3 steps to permanent fat loss....

Today's Post:  Friday, 1-10-2014

1.  As close to always as you possibly can make it, STOP eating wheat totally and even if you aren’t extra sensitive to gluten, avoid gluten.  Today’s hybrid wheat usually found in refined grain form and often found in packaged foods with other harmful and fattening ingredients is itself very fattening and contains a form of gluten that is extra inflammatory and fattening.

All grain foods tend to be fattening.  But today’s wheat, usually GMO, was created to be really cheap to grow.  Unfortunately the unintended consequences include these fattening and harmful effects.

Then add to that the info that ALL grains tend to be fattening and the grain most people with fat to lose have eaten the most of is this kind of wheat and you get the idea. 

Even whole grains and grains other than wheat including rice and brown rice tend to have a glycemic index higher than sugar at about 100.  (Two exceptions are rolled or steel cut oats at about 65, equal to sugar.  And quinoa, a grain like seed that runs in the 50 range for its glycemic index.

I also just found out from Dr David Perlmutter in his grain brain book that even less inflammatory glutens in people who aren’t extra sensitive tend to be fattening.

My daughter told me I should stop eating wheat and gluten but the reason she gave me then was quite unconvincing to me.  But I now know she was correct!

For my own fat loss I’ve cut my wheat intake from 12 times every two weeks to one and I may cut that amount to once a month.

A product called Paleo Bread that is made from almond and coconut flour and is low glycemic, gluten free, has 7 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber per slice has been helpful for the few times I want bread or a sandwich.  If you want to give up wheat but NOT bread, it’s a great product.  It’s a bit perishable.  So store any that you won’t eat for more than a few days in the freezer.

2.  Eat a blend of a DASH diet with a Mediterranean diet that is a version you like including extra virgin olive oil -- and red wine in moderation if you like. But eliminate the grains from it.

The DASH diet was ranked highest recently for a base diet for fat loss but the Mediterranean diet which also ranked high may be a bit better for health.  Removing grain makes them far better for fat loss. And, eating a version you like makes it much more sustainable.  The blend is most flexible and makes that easier.

It also helps to eat whole fruit once or twice a day and NOT drink high free fructose juices like orange and grape and apple.  100% cranberry juice has half the fructose so I now drink that every other day and no juice every other day. 

Mike Geary posted the very useful information that lime and lemon juices are high vitamin C citrus juices that have even less fructose than 100%.  Try fresh squeezing those half and half with ice water for a juice that is far less fattening.  Use organic limes or lemons if you can get them.  And, if the lemons are a bit to tart for you, limes are milder.

On that subject I posted this online at the story naming the DASH diet #1:

The DASH diet was just named the number one best diet. It IS very good. But for far better fat loss and for good health, here are some upgrades.

The DASH diet IS pretty good. 

But for fat loss, drop the whole grains and eat more nonstarchy vegetables and beans for fiber and whole eggs from pasture fed hens for the B complex vitamins and protein. (Even whole grain wheat is fattening with a glycemic index higher than sugar -- and even in people not extra sensitive the gluten in wheat is fattening too!) 

For health, eliminate all margarine, corn and soy and canola oil and use only extra virgin olive oil. 

For health, ONLY eat wild caught fish. 

For health AND fat loss eat no MSG. 

And, use other spices and a bit less salt for health. (Use Hain iodized sea salt and magnesium or potassium chloride instead of regular sodium chloride salt. That lowers blood pressure and improves health in several ways.)

For health, drinking red wine in moderation is OK. 

Those changes make it a DASH diet version of a Mediterranean diet which also ranked high.

3.  Follow all or most of the methods that people who have lost 30 pounds or more and kept it off are known to use including some upgrades.

Here are my upgrades for those methods with a study that found that doing them as a permanent lifestyle upgrade DID reliably cause permanent fat loss:

“….Miriam Hospital study shows keys to successful long-term weight loss maintenance…”

“Researchers from The Miriam Hospital have published one of the first studies of its kind to follow weight loss maintenance for individuals over a 10-year period. 

The results show that long-term weight loss maintenance is possible if individuals adhere to key health behaviors. 

The study is published in the January 2014 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

J. Graham Thomas, Ph.D., is the lead author on a 10-year observational study of self-reported weight loss and behavior change in nearly 3,000 participants. 

The participants had lost at least 30 pounds and had kept if off for at least one year when they were enrolled in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR).

