Effect of intensity of exercise (walking) on weight loss goals.

[Dulce9]

I'm very happy with my Fitbit Alta HR and feel I'm gaining a lot of insights from it.  I wanted one because I was trying to figure out what my heart rate was while walking and was having trouble doing it with a stop watch.  When I got the Fitbit, I discovered that walking does not have much of an effect on my heart rate, perhaps due to the fact that I've been in the habit of walking daily for decades.  I had increased from one mile per day to two miles a day in an effort to lose weight.  When I got the Fitbit and learned that my heart rate wasn't increasing very much, I tried doing little bits of jogging as I walked, and found this worked like a charm.  As few as 16 jogging steps would raise my heart rate, which I found rather surprising.  I thought one needed to jog for much longer to see an effect.  Now when I go for walks, they consistently chart in the fat-burning or cardio zones (though I had to make a custom zone for cardio, as I have a low RHR).  Here's my question:  I'm still doing two miles a day.  The difference is that I'm doing the miles at a greater intensity.  How will this help my efforts to lose weight?  I'm interested in learning about your personal experiences with this or research that you've read that you could share.

[Dominique]

@lavabelle wrote:

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My personal experience is that intensity does not necessarily help me lose weight, but length of workout does.

@lavabelle has a point: @Dulce9 said he increased his walking from one mile to two miles. That’s double the distance, but it’s still "only" two miles. "Going the (one) extra mile" won’t have a significant impact on total calories burned, because walking one mile only burns a limited number of calories. Walking five miles every day (even at a moderate pace) would start making a difference, because that would be several hundreds calories.

I was able to lose about 6 kg in three months this summer without hardly doing any intense cardio: almost all of my cardio was low-intensity (mostly walking), but my average step count was well over 20k (and total calories burned over 3000).

[GershonSurge]

I often see people say our ancestors outran Saber Tooth Tigers. That never happened. Our ancestors only had to outrun their slowest companion.

[Dulce9]

20,000 steps is quite a lot!  I can see why that would help you lose weight.  One thing I've learned from the Fitbit is that my step count is always lower on the weekend, even when I walk an extra mile each day.   I'm a teacher so work days require quite a few steps.  I do wonder how much of a difference those steps make.  I didn't have a very good summer.  It's a long story, but I wound up being rather inactive, and though I didn't eat more than usual, I gained back some weight.    

I've often heard that Fitbit overestimates the calorie burn one gets from steps, but they add up nevertheless.  That reminds me of another topic--Fitbit says I burn over 100 calories more a day than the TDEE calculator I use says.  

[GershonSurge]

@Dulce9,

First, there is something you should know about my diet. I'm strict about eating a whole food plant-based diet. This means:

1. No animal foods of any type.
2. No added oils like olive oil, etc.
3. No or few processed foods.
4. Most of my food is in as close to a natural state as possible.

The reason I'm so strict is this diet cured my "incurable" neuroendocrine cancer. If I stray, some form of cancer will likely return. This is the only way of eating that has been shown to reverse or arrest advanced heart disease.

You can choose any level of compliance you like. If you don't have any medical issues, it may be a case of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In other words, say a 50% reduction in the odds heart disease may be enough to satisfy you. If you start to have indications of heart disease, it's time to get more strict.

Now, I'd like to introduce two concepts: Calorie density and nutrition density.

There are two mechanisms that decide when you are full. The first is stretch receptors in your stomach. Some people have many of them and feel full on a little bit of food. These people will be skinny regardless of their diet. However, they may not be healthy. The second is the body has the ability to sense the presence of nutrients in food. It will encourage you to keep eating "into the pain" if you don't get enough nutrients.

Suppose you go for a two-mile walk and decide to reward yourself with two Chips Ahoy cookies. You can see the nutrients here. Two cookies are 155 calories. Seventy-two percent of the calories come from fat and sugar. You used up the benefit of 42 minutes of walking at 3 mph. Of course, nobody is satisfied with two cookies, are they? I don't know about you, but once I get started, I can easily eat ten of them for a total of about 775 calories.

Suppose you decide to have a Mandarin Orange (47 calories) and fifteen red or black grapes (51 calories) with a total of 98 calories. This snack will fill you up more and your body will sense there are enough nutrients. And, you've saved 57 calories. 

It doesn't sound like a big deal, but this little saving once a day will result in about 5.9 pounds of weight loss in a year. Do this ten times during the day, and that's 57 pounds a year. 

Play with your daily intake and see where you can make healthy substitutions. If you eat animal products, try to limit them to about 10% of your calories a day. Or pick a bit higher number if that's all you can do.

Since you are a teacher, I'm guessing there may often be donuts next to the coffee in the morning. What food from home can you bring to reduce the temptation? Show your work with references to nutrition labels. How much weight will you lose a year if you make this little change?

