you how to do both for yourself.
There are a few techniques for measuring body fat, some more expensive than others. To avoid sounding like a textbook, I’m going to skip right to the inexpensive, do-it-yourself methods because, let’s face it, this article is about doing these measurements on your own!
Body Fat Percentage…From Your Scale?
There are two ways to calculate your own body fat percentage. First, you could buy a bioelectrical impedance scale, which works by sending a minor electrical current through your body. This principle is based on the fact that electricity moves more quickly through lean tissue than through fatty tissue. These scales usually have metal plates for you to stand on barefoot (don’t worry, you won’t feel anything!). You can also buy a handheld device instead.
Using Circumference Measurements to Calculate Body Fat
Alternately, you can use circumference measurements to estimate your body fat percentage. The only equipment you will need is a tape measure and a regular scale (your weight is necessary for the calculation).
For Women:
Begin by measuring the following body parts: waist, hips, forearm, and wrist. Next, plug these values into the following equation to determine your lean body mass:
8.987-(0.157*waist)-(0.249*hips)+(0.434*forearm)+(0.318*wrist)+(0.732*weight)
(Tip: You can copy and paste the entire formula into the Google search box to get a quick answer without a calculator – just replace the words with your measurements.)
Subtract this answer (we’ll call it X) from your total weight to get your fat mass.
Body Fat Mass = Weight – X
Now divide your body fat mass by your weight to get body fat percentage.
Body Fat % = (Body Fat Mass/Weight)*100
Example: Sarah is 20 years old and weighs 130 lbs. Her waist is 28 inches, hips are 36 inches, forearm is 8 inches, and wrist is 5.5 inches. Her formula looks like this:
8.987-(0.157*28)-(0.249*36)+(0.434*8)+(0.318*5.5)+(0.732*130)
Sarah’s lean body mass is 96 lbs.
130 lbs – 96 lbs = 34 lbs
Sarah’s body fat mass is 34 lbs.
(34 lbs/130 lbs)*100 = 26% body fat
For Men:
This formula is slightly less complicated, since all you need is your weight and waist measurement. Next, plug these values into the following equation to determine your lean body mass:
(1.082*weight)-(4.15*waist)+94.42
(Again, you can copy and paste the entire formula into the Google search box to get a quick answer without a calculator – just replace the words with your measurements.)
Subtract this answer (we’ll call it X) from your total weight to get your fat mass.
Body Fat Mass = Weight – X
Now divide your body fat mass by your weight to get body fat percentage.
Body Fat % = (Body Fat Mass/Weight)*100
The results for either of these methods are, of course, not as accurate as more expensive techniques. However, for weight loss purposes all you really need is an idea of your progress over time (for example, you lost 5% body fat in the last 5 months). It doesn’t matter whether that percentage is slightly off or not – you still have evidence of your progress.
What Do Your Numbers Mean?
Now that you have your body fat percentage, let’s put it into context. Body fat ideals vary by age and gender, so I’ve included the following chart to help you analyze your results. What category do you fall into? Remember, these are starting numbers – it’s going to get better from here!
Recommended Body Fat Percentages for Women:
Recommended Body Fat Percentages for Men:
Tables adapted from ACSM’s Health-Related Physical Fitness Assessment Manual, 2nd Ed. 2008
Staying Positive
As you know, weight loss takes time and effort to achieve. That is why these baseline measurements are so important – they paint a surprisingly accurate picture of your progress through every step of this journey. I know some of these numbers can be scary to look at, but that’s why I’m giving you ways to measure them for yourself, in the privacy of your own home. There’s no need to have someone else take these readings for you, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to see the results. You can start today, on your own, and make the commitment to yourself that you’re going to change your body.
Tracking Your Progress
My advice is to re-take these measurements every 6-8 weeks (about the same time you would update your workout program). This gives your body enough time to produce measurable changes. You can, of course, measure whenever you want, just don’t get discouraged if you don’t see a change after only one week. Be realistic with yourself!
