Ordered Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

[Lady Rose]

I ordered it last week while at work, and figured I'd download it on to a cd over the weekend at home. I didn't see anything about the time limit - before paying for it. Any way - I missed the 48 hour time limit and now I choose not to download it. I emailed them twice and hopefully eventually someone will get back to me. Any one else have this happen and any clue how long it will take to get sorted out?

I'm a little hestitant about the program because I know it's going to be a lot more calories then I'm used to. As I wrote in my introduction I keep my calories around 800 a day.

I gained 5 lbs this weekend from just one meal - granted it wasn't a good meal - I gave in to pressure while out with friends seeing the Harry Potter movie - I haven't given in to anything in over a year. I had two slices of pizza and a small vanilla icream. I did it partly because I wanted to prove to them how fast I gain if I slip up even once and partly because I was exhausted and my will power was weak - I had stayed up almost all night for the release of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (I realize it's probably water weight not fat, but before any progress can be made it has to be lost first.)

It's probably best I didn't start BFFM this weekend, this way I can hopefully lose the extra weight I gained from the one meal first (I'll have to cut back big time this week). Then if after starting BFFM I also gain, at least it won't be on top of this gain also. I used several calculators to figure out how many calories I need to maintain - and it is only 1600 calories a day. So to lose a pound a week it would mean 1100 a day - since most packages and weighing are not totally accurate, keeping it between 800 to 900 is my way of giving myself a safety net. I'm 51 years old. I had a hysterectomy in my early 20's. I was born with rhumetoid arthritis in most of my joints (diagnosed age 2) - so body wise I know it's age, hormones, and inflammation issues that also affect the weight.

So.... if I'm going to give this BFFM program a shot, and what do I do if I gain weight -- any advice to turn it around and actually get it work in the opposite direction? How long to I give it? What if f I gain for several weeks in a row should I stick with it any way?

I have tried almost every single diet out there over the last decades and they all resulted in huge amounts of weight gained -- but I am willing to try one more time to go and really give BFFM a try. I'm just really nervous about it.

[Michele]

I feel for you...my gut is telling me that you are not eating enough...that you have slowed down your metabolism by eating so little. What I know about speeding up your metabolism is:
1. eating small meals (5 to 6) through out the day
2. exercising more, preferably first thing in the morning
3. build muscle through weight training

What weight are you starting at? You might want to buy a scale that measures bodyfat (Tanita) or find someone who can measure your body fat. The special food you had that nite might have been high in salt so some of the weight gain could have been water...you should try and measure by bodyfat instead of weight...as just going by weight could be very misleading...

I have been eating some super nutrient food supplements and was told that my weight might go up before it goes down...and it did but I was measuring my body composition and found that even while my weight went up, my bodyfat went down slightly - and now my body weight is back to what I started at and my bodyfat is even lower than before...

Hope this helps.

[Lady Rose]

My last good weigh in I was 206.5 lbs (July 7)
I gained a lb the following week - no idea why
then I gained the 5 lbs from the one meal (weight 212.5) - and yeah it was probably the sodium and the dairy (combined for not only water retention but increased inflammation) added to that I had barely slept in two days (marathon reading sessions for release of Harry Potter book 7)

My starting weight was 293.5 lbs May 1, 2006 so I've lost over 80 lbs so far the past 64 weeks - but still a long road to go. I'd like to be 140 if possible. (A goal my doctor picked - I originally wanted less, but I think this is much more reasonable.)

So far I've lost of two of those gained pounds in two days.
I finally got all the materials for the burn the fat program downloaded and reading it over.

For the rest of this week I'm just going to eat very lightly and get more rest to recover from last weekends lack of sleep.
Starting fresh next weekend I'll make an eating plan based on the info in the burn the fat program. Mostly likely oatmeal for breakfast (which kinda scares me cause then I am putting the bulk of my calories in the morning - but I'm going to give it a try - I really do like oatmeal and haven't had it in a long time. Will add a bit of soy milk and cinnamon). A lean protein and veggie or salad (with nonfat dressing, 0 calories from walden farms) for lunch and dinner. And with a carb like a yam probably on Wed and Sunday. I haven't worked out the calories yet.
But since I only need 1600 to maintain - I won't let the calories go over 1100 a day.

Hopefully I won't be starving at night and I can stick with it.

[Michele]

How do you calculate your daily calorie needs? I ask as I weight less than you (not by much) and my daily calorie needs are much higher than what you have calculated...I use this site.

http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm

When we suggest adding more calories to your day to speed up your metabolism, we mean increase the healthy foods - like maybe take more Udo's oil (this oil is discussed in other places on this site but I am not sure where to link to)...when you increase your calories, your body may gain some weight but that is because it is starving (my opinion) but once it realizes that it is not starving anymore, it will start releasing the fat it is so desparately hanging on to...

