Hello, no, im not female :nono: , but my mother has asked me for help as she sees that I am pretty much a fitness freak from now on, and she thinks that I can help her since i "know" so much about working out etc, but the issue is that her case is quite different, she is 50 yrs old, 95 kilos, and 5ft. 8inches.

In my case, all i really know about at this point is bulking, since that is what I am attempting to do now, putting on weight, but in her case she wants to lose weight, preferably 20 kilos... and since I have no knowledge in the field of losing weight, but only in GAINING weight, there is not much I can do for her. So here I am , asking for any adivce that anyone may have to offer. She has attempted several various diets, all of which had no long term results, so we are in need of a diet program, and possibly any type of exercise program.

We have a swimming pool, and a stationary bike which could be used, great for cardio, but in terms of weightlifting she has not done much, and I dont know where to start.

For now, should we just focus on cardio and later on move to weightlifting????


We really could use any help, for a diet program made JUST FOR LOSING WEIGHT, and posibly any advice on training.

Keep in mind, she is going through menopause as well, if that makes any difference...:confused:

First, for encouragement I would suggest you have her look at the "Fit Women over 42" thread in this forum (link here) (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=10747)

One of the things that is really discouraging for older women (of which I am one) is that they believe that whatever they have "done" to their bodies or "let happen" to their bodies, that the damage is not largelyreversable... that they will always look "old." The before and after pics on the above thread turns that notion completely on its head. The thread is very inspiring and motivating.

The second is to emphasize to your mother (if you haven't already) though it is understandable to start gradually and with what is most familiar, in the end, to get what she wants she ultimately will have to adopt the three prongs of diet, cardio and weight lifting.

Be sure to assure her that she will not get bulky or look all muscular, that even in the most extreme of the pictures on the "women over 42" thread, are pictures of women at body fitness contests and that they have done something special to their bodies for judging purposes that literally last for a few hours only (water deprivation, etc.) and once they go back to their normal healthy eating cardio and exercise they look like normal healthy soft and curvaceous women again. It takes about 3 days.

With respect to diet, well being on these boards you know there are a gazillion approaches to an effective diet. In my observation they come down to basically 2 types. Which type to adopt, I think, really depends on the individual, which one "feels best" and most comfortable to be on -- which means relatively easy to stay on.

But let's list the elements that most successful approaches pretty much agree on....

1. Low fat approach does not work. It does not cause one to lose weight, fat, or anything else. Only its restrictions in calories is what causes the weight loss.. and low fat diets tend to be too low in calories and that yields the exact opposite of the desired effect after a couple of months. That is one of the reasons why people find it so hard to stay on low fat diets. It causes a catabolic effect which means it induces muscle loss without reducing much in body fat content; this muscle loss slows down the metabolism which means you have to eat even less to continue to lose weight, which gets harder and more dangerous. You lose energy due to the muscle loss and inadequate food supply, so you feel bad all the time and start craving sugar foods, because they are quick boosts to energy. Your metabolism shuts down even more because you are under-eating and the weight loss stops dead in its tracks, meaning what you are eating (i.e., extremely low calorie) is sufficient to maintain your weight... but you are completely sapped of energy and no weight loss. You decide to go off the diet to eat normally and because of the decreased muscle content in your body and its shut-down metabolism... normal eating actually cause you to gain weight -- not maintain the weight loss, and that brings on all the psychological discouragement, which often causes people to say. "the hell with it" and actually eat more than they even did before. Also b/c you have functioned in a starvation mode, often people start binging and not only gain back all the weight they lost but even more and because they are not weight lifting, it all comes back on as fat and they look worse than when they started. Low fat diets are the absolute worst approach as you end up with more weight and a fatter sloshier body than what you started out with, which leads to despair and worse eating habits that cause the body to continue to deteriorate.

So pretty much everyone agrees, low fat and or extreme low calorie diets in the long run make you fatter and look even fatter.

2. Get rid of bad fats: despite popular (and government ) opinion, this does not mean animal fats. Red meat is fine, pork is fine, bacon is fine, whole eggs is fine. These are not unhealthy fats. Even though they contain cholesterol, it has now been scientifically proved with top studies in the leading medical journals that consuming cholesterol does not cause build up of cholesterol in the body. It was a logical thinking that has since proved wrong. (The government has since recanted its opinion on meat and animal protein.) To the contrary eating a lot of animal protein, including the list above has been shown to lower cholesterol in the body.

