Exercise, Nutrition, WLS, and Cooking Q & A - 2/10/2014

I was bad on my last one I missed two posts. For some reason I am not getting email notifications when people post on my threads like we used to. Anyway I will keep a better eye on this one.

Any questions about Exercise? Nutrition? WLS in general or VSG specifically? or Cooking?

Let's Hear 'Em!

when you drink the low carb redbulls do you still let it go flat before you drink it?

No, the carbonation in RedBull does not bother me but I also didn't try drinking it until I was well over 1 year post-op. I would not suggest it for anyone new. Early out I mistakenly took a sip of diet coke from my wife out of habit and it hurt like hell. There is also not a lot healthy about a RedBull and I can count on 1 hand the number of them that I have consumed since surger with fingers left over. If I need caffeine I try to get it from coffee. Caffeine can put a strain on your adrenal system whi*****reases your output of cortisol which has a negative effect on weight loss.

Okay, so here's a test for you...

I learned in the boy scounts (a long time ago) one basic hiking tactic was to carry a small amount of chocolate.  The combination of sugar and caffeine was enough to give you that small lift as the hike went on.

So, it would seem the same could hold try in the case of a longer run or other long work out.  Nothing big here, probably something the size of the those small hershey's chocalate bars people keep in their candy dishes.

Also, assuming this works at all, I would guess dark chocolate vs. milk.

So what have you learned on the subject?

Really what you are referring to here that was simplified for a boy scout trick is that carbs = energy. So will one hershey's kiss hurt you? no, particularly if you are exercising to the point you exhausted yourself and need a little boost. If you are burning calories to that extent the carbs are not going to cause you to gain weight. What they may do on the otherhand is cause you to crave more chocolate/sugar/carbs. It will cause an insulin response which depending on how long it lasts and what you eat while in that insulin response could cause some fat storage. It will also likely bring you out of any state of ketosis you might be in.

That being said a better solution is to have a slow digesting lower glycemic carb like oats, nuts, seeds, whole grains, etc. and to eat it before you need it. You are a planner now, not a responder, so if you are going hiking you know to load up on protein before, during, and after.

And yes if you are going to eat chocolate shoot for something that is 70% or higher cacoa, you will gain some fiber and a bunch of anti-oxidants from it.

Sorry, missed the response.  Goofy OH website choose that message to not send me an email noting a response to my post.

Thanks Keith, it's good to have a sounding board.  The last time I tried what I'm doing now I had much more leeway on the food.  Trying to balance everything seems to be the tricky part at this point in the journey.

Don't over think it. Exercise does not burn nearly as many calories as people think. If you get to the level of fitness where you need snacks on long runs the what of the snack won't matter. Keep it simple. Form habits you can easily stick too. 

I have been focusing on cardio the last few weeks. I was going to start weights this week, but with only 3 weeks til surgery and then 6 weeks off, I was wondering if I should even start now. Would it be helpful or should I stick to cardio?

Stop the cardio and focus entirely on weights. You should also find a BCAA supplement to take (I recomment Scivation Xtend) starting now and all the way until you get back to full foods (even after) because it will help you to perserve muscle during the next couple of weeks when you will lose a ton of muscle otherwise. Muscle is more important now than cardio capacity, so muscle muscle muscle. The more lean muscle you have the more calories you burn. 

In my research, I've read that one pound of muscle burns anywhere from 6-10 calories extra per day instead of the 50 calories that most people believe they do. While I think that building lean body mass is important, it takes a long time to do so! High intensity cardio workouts (65 to 85 zone) burn lots of calories and increase stamina. Furthermore, working at a high intensity increases "afterburn", which means that a person burns more calories at rest after doing an intense cardio routine. While I respect what you are saying vis a vis building lean muscle mass, I disagree with you that cardio isn't an effective way to burn calories!