Looking Beyond the Scale
And lastly, please remember that your weight is secondary to all the positive changes you’re making to your body. Reducing your waist-to-hip ratio and body fat percentage will lower your risk of disease…and your weight will follow in time. In fact, my advice is to weigh yourself once – only once! – when you first start a new program. Then walk away from the scale. Hide it if you need too! I know too many clients who become obsessed with weighing themselves every day (sometimes more than once a day). These are also the same people who get discouraged just a few weeks into their new routine because they don’t realize that the secret to seeing results is to look beyond the scale. You will see more dramatic results in less time by tracking your circumference measurements and body fat percentage, rather than your weight.
So hide the scale and keep up the great work!
September 16, 2009
I recently posted about the secret to seeing weight loss results - particularly the significance of body composition measurements (such as body fat and circumference readings) on assessing your progress. Nothing works better to motivate you than visual confirmation of all your hard work!
Measuring Your Progress (Literally)
A circumference reading is possibly the easiest and least expensive method for assessing body composition. And it is exactly what it sounds like: a tape measurement reading of particular areas of your body, taking the circumference of the body part being measured. Common areas of measurement include the waist, hips, chest, arms, and thighs.
As you progress through your weight loss program, you will be losing inches on different areas of your body – and trust me, you’ll want a way to track these changes. In fact, I take circumference readings on my clients every 6-8 weeks in the beginning. I often find they’ve lost several inches long before they see a change in body fat or weight!
Equipment Needed
Although the principle behind these measurements is simple, there are some particulars that I want to review – especially if you’ll be doing this for yourself at home. To start, you’ll need a non-elastic cloth or fiberglass tape measure, something bendable like what you’d use for sewing. When you are measuring, make sure not to pull the tape too tight – you want it taut enough to stay in position without causing any indentation of the skin. So no cheating to get smaller numbers! You want to be as accurate as you can to really track your progress effectively.
Where to Measure
To ensure the accuracy of your readings, you should also associate anatomical landmarks with each reading (like taking your abdominal circumference at the level of your belly button). This practice keeps your recordings consistent and reduces the chance for error. The list below contains specific measurements and their landmarks.
Circumference Locations & Landmarks
Waist: the narrowest point between the bottom of your rib cage and the top of your hip bones
Hips: with your feet together, the point where your butt sticks out the most (not our favorite measurement, I know…)
Abdominal: at the level of your belly button
Chest: the very center of your chest, across the nipple line (without a padded bra ladies!)
Upper Arm: with your arm extended, you want to measure the largest part of your upper arm (the belly of the muscles)
Forearm: with your arm extended, the largest part of the lower arm (usually right below the elbow)
Wrist: with your arm extended, the narrowest point above your hand
Thigh: stand with one leg in front of the other, measure the front leg at the largest part of the thigh (again, the belly of the muscle)
Calf: measure the front leg at the largest part of the calf (the lower portion of the leg)
The important thing is to take your measurements in the same place every few months. So make notes if you decide to measure elsewhere, so you’ll remember to do the same later on. For example, perhaps you have a birthmark on your upper thigh and you decide to measure at that level. It’s perfectly fine to do this – you’ll be losing weight across your whole body so all of these measurements (and more!) will work to track changes. Whatever you decide, just be consistent.
Since everyone has a different body size and shape, I don’t have a list of “right” or “wrong” numbers for circumference measurements. A thirty-six inch waist might be small for you, but would be large for someone else. This is another reason accuracy is important – your previous readings are all you have to compare to!
Determining Your Waist-to-Hip Ratio
This being said, you can use your measurements to determine your risk for abdominal obesity and heart disease. To do this, divide your waist measurement (this one is above your belly button, at the narrowest point) by your hip circumference. This figure is your Waist-to-Hip Ratio. For women, this figure should be less than 0.80. For men, less than 1.0. Values above these indicate a greater health risk for type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and other conditions associated with being overweight. As you can see, this ratio is something you really want to keep low.
Seeing Results from the Beginning
 Circumference measurements alone are a great way to see results from the beginning. As you lose weight, gain muscle, and change the shape of your body, your circumference measurements will reflect every change, whether it’s three centimeters or three inches. If you’re going to be tracking your progress for yourself at home, then circumference measurements are really all you need – no expensive equipment required. You’ll get an overview of the changes taking place across your body and see results all along the way. I would recommend taking a set of initial measurements and then re-measuring every 6-8 weeks.
