Fitness and Better Health through Chemistry: The Man You Don't Want to Be

Oh, I had visions of what I wanted the Product Review section to be. It would give troops insight into the type of trash they needed to take to war. But I quickly discovered that good gouge travels much faster through the ranks than my puny attempts to keep up with it.

I also learned the services are now issuing combat gear much better than they did just a few years ago.

So the section went fallow. I thought about sacking it outright. Still might. But before I do, I thought I'd take a run at something I do know a little about: supplements and exercise.

First, a disclaimer: I have no financial interest in any health products. What follows are my own thoughts and observations culled from 30 years of taking vitamins/supplements and sweating. I offer no medical advice. I am no nutritionist.

Enough said.

It's incomprehensible, but fully a third of our adult population is "big-boned" and the figure is probably higher for our teenagers.

I witnessed firsthand this dismal state a few years while attending a fellowship at the University Maryland. One wintery Saturday afternoon I dragged myself to the student gym.

I'd accepted that I'd be the geezer in the pool. Hey, I had my day. Generations usurp. It's always been thus. With bowed head, I accepted the natural state of things.

Wrong!

Christ, I was the stud!

Although north of 40 and a smoker, I was in much better shape than 85 percent of the kids there. I was embarrassed for them. The Video-Games Generation would've waxed me in God of War, but couldn't do a dozen pushups or pull-ups to save their fatty-hearts.

That summer I went home for a long-delayed family reunion and found my relatives had become walking Barcaloungers.

Not good. Since none of us have wayback machines for time travel, all we can do is move forward from now.

Where to start?

First, get the easy stuff out of the way. Detail everything you eat and drink for three days. Every donut, soft drink, corn chip, candy bar, steak and vegetable.

Now look to substitute healthy foods for those high in sugar and fat. Substituting an apple for a candy bar is a solid start. Eating raw carrots instead of chips is another winner.

Salmon instead of a Big Whopper? Now you're thinking!

And don't forget the little things. People focus too much on trans fat and salt and completely forget about caloric content, which is what packs the weight on.

Foo-foo coffees are astronomical high in calories. (http://www.shapefit.com/starbucks.htm)

Fruit juices are surprisingly high in calories and sugars. Drinking orange juice instead of soda won't make you automatically lose weight. (http://calorielab.com/foods/fruit-juice/33) By the way, don't buy 'light' fruit juices. Buy the regular stuff and add water. You'll get twice as much for half the cost and calories.

To your body, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie regardless of whether it comes from an orange or high fructose corn syrup. (Debate rages still on this issue.)

Always remember that water has zero calories. It's hard to beat zero. Read labels carefully. The other day, I picked up a drink and found the caloric content acceptable. Then I noticed that the 11.6 oz. can contained 2.5 servings. I moved on.

Here's the secret to all weight-loss. I impart this because you can be trusted with the knowledge of the internal flame: Burn more calories than you ingest and you will lose weight. Eat more calories than you burn and you will gain weight.

Now go in peace knowing that you now possess that which millions have spent billions to learn.

What to Expect from Working Out

First, you don't need a gym membership to get your work in. If there's a will, there's likely a way. My neighbor has a baby and expenses. About four nights a week he's jogging around the neighborhood. He has lost 12-15 pounds in the last three months.

Which brings us to an important point. Your weight loss goal must be rooted in reality. Depending on your size, shedding 2 to 5 pounds a month is a reasonable goal.

It's no trick to lose weight. The trick is keeping it off. This usually requires a lifestyle modification, which does not happen overnight.

Mathematical formulas can tell you how many calories to cut to reach your target weight. I suggest starting more simply. Cut your sweets, calories and portion sizes and do something active. Walk on the beach. Walk around the block. Jog if possible.

But do something. Just don't go crazy exercise-wise and hurt yourself.

Great things require great effort, and getting your weight under control and fitness level up are great things. To slip up is human. To give up is folly.

Words to the Wise

· Don't expect amazing results overnight. You didn't get large in a month and you won't get slim in a week.
· Don't expect spot reduction. Fat flows through your body. There is no such thing as spot reduction.
· Find what's right for you. Some people hate pushing around weights, but love yoga. Maybe your thing is swimming. Whatever it is, find it.
· Expect more energy once you start working out.
· Expect to sleep better.
· Expect your clothes to hang loser.
· Expect better endurance.
· Expect your mood to brighten.
· Expect people to notice there is less of you.

Do I Need a Trainer?

If you are trying to make the Olympic team, you need a trainer.

If you need external motivation to exercise, you might need a trainer.

If you have burning desire to give money away, you don't need a trainer. You need my telephone number so you can give it to me.

Except for some book learning, everything I know about fitness came from watching others. This isn't rocket science! Does the stud at the beach really look that smart to you?

What about Vitamins and Supplements?

If you have a good diet and the strains on your body are moderate, you probably don't need any vitamins or supplements.

If in doubt, a multi-vitamin is a good way to go. They're cheap and won't hurt you if you take them as directed. I do suggest taking them with a meal to avoid nausea.

Personally, I take about 13 pills every other day.

I know this sounds excessive and maybe it is, but I am working out seven hours or more a week.

Included in my repertoire are fairly large doses of vitamins C, E, D, K, B-6, along with glucosamine, flaxseed oil, ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort, resveratrol, milk thistle, CLA, cod liver oil and glutamine. They all do - or are supposed to do - something a little different.

Milk thistle - and possibly glutamine -- helps liver function. Glucosamine helps my bum knee. St. John's wort boosts my mood, and ginkgo biloba seems to help me focus.

I occasionally use protein powder, but assiduously avoid all other bodybuilding agents and anything else that promises a quick fix.

I expect the FDA to one day regulate supplements because there's some really bad stuff out there. Unfortunately, it will probably take multiple tragedies before someone reins in the multi-billion dollar industry.

Whenever I think of supplements, I remember a guy I met a few years ago at the Encinitas YMCA. For whatever reason, he was obsessed with getting 'big' and had turned his body into a walking science experiment to become a new man.

So one day at the gym, he pulled me aside. He wanted to know if he should be worried because he was lactating.

He was a new man, all right, and a man you don't want to be.