It's Not Easy to Lose Fat ... Do the Math and See Why!

I've been meaning to post this one for a little while, just never got around to it. But to mark the final week of the Biggest Loser contestants' residence in the White House, I thought now might be a good time to open some eyes.

I love watching The Biggest Loser. But one thing a lot of people just don't comprehend is how difficult it is to lose weight. So I thought a little math lesson in weight loss might help some of you to see what sort of effort is required to lose weight.

The generally recommended rate of weight loss amongst nutritionists and fitness professionals is between 0.5 to 1kg per week. This is considered to be both safe and maintainable in the long term. Does that rate sound too slow for you? Well then keep reading.

When I refer to "weight loss" I am specifically talking about FAT LOSS. Most of us are aware that if you drink 1L of water then you will weigh 1kg heavier... but losing water weight is not what ultimately will change your body shape.

For the purposes of this math lessons, let's be conversative and aim for a weekly loss of 0.5kg (500g) of fat. To lose weight, you essentially have to spend more energy than what you eat. So, how much energy is in 500g of fat?

1g fat = 9 calories
Therefore, 500g fat = 500 x 9 = 4500 calories

So in one week, you need to use 4500 calories more than you eat! Bet you didn't realise just how massive that number would be!

Let's break that down into a more manageable figure:

4500 calories per week = 4500 calories in 7 days.
Therefore 1 day = 4500/7 = 643 calories per day.

If you decide to try to lose weight through diet alone, I can guarantee that not only will you find this difficult, you will be hungry all the time. You will probably also be likely to not just lose fat weight, but muscle weight too. This in itself could be another blog post, but for now, just take my word for it that you do not want to lose muscle weight. Trust me.

640 calories is not burnt in a mere 30min brisk walk. Nowhere close!

30min moderate walk (6km/h) = 130 calories
30min brisk walk/light jog (8km/h) = 260 calories
30min run (10km/h) = 340 calories

This morning, I taught an aerobics class which was a combination of Step and Hilo. My heart rate monitor informed me that I burned 510 calories in 47mins (the class was actually 90mins long, but I kept forgetting to turn the computer monitor on at the start of my classes, so I'm generally only recording half of my classes... ugh!).

This might sound great to you - do a 1hr aerobics class, and Bob's Your Uncle, you've clocked in your daily 643 calorie burn time. What most people forget to factor into the equation is how hard do they work during the class? Some of my participants certainly do work hard, but others do not. And let me tell you, when I teach an aerobics class, I probably work harder than when I simply participate in a class. Sure, I sweat when I participate, but when I teach, I don't just sweat... it actually drips off me! According to what I've read online, on average you can burn about 300 calories in a 1hr Step class... maybe more in a Hilo class (if you work hard enough in the Hilo class that your average heart rate is higher than in a Step class).

The purpose of this post is not to paint an impossible picture and make you feel like you can't ever lose the weight. It's to help you appreciate that losing weight IS hard work. There are no shortcuts (apart from liposuction I suppose, and even that requires lots of $$ and pain!). If there were shortcuts, then our nation would not be going through an Obesity Epidemic.

And as for those diets that promise you will lose 7kg in 14 days ... they work short term but won't sustain you for life. Plus, that 7kg is not predominantly fat.

Next time: Tips for a Successful Workout Program

Step Routines

I know this will make no sense to anyone else except for me and possibly some other instructors who might be able to decipher my language, but I just absolutely love my new step routines and had to publicly declare them somewhere.

Both routines total 32 counts and change legs ready to repeat on the other leg for a second set of 32.

Routine #1:

• Reverse Straddle = 4 counts
• Switch Curl = 4 counts
• Chasse (around the step) x 2 = 4 counts
• Gallop Straddle = 4 counts
• Stomp Chasse x 2 (stomp on step first time, stomp on floor second time) = 8 counts
• Rock Back = 4 counts
• Single Knee = 4 counts

Routine #2:

• Stomp + Pivot turn = 4 counts
• Leap (sideways across step) = 4 counts
• Samba over Step = 6 counts (referred to by some as 2 x Quick Steps)
• Pivot = 2 counts
• Gallop Straddle = 4 counts
• Single Kick = 4 counts
• Side Tap Forwards = 4 counts
• Hop over Step = 2 counts
• Skip (like a Chasse on the Spot) = 2 counts

Instead of the Hop & Skip at the end you could choose instead just to do a normal "Over the Top" for 4 counts.