Bad fats are fats that have been industrially altered for various preservative and other properties (http://www.mercola.com/1997/archive/dietary_fat_linked_to_heart_disease.htm). They may have long shelf-lives but they make short human lives. What is referred to as trans-fats (http://www.mercola.com/2003/jul/19/trans_fat.htm) are the ones to stay away from. Healthy fats are, in addition to the fats from the list above: Olive Oil, coconut oil (the natural virgin kind not the hydrogenated coconut oil that is extremely unhealthy and dangerous and in many commercially sold food products) fish oil, flax seed oil are my favorite 4.

Fat also can come from nuts (in natural form) the most popular being almonds (I get tamari soaked roasted almonds from Whole Foods, which are delicious.)

3. Stay away from sugar products: regular sodas, ice cream, cake, candy. Some also advocate staying away from flour products because they are metabolized not too dissimilarly from sugar... i.e., they convert readily into fat. This includes: bread (even whole wheat or other "healthy" breads), pasta (same thing about whole wheat), crackers, bagels, etc. Not everyone agrees on the need to get rid of flour products, but even those who incorporate them, limit them.

4. Spread your meals over 5-6 smaller meals a day. Try to eat the last one about 2 hours before bed.

5. Drink plenty of plain water... diet soda, coffee, tea , juices do not count toward your water requirement. You can drink those of course but they don't count as pure, clean water. Minimum is 8 glasses a day... more depending on your body weight. I recommend finding bottled water that you like the taste of. My favorites of the moment are Essentia, Trinity, Glaceau Smart Water and Appalachia. Bottled water costs money but less than the sodas and cups of coffee and tea you will buy less of now that you are drinking so much water. Appalachia by the gallon is about $1.60. That is more than twice your water needs for one day.

6. Be sure to eat a sufficient number of calories... for females it is somewhere between 1500- 1800 calories per day, more depending on height and weight (and if you start lifting weight). Lower than 1500 is likely to cause your body to consume its own muscle and spiral into the slowing metabolism syndrome described earlier.

Now for the two main approaches to diet:

1. The 40-40-20 split: 40% of you calories from protein, 40% form carbs, 20% from fat.

Animal protein = meat, fish, eggs dairy -- most people agree that vegetable protein does not cut it, because they are essentially incomplete proteins though there are a few on JSF who do very well on strictly vegetarian diet... but I think if you do so you have to be very careful to take particular vitamins supplements for the pure vegetarian approach to work. -- But most people who do eat pure vegetarian (i.e., no eggs, fish chicken etc.) either look like concentration camp victims or are overweight because they are constantly sneaking candy, cake and ice cream to make up for the shortage of animal protein. (Shortage of protein causes sugar food cravings.)

This combo of 40-40-20 is for every meal. Many people do well, many people fail on this approach. I am one of the people who failed and gained 70 pounds over 15 years trying to do this. I have lost 45 lbs consuming variations of the second approach and I do not regain them when I go off my food plan though I have not increased my weight loss because I have not stuck strictly to the second program.

2. Eat your meals either as protein/fat combos or protein/carbs combos... but never eat carbs and fats int he same meals. This approach tends to be higher in fat content than the first approach, since most meals are of the protein/fat variety, but the particulars vary from program to program. my impression is that more people succeed with this second approach with the first approach... the people who succeed with the first approach are a distinct minority. But that's just my impression... it is not scientifically based.

Cardio: HIIT v LISS... you can read a ton on that on this forum just doing a search. People are divided. I prefer LISS. Generally I like it and prefer it and I have pictures of my self posted on JSF that prove that doing primarily LISS alone will cause fat loss and go down dress sizes even with no weight loss. Fasted or non-fasted: this is also endlessly debated and you can find threads here on that topic. I do fasted LISS as most people who do LISS do.

Post menopausal hormones. Despite all the current studies, all of which are being gradually refuted or more accurately described, hormones are critical for the post-menopausal woman. Even more critical is the bio-identical hormones: that is estradiol and progesterone. The more common hormone replacement therapies are with synthetics, using estrone and progestin instead. This includes products like prem-pro, etc., what doctors most broadly describe. The synthetic hormone are also the hormones that were used in all the studies that claimed hormone replacement therapy causes various forms of cancer. It is those synthetics that are not a good hormone replacement therapy.

