Tag Archives: weight watchers

The Diet you Choose After Weight Loss Affects your Metabolism

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The food you eat after weight loss affects the likelihood of putting weight back onAs Chief Fitness Officer at Koko FitClub, part of my role is pouring through the mass of diet and exercise research out there to discover for you the best information from the most credible sources to help you succeed at your health and fitness goals.

This week, a very intriguing study was published in one of the most credible sources: The Journal of the American Medical Association. The title may be a mouthful ( “Effects of Dietary Composition on Energy Expenditure During Weight-Loss Maintenance”) but this research is big news, so I am going to boil it down for you.

The basic premise of the study was this: Reduced energy expenditure (a slowing of  metabolism) following weight loss is thought to contribute to the tendency to gain weight back. However, no one had yet studied how the type of food people eat when they are trying to maintain weight loss affects their energy expenditure. That is what the researchers set out to do here.

The study looked at the effects of three, very common weight -loss maintenance diets on energy expenditure among a group of overweight men/women aged 18-40 years old. Researchers also looked to see what affect these diets had on certain hormone levels and components of metabolic syndrome.

The diets were as follows:

  • Low fat (60/20/20)
  • Low glycemic index (40/40/20)
  • Very low carbohydrate (10/60/30)

(  )  =  % CARBOHYDRATES/FAT/PROTEIN in diet

The study demonstrated that of the three, the low fat diet fared worst. Producing changes in metabolism and hormone levels that would predict weight gain as well as worsening many components of metabolic syndrome.

The low carbohydrate diet fared best in terms of  metabolism and the beneficial effects it had on many of the metabolic syndrome components. However,  increases in the stress hormone cortisol and CRP were seen. (CRP or C-reactive protein, is found in your blood stream and at certain levels can indicate inflammation and a risk of developing coronary artery disease.)

The low glycemic index diet showed similar benefits as the very low carb diet, but to a lesser degree. But, those benefits came without  the negative effects of the very low carb diet – the increase in cortisol and CRP – making it, in the minds of the researchers, the most “advantageous for weight-loss maintenance and cardiovascular disease prevention.”

So what should you do with this information?

First, keep on strength training! The lean muscle you are building and maintaining with Koko Smartraining boosts your metabolism. Second, be conscious about the food you are eating and focus on eating foods that are low on the glycemic index while staying away from fast food, refined carbs, and “white” foods that are high on the glycemic index.

It is one more simple strategy to help you on the road to success – improving your health  and vitality!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

How Much Exercise Do I Need to Reach My Fitness Goals?

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How much exercise is too much?This is a hot fitness topic of late thanks to a recent study that suggests too much endurance exercise- from training for events such as marathons and triathlons – can actually have a negative effect on your heart.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization and Surgeon General, 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise is what you need each week to stay healthy. They also recommend two strength training sessions.

Knowing that you need to exercise for your health, but given the recent news that it may be possible to exercise at a level that is unhealthy, you might be wondering “what types of exercise should I do and how much should I be doing it?”

This is the kind of competing health and fitness information that can become so confusing, it ends up sending people to their couch in defeat. This is why we created Koko. Getting fit and healthy doesn’t have to be confusing.

It ultimately depends on your fitness goals, but if you’re doing 2-3 strength and 3-4 cardio Smartraining sessions each week, you’re in the ballpark of what these health agencies recommend. If it’s a bit more? Fine. Just remember, your exercise routine should become part of your lifestyle, and something you maintain for a lifetime.

If you are training excessively – especially if it is excessive distance and endurance work – then you need to consider the possible risk to your heart. If you are not training to an extreme that risks your heart, but you are “over-the top” with the amount of exercise you are doing, consider that with any extreme you are undermining your long term success. The extreme road is impossible to travel forever.

With the obvious caveat that what you do outside the club – from the quality and amount of food you put into your body to how much you move in a day – is of critical importance, if you’re looking to build muscle, lose weight or prevent weight gain, the amount and type of exercise prescribed by Koko fits the bill. It is also designed to be a fitness routine you can stick with long term. As Koko Co-Founder, Mary Obana, likes to say, “Koko for Life!”

If you’d like to read more about the study I mentioned here, visit:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/moderation-as-the-sweet-spot-for-exercise/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21330616

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/12/05/eurheartj.ehr397.abstract

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Body Weight: Why the Scale Wont Ever Tell You the Whole Truth

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Body weight cannot provide a full, accurate picture of your health and fitness

When a Koko FitClub franchisee in California shared these compelling photographs on facebook last week, (thanks Aman,) I knew I had to blog about body weight this week .

We have all weighed ourselves. Some of us make it more of a habit that others and multi-billion dollar companies have built successful business models on having members weigh themselves each week. But body weight and your scale alone cannot tell the whole story about your health and fitness.

