NEW PRODUCT

Even though I’m a dietitian, my clients frequently ask me about exercise as part of their weight loss plan. Since managing weight effectively depends on calorie balance, it makes sense that we talk about not only diet (calories in), but exercise (calories out), too.  Most simply want to know how much…or, sometimes, how little…exercise they need to do in order to lose weight, or to keep off weight that they’ve already lost. So here are some of the key things I tell them about exercise and body weight:

• Trying to lose weight through increased activity alone is tough to do. To lose a pound in a week’s time – strictly through exercise – you’d need to burn up an extra 500 calories a day, above and beyond your current activity level.  That’s no small task.  You’d need to hike uphill for an hour with a 10-pound backpack or swim laps for 90 minutes – without stopping. Trying to lose weightonly through increased activity – or only by cutting your calories – won’t be nearly as effective as a combination of diet and exercise.
• Cutting calories may cause your metabolic rate to drop somewhat. Your metabolic rate represents the number of calories your body burns just to keep basic processes going  - and is a big part of your ‘calories out’.  But your metabolic rate can dip a little when you cut back on your eating.  So even though your ‘calories in’ may be lower, your ‘calories out’ can drop, too – and leave you more or less in calorie balance.
• Strength training can help to increase metabolic rate.  When people think ‘exercise’, they usually think aerobic exercise, like biking, swimming or jogging.  But strength training is important, too – in part because it helps to build lean body mass, which can bump up your metabolic rate and help offset the drop in calorie burn that takes place when you cut your calories.
• It’s easy to make mistakes when counting calories – both in and out. People tend to overestimate the calorie cost of the exercise they do – and underestimate the number of calories they eat.  Which helps explain the frustration many people feel when they’re sure they’re doing ‘everything right’ – but the scale just won’t budge.
• You need a lot of exercise to lose weight, but you need even more to prevent it from coming back. Once you’ve lost it, regular activity is critical when it comes to keeping weight off.  But it takes more than a leisurely stroll around the block. Members of the National Weight Loss Registry – people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year – burn an average of about 2800 calories a week in exercise.  That’s the equivalent of about 90 minutes of exercise – like a briskfour-mile walk – every day.
• Exercise is key to good health and anything is better than nothing.  When people hear that they might need an hour or more of exercise a day to keep their weight under control, it can be a little daunting.  But don’t let the numbers discourage you.  Do what you can, do it regularly, and try to go a little farther – or work out a little harder – each time.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

Posted on February 22, 2012 by KitGilham

Every cyclist loves the first few weeks of the season when all the new equipment arrives and gets used for the first time. An additional bonus is when the first few rides are somewhere warm, exotic and mountainous. Our training camp with Ciclo Costa Blanca, based in Albir between Benidorm and Calpe, ticked all the right boxes: sunny, warm and with great roads over spectacular terrain. Most of the team were present, Jack however was forced to sit this one out. Everyone looked strong and stayed that way throughout the week, which bodes well if we end up doing an eight-day stage race such as the An Post Ras, in Ireland, for example. Special mention to Tommy “the tank engine” Bustard for making everyone suffer on the flatter and windier sections and for a series of spectacular attacks on long climbs.

Rab C Hassan looking happy not to be in Scotland

Before I go any further there are some people I would like to thank, in the manner of a tearful Oscar-winning actress:
in no particular order and with apologies to those missed out or uncredited, massive thanks are due to Matt Chester at Leisure Lakes for ensuring the team bikes were all ready in time for the training camp; to Ken at Bioracer for coming up trumps and delivering the new (and fantastic looking) team kit in time for the camp; to Terry at Ciclo Costa Blanca for welcoming us and providing detailed route information, if anyone reading this is looking for an overseas training base this is heartily recommended; Neil, Lindsay and Geoff for organising everything so far and delivering bikes and team kit all over the country at very short notice; and finally to Specialized for the fantastic bikes (see Alistair’s post for a summary of their excellence), to Signs Express for stickering the bikes with a very fast turnaround and to Herbalife 24 for keeping us all going with a superb range of energy and recovery products. Speaking of which, here are my impressions so far on using the Herbalife 24 product range.

Herbalife 24

Throughout my cycling career I’ve used a wide range of energy and recovery products from a variety of manufacturers. I can safely say that the Herbalife 24 range is the best I’ve used, by a significant margin. The range covers all bases for riding, recovering and even healthy snacks and meal substitutes.

The Herbalife 24 range, everything the athlete needs in
the course of a day. Hey, is that why it's called 24?

A typical training ride for me is somewhere between three and five hours so I start my day with a bowl of porridge supplemented with a few scoops of the Herbalife Formula 1 Sport powder (as suggested by Monsieur Kay, sous-chef at Maison d’Reid Parc). I take two bottles on the ride, if it’s a long ride I fill both with Herbalife Prolong (a 7:1 carb to protein formulation that increases endurance whilst reducing fatigue and muscle damage) or, for a shorter ride, one bottle with Prolong and the other with Herbalife Hydrate (an isotonic formulation of minerals and electrolytes to replace those lost through sweat). I also take two of the Herbalife Protein bars which help to prevent me from feeling empty and are a great reward for completing any intervals in my training session.

 

A little will get you a surprisingly long way.
Note the additional sachets of Hydrate
which can be used if an extra water stop
is required while on the road.

Once back from the ride I use my Herbalife 24 Protein Shaker (with whisk ball for easy mixing – genius!) to mix up a combination of Rebuild Endurance and Rebuild Strength – I feel this gives me the best combination of muscle repair and glycogen replacement without unwanted bulk. Incidentally the two products combine to give a lovely chocolate vanilla flavour.

 

Worth going home for

And that’s it, although if I feel hungry during the evening a Protein Bar is just the ticket for a healthy, filling and guilt-free snack.

 

Now it’s difficult to quantify without carrying out a proper trial (many subjects, double-blind etc.) but I can safely say I’ve felt pretty good on the bike since starting to use Herbalife 24 and, in the sort of subjective leap of faith and statistics familiar to those writing undergraduate dissertations, I have reduced my cases of illness from the two months prior to using Herbalife 24 by 100%.

To summarise: fantastic tasting and highly effective products which I thoroughly recommend to anyone with an active lifestyle.

As the seasons change, our bodies are adapting to changes in the environment, too. Pay a little extra attention to your diet, not only to keep you healthy during the winter months, but also to help you avoid winter weight gain.