No Pain, No Gain II

Well, not for the weight loss journeys I’m involved with…

A media release from Australia’s peak health and exercise body ESSA (Exercise and Sports Science Australia) suggests that the unrealistic reality television programs that encourage extreme weight loss, achieved by an excessive restriction of kilojoules and vigorous exercise are sending the wrong message to the Australian public about safe and effective exercise participation, to achieve greater health and well-being. See No Pain, No Gain ESSA article

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Clearly in reference to Channel 10’s The Biggest Loser, Anita Hobson Powell from ESSA said “Achieving a healthy weight doesn’t need to occur from drastic measures, and extreme weekly weight loss that can’t be sustained, or maintained long term. We encourage Australians to use safe levels of exercise and well-balanced dietary changes so their health is improved, rather than compromised”,

“This “no pain, no gain” mentality displayed on these shows leaves little room for encouraging healthy dietary and weight loss practices with an increased possibility of injury and risk to personal health. This message compromises the development of a long term change to make regular exercise apart of an individual’s daily life”, said Ms Hobson-Powell.

Personally, I’d have to agree. Although the inner-athlete likes to take over during some training sessions and push me to my limits, I lost around 30kg over a couple of years and have helped others lose significant amounts through Exercise Your Potential - 'Fitness Boost' whilst always following safe guidelines:

• 0.5kg-1kg of weight loss per week
• Moderate (not extreme) reduction of the calories through portion sizes and better food choices
• New eating and physical activity habits that can be continued for life in order to maintain the achieved lower body weight.

and also the FITT weight-loss principle of:

Frequency - 5-7 days per week (aim for most/all days of the week)

Intensity - Moderate level (expend >300 calories per session, 2000 calories per week)

Time - 1 hour

Type - Aerobic/Cardio Exercise

And by the following the above, I’ve steered clear of the risk of sustaining any long term health complications like irregular heart beat or kidney function disorders.

An added benefit has certainly been that neither my clients nor myself have gained ANY of the weight back. Even through weeks of eating terribly, or hardly exercising! The lifestyle and behavioural changes learned over the extended period of time are enough to keep out of too much trouble and get back on track before unhealthy decisions start controlling your life.

For more insights, with a BIG Biggest Loser blog to come, subscribe or keep checking back.

Don’t forget to leave comments and thoughts below!

Are you swapping it?

There’s a new campaign that was brought out by the Australian Government to encourage healthy living. In the years between 1995 and 2007, the percentage of overweight and obese people in Australia has climbed to 61% (from 56%) and it seems this will only continue to rise if steps like this aren’t taken.

 

Unlike other health messages in the past which have focused on measurements or time frames and guidelines, they’ve made this one very simple – Swap it!

Although the messages can be specific to certain behaviours or habits (swap watching tv for walking the dog) the website: http://swapit.gov.au/  and media focus on four key areas:

• Swap big for small (portion sizes)
• Swap often for sometimes (unhealthy food)
• Swap sitting for moving (activity)
• Swap watching for playing (exercise)

As a health professional, I couldn’t be happier with the message being sent. It’s everything we advocate on a daily basis put into terms that anyone of any age can understand!

I have to praise the brains behind this one, let’s hope it has a heap of success! 

Beer Vs Powerade

It appears that Australian sports like Cricket and Rugby League were almost genius in their approach to post exercise nutrition as a German Brewery plan to market their non-alcoholic beer as the answer to all of your sporting re-hydration needs.

In the article Erdinger suggests ‘Alkoholfrei’ can reverse the trend of declining non-alcoholic beer sales in the US and claims to be an “isotonic” sports drink loaded with the carbohydrates and vitamins athletes need to recover from a workout. Besides alcohol, beer contains sodium, potassium, carbohydrates and B vitamins.

As far as nutritional value goes – I wouldn’t be recommending this to my athletes any time soon and as sports nutritionists agree: ‘it still doesn’t have enough of the vital substances to facilitate recovery from a serious workout.’

As for the average Joe reaching for an ‘Alkoholfrei’ out of the esky after a long hot day on the sporting field – I’d have to say its going to be a massive improvement calorie wise on a regular stubby, but still unnecessary.

Lastly, for those of us who are paying extra attention to calories in an attempt to lose weight or body fat, I’d recommend water before any Sports, Vitamin or energy drinks on the market. When you’re looking at 125+ kCal per bottle, the calorie density outweighs the health benefit ratios every time!