For all of the people over the years who have told me they don’t need to exercise because they “weigh the same as they did in college,” a picture is worth a thousand words. And this one speaks volumes. Five women, all with different body mass indexes, different percent body fat levels, different dress sizes (UK size) and even different amounts of muscle, but all with one thing in common…anyone? They all weight the same! They all weight 150 pounds. 150 pounds can mean something completely different for every body…even your own after a couple of decades.

In this photo, for a few of the taller women, that body weight suits them well, while for others – it is too much weight. But stepping on that scale tells you none of the particulars. It tells you nothing more than the fact that you weight 150 lbs.

At Koko FitClub we take a different approach. We don’t want you to focus on “losing weight” as your primary goal. We want to encourage you to focus on getting fit and healthy from the inside out. To focus on building and preserving muscle first.

Why? Because you start to lose it after about age 35. (To the tune of 8-10 pounds a decade!) If you weight he same as you did in college and you aren’t working to maintain your lean muscle, your percent body fat has increased. Your body is not the same.

Building and preserving muscle has huge benefits:

  •  Research has demonstrated that for every three pounds of muscle I can add, I rev up my metabolism by 7%.
  • Muscle tissue burns three times more calories (pound for pound) than fat tissue.
  • More muscle changes the way you look – as you can see with our group of women –  not to mention the way you feel!
  • More muscle  means more independence as you age into your golden years.

The work I’m putting in at Koko now – in my 50’s – is already paying big dividends. And, I’m counting on it to continue into my 60′s, 70’s, 80’s and maybe even beyond.

All it takes for you to reap the same benefits is a little Koko Smartraining – 3 strength and 3 to 4 cardio sessions a week. Are you in?

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

In the News: Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing

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I read with interest the recent Newsweek cover story, Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing, by Gary Taubes. Taubes shines a light on the importance of eating the right types of calories to beat obesity and I want to share it with Koko Nation along with my own insights into some of the questions he raises.

As a professional in the business of helping clients get and stay in better shape long term, I applaud Mr. Taubes for questioning the status quo. My experience at Tufts Center for Nutrition taught me how sugars and white flour products can wreak havoc on the metabolism and lead directly to chronic weight gain. However, I believe Taubes’ assessment of the role of exercise in weight management is overly simplistic and may mislead readers to think exercise (especially high-intensity type training) is ineffective and possibly even a contributing factor in our nation’s struggle with weight.

One of the most powerful benefits of exercise is not how many calories are burned during exercise. Exercise, particularly strength training, is absolutely essential for maintaining our body’s lean muscle mass as we age. This, in turn, helps maintain or elevate our metabolism. By boosting our metabolic rate, our bodies naturally burn calories at a higher rate 24/7.  Unfortunately, too many dieters today instead focus on low calorie diets that result in an overall loss of precious lean muscle mass, (research shows as much as 10-50%,) which ultimately slows their metabolic rate. And unknown to many, excessive cardio exercise (“chronic cardio”) can exacerbate this muscle loss.

Bottom line, the real key to long term weight control is both the right type of calories, as Mr. Taube states, and the right type of exercise. It’s that simple.

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Is Sugar Hampering Your Exercise Results?

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Read nutrition labels to spot added sugarYou are working out every day at Koko FitClub. You are healthier and your body is responding to the regular exercise with extra energy and strength when you need it most. Love it, but…

What are you putting into your body?

Even if you are not actively counting calories and just aspiring to “eat healthier,” a relatively easy (and often eye opening) habit to adopt is monitoring  your daily sugar consumption.  As a country, we consume a lot of sugar, and much has been written recently about its toxicity and addictive qualities. If you rein in your added sugar consumption, you will truly maximize the benefits of  your Koko Smartraining workouts.

Sugar can come in two forms – natural and added. Natural sugar can be found in fruits and the milk you drink. What I want you to keep a watchful eye on is the added sugar that is found in just about everything else you consume on a daily basis. Often they are sneaky – listed with names like “high fructose corn syrup,” “dextrose,” “sucrose,” etc.

*Warning* – you will be shocked to see how much added sugar is in the food you’re eating and the soda and fruit drinks you’re drinking! An average American adult consumes 92 grams (almost 400 calories) of added sugar each day.

Experiment with this for a week or two: look for the grams of sugar on ALL food/drink labels. Women, keep your daily amount of added sugar under 100 calories/25 grams a day. Men, keep your daily amount of added sugar under 150 calories/38 grams a day.

After this exercise, you won’t want to go back to your days of blind sugar consumption!

You can do this! If you have soda, sports or fruit drinks on a daily basis, just cutting these out of your regular diet will significantly cut down on both your sugar consumption and daily calories. ( The average person drinks about 450 liquid calories a day!)  It is one of the simplest changes you can make to boost your Koko workout results. And an easy rule-of-thumb for label reading? If the ingredient list is long and full of things that require a chemistry degree to translate, (including various forms of hidden sugar,) just put it back on the shelf.

Getting your sugar intake under control will pay off big when combined with your Smartraining workouts. Don’t be surprised if you get a better view of all that new muscle you’ve gained by losing a few pounds or inches from your waist like I have!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising