From: watanabe@milton.cs.uiuc.edu (Larry Watanabe)
Subject: Re: Won't have Sex with a Fat Guy/Successful weight loss
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 03:54:12 GMT

eepee@polaris.utu.fi (Esa-Pekka P{lvim{ki) writes:

>In article <1992Nov2.170954.12121@walter.bellcore.com> 
	kenl@origami.cc.bellcore.com (Ken Lehner) writes:
>>In article <27523@castle.ed.ac.uk>, 
	cam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm) writes:
>>|> In article <1992Oct31.214929.344@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> 
	jnielsen@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (John F Nielsen) writes:
>>|> 
>>|> >Because of this, one cannot just stop eating or go on a very low
>>|> >calorie diet. The person won't lose fat, they'll lose muscle mass
>>|> >since it's protein is the only other source of glucose.

>Wrong. The body will utilize fat first, proteins will be used in a much
>later stage. 

I think you are wrong on this.

Numerous experiments have been done (look up in a standard
physiology textbook) showing that on very low calorie diets
a larger percentage of weight lost is due to loss of lean muscle
tissue than on a more moderate weight loss program. Even on 
a moderate weight loss program, you have to exercise in order
to avoid losing lean muscle mass.

>Excercise; during long-lasting workout, the only source of
>energy is fat. 

In almost any workout, the
energy is being produced by a variety of sources: the ATP-CP reaction,
anaerobic/aerobic glycolysis, lipid metabolism.

Ever do a long-lasting workout at sufficient intensity that
you had a burning sensation in your legs? That's acidosis,
which means you're not burning fat -- you're converting
glycogen to lactic acid.

Even at more moderate intensity workouts, you could still
be metabolizing glycogen -- aerobically, though.

It is only during low-intensity training that you will be
burning fat. And even then, you are still metabolizing
glycogen both aerobically and aerobically, and getting
energy from the ATP-CP reaction. It's just that a smaller
percentage is due to that.

>>My advice for losing weight (disclaimer:  I'm not a dietician, but I have
>>been a competitive (non-professional) athlete for over 20 years; current
>>activity is triathlons):
>>- Consume most calories prior to exercise (i.e., don't eat a big dinner
>>before going to bed).

>I don't really believe the time of the day one eats matters all that much.

It matters a great deal. Many athletes need to eat 6 times a day,
smaller meals, in order to support their training. In addition, it
is generally recommended that at least 50% of the calories be 
obtained before dinner.

>What does matter is the total amount of energy one takes in and the total
>amount of energy one uses during the day. If you use more calories (by way
>of excercise) than you get by eating, you will lose weight. 

Calories aren't all equal. If you have x calories of carbos, and 
x calories of fat, you will gain more weight from the fat, because
there is an energy overhead associated with converting the carbos
to fat.

How you burn the fat/carbohydrates also determines the amount
of energy that you get out of it, too. All metabolic processes
are not equally efficient.

>Of course, 
>if you cut back on your late-night meals, you will simply be cutting the
>total amount you eat, and that will help. Unless you compensate for the
>loss by having an extra pancake in the morning.

>An interesting point is that there is evidence that regular excercise
>also alters thermogenesis and fat metabolism at rest, i.e. the more
>you excercise during the day, the more you will keep on burning fat at
>night.

Do you have any evidence to support this? I have heard this
several times but no-one has been able to cite any
scientific studies that support it.

-Larry Watanabe

Newsgroups: alt.support.diet