Talk about losing weight… this guy from my gym lost 240 pounds! If you were to see him, it is hard to believe that he once weighed 445 pounds. He is one of the fittest guys I have ever seen. I had noticed him a few months ago because of his intense workout sessions on the eliptical trainer. I don’t think I had ever seen anyone workout that intense for such a long period of time.  When one of my friends at the gym told me this guy lost 240 pounds (yes - LOST 240 pounds!) , I had to introduce myself and find out the whole story. (Pic on the right is L.P when he weighed 450 pounds)

Here is my interview with “L.P”… This is probably the one of the most inspirational stories you’ll ever hear.

Martha: What is your current age, height and weight?
L.P: I am 46 years old, 5′9 and weigh 205 pounds. (Martha’s comment - while 205 pounds may sound a lot for someone who is 5′9 - L.P. does not appear to have an ounce of fat on him. I bet his body fat is 8% or less.) Pic on the right is L.P’s “after” pic

Martha: How much weight have you lost?
L.P:   240 pounds

Martha: How long did it take you to lose this weight?
L.P:  18 months

Martha: How did you lose the weight - did you count calories, follow any special diet, enlist support from anyone such as Weight Watchers, a nutritionist, doctor, etc.?
L.P:  I changed my eating habits and started paying close attention to sugars, carbs, fats as well as calories. I also did 2 hours of intense cardio a day.

Martha: Did you have a weight problem for most of your life?
L.P: No, I didn’t always have a weight problem. However, as I got older, I was exposed more to “bad ” food including fried foods, high sugar desserts and eating late at night.

Martha: What were your major problem areas when you were overweight?
L.P: I love desserts, used to eat late at night, ate really large portions and got no exercise.

Martha: I am very curious to know what triggered you to lose weight and how you stayed so motivated…
L.P: I was losing close relatives to high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. I also had low self esteem, was self-conscious and was afraid of dying young.

 Martha: When did you first start to exercise (how long ago) and what did you first start to do for exercise?
L.P: I started to exercise about 11 years ago at a fitness center that was free to employees of my workplace. I started doing the treadmill for about 30 minutes.

Martha: You appear in great shape. What do you do for your current exercise program: (how many times a week, how many times do you weight train and perform cardio)?
L.P: My exercise regimen is 4-5 days a week of weight training and 7 days of cardio (winter time on the eliptical machine and summer time running outdoors). 5 of the 7 days, I do cardio in the morning and evening (for a total of 2 hours of cardio)

Martha: Can you tell us what you eat on a typical day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks?
L.P:
Breakfast: oatmeal with banana and a protein drink (low carb, low sugar and high protein)
Lunch: 2 all-natural peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Dinner: salmon or chicken and a sweet potato
Snacks throughout the day: rice cakes, oranges, protein bar, sugar-free pudding, yogurt with fruit. I also drink a gallon of water during the day.

Martha: Do you ever go off your “diet”?
L.P: Yes …without any guilt because I work out religiously on a regular basis.

Martha: How do you stay so motivated??????
L.P: It it helps me to stay motivated when other members of the gym come approach me and comment on my progress and body structure. I also like to help motivate other people and to see their progress.

Martha: Well, there you have it! For those city girls and guys who think losing 10 pounds is hard work, imagine what it would be like to lose 240 pounds! BTW - L.P has been approached to appear on various televsion talk shows to discuss his amazing feat. He declined all interviews. I would like to thank him very much for allowing me to interview him. I think he will be very inspirational to readers of citygirlbites who are trying to lose weight. It goes to show that you can lose weight and keep it off …with hard work! It also goes to show the importance of exercise when it comes to maintaining weight loss. Not only does exercise burn calories, it also will build/preserve muscle mass which will help to speed your  metabolism. I am certainly not saying that everyone has to exercise 7 days a week for 2 hours per session. But somehow you will need to make exercise a priority if you want to lose weight and keep it off!

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If you’ve been having difficulty losing weight, will changing from diet soda back to regular actually help you lose weight?  Or putting a few packets of sugar into your coffee instead of the artificial sweetener?

A new study that came out this week suggests that consuming artificially sweetened foods/ beverages will somehow trigger your brain to consume more calories later in the day. So while you may initially save the 30 calories from 2 packets of sugar or 120 calories from a can of regular soda, you will more that make up for it with extra calories later in the day. Their theory is that when you (actually rats which were used in the study) eat something sweet, the body actually gears up to start digesting this sweet food/drink. When it doesn’t actually receive something caloric, the body will actually consume more calories later on or expand fewer calories in the form of activity.

Here is the actual study:

Artificial sweeteners linked to weight gain

Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the body, making it harder to regulate intake.