I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP!
I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP!
I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP!
I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP!
I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP!
I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP! I LOVE STEP!

What does this Aerobics Instructor do in her free time?

She practises her routines for the next few classes she's teaching in her living room, wearing pyjamas and a pair of Crocs (because practising barefoot, even on carpet, hurts more than wearing some sort of footwear).

And she avoids Ab exercises at all costs.

Step Aerobics

I'm very excited this afternoon. Tonight I'm teaching a Step Class for the first time in a little while. It's an intermediate to advance class, so I finally get to re-showcase some routines I wrote back in March when I covered another instructor's Step class on Easter Saturday. I haven't had the opportunity to do those routine since, because the only other time I teach Step is on a Thursday morning for 20 minutes - not really long enough for me to delve into my beloved routines.

I love Step aerobics. I love it way more than Hilo. I mean, I do really like Hilo... but I absolutely LOVE Step. I can't wait until I get to regularly teach a full Step class of my own every week.

You get such a great workout whilst minimising the impact on your joints. You work up a sweat easily because for the entire class you have to step on and off a Step. For Hilo, I find I have to consciously work harder to try and get the same level of sweat factor.

Step absolutely rocks! If you've never tried it before and are considering it, do give it a go! But make sure you go to a class with a good instructor - in the world of freestyle aerobics, this makes a HUGE difference between whether you enjoy a class or not, whether it be Step, Hilo, THT, or any combination of these and other styles of classes.

Super-Challenge Results

Recap - my guesses were:

1. Cosi's 200g Nestle Diet yoghurt ~ under 100cal
   
2. Kirsten's can of baked beans ~ assuming it's a small can, maybe 150-180cal?
   
3. Garry's 60g of Carmen's fruit muesli ~ 250-300cal
4. Sam's 55g Cadbury milk chocolate ~ 250-300cal
   
5. Alison's 74g McDonalds french fries ~ no idea! I would hazard a guess at 250-300cal, but
   I'm putting it as higher than the chocolate because it weighs more, and I'm not sure which of the two have the higher fat%. I know chocolate is typically quite high... french fries might have a lower fat % because despite being deep fried the fat is on the outside not mixed right through the middle like chocolate, but then french fries have a large surface area.*
   
6. Michelle's 600mL bottle of Fanta ~ at least 300cal

According to the show, the actual caloric figures were:

1. 200g Diet Yoghurt ~ 80 cal
2. 220g Baked Beans ~ 181 cal
3. 74g French Fries ~ 250 cal
4. 60g Carmen's Muesli ~ 277 cal
5. 55g Cadbury Chocolate ~ 290 cal
6. 600mL Fanta ~ 304 cal

So in summary, I had 3, 4 and 5 mixed up. Some additional lessons to take away from this exercise:

1. Whilst some might "shudder" at the muesli being a higher calorie content than the fries, don't forget that 60g muesli is a MEAL for many, whereas 74g frieds is a SIDE that many adults buy for their children whilst they consume a medium or large size of their own.

2. Beware soft drink! A 600mL bottle has close to the same calorie content as a meal should contain (bearing in mind, women who want to lose weight should aim for 1200-1500cal per day... so a soft drink would be one quarter to one fifth of a woman's daily allowance!). Aside from the high caloric content, that amount of sugar in one sitting is not good for ANYONE.

3. The chocolate and muesli are almost the same calories... again, however, you would eat a bowl of muesli for breakfast, but there is no way a 55g serving of chocolate would be as satisfying (or good for you).

The Biggest Loser Super-Challenge!

This was on TV last night. If you're a fan - wasn't it awesome to see the six contestants achieving what they did during the race? a 500m uphill run, followed by 4km bike ride, 3km canoeing on the sea (which included turning around a small island so it wasn't just canoeing in a straight line).

But then the nastiest part of all - six food items to choose from. The person who arrived first got the first choice of course, and the person who arrived last didn't get a choice at all. And whoever ended up with the food with the highest caloric content would be eliminated immediately.

Here is the order in which contestants finished the race, plus their food choices:

1. Cosi - 200g tub Nestle Diet yoghurt
2. Sam - 55g Cadbury milk chocolate
3. Kirsten - a can of baked beans (I'm not sure of the size but it looked like a smaller rather than larger size)
4. Michelle - 600mL bottle of Fanta (I think the normal kind rather than a diet variety but again, not sure)
5. Alison - small McDonalds french fries (weighing 74g)
6. Garry - 60g of Carmen's fruit muesli
   

What a dilemma. I actually think it would be worse to come 2nd or 3rd last instead of last because you could potentially not be the last to finish the race and yet have a hard food choice to make. Last year Damien got knocked out ... even though his amazing effort got him in 2nd last place (remember the guy was still carrying close to 200kg of body weight at the time) he chose a healthy food - eggs - but there were six of them, something he forgot to take into account!

