<p>I think that anything under 50g of sugar a day is considered very low and just fine (unless you are a diabetic). Lustig is pretty clear that it’s a quantity issue. The body can metabolize reasonable quantitities of sugars just fine without problem. The issues arise when consumption increases to the very high levels you see with drinking sugar drinks, eating candy, and so forth.</p>
<p>I averaged 33 g of sugars per day last week. I don’t know how I could go a whole lot lower as most of that is from fruit and veggies (6 g a day from the powdered psyllium husk fiber). The only added sugar I ate last week (I think) was in some ketchup and some of my homemade Bar-b-q sauce. That’s only about 120 calories a day from sugar, so even cutting it in half isn’t going to make any real difference.</p>
<p>To put it in perspective, drinking just one 16 ounce soft drink would add 54 g of sugar per day, nearly tripling my sugar intake to 87 g per day.</p>
<p>The class was interesting. All women, wide age range. Equipment used was steps, barbell, plates, bars and hand weights. You could choose what was comfortable for you. I used the barbell with attached plates and hand weights. Couldn’t do some of the deep squats or any of the lunges but modified so there was no knee pain. Was sweating with moderately high heart rate at the beginning of the class but cooled down when we went to upper body exercises. Guess I should have used heavier weights but I didn’t know how many reps there would be and how many sets we would finish! I did not like the core section when the instructor had everyone doing various crunches. I just did planks/side planks. The class forced me to do more free weights than I normally use but I only burned 286 calories according to my HRM. This wouldn’t be bad for an off day but I like bigger calorie burn workouts. My muscles are tired so will be interesting to see how sore I am tomorrow!</p>
<p>Am struggling with the low carb thing. To make a sweeping generalization, I really think it is a lot easier for men than for women. </p>
<p>I could never again eat a fried food item for the rest of my life and never miss it. Baked goods, on the other hand, I love.</p>
<p>I am not a huge fan of meat or poultry, I like fish but eat it in relatively small portions, unless it is encased in seasoned rice and seaweed , don’t much like eggs and can only eat small quantities of beans and pulses. I have been supplementing with protein shakes, but find I really miss the carby stuff.</p>
<p>H just called me. After one day of low carb meals that I fixed for him he has lost four pounds. sheesh… I ate the same foods but lesser amounts…I lost 2 ounces. sigh…</p>
<p>The really great trainers do superset workouts that alternate between a lower body and upper body exercise. That way, each exercise becomes a little bit of a rest for the previous one. For the most part, upper body will be a bit less demanding because it’s using smaller muscles. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You can always go heavier next time! I always try to err on the light side when I don’t know what I’m up against.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The hip lifts would also be a good substitution. You also could do the McGill Curl-up version. Flat on back, one leg straight, one knee bent. Hands under the small of your back. Just lift your shoulders and head off the floor enough to feel like you are unweighting a bathroom scale: just an inch of motion. The hands under your back keep your spine from rounding, so it truly works the abs.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wouldn’t pay much attention to the calories burned numbers. The guys who make their living with fat loss (like the Cosgroves) swear that fast paced strength training circuits produce more consistent fat loss than anything else they’ve tried – and they only stay in business when their clients lose weight faster than the guys across the street so they have big incentive to produce the best results. There are lots of reasons. Part of it seems to be a hormonal response to resistance training. But, clearly, lean muscle is a weight watcher’s best friend.</p>
<p>I think the whole low-fat message of the last 30 years has generally made more of an impression on women than on men. Most men just kept eating steak and bacon, while I suspect most women have cut fat and protein from their diets. If you take the carbs out of a low fat/low protein diet, you haven’t got much left – either in terms of necessary calories or in terms of feeling full and satiated. This is compounded by not eating much meat because it’s really hard to get adequate protein. And, of course, not wanting to eat fat makes it less likely to eat meat.</p>
<p>That’s really the catch-22 of the “just eat less” very low calorie approach to dieting. You end up feeling like you are starving because… well… you **are **starving! It drove me nuts last year when my wife said I should only eat 6 ounces of poached haddock. Filling up on a big piece of poached white fish was the absolute best thing I could do. Lots of protein. Feel full. Skip the rice and bread. Limiting the portion size made no sense. Same thing with broccoli and salads. I eat huge salads – a whole heart of romaine from one of those 3-pack bags is a standard salad for me. I eat ridiculous portions of broccoli. Take away the starchy carbs and sugars and it’s not that easy to get enough calories.</p>