WASHINGTON — Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence that the widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. The findings appear in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Psychologists at Purdue University’s Ingestive Behavior Research Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance.

Authors Susan Swithers, PhD, and Terry Davidson, PhD, surmised that by breaking the connection between a sweet sensation and high-calorie food, the use of saccharin changes the body’s ability to regulate intake. That change depends on experience. Problems with self-regulation might explain in part why obesity has risen in parallel with the use of artificial sweeteners. It also might explain why, says Swithers, scientific consensus on human use of artificial sweeteners isinconclusive, with various studies finding evidence of weight loss,weight gain or little effect. Because people may have different experiences with artificial and natural sweeteners, human studies that don’t take into account prior consumption may produce a variety of outcomes.

Three different experiments explored whether saccharin changed lab
animals’ ability to regulate their intake, using different assessments
–the most obvious being caloric intake, weight gain, and compensating by cutting back.

The experimenters also measured changes in core body temperature, a physiological assessment. Normally when we prepare to eat, the metabolic engine revs up. However, rats that had been trained to respond using accharin (which broke the link between sweetness and calories), relative to rats trained on glucose, showed a smaller rise in core body temperate after eating a novel, sweet-tasting, high-calorie meal. The authors think this blunted response both led to overeating and made it harder to burn off sweet-tasting calories.

“The data clearly indicate that consuming a food sweetened with
no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie sugar,” the authors wrote.

The authors acknowledge that this outcome may seem counterintuitive and might not come as welcome news to human clinical researchers and health-care practitioners, who have long recommended low- or no-calorie sweeteners. What’s more, the data come from rats, not humans. However, they noted that their findings match emerging evidence that people who drink more diet drinks are at higher risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome, a collection of medical problems such as abdominal fat, high blood pressure and insulin resistance that put people at risk for heart disease and diabetes.

Why would a sugar substitute backfire? Swithers and Davidson wrote that sweet foods provide a “salient orosensory stimulus” that strongly
predicts someone is about to take in a lot of calories. Ingestive and
digestive reflexes gear up for that intake but when false sweetness
isn’t followed by lots of calories, the system gets confused. Thus,
people may eat more or expend less energy than they otherwise would.

The good news, Swithers says, is that people can still count calories to
regulate intake and body weight. However, she sympathizes with the
dieter’s lament that counting calories requires more conscious effort
than consuming low-calorie foods.

Swithers adds that based on the lab’s hypothesis, other artificial
sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame K, which also taste sweet but do not predict the delivery of calories, could have
similar effects. Finally, although the results are consistent with the
idea that humans would show similar effects, human study is required for further demonstration.

In  my opinion…

1. This study brings up an interesting concept that clearly needs more research.  It has similar findings as a previous study that found a link between diet soda and increased of metabolic syndrome in children - so there possibly could be a connection between artificial sweeteners and appetite control. However further studies need to be done before the results can be called conclusive.

2. This study was done on rats (while the one with diet soda was done on humans).  Do humans have the same physiological mechanisms as rats?

3. I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners -  especially when consumed in excess. However, until further research is done, I wouldn’t recommend that you omit the lower calorie foods containing artificial sweeteners that you may be consuming and revert back to the higher caloric foods/drinks if you are trying to watch you weight.  For example, a nonfat light fruit yogurt has 90 calories or less while its “regular” counterpart has ~ 250 calories. A diet soda has no calories while the regular one has 120 calories.  On the other hand, if you want to consume the regular product, just be aware of the calories and work them into your eating plan.

4. You should pay attention to how your body feels as well as hunger levels after consuming these diet products. Perhaps you don’t feel satisfied after consuming them or have the mentality that “I can eat a little more because at least I saved some calories with this diet soda”. Have you ever seen people at McDonalds loading up with the Big Mac and large fries but still consuming a diet soda? You want to avoid this mentality!

4. In my private practice, I have noticed that sweet foods, whether artificially sweetened or sweetened with real sugar,  often trigger cravings in people. If this is the case with you, you should try to limit all refined sweets and focus more on natural foods such as fruit, nuts, nut butter on crackers, cottage cheese and fruit, whole grains, legumes, etc. Adding protein and/or a little fat to the carbs should help to control your cravings.

5. If you have been having trouble losing weight despite being careful with your calories and are exercising on a regular basis AND are consuming a fair amount of artificial sweeteners, it may worth it to try to avoid them as much as possible for a month or so to see if your weight changes.  Just an experiment!

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I just got back from Chicago where I lectured on diet to lower blood pressure. The lecture was held at the Swissotel and was sponsored by Novartis. The program was called Recipes for Hypertension Management.