My main issue with this challenge is that some of food items are clearly unhealthier than others (e.g. McDonalds vs muesli) and yet might have a lower caloric content due to portion sizes. However, when I thought more about it, this issue does teach a few important lessons for anyone wanting to lose or control their weight:

1. Portion size matters! You can still eat too much of a healthy food item and not lose weight, or gain weight. An example of this is fruit - yes, fruit it healthy, but it is also filled with sugar. Now if you were to eat, say, more than 4 servings every day in addition to your normal meals, this could be a contributing fact to why you're not shedding those unwanted kilos. Or you could be eating muesli for breakfast every morning but having double or triple what you need to have.
2. Many of us are aware that one factor of weight loss or maintenance is allowing ourselves to have treats, as long as the portion size and how often we have them is under control. Chocolate is a good example - many people, if deprived of this simple pleasure for too long, are likely to get out of control and have a binge. Again, the principle of portion control needs to come into play. Have a piece of cake on your birthday if that's what you've been looking forward to in the weeks leading up to it... but decide in advance to have one slice, decide on the size of that slice, savour and enjoy that slice, and don't go back for seconds!

So... what's my personal verdict on the above food items and their caloric order? Well it's a very tough call for a number of them, I wouldn't be surprised if several of the items are less than 30 calories apart, but here's my guess, from lowest to highest, plus my estimate of calories they contain (I'm really testing my knowledge here!):

1. Cosi's 200g tub Nestle Diet yoghurt ~ under 100cal
   
2. Kirsten's can of baked beans ~ assuming it's a small can, maybe 150-180cal?
   
3. Garry's 60g of Carmen's fruit muesli ~ 250-300cal
4. Sam's 55g Cadbury milk chocolate ~ 250-300cal (would have more fat than muesli)
   
5. Alison's 74g McDonalds french fries ~ no idea! I would hazard a guess at 250-300cal, but
   I'm putting it as higher than the chocolate because it weighs more, and I'm not sure which of the two have the higher fat%. I know chocolate is typically quite high... french fries might have a lower fat % because despite being deep fried the fat is on the outside not mixed right through the middle like chocolate, but then french fries have a large surface area.*
   
6. Michelle's 600mL bottle of Fanta ~ at least 300cal
   

What do you think? How would you order the foods? Most importantly, which food would you have chosen and would you have been eliminated as a result?


*side note - knowing the fat % of these foods is importance because, gram for gram, fat is double the calories compared to carbs and protein. Fat is about 9cal per gram, carbs and protein are 4cal per gram. Hence the McDonalds chips being heavier than the chocolate should not be the only factor to consider... if this doesn't make sense to you, pop me a question.

My First THT Class

Just to explain up front - THT stands for Tummies, Hips and Thighs. A popular one amongst the ladies... but remember, girls, you can't spot reduce! If you have no idea what I'm talking about I'll explain that one in another post ~ just remind me!

Tonight was fun. It wasn't the most challenging class I've ever delivered, but that was to be expected, as I had already explain to my participants that it would take a few weeks for me to get to know them and cater the class more to them.

Half the class - basic Hilo stuff. Anyone out there wanting to learn how to do aerobics, this would be a good class to get you started as I'm sticking to pretty basic choreography for a few weeks to get the newbies into it.

The other half - lots of sweat, ab crunches, butt crunches, and more. Fun stuff. Love it. Didn't used to, but somewhere along the line I learnt to.

Anyway my reason for writing this has nothing to do with describing my class and everything to do with what happened after. I left my CDs in the studio! Anyone who is a fellow instructor knows what a disaster this is. And it wasn't just the typical, "oops, I left one CD in the CD player", I left my entire folder of 18 CDs, $350+ worth just sitting on top of the stereo! How silly of me. James told me tonight at least I'll never do that again... I have my doubts.

I discovered this about 10 minutes before the gym's closing time, frantically called them, threw on a jacket and raced out to get my precious CDs, arriving within minutes of closing time. Knowing they were closing soon I didn't even get changed so there I was, my first night on the job rocking up to reception in pyjamas, a jacket and crocs.

At least I happened to have my nice pyjama pants on tonight.