In addition, there are some cost-effective ways to determine your body fat percentage and to calculate some realistic weight loss goals. You can even use the circumference measurements you just took to do so – no extra equipment required! For more on body fat percentage and the difference between body fat and BMI, continue reading here.
September 14, 2009
It’s easy to get discouraged when you first start an exercise program (and sometimes even when you’ve been at it awhile…). You struggle to fit a workout somewhere in your busy day, to eat well when your business meeting serves pizza, and to continue this for weeks and sometimes months without seeing the scale budge. And you’re not alone – we all (yes, me included!) struggle to see results from all this seemingly unrewarding effort.
Seeing results is key when you start a weight loss program. You want to know that your hard work is doing something for your body, bringing you at least a few steps closer to your goals. The secret to seeing these results is knowing where to look for them – because you won’t find them on that dreaded scale.
Weight Loss ReDefined
In order to see results, you have to first understand how weight loss works. It’s not simply about losing body fat, although we wish it were that simple. Your number one goal with a weight loss program is honestly not weight loss – it’s really about restructuring your body. When you do this, the pounds will naturally follow… but it takes time. And at least initially, this restructuring won’t show any change on your scale. You are losing fat and building muscle simultaneously, so you must choose an analysis method that will track these types of changes.
The Secret…
The secret to seeing results from the beginning is body composition analysis. Your body composition is your body’s ratio of fat to lean muscle mass. And there are all kinds of ways to measure this, including circumference measurements, bioelectrical impedance, and skin calipers. The important thing to know about all of these methods is that they will show you immediate results from your efforts, as opposed to those ominous scale readings. Plus, body composition measurements serve as excellent goal-setting tools. Instead of aiming for a goal “weight” (which may be unrealistic for your body type), you can shoot for a specific body fat percentage or waist circumference. These measurements are more specific and more attainable – and you can continue to measure every few weeks as your workouts progress.
How To Track Your Fat Loss
Although some methods of body comp analysis require expensive equipment, there are several you can do for yourself right at home. The artcile links below will address both body fat percentage and circumference measurements in more detail, outlining what numbers you should look for and how to calculate the values for yourself.
Do-It-Yourself Body Composition Measurements
Your Guide to At-Home Body Fat Analysis
September 4, 2009
Q: Every night around 9pm (and especially on nights that I work late), I get a craving for carbohydrates that seems to only go away after a bowl of cereal or some chips. Any tips on how to fight the carb craving?
A: There are several possible reasons why you tend to crave carbohydrates at night, and I’ve outlined each of these below. Often our cravings are a combination of 2 or 3 of these reasons, so experiment with each solution until you find something that works for you. And let me know in the comments if you have any solutions of your own to cut those cravings!
Reason #1: You Need Sleep, Not Chocolate
 Personally, I find that I my most intense cravings are at night when I’m tired. When we are exhausted (either physically or emotionally), our bodies often have low serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter – a chemical that functions to transmit nerve impulses between brain cells. Although serotonin plays many roles in the body, it is thought to have significant influence on food intake (especially carbohydrates), mood, and sleep.
When serotonin levels are normal, they control your appetite and regulate your mood. When you are overly tired, stressed out, or depressed, your serotonin levels drop and you end up craving carbohydrates to “pick you up.” But in actuality, what you really need to do is sleep. Rest is necessary for the body to repair and recharge. You should aim for 7-8 hours of sleep each night when possible. If you are dealing with some emotional stress, then you should try to get in a few extra hours of sleep.
If you find it difficult to come home from work and go straight to bed (or to stay awake and not eat anything), then try drinking a cup of herbal tea. Warm tea is soothing and relaxing, and a natural appetite suppressant. Plus the wide variety of tea flavors available guarantee you’ll be able to find a few that will curb your craving. Just make sure it’s caffeine-free!
Continue reading “3 Reasons You Crave Carbohydrates (And How To Stop!)” »
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