TGIF: Summer Reading List Part III

Guest bloggers: Dr. Karin Anderson and Julie Erickson

Nonfiction: Secrets of a Former Fat Girl by Lisa Delaney. While I'm not in love with the title, this book really changed a lot for me. It made me realize that my relationship to food is not like that of other people, and that's okay. It's a whole new way to look at yourself, your body, fitness, nutrition. Everyone always says "you shouldn't diet, you should make a lifestyle change," and this book really showed me what that meant. And written by a smart, funny, normal person.
Fiction: Yann Martel's The Life of Pi. I can't say why, I just loved it. Fiction is much harder to pick from, because I read so much of it. I don't think I could even limit myself to one page, not to mention one title. For hilarious fun summer beach reading, pick up The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner by Jill Conner Browne. She is a Southern evil genius, and I am quoted on page 161.

Karin
Scar Tissue is the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis, lead singer for my favorite band of all time, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s a harsh eye-opening look into the world of the drug addicted vocalist, struggling to deal with fame, success and the lifestyle and temptations that go with it. It made me love this incredible band even more.Running With Scissors is the early-life memoirs of Augusten Burroughs’ very untraditional adolescent life. It’s hilarious and disturbing but very entertaining. Read the book before even considering seeing the motion picture adaptation. He also has his adult memoirs in print, Dry, which details his struggle with alcoholism.

Julie

Next Friday: Summer reading suggestions from Rick Osbourne, Mark Friedman, Sean Glass and Marty Heilman. Teammates -- any recommendations you'd like to share? Post your comments here or mail them to getfit@perfectpushup.com.

The Myth of Spot Reduction

Guest blogger: Dr. Karin Anderson

This morning at the gym, I saw a morbidly obese woman, with the unfortunate “apple” distribution of fat around her midsection. She was, predictably, doing situps. My first thought was “well, good for her for doing something.” Making a commitment to exercise and showing up at a gym to do it takes a lot of courage. My second thought was “too bad she’s doing the wrong thing.”

I am going to beat this dead horse one more time, because it’s worth saying again: SPOT REDUCTION IS A MYTH. But for some reason, this belief really persists in people, and they will not give it up, no matter what science says. In order to shrink your midsection (or any body part), you need to lose fat. This is done by achieving a negative calorie balance. Period. Through diet or exercise, or, ideally, both. You have to expend more energy than you consume, and that makes the fat go away. So if this woman finishes her situps and then goes out to Starbucks for a venti something-or-other, it will all have been in vain. Yes, doing situps does burn calories. But she could have burned three times as many on the treadmill.

Many people (and this includes a friend of mine who is a doctor) believe that the body will recruit the fat it burns from the area you’re working. So, they believe, if you work your abs, the body will use abdominal fat for fuel. This is, pardon the expression, a bunch of crap.

Metabolism is very complicated, so this is only a very general description. When the body needs fuel – glucose – and doesn’t have enough in store, it uses fat. The fat is transported from where it is stored to the LIVER (in case you were wondering, the transport molecule for this is HDL cholesterol), where it is converted to glucose. The glucose is then transported to the active muscle. So there is no advantage to using any particular fat store, since it all goes to the liver for processing. Which fat stores does the fat come from? It’s a little bit from everywhere, but more from some areas than others. Where it comes from is determined by genetics and hormones, and is almost ENTIRELY BEYOND OUR CONTROL. Men and post-menopausal women tend to have really stubborn abdominal wall fat. This is hormonal. They can do situps all day long, and their bodies will still pull fat according to its predetermined pattern. If you maintain a negative calorie balance, eventually it will all come off, you just don’t get to control what shrinks first. It’s a little bit like accounting, though: last in, first out – the last place you gained fat is most likely to be the first place from which you lose it.

Yes, it’s frustrating. You start an exercise program. You start eating right. You keep track of your intake and output so that you are sure to have a negative calorie balance. And you want to see your belly shrink. Instead, your boobs disappear and you don’t notice any change in your belly at all. It can really make you want to poke your eyeballs out. But keep at it, and you will see the changes you want.