You sound frustrated and something tells me that my advice will probably only frustrate you more but if what ever you are doing is not working...try something else so you can get a different result...

[Michele]

Here's my 2 cents...

If you require 2000 calories but you are giving your body let's say 1000, your body figures it is in starvation mode and realizes it has to survive on 1000 calories - so while it is figuring it out, you do lose some weight but you will eventually plateau (when you body has figured out how to survive on that amount of calories)...that is why increasing your calories in that situation will cause you to lose weight because your body realizes it is not starving any more (but you might gain a few while it is getting out of starvation mode). Does that make sense? Does anyone want to add to that?

I believe that is why Weight Watchers gives you so many points (calories) each day depending on your weight and as you lose weight, you are allowed less points - but you do have to consume a minimum amount of points (calories) each day...this way your body doesn't go into starvation mode.

[photogirl67]

Hi all

First of all, I'm not an expert either but I only know what has worked for me and what I've learned from the "experts". Take what you will, but my suggestion is read about nutrition and learn about how your body works.

What Michele says is true, by not getting enough calories your body goes into starvation mode and conserves them and stores it in fat. The other thing your body does it stores all toxins in fat. So if you eat a lot of acidic foods, have mental/emotional stress daily, live in a toxic environment, smoke, drink, etc - all those things are toxic and your body's only way to cope with that is to get rid of what it can through the liver and what it choose not to eliminate it stores in fat so it doesn't literally eat your tissues it's so toxic. That's why cleansing can work well for weight loss (I cleanse daily by what I eat and herbal beverages like Calli and Fortune delight from Sunrider) because it helps release the toxics and therefore the fat isn't needed any more.

As for counting calories, points, card system - whatever - I think it is all shit! Now that's my opinion because I find it too difficult to calculate that stuff and quite frankly is just a pain in my ass to do so and I know I wouldn't stick with it. I just started following a "nutrition plan" (take the word diet out of your vocabulary I say) that was less and less processed foods, less dairy, less meat, more veggies, more fruit, more beans, more grains, more water AND more excercise.

Rose can I ask you some questions? I'm going to ask them and I'd love it you'd share with us so we can find out more about you, then perhaps one or more of us can help answer your questions.

1 - why is you feel you need to only eat 800 calories a day?
2 - can you outline what you eat on a typical day? what, when, how much, condiments - everything.
3 - have you gotten advice from a medical doctor or professional nutritionist?
4 - how much energy do you have daily? do you feel tired all the time?
5 - how often do you exercise (to break a sweat)?
6 - what kinds of exercise are you doing? cardio, weight training, yoga, other?

cheers
Darlene

PS according to the link Carol sent I need 2000 calories a day. I'm 5'0", 104 lbs, 40 yrs old - but very active. If I didn't get that much I'd have no energy for sports, running, etc - the things I love to do.

[Lady Rose]

Here's the answers to the questions posted above

Calculated my calories for the day using link given above: total: 1623 to maintain

Other questions:
1 - why is you feel you need to only eat 800 calories a day? - Answer: any more then that and I end up gaining weight

2 - can you outline what you eat on a typical day? what, when, how much, condiments - everything.
Answer:
breakfast & lunchhExtend protein bar 150 calories (11 grams of protein), apple = 500 calories
Dinner: 150 calories of a lean protein (measured), a bag of frozen veggies (150 calories) = 300 calories
beverages: 1 cup coffee a.m.; diet soda (off that now for three weeks) - switched to crystal light and diet snapple tea
1 to 2 times a week if I really need help with dealing with hunger I will have a measured portion of plain air popped popcorn (100 calories)

3 - have you gotten advice from a medical doctor or professional nutritionist? - Answer: both my doctor, cardiologist and a nutritionist I was seeing last year said it was fine and to keep doing what I was doing (so far lost over 80 lbs but its very slow and just about stopped at this point - I have about 60 lbs to go to get to the weight my doctor set as a goal 140 lbs

4 - how much energy do you have daily? do you feel tired all the time? Answer: If I get at at least 4 to 6 hours of sleep I'm ok - less then that I'm tired. I rarely manage more then that amount of sleep in a night.

