Okay, the big day is here! Today marks the official start of my 31-week training program to prepare for the 2011 World Police and Fire Games. I have enlisted the expertise of a World Class Mountain Biker; designed myself a progressive performance training plan; I am nearly finished with the design of my nutrition program; and I spent the morning on a physical therapy table(insert scratching record sound effect here). Wait a minute, that wasn't part of the plan! Well...it is now.
My lateral epicondylitis has become much more severe, requiring therapy to alleviate the pain and tissue damage. The diagnosis is currently in the 'itis' stage, which means that there is simply inflammation around the lateral epicondyle. If this is not treated however, further repetitive use of my right arm will result in the progression from 'itis' to 'osis' (I think osis is Latin for BAD). When 'itis' becomes 'osis' (lateral epicondylosis) it means that chronic changes have occurred to the tissues... changes that are usually irreversible. While I support the concept of progression, I am not fond of the idea of my little 'itis' growing up and becoming an 'osis' soooo...I have to stay off of my bike for another week or so, and make significant changes to the manner in which I am strength training. How's that for a great start to my training plan!
Okay, I've whined enough, now its time to get down to some business. In my last post I shared some numbers and pictures with you. I think I have finally gotten over the humility that comes with this level of transparency...whew! I left off with the question about how to go about creating my required caloric deficit. The question was "Should I simply reduce my daily caloric intake by 857 kcal to reach my goal weight?" One would think that this would be the way to accomplish the task at hand...but the answer is NO!
There has been a great deal of research conducted on weight loss tactics, and the effect they have on the body's metabolism. To keep things easy to understand, lets think of metabolism simply as the efficiency at which the body 'burns' fat while at rest. Research has shown that crash diets tend to cause our metabolism to decline (decreased efficiency), when in fact we want our metabolism to increase. Just because Jillian Michaels makes her 'clients' starve themselves on The Biggest Loser, doesn't make it right...remember healthy weight loss is a science! To prevent this from happening, exercise physiologists have concluded that caloric intake should not be reduced by more than 500kcal per day. This allows for the body to adjust to the reduced amount of 'fuel' being used to stoke the fires of the factory (our body) without reducing the ability to use that fuel to burn off excess fat.
I know what you are thinking right now, because I've heard it over and over..."But YOU said I need to reduce my calories by 857...where do the remaining 357 calories come from?" EXERCISE! Yep, the dreaded word E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E!
Stay tuned to find out how I determine the correct amount of calories to take in throughout the day, as well as how I plan to modify my training plan to avoid disrupting the rehab of my elbow.
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So John what is the most effective way to actually monitor your caloric intake? Also is it bad to jump start your weight loss with something like HCG IF you are truely going to use it to START changing your lifestyle?
ReplyDeleteI really like My Fitness Pal (link to the right). It takes a little time, but after a week or so, you kind of know what you are taking in, and you might not need to use the fitness pal log quite as much. If you find you are plateauing then you might want to start logging all of your meals again to see where you are at.
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