Check out the invitation.

The program was great! Both the participants as well as the presenters really enjoyed the evening. I don’t know of any other program sponsored by a pharmaceutical company that includes a lecture on diet/lifestyle, a cooking demonstration by a famous chef, a great meal as well as education on a new medication. Most pharmaceutical companies have educational programs that include a talk by a physician (and a meal of course) … but I’ve never heard of a program that included a nutritionist and a chef!

The evening consisted of:

1. Cocktails and dinner at a beautiful hotel.  Hotel Executive chef, John Seagro prepared a delicious meal for the attendees.
2. My lecture on Nutrition/Lifestyle for Hypertension Management. (I think it went pretty well if I do say so myself!).
3. Lecture by well known physician Dr. George Bakris (who was also very entertaining) who discussed Novatis’s new medication for hypertension called Exforge
4. Cooking demonstration by well known chef, Rick Tramonto . Check out his new book that just came out yesterday - Fantastico. His farro, ceci bean salad and marinated fish dishes were delicious!  I will be posting these recipes in a day or so. His sous chef, Chris Pandel also did a great job with the preparation.
5. Lastly, there was a Q & A panel discussion.

Novartis is piloting this program”Recipes for Hypertension”  in LA and NYC next week. I will be participating in the NYC program on Nov. 15 at the W Hotel in Union Square. Hopefully the program will be worthwhile for them to continue. It’s a great (and fun) way to educate physicians on the importance of lifestyle as well as medication when it comes to treating high blood pressure. It also shows them that tasty meals can be healthy and low in sodium. 

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I gues this is “bash soda” week in the news! Another study just came out that suggested a  link between soda, even diet soda, to increased risk of heart disease.

Reasearchers found that adults who drink one or more sodas a day had about a 50 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors  such as excessive fat around the waist, low levels of “good” cholesterol, high blood pressure and other symptoms. With metabolic syndrome , your risk of developing heart disease or stroke doubles. In addition, you have a risk of developing diabetes.

Previous studies had demonstrated a link between regular soda (which contains up to 10 tsp of sugar per can)  with multiple risk factors for heart disease. This was the first study that showed this risk extended towards diet sodas.

If diet soda does not contain sugar, then what could account for this proposed increased risk?
- The researchers suggested that ”one possibility is that diet soda is sweet. Maybe drinking something sweet conditions you in such a way that you develop a preference for sweet things”.
- They also suggested the caramel coloring may have an effect on inflammation in the body (increased inflammation may be linked to heart disease.
- One last theory is that “diet soda is a liquid. When you take liquids at a meal, they don’t satiate you as much (as solids)”

Dr. Ramachandran Vasan of Boston University School of Medicine, whose work appeard in the study published in the journal Circulation,  said people who drink soda, whether diet or sugar-sweetened, tend to have similar dietary patterns. “On average, soda drinkers tend to eat more calories, consume more saturated fat and trans fat, eat less fiber, exercise less and be more sedentary,”

Keep in mind that this was only one study. Further research is needed to prove these links. In the meantime, The American Heart Association said the study did not demonstrate that diet sodas cause heart disease and said it can be better to have a diet drink than a full-calorie soda.

Check out this link for more details on this study.

 As I said in my earlier post on diet soda, moderation is best!

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Question from David: Why do I get muscle cramps? Are they linked to a mineral deficiency?

Answer from Martha: Thanks for writing David! Another question from a guy. I should change the name of this blog to “City Guys” where are all the city girls?

Muscle cramps can be occur for several reasons, including:

1. Overexertion or working a muscle to the point of exhaustion can cause cramping.

2. Dehydration can be another cause. It is important to stay fully hydrated prior to, during and after exercise.

3. Electrolyte imbalances (especially sodium and potassium) can cause muscle cramping. Potassium and sodium help maintain fluid balance in the body. The electrical charges they carry help trigger muscles to contract and relax. A potassium-sodium imbalance can lead to muscle cramps.

a. Your best bet against muscle cramps is to consume potassium rich foods including oranges and orange juice, bananas, dried fruit, legumes, milk, yogurt, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, etc.

b. It is also important to consume adequate sodium in  your diet. Salt your food and consume salty foods such as pickles,pretzels, soup, baked chips, etc. Of course, you may need to limit your sodium somewhat if you have high blood pressure.

c. Consume a sports beverage that contains sodium and potassium when exercising, especially in the heat.

4. Although not as common, a calcium deficiency may be blamed for muscle cramping. Increase your calcium intake or take a calcium supplement to see if the cramps disappear.

5. If all else fails, make an appointment with a physical therapist to see if there is a biomechanical cause of your muscle cramps.

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