Exercise, Nutrition, WLS & Cooking Q&A - 11/13/2013

I don't think I got any questions yesterday. I have noticed a lot of newbies here, don't be afraid to put it out there. If you are pre-ops, let me know I have some very good advice for you on preserving the muscle you have now which will give you a significant advantage in your first 3 months.

Just remember I am just like everyone else on here. The same sources of information that I have are available to you. I spend the time to read, research, and understand the material I consume but I am not a health care professional, a nutritionist, or a personal trainer...yet! So take whatever advice I give you for what it is worth. My opinions are not universally accepted around here so if you are in doubt....throw it out. I am criticized because I am only 13 months post-op. So just keep that all in mind.

Hi there Keith. I haven't been around much because work has been crazy, but I've missed your posts. I have a question for you.

I've read lots of times that it's very hard to increase muscle mass while losing weight quickly, and what we really need to do is preserve our muscle mass that we do have while losing. So that is pretty much what scared me into strength training.

I've been strength training, working with a trainer, for a couple months now. And I am feeling bigger muscles in places I KNOW I didn't have them before (namely my calves, hamstrings and my butt - I have been doing A LOT of squats and other leg exercises). I do not believe I am losing fat and just able to feel the muscles more easily. They are getting bigger. I keep flexing and making my boyfriend feel my new muscles.

Does this mean I am actually increasing my muscle mass while losing, something I didn't really believe was possible? I feel like my losses have slowed, or changed anyway to where I stall for a week, then lose, then back to stalling, but my clothes are getting "bigger" so I know my body composition is changing. Thanks for your input!

"I've read lots of times that it's very hard to increase muscle mass while losing weight quickly" - hard, yes, impossible, no. Remember that we eat a lot of protein and protein goes to building muscle.

Sure sounds like you are strengthening muscle. Adding new muscle is a little different than strengthening existing muscle. As we lose weight we also lose the fat that is in between muscle fibers which will give you a period where you can significantly strengthen and tone your muscle while that fat goes away. Then comes the building. Unless you are lifting heavy where you are tearing the small fibers that make up your muscle (sounds bad but this is a good thing), then you are not likely building new muscle. But don't take that the wrong way, the first step is strengthening what you have. Hopefully you are losing fat and you are feeling your muscles more (mostly because it is very motivating) but I do believe you are strengthening and building (only if you are sore often).

Your body composition is definitely changing and it will all the way to goal. Muscle is good, so keep focused on that. Not enough women do.

The more fit you get the more your loses will slow. Mine slowed to several ounces a week and what I have done to sort of fire that back up is I have been eating a lot of coconut oil, particularly in the morning. 2 tbs in my coffee and I cook with it. Coconut oil had Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT) which are almost like eating carbs in the sense that they turn right into energy. They also all but eliminate my hunger. I have to remember to eat. Plus there is some evidence to suggest that the MCT promote further fat burn. My experience for the past 2 weeks (since I started eating this) is just short of a 10lbs loss and I haven't seen that in several months. You are only 6 months out so expect some change but you should still be seeing some good weight loss. If you have been very consistent with eating, change it up a little bit. Maybe go a little higher on the calories (and I do mean a little) by adding some fats also consider changing when you eat. So for example drink a protein shake that is low carb 30-60 mins before your workout and after your workout (again 30-60 mins) eat a protein bar that maybe is a bit higher in carbs (or eat half a banana or apple with some protein). This will optimize your metabolism around your workouts. The carbs after a workout help to shuttle the protein into your muscles for re-building and recovery. Yes it will spike your insulin for a short period but around weight training this is when insulin is good because it is an anabolic hormone.

Make sure your cardio is intense enough to give you residual burn.

Thanks, Keith, for taking the time to reply.

I will gladly take strengthening muscles. I just know my ass has never felt this hard in my life, so I must be doing something right :)

I am often sore after my strength training. Not as bad as the very first time, but on any given day it's likely that something on my body is sore. I like it though. As long as I am not getting hurt, I want to push myself, and I want stronger muscles. My cardio is pretty intense two days a week (current program is spin bike one day, stairmaster another). And my trainer typically builds a lot of cardio into my personal training sessions. I have two days of longer, lower intensity cardio (water aerobics and bellydancing).

I definitely need to up my protein. My doctor's goal is 70 grams, so that is what I stuck to until recently, when I upped my own personal goal to 80 grams. But maybe it should be even higher?

I am definitely going to pick up some coconut oil and integrate that into my diet. I was just looking at my numbers on MFP and noticed my fats are pretty low some days. I was trying to figure out how to up my fats (peanut butter and almond butter seem to upset my stomach lately, so those are out for now). Plus I am hungry a lot. I never lost my feeling of hunger, and it's tough sometimes feeling hungry a lot of the time. So I like to hear that it's virtually eliminated your hunger and I think it's worth a shot.

So you are saying protein before working out, then protein and carbs after? I have always been confused about when to eat what. I am not opposed to a small amount of carbs. I've been integrating a small amount into my diet, mostly in the form of brown rice (like 1/4 of one of those ready to eat cups they sell). Well, and Quest bars, when I eat those. I don't eat bars more than a couple times a week though, because the calories are so high. I feel like a scoop of protein powder is a better source of 20 grams of protein for 93 calories than a bar for 160-190. I wasn't considering bars as a source of carbs in a positive way, haha.

Thanks again for your input!

So I think 70-80g of protein is about where you should be, you could go to 100 but I think you would benefit from more fats. Certainly the coconut oil (organic virgin has a light coconut flavor and is great for mixing into coffee (blending it mixes really well) stiring it the oil floats to the top just stir before each sip. Its pretty good. I also add a little sugar free italian sweet cream and when I drink that at breakfast I am not hungry until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I did it for 1 week straight. I didn't today to test my theory and I am hungry this morning by 10:30.

So yeah carbs after a workout but don't go crazy here if you have 40 in a day, this is a good time to use up some of them. A small piece of fruit with protein or a protein bar that has some carbs that are not from fiber is good post workout. The other carbs you are adding are fine to keep in your diet because things like brown rice and oatmeal are slow digesting carbs and they will not spike insulin or blood sugar. You will want something post workout that does cause an insulin response because even though an insulin response tells your body to store fat, after a workout insulin takes the carbs and the protein to your muscles. So we don't want insulin responses when we are sedentary because that is when we store fat, but we like insulin responses when we are done working out because we support muscle growth and repair.

If you want to get a good idea of how to eat when working out, check out guys like Rob Riches and Prozis nutrition on YouTube as well as other body builders. Body builders may be knuckleheads for most things but they have eating dialed in. Now most of them can eat a ton of carbs, we cannot so just because they say all the time, look for the key markers (pre-workout/post-workout) Before Bed, Cutting (which is essentially what we are doing). Consider an occassional sweet potato as well.

Hmm, I wonder if coconut oil would be okay in tea (like, chai, for example). I gave up coffee pre-op and never started back up and it's kind of nice to not be reliant on the caffeine. I'm sure there are other ways to integrate a little coconut oil into my diet though. Will have to research (damn, this is not shaping up to be a productive workday).

Okay, I did not know that insulin responses are good after a workout (and by workout, I am assuming you mean a tough, strength training workout). So based on what you are saying, a Quest bar would not be the greatest choice post workout, because most of the carbs come from fiber. Do you think a protein shake, followed by a little fruit or half a sweet potato (yum, I love those things) would be good?

Thanks for the Youtube recommendations. I love Youtube and recently started looking up exercises on there. My trainer is a body builder, but he has some strange ideas on nutrition. I argue with him sometimes.