5 - how often do you exercise (to break a sweat)? Answer: 30 min 3 to 4 times a week, stationary bike it's about all my joints can handle (I have rhumetoid arthristis in my knees since the age of two)

6 - what kinds of exercise are you doing? cardio, weight training, yoga, other? Answer: see above

[photogirl67]

Lady Rose

1 - 800 calories is starvation. You choose not to possibly sustain that and your body isn't getting what it needs to function, heal, rid itself of toxins. The diet pop, crystal light, coffee - all toxic - is being stored in your body inside fat cells. Your liver choose not to function with that few calories so it is storing the toxins/fat until it can clear them. If you started eating more food (good food) more often in the day you'd lose weight, have more energy, and feel healthier. Low calorie is a recipe for problems, health problems. I'm shocked your doctor and nutritionist approved that plan, honestly. I've recommended several books before one of them being Eat to Live by Joel Furhman (http://www.drfuhrman.com) and he talks about what food is good and what is bad. Get something like this or his DVD and educate yourself on nutrition. I'm not a professional but your low cal diet worries me a lot for your long term health.

Try eating fruit and veggies ANY TIME any amount! The are FREE calories, have tonnes of fibre, and will feed your body the energy it needs.

4 - I didn't mean in regards to sleep, I meant energy daily. Do you get sleepy mid-day? Do you have energy at the gym?

5 - that's awesome! have you considered doing some weight training as well? You won't build muscles that are bulky, but you will build muscle that burns more fat. Muscle burns fat - plain and simple, ask Lucie how she's loving it! if your joints choose not to handle that, ask a trainer for a specialized routine for you, or try aquasize in the pool.

[Lady Rose]

Hi Darlene

Just following up a bit --
The past four days I have been doing the fat burn plan (without the added fat) -- so far I've gained 1/2 lb (and that isn't muscle). I have been eating veggies - which are still calories and trying the best I can to calculate to keep calories close to 1200 a day -- there is no such thing as a free ride food with my metabolism is all adds up
I've been having raw sliced yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, 2 apples, romaine lettuce, mushrooms, 2 servings of lean protein, and 1/2 oatmeal with 1/4 c low fat soy milk. Tonight is the fourth day so I'll have a plain small baked sweet potato (cycling good carbs).

Hopefully I won't gain to much more before the week is out - I'm giving it a week. If my weight stays the same or goes down I'll stick with it another week. If it continues to go up I'll have to find another plan.

As far as energy - I'm fine. If I had the money I'd love to join a gym - but that just isn't possible.

800 calories is what most medically supervised eating plans are -- i.e. after gastric bypass surgery, or using metafast - for some folks it is just the way their metabolism works and very low calorie is what ends up working.

Last Summer I took Livatone for four months -- I may do that again or just get some milk thistle, it's always a good idea to keep the liver happy.

[photogirl67]

Lady Rose

Have you done any reading on health/nutrition?

I'm very concerned that you've been given information that could be harmful to you. A low cal diet is not good to sustain health, in my opinion. Your body needs calories because calories=energy. If you have no energy your body isn't able to heal, grow, regenerate. Without it we will age faster, be more prone to disease, aches, injuries and so on.

Your body's metabolism is probably quite fucked up from being starved for so long. When you start giving it good food on a regular basis again (like now) it doesn't know what to do with it any more. You have to stick with it for more than a week to see results. You didn't get where you are overnight - it isn't going to reverse that quickly either. Please trust us when we say - give it more GOOD food (fruit, veggies, grains, nuts, seeds) more often (5-6 times a day) and drink lots of water - and you will start to see results - but it takes time to undo the damage.

It's a bit gross but you will know your metabolism is picking up when you have increased the frequency of your bowl movements. You should be going once at day at the minimum - if not more. One meal in = one meal out. If you are doing less than that now - your metabolism is slow. And it doesn't have to stay that way. If they doctors told you that's just how your body is - frankly, I think they're full of shit and I'd find new doctors. But that's me. I tend to do research on my own and don't believe everything the so called Professionals tell me. My cholesterol level was 2.5 when I had my physical - my doctor is supportive of my vegetarian diet. He just wants to watch my B12 levels but he said he hasn't seen a cholesterol level that low in years, maybe ever. If you're under 5 that's considered good.

I'm not a "professional" health care person but all the reading I've done (lots) on nutrition and eating tells me that such a low cal diet scares me. To lose weight you need to be eating more good stuff more often. You may gain 1-2 lbs but then you'll start dropping and it'll be natural. I lost 15 lbs in 12 weeks doing this - AND working out.

As for the gym - Rob is working on an exercise program you can do anywhere. You can also get some small hand weights, resistance bands and a skipping rope or something like that - and do work outs at home. It doesn't have to be expensive. See Rob's post on "what will stop you" - if not being able to afford a gym membership keeps you from exercising find a way around it - don't let this stop you. Look at Lucie go on her bicycle. Swim, walk, dance in your living room, just move.

AND lastly - stop getting on the scale full stop it will just set you up for failure. 1/2 lb gain is nothing - you can gain that by having a glass of water. Use your clothes and measurements of your body instead. When you start having to tighten your belt and you start losing inches - the scale doesn't matter. Throw it away!