The participants were then followed for 10 years. Thomas explains that the goal of the study was to determine how well they kept the weight off and to identify predictors of successful weight loss maintenance.

Thomas says, "On average, participants maintained the majority of their weight loss over this extended follow-up period, and

 better success was related to continued performance of physical activity, self-weighing, low-fat diets, and avoiding overeating."

Other findings from the study show that more than 87 percent of the participants were estimated to be still maintaining at least a 10 percent weight loss at years five and 10. 

The researchers found that a larger initial weight loss and longer duration of maintenance were associated with better long-term outcomes. 

Conversely, they found that decreases in physical activity, dietary restraint and self-weighing along with increases in fat intake were associated with greater weight regain.

Thomas concludes, "This is one of the only studies to follow weight loss maintenance over such a long term. 

What the results tell us is that long-term weight loss maintenance is possible, but it requires persistent adherence to a few key health behaviors."

Miriam Hospital study shows keys to successful long-term weight loss maintenance

http://mnt.to/l/4jPJ

Researchers from The Miriam Hospital have published one of the first studies of 

its kind to follow weight loss maintenance for individuals over a 10-year 

I start with the list of what their members did and my comments on each one:

98% of Registry participants report that they modified their food intake in some way to lose weight.  

(We now know to remove soft drinks and sugars and artificial sweeteners and most fast food and virtually all packaged food, commercial baked goods, and grains goes a long way to do this successfully and the blend described above possibly assisted by being stricter every other day and one to three nonconsecutive days a week partial fasting tends to work best.)

94% increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking.

(We now know that while a total calorie outgo of over 2800 calories a week including moderate exercises such as walking DO help, that the far more time efficient superslow strength training and short periods of high intensity cardio are the most effective and doable kinds of exercise to lose fat and produce good health.)

There is variety in how NWCR members keep the weight off. Most report continuing to maintain a low calorie, low fat diet and doing high levels of activity.

78% eat breakfast every day.

(This one is highly recommended by us!  You often breakfast at home so you can make it a very nutritious and NOT fattening one.  You can get away with some fruit juice and a serving of organic fresh fruit at breakfast with least impact on your blood sugar and fat level.  This has been shown to increase the appetite and cravings control or people all day long and reduce the calories they eat – particularly from fattening foods.  These things are very helpful for men.  And studies show they are essential for most women!)

75% weigh themselves at least once a week.

(It helps if you do this at the same time on the same weekday each week.  I use right after breakfast on Saturday since on weekdays I’m rushing out of the house.

And, it is more important to get an accurate waist measurement because that measures how fat you are far better than weight.  In addition, many things can cause weight to have temporary fluctuations.  But changes in your waist measurement indicate fat changes.)

62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.

(This one is VERY valuable because it means they are using less time than most Americans in an activity that burns less calories than sleeping!  To do this they have to develop and use life management and self discipline skills that transfer strongly to how they eat and exercise.  AND by doing this they see fewer ads for fattening foods than people who watch for more. Most importantly this frees up the hours they no longer watch TV to give them the time they need to exercise!

90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day.”

(That is helpful if you can fit it in as we describe above.  It’s desirable.  But for fat loss and health what is essential is doing some kind of vigorous exercise almost every day and do it every week.  Doing superslow strength training even 20 minute once or twice a week at a gym with a personal trainer works.  But so does doing it at home for 30 minutes twice a week but doing it in the morning before the demands of the day and with no travel time make this more doable for many people.  And short bursts of intense cardio can be done a few times a week in as little as 4 to 6 minutes and be effective.  This too can be done at home.)

Here’s other information from their website:

“NWCR Facts

You may find it interesting to know about the people who have enrolled in the registry thus far.

80% of persons in the registry are women and 20% are men.

The "average" woman is 45 years of age and currently weighs 145 lbs, while the "average" man is 49 years of age and currently weighs 190 lbs.

Registry members have lost an average of 66 lbs and kept it off for 5.5 years.

These averages, however, hide a lot of diversity:

Weight losses have ranged from 30 to 300 lbs.

Duration of successful weight loss has ranged from 1 year to 66 years!

Some have lost the weight rapidly, while others have lost weight very slowly--over as many as 14 years.

We have also started to learn about how the weight loss was accomplished: 45% of registry participants lost the weight on their own and the other 55% lost weight with the help of some type of program."