Now a few words about resistance training. If diet and exercise (when I say “exercise” I mean cardio) are the keys to fat reduction, what is the point to resistance training? Despite what I’ve said above, resistance training and calisthenics are extremely important. They burn calories, especially if you have a pretty vigorous resistance training program, although cardio still gives you more bang for your buck in terms of burning calories. What resistance training does is build muscle. Muscle, being metabolically active tissue, burns calories, even at rest, so it makes the whole process easier. It makes you stronger, so you can do more things. It increases tension on your bones, making your bones stronger. And it just plain looks good: a six-pack really is a beautiful thing.

So back to the woman at the gym this morning: if the situps I was observing were just part of her overall plan that included eating sensibly and a good cardio program, then I am wrong and I apologize for thinking what I did. The combination of all three activities is exactly what she needs to do. If not, then I hope that somehow she is pointed in the right direction. But if even one person learns something from this, then maybe all her situps were not in vain.

Standing by to answer your questions!
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Dr. Karin Anderson is an Emergency Room Physician in the Greater Dallas-Ft. Worth area so she definitely knows how to deal with stress. Karin is also a dedicated physical fitness athlete who clearly knows the human body. Teammates, get on board to pick up some great tips from her knowledge of both disciplines.

TGIF: PERFECT Workplace

Here's a new look for emergency room physicians: doctors with green shamrock antenna! Karin, our newest CM blogger and her friend/co-worker, went back to work in scrubs and race t-shirts after running a St. Patrick's Day race.

HOOYAH!

Life is Complicated

Guest blogger: Karin Anderson

First of all, please call me Karin. Just Karin. The "doctor" part is only for work.

I am a normal person. I'm not a born, natural athlete. If I eat too much crappy food and fail to exercise, I get fat. I have about as much coordination as your average toddler. I am fit because I work at it every single day. I do have a trainer, who is awesome (just check out his picture!), but a trainer isn't going to pull the pound cake out of your mouth or lift the weights for you or run in your place. Life is complicated, we all have a lot of obligations, and the only way to get and stay fit is to make a commitment to yourself and to make that a priority, or a part of everyday life, like brushing your teeth or feeding the dogs. Often that means going to the gym after a busy night shift, but you have to do what you have to do. Working with regular folks on what to do to lose weight, to keep it off, and to enjoy the process (or at least not hate it) – that’s why I’m here. There are so many emotional processes at work, and they involve learning to understand and accept your relationship with food and exercise, learning to find your place in this world, and learning to find joy in the little things.

Although I have not had any formal training in nutrition or exercise physiology beyond what I've learned in medical school, which is at least a decent background, I have several nutrition and exercise physiology texts which I love to read -- studying is actually FUN when you're doing it because you're interested in it, rather than having to cram for a test. So even if I don't have the answers off the top of my head, I have access to the resources and the ability to digest (no pun intended) them.

CHARLIE MIKE may be upbeat and positive, but it’s also realistic, and I’m not going to be the first blogger to tell you that you can sit on the couch and eat and achieve all of your fitness goals! Now that we have that behind us, if there’s a topic you’d like me to tackle, let me hear from you.

Meet Dr. Karin Anderson

Guest blogger: Keith Greer

CM Teammates -- my name is Keith Greer. I have been with Alden and Team Perfect since almost the beginning. My role is to run the television campaigns for the company’s products. It's an exciting job, especially when you have such great products and customers. Perfect Pushup was the #1 direct response spot for all of 2008 as measured by the Infomercial Monitoring Service. We owe this great distinction to our dedicated customers.

This week I would like to introduce Dr. Karin Anderson. She is an Emergency Room Physician in the Greater Dallas-Ft. Worth area so she definitely knows how to deal with stress. Karin is also a dedicated physical fitness athlete who clearly knows the human body. She's going to be an excellent addition to the CHARLIE MIKE team. We can all pick up some great tips from her knowledge of both disciplines.

Welcome Karin!