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Dr. Bo Rosenblat, M.D., Chief Physician, Dr. Bo’s Diet
In The Know With Dr. Bo: Your Guide to Weight Loss & Nutrition
One Size Does Not Fit All
Try a Metabolic Rate Test for a Custom Approach to Weight-Loss
H
ave you ever looked at the
nutrition labels on the food
you eat? Or used the calories
burned icon on the Precor machine?
Chances are you have. When trying
to lose, maintain or even gain weight,
it’s important to gauge the number of
calories you are getting, but do you
even know the number of calories you
need? Chances are, no. The single
most common question I get asked
as a weight-loss specialist is: “How
many calories should I be eating to lose
weight?”
There is only one basic truth to
weight loss: you need to burn more calories than you consume. This doesn’t
mean that you need to run like a gerbil on a wheel and eat celery sticks all
day, but you do need an understanding
of your body and the energy it needs to
thrive. If you learn how many calories
your body needs per day, getting to or
staying at a healthy weight becomes far
less challenging.
Calories are the measurement of energy in the food we eat as well as the energy our body uses daily. Your metabolic rate is how many calories your body
burns in a day, or essentially, how quickly your body burns energy. The trick to
weight-loss is to balance the calories
eaten with the energy needs of your metabolism. I often hear people complain
that they have a “slow metabolism”
and that is why they can’t seem to lose
weight. The truth is that while some
people actually have a slow metabolism,
many people are simply consuming far
more calories than their body needs, and
certainly more than they think they eat.
Eating the right amount of calories is
important; since just an extra 500 calories per day for a single week will result
in a full one-pound gain!
Food labels tend to assume that both
men and women need anywhere from
1500 to 2500 calories per day, which is
a large and deceptive caloric range. In
order to get an exact measurement and
know with accuracy how many calories
you need per day, a Basal Metabolic
Rate (BMR) Test is what you need. An
individualized BMR Test pinpoints the
precise number of calories your body
needs each day to lose or maintain
weight effectively.
Metabolic Rate Testing is all about
individualizing a patient’s weight loss
plan. A machine known as a calorimeter will determine your unique caloric
needs, a number which changes as we
age and go through hormonal changes.
The test is non-invasive and only takes
a matter of minutes to complete. We are
not a one size fits all nation but for some
reason we all try to follow the same
cookie cutter diet plans with little success. We can all point to one friend or
another who was very successful on a
specific diet program but when you tried
it, you failed to yield the same results.
The fact is that our different bodies have
different chemistry and different caloric
needs.
Every person has a unique resting
metabolic rate; this is the number of calories your body would burn if you did
nothing more than sit in a chair all day.
Your resting metabolic rate is related to
your lean body mass or the fat-free parts
of your body made up of lean muscle
We are not a one size fits all nation
but for some reason we all try to follow the same
cookie cutter diet plans with little success.
and internal organs. One of the single,
most important things you can do is to
maintain your lean body mass. As you
lose weight, you do not want to lose the
part of your body that actually helps you
burn energy. A carefully crafted nutrition plan is of paramount importance.
Something seemingly insignificant, like
insufficient protein in your diet, will
cause a decrease in lean body mass, a
problem affecting many people including children whose main source of calories come from starch carbohydrates and
processed foods. This can account for a
decrease in metabolic function as well.
Exercise that helps build muscle
will increase your lean body mass and
increase your basal metabolic rate too,
allowing you to consume more food
without tipping the scale. Any activity
helps, and if you’re completely seden-
tary, walking is a good start. Eventually
you can add exercises that build muscle
strength. It is important to remember
that exercise, while building lean body
mass, burns far less calories than you
think. Don’t reward yourself with dessert thinking you’ve cancelled the two
out, when chances are you haven’t.
Staying at or below your caloric needs
nutritionally is truly the only way to lose
or maintain weight.
If you find that despite lowering
your calories you still can’t lose weight,
or if you have tried multiple diets with
no success, there may be more at play.
Have you given up and chalked yourself
up as a diet failure, or resigned to never
achieving the healthy body you want...
don’t blame yourself; it may not be your
fault. A small percentage of people do
suffer from actual medical conditions
that have decreased their metabolism,
making it almost impossible to lose
weight without treatment. Early detection can identify patients suffering with
slow metabolism and they may begin
the process of identifying the underlying medical cause. Generally, once the
physiological problem has been treated
effectively, the patient is suddenly able
to diet successfully and maintain their
weight loss.
Remember it is all about balance –
once you know your needs, the key to
successful weight management is to
balance the calories you eat with the
calories you burn. Your Metabolic Rate
Test provides information about what is
right for you, not anyone else. Use this
to your advantage.
Want to know if your caloric needs? Think
you really do have a slow metabolism? Come
in for your custom Metabolic Rate Test and
find out: Dr. Bo Rosenblat is a board-certified medical doctor with office locations in
Hewlett, Great Neck, Brooklyn and Manhattan. For more information about Dr. Bo’s
Diet, please call 516-284-8248.
T h e J e w i s h H o m e n j u n e 7 , 2012
Health & Fitness