Weight-Loss Alan Aragon Podcast
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
Weight-Loss
KaraCooks
New member
Ok, so for the people who won't take the time to listen to this, here's some of what I pulled out of it.
Eating 6 meals a day
Research shows that it doesn't matter.
Thermic effect of 6 smaller meals - smaller thermic effect per meal.
Thermic effect of 3 larger meals - larger thermic effect per meal.
Overall thermic effect - balances out in the long run over the course of a day.
Which is better is a matter of personal choice.
Some people choose more frequent feeding for appetite control.
Realistic goals for weight loss / fat loss:
People have universal expectations that might be unrealistic for them.
A large number of people seem to think 2 lbs a week is the holy grail.
In reality:
Obese and morbidly obese folks can expect 3-5 pounds a week.
Moderately overweight can expect 2-3 pounds a week.
Normal average looking to lean out can expect 1-2 lbs a week.
Lean looking to push the envelope .25-1 lb per week.
[My note: this ties in really closely with my general expectation of 1% of your bodyweight per week.]
Another group of people uses modern media to set goals and they need to realize that in real life, we're chasing different goals.
The Biggest Loser is chasing scale weight to make the show riveting.
In real life, people have more complex goals: scale weight, body composition, clothing fit, strength, etc.
As a result people have to be "uneducated" from what the media is forcing on them.
Focus on net pounds shouldn't be an emphasis.
Clean vs. dirty foods
People get wild hairs and force foods whether or not they like them, which makes for effective weight loss but is not sustainable.
Eat what you like (within reason) and leave room for junk food either in small amounts daily or larger amounts periodically.
The concept of never eat another [whatever] or you have to eat X instead of Y all the time "that's crap".
The best way to maintain a sustainable diet is to aim for hitting specific macro targets vs. eating specific types of foods.
Most especially, the idea of foods that speed fat loss is "a load of crap" [direct quote].
Sustainability and myths
Bottom line is that your diet and lifestyle have to be sustainable.
Doubling up on training volume while hacking down the intake = recipe for disaster because eventually you'll crash and burn.
If the 23 hours you're spending outside the gym is not healthy and sustainable, then 1 hour in the gym is not going to help much.
People think no pain / no gain, but if you are constantly deprived and in pain, you'll quit. The idea is to succeed with the least amount of pain and least amount of deprivation - that's the best recipe for long term success.
Fasting
Juice fasts help with compliance because they're simple but they're not sustainable long term and they don't teach sustainable nutrition, which goes back to theme of long term vs. short term.
Benefits to IF shows improvements in insulin sensitivity, etc.
BUT ... literature on fasting doesn't have a diet matched control group, so results are observational and so benefits could be the same with a calorie and macro matched diet over time.
Would be nice to see research that specifically matches IF and daily diet that are calorie matched.
Expectation bias - if you're convinced going in that this is the best thing ever, then you will feel great - it's human nature - placebo effect. Eventually that will wear off when you begin to feel deprived.
One way fasting does have benefits - IF gives an appreciation of food for when they're not fasting ... helps to focus emotionally/mentally/spiritually. The psychological benefit could be long term or temporary.
Vegetarianism
Veggie is primarily an ideological issue - and there are levels of extremity as well.
From a nutritional standpoint lacto-ovo-pecso vegetarianism is pretty easy to maintain.
Vegans have to be very well planned and organized in your approach in order to achieve proper nutritional balance.
There's lots of research comparing veg and non-veg, but because there are so many variables, you can't fairly say that veg is superior. No one has done a study comparing a meat diet high in veggies and fruits with a non meat diet high in veggies and fruits. No specific conclusions about what makes the difference: removal of meat or addition of veg/fruit.
Barring idealogical issues: ominvorism with an abundance of fruits and veg in the diet bears out as the superior method.
------------
That's most of the meat of it. (No pun intended.) I thought it was a really interesting podcast. Worth the time to listen to.
Eating 6 meals a day
Research shows that it doesn't matter.
Thermic effect of 6 smaller meals - smaller thermic effect per meal.
Thermic effect of 3 larger meals - larger thermic effect per meal.
Overall thermic effect - balances out in the long run over the course of a day.
Which is better is a matter of personal choice.
Some people choose more frequent feeding for appetite control.
Realistic goals for weight loss / fat loss:
People have universal expectations that might be unrealistic for them.
A large number of people seem to think 2 lbs a week is the holy grail.
In reality:
Obese and morbidly obese folks can expect 3-5 pounds a week.
Moderately overweight can expect 2-3 pounds a week.
Normal average looking to lean out can expect 1-2 lbs a week.
Lean looking to push the envelope .25-1 lb per week.
[My note: this ties in really closely with my general expectation of 1% of your bodyweight per week.]
Another group of people uses modern media to set goals and they need to realize that in real life, we're chasing different goals.
The Biggest Loser is chasing scale weight to make the show riveting.
In real life, people have more complex goals: scale weight, body composition, clothing fit, strength, etc.
As a result people have to be "uneducated" from what the media is forcing on them.
Focus on net pounds shouldn't be an emphasis.
Clean vs. dirty foods
People get wild hairs and force foods whether or not they like them, which makes for effective weight loss but is not sustainable.
Eat what you like (within reason) and leave room for junk food either in small amounts daily or larger amounts periodically.
The concept of never eat another [whatever] or you have to eat X instead of Y all the time "that's crap".
The best way to maintain a sustainable diet is to aim for hitting specific macro targets vs. eating specific types of foods.
Most especially, the idea of foods that speed fat loss is "a load of crap" [direct quote].
Sustainability and myths
Bottom line is that your diet and lifestyle have to be sustainable.
Doubling up on training volume while hacking down the intake = recipe for disaster because eventually you'll crash and burn.
If the 23 hours you're spending outside the gym is not healthy and sustainable, then 1 hour in the gym is not going to help much.
People think no pain / no gain, but if you are constantly deprived and in pain, you'll quit. The idea is to succeed with the least amount of pain and least amount of deprivation - that's the best recipe for long term success.
Fasting
Juice fasts help with compliance because they're simple but they're not sustainable long term and they don't teach sustainable nutrition, which goes back to theme of long term vs. short term.
Benefits to IF shows improvements in insulin sensitivity, etc.
BUT ... literature on fasting doesn't have a diet matched control group, so results are observational and so benefits could be the same with a calorie and macro matched diet over time.
Would be nice to see research that specifically matches IF and daily diet that are calorie matched.
Expectation bias - if you're convinced going in that this is the best thing ever, then you will feel great - it's human nature - placebo effect. Eventually that will wear off when you begin to feel deprived.
One way fasting does have benefits - IF gives an appreciation of food for when they're not fasting ... helps to focus emotionally/mentally/spiritually. The psychological benefit could be long term or temporary.
Vegetarianism
Veggie is primarily an ideological issue - and there are levels of extremity as well.
From a nutritional standpoint lacto-ovo-pecso vegetarianism is pretty easy to maintain.
Vegans have to be very well planned and organized in your approach in order to achieve proper nutritional balance.
There's lots of research comparing veg and non-veg, but because there are so many variables, you can't fairly say that veg is superior. No one has done a study comparing a meat diet high in veggies and fruits with a non meat diet high in veggies and fruits. No specific conclusions about what makes the difference: removal of meat or addition of veg/fruit.
Barring idealogical issues: ominvorism with an abundance of fruits and veg in the diet bears out as the superior method.
------------
That's most of the meat of it. (No pun intended.) I thought it was a really interesting podcast. Worth the time to listen to.
Steve - thanks very much for posting this up.
All - thanks for listening!
All - thanks for listening!