[GershonSurge]

Sorry about making too many posts. I have free time now, so I thought I'd post my lunch.

The bowl is deeper than it looks. It has two serving spoons of cooked rice, one of beans, and about 3/4 cup of chopped broccoli and greens. Oh, and a tortilla on the top. I'm trying to gain weight, so I don't mind the 773 calories. If I was trying to lose a little weight, I'd take off the tortilla.

If you want, you can add pork when you make the beans. That way, you will get the flavor, but not too much volume. You could sprinkle cheese on the top, but if you do, I suggest taking away the tortilla. It's not optimum, but it's a step in a healthier direction. 

Compare this to a Big Mac and large fries. Similar size sandwiches have about the same numbers.

Look at the number of calories! 1100 vs. 775. Where are the vitamins? In the small amount of lettuce, pickles, and onions. There aren't many. They also add supplements that can't work. They only pick a few out of the 200,000 phytochemicals in plants. How about that protein everyone's concerned about? Only 11% in the McDonald's meal vs. 14% in the plant meal. There are only 9 grams of fiber vs. 16.9.  Truthfully, I think the wrappers in a McDonald's meal would be healthier than the "food."

It's a topic for another day, but student lunches are proof people in the United States aren't civilized. Civilized people care about their children's health. If school lunches are so great, why aren't the markers of health improving in our children?

[Dulce9]

Thank you for sharing this and pardon the delay (yay, weekend!).  What a difference in calories and nutritional profile when healthy foods are substituted!  

[GershonSurge]

@Dulce9 wrote:

Thank you for sharing this and pardon the delay (yay, weekend!).  What a difference in calories and nutritional profile when healthy foods are substituted!  

Since you are a teacher, I figured you were busy during the week.

As long as you keep the total fat in your diet around 10%, it's quite difficult to eat enough food to gain weight. You can do this while including a little bit of meat for flavor. By a little, I mean a few bites per meal.

Psychologically, we all resist deprivation. Therefore, when we take away the meat, we have to substitute something tastier. Most of the flavor from meat comes from spices added. Try eating boiled chicken with no spices, and you will see what I mean. You can add similar spices to starches and get the same flavor. Try to avoid adding salt.

Initially, it will help to use some cooking tips to make things easy. You could make my bowl with potatoes, beans, and vegetables. For the potatoes, get some Ore Ida home fries or a store brand equivalent. Put them on a pan and put them in the oven at 425 for about 40 minutes. (Check them about every 10 minutes the first time.) Use parchment paper to keep them from sticking. Mix them with the canned beans of your choice. Rinse the beans to get the salt out. Add some chopped vegetables and simmer until the vegetables are cooked. You can also use mixed frozen vegetables. I'd a half a clove of garlic, cumin, a shake of chile pepper and a shake of cayenne pepper.

Eat a much bigger serving than you are used to. You may initially gain some weight as you replenish your carbohydrate stores. If you don't eat big enough servings, you will likely feel lethargic.

It will likely take years to makeover your way of eating completely. Each improvement brings a little better health. I suggest picking one thing you can start doing today and are willing to stick to.

There is one simple change I can see in your diet. You add some protein powder and peanut butter to your oatmeal. It's next to impossible to design a diet with too little protein if you aren't severely limiting calories. Instead of protein, substitute some chopped greens. You can buy mixed greens in a plastic box in the produce section. The easiest way to chop them is with scissors. Greens have plenty of nutrients, but few calories, so I don't count them. Don't add so many that it changes the consistency or flavor. Peanut butter is high in fat, so I suggest adding a banana instead. Microwaving for only 30 seconds after it's cooked will bring out the sweetness.

Go ahead and eat two bowls. It will only be about 569 calories.  

[Dulce9]

Thanks for your reply.  I will say that I'm happy with my diet and don't have any questions in the diet department--you know how individual diets often can be for people.  Cardio exercise, on the other hand, is a new component to my weight loss efforts.  It may not accomplish much, but I do think I will stick with it.  

[GershonSurge]

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@Dulce9 wrote:

Thanks for your reply.  I will say that I'm happy with my diet and don't have any questions in the diet department--you know how individual diets often can be for people.  Cardio exercise, on the other hand, is a new component to my weight loss efforts.  It may not accomplish much, but I do think I will stick with it.  

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People would rather change political parties than change their diet, so I'll drop that subject.

[Dulce9]

There can be a religious zeal to certain dietary paths, that is for sure.  I'm not that intense about my diet by any stretch of the imagination, but I do feel that I have adequate research and experience to back up my choices.  But I do appreciate your taking the time to reply to my question and sharing your opinions about exercise etc.  🙂