Testosterone is the only one I personally have debates about. That is frequently prescribed for post-menopausal women as well b/c their natural testosterone production drops as well as their estrogen and progesterone production. Testosterone is critical for a woman's sex drive but I find it personally makes me more irritable and I tend to eat more and gain weight rather fast. I am in a quandary about that. I started using it again in the past 3 weeks and I gained about 8 pounds... I am not sure what I am going to do about that.

Weight-lifiting... critical to get to. A good way to start that is not intimidating and actually inviting for women, particularly older women, are Body Pump classes. The energy is high, it is great fun and it is a great start and it will get rid of any inhibitions to weight lifting for most women as most of the class is women, older women and taught by women though officially it is co-ed. After a certain point, it will not continue to yield progress, but lot of women stay with it because they enjoy the classes so much. Others go on to more serious weight lifting.

For a diet to start easily right away... Bill Phillip's Body for life... but beware it is designed to sell supplements but it is very successful. Weight Watchers repeatedly come up in scientific study after scientific study comparing various dietary approaches as one of the most successful weight loss programs and whose clients keep the weight of the longest. I believe it is because of its (not-so) new "point"system, which allows you to chose the foods you want as long as you stay within the prescribed point system. I think this lends to maximizing the individual finding the macro combinations (i.e., protein, fat and carbs) that suit them the best individually. You can find plenty of others around. Search on JSF.

Good luck to your mom!

Justitia,
Just to clarify, does "never eat carbs and fat in the same meal" mean that I shouldn't put almonds in my oatmeal? Please say it isn't so..:eek:
Pam

my biggest advice is to stay away from the fast foods all junk and drink lots of water..

Justitia,
Just to clarify, does "never eat carbs and fat in the same meal" mean that I shouldn't put almonds in my oatmeal? Please say it isn't so..:eek:
Pam

I was just comparing two approaches to clean eating... one was the 40-40-20 Ratio of calories form Protein, Carbs and fat, with one of the mo st popular alternative approaches which was not to combine carbs and fats in the same meal. Some people have good success with one, some with the other. I prefer the latter... no carbs and fats in the same meal..it works well for rme... but people I have tremendous respect for here on the forums do the 40-40-20 approach with great success... one that cones to mind is also a female... causticmuse. You can search for her threads here and read her blogs at other site.

Your oatmeal with almonds would fall under the 40-40-20 split. That's fine . the only suggestion I would make is to get animla protein in there. The protein from oatmeal and nuts don't do to much for you and will help set you up for breaking down on your food plan and maybe binging. You could do that by adding milk to it. Depending on how many almonds, you could probably use regular rather than skin... and if you preferred cream but less milk overall, you could use light or heavy cream.... But you would wan to figure out the macro of protein carb an d fat for each meal that you need as well as over all calorie content (which for women typically runs form 1500 to 2000 calories.)

I am a firm believer in if the approach really appeals to you , you should go for it... it probably is the best one for you....

So there you go.. !

Well, I don't think I'll be binging any time soon. My problem is I don't eat enough. :confused: I'll try a little milk in my oatmeal, I guess. That would give me more calories at least. I've eaten oatmeal everyday for the past 8 months. Along with old fashioned oats, I add a tablespoon of raisins, and about 10 almonds. After it's cooked up in the micowave, I add whey protein, 1 tsp of flax seed oil, and a few frozen blueberries. It's probably my biggest meal of the day.
Thanks,
Pam

Whey protein accomplishes the same thing. It is animal protein from milk products.

WRT undereating.... that has never been my problem... the worst I have been is bulimic, but only through binging and then not eating (never purging.) But most the time my struggle has been overeating-- or more seriously cakes, chocolate and ice cream.

But there are others here who are undereaters. I don't know which women but I believe Chicanerous sometimes has that issue (or maybe he is just a hard-gainer) and Swolecat was definitely anorexic in his early youth.

I believe (but I am not sure) that the problem is two-fold, getting enough calories and getting enough animal protein.

As you are menopausal, you also have to worry about adequate calcium. Supplements I think are pretty much essential. Also I ma a firm believer in Hormone Replacement therapy. And the type that is bio-identical to our natural hormones (i.e., estradiol and progesterone) as opposed to the synthetics (estrone and progestin.) Most HRT prescribed is the later. There is increasing evidence that the threats of cancer that come from HRT are really due to the fact that women are prescribed progestins rather than progesterone. All the studies that raise the cancer issue in various forms are all of women who are on HRT that uses progestin. I believe this includes Prem-Pro and other very common HRT's.