All posts by Robin Walsh, ND

What is Body Composition?

Weight Loss, , , , ,

We have all heard the claims… “lose 10lbs in one week” or “I lost 60lbs in 2 months”.

While it is possible that this can happen, the reality is this is not healthy and it rarely leads to a loss in actual body fat. The bigger question is…what are these people losing?

In this society we seem to be only concerned about weight. One of our main recognized markers for health is the BMI or body mass index. This index measures a persons height against weight and while this is a great general marker, it doesn’t take into account a persons body composition.

We are facing an epidemic in our society called sarcopenic obesity, another name for skinny fat people. These are the people that look “thin” but when they are measured, they have a higher proportion of body fat compared to lean muscle tissue, or an altered body composition.

Body composition refers to the proportion of fat and fat-free mass in the body. Those with a higher proportion of fat-free mass to a lower proportion of body fat have a healthy body composition. This is a true measure of health, as excess body fat increases your risk factors for conditions such as high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Since muscle is the main source of protein, during illness the body uses this lean tissue for the production of antibodies, wound healing and white blood cell production. Low amounts of lean muscle tissue has been associated with accelerated aging (J Nutr 127:990S-991S (1997)) and a higher incidence of illness in aging populations (J Amer Diet Assoc 2002;102(7):944-955). In addition, fat burns 70 times fewer calories than muscle tissue so in terms of keeping weight off it is important that the weight we do lose is body fat.

So, to answer the question…with most rapid weight loss programs the majority of the weight that people lose is lean muscle tissue and water and small amount of fat. We can see that while weight is important, it is even more important to make sure that your body composition is changing.

To assess this aspect of health, our clinic uses a combination of weight, BMI, waist and hip measurements and BioImpedence Analysis (BIA). BIA is a science that was originally developed for monitoring patients after surgery in a hospital setting. The Practitioner will connect leads to your hands and feet and pass a low voltage electrical current through your body. This may sound alarming, but it is safe and painless, and provides your Practitioner with insight into aspects of your health such as how much fat and muscle that you have in your body. This science has even been used in several missions to space, to monitor the changes to the astronaut’s body composition.

For our health, lets take our total focus off weight and place it on getting your body composition to a healthy ratio.

The Power of Goal Setting — Commit to a Better You

Goals, Weight Loss,

Happy New Year!!

The start of a new year is always marked with possibility, resolutions and healthy habits.  I believe that people truly start out with the best of intentions, and while some succeed…most end up falling back into their old habits before the end of the month. We can see this if you walk into any health club in January and will have a hard time finding a treadmill while 6 weeks later it is more barren than the Sahara dessert.

So, why is it that people’s good intentions sometimes aren’t enough?

In 1979 there was a study conducted on students in the Harvard MBA program. The students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all.
Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing. The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about the three percent who had clear, written goals? They were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.

In spite of such proof of success, most people don’t have clear, measurable, time-bounded goals that they work toward.

What Can You Do?

When I ask people if they have weight loss or health goals, many do but just like the study shows very few of them ever write them down. For most people this is actually a scary process…if I write them down it means I actually have to do something about them. This is exactly the point…writing goals down makes your nervous system and physiology engaged and makes you more committed to achieving them.

It is also important what language you use. A statement such as “I am going to try and lose about 5 lbs” is very open and frankly “wishwashy”.  It means that you are going to put something down because you feel like you should, but you are not going to make it too concrete so there is nothing holding you accountable to attaining it.

What if you were to switch that goal to “ I MUST lose 5 lbs by the end of January.” And..what if you read this goal every morning, and also came up with 3 action steps as to how you are going to do this.  Which goal is going to make you more inspired?

The second step to this is that everyone needs someone to be accountable to. This may be a friend, family member…but more often this is a professional that will push you to new limits and encourage you to set higher standards.

Your Action Plan

Do this for yourself, make 2009 the year for lasting change…your deserve it!!

  1. Write 2 goals using positive and encouraging language that commits you to moving forward. For example: “I MUST lose “x” pounds by “x” date”
  2. Set a short term and long term goal (I would set the long term one for the end of 2009), write or print them out and post this in an area where you and everyone else can see your level on commitment.
  3. Read this every day, and become excited about the person you are committing to becoming!!!

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General

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I’ll be posting blog posts on a regular basis now to keep you up to date with the latest and greatest Naturopathic information. I’ll still be creating newsletters on a regular basis as well.

Stay Vibrant!

Robin.