<p>NM – I feel for you. It used to be the case that H could drop ten pounds in nothing flat just by dropping the afternoon Coca-Cola or two. </p>
<p>He’s not finding it that easy these days. I keep suggesting that he try dropping the carbs, but he’s not there yet. I look at him eating two 1/3 hamburgers on buns, and think that the buns are what is really contributing to his weight – meanwhile, I’ve discovered that I’m perfectly happy eating a just grilled burger with some cheese on top and a fresh chile, and I’m not even vaguely missing the bun. (One of our local markets has started selling “single grind” beef – not run through the grinder multiple times, and boy does that ever deliver on the “big beef” flavor.)</p>
<p>Tougher for me has been restricting fruit. I could happily (very happily) eat a pound of Ranier cherries, and settling for 10 is more of a challenge. But, the weight loss has been gratifying enough that it is worth it. Peach season is going to be really tough. </p>
<p>My trainer has had me doing what was called the “clam” exercise here for a few weeks now (intermittently – she mixes things up a lot) and I can really feel a difference in my walking. Overall my glutes are delivering a lot more power to my walk as opposed to it all being hamstrings, quads, and calf. Interesting to see that more glute development might reduce the incidence of achilles tendinitis, which I’ve been plagued with on and off for seven years now. </p>
<p>We’re also doing a lot with the SPRI weighted medicine balls with the cutouts for handles – a lot of work, but in some ways I like them better than the free weights we also use.</p>
<p>I guess the take home message is that change just isn’t very comfortable. I am used to exercising, so even though these new workouts are killer, I don’t have a tough time incorporating them. But reducing the carbs does feel like deprivation. What I mean about it being easier for men (aside from the obvious, that most men can drop weight easier than most women) is that men usually like the protein/fat stuff, so giving up the carbs is less deprivation if you love steak and bacon – which I could care less about.</p>
<p>I know it is a very “not fair, wah, wah, wah” comment, but sometimes you a girl’s gotta vent.</p>
<p>Yeah, but we’ve all got our own demons when it comes to changing a diet. I’m sure I’m not the only guy in the world who really struggled to give up soda or sweet Snapple teas or a bag of Doritos. We’ve all got to figure out where we need to be calorie-wise and then figure out how we can get there in a way that doesn’t leave us perpetually hungry because perpetually hungry is hard to sustain.</p>
<p>On the other side of the coin, if you have been eating large amounts of carbs, then even moderate reductions should result in fat loss.</p>
<p>We’ve all raised kids too and I really don’t know any parents that didn’t have to give up something (money, sleep, hobbies, a neat house, etc) in raising their kids.</p>
<p>S2’s college graduation was last weekend, and both sons have been home, with me and DH, this week. FINALLY, S1 headed back to his college town (even thought he graduated) for a summer research job, and S2 hopped on the train to NYC to see his HS buddies. </p>
<p>Thank goodness – I couldn’t stand it any more. They have totally messed up my exercise schedule. :mad:</p>
<p>Son and wife just watched the very long high-fructose corn syrup YouTube that idad posted today. I’m curious as to their impressions of the video and if it results in changes in behavior. My wife and daughter are thin. Son could stand to lose about 20 pounds. He’s been in low-fat mode for a while though lately he’s been going after more protein and less suger - but not no suger yet.</p>
<p>Well, I did the same workout as Monday and it didn’t get one bit easier. I hit a heart rate of 86% of my max doing the silly core exercises. Sheesh. Push ups with diagaonal knee drives and mountain climber holds with the hands on a bench are both tough as nails.</p>
<p>Went to the Y to do weights but my daughter surprised me and came with me. I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to as I had to explain things to her and we alternated on the equipment but it was nice to get her to the gym. This is a light workout week for me - tennis tomorrow and a long run on Friday. Work is ramping up and I’m going to be buried for the next six weeks.</p>
<p>30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes on the recumbent bike. If my boss wasn’t in there with his daughter and her swim-team teammates I would have really been bored…</p>
<p>Getting your daughter interested in strength training is well worth missing a few reps. Just doing a moderate amount of strength training pays such dividends in health and fitness.</p>
<p>This was a great exercise for single leg balance, just what I was looking for. It was surprisingly tough on working the glutes. I’m going to make this one a regular part of my warmup for a while. I need help with single-leg balance.</p>
<p>Single leg balance- One of the easier yoga poses is good for building up. Stand up (obviously) and remain as straight as possible (hips and shoulders level) and raise one knee up and grip it with both hands. Hold for a minute and repeat on other side. My PT makes me try it with eyes closed. I can’t do it.</p>
, don’t much like eggs and can only eat small quantities of beans and pulses. I have been supplementing with protein shakes, but find I really miss the carby stuff.</p>