Exercise and Fitness: Questions & Answers
Vital Health Zone is proud to announce Gina Jackson, who is our resident exercise and fitness expert and who is available to answer all your questions about exercising and fitness.
- Trying to lose weight on the legs and calves
- Want to gain more muscle tone, but not fat
- Healthy GI foods to eat post workout
- Sweating and fitness levels
- Feeling tired after eating carbohydrates and sugars
Q: My body is quite disproportional. I have very skinny arms, a thin stomach/waist/hip area, normal thighs and heavy calves. How do i lose weight on my legs (mostly calves) without losing weight anywhere else?
A: As much as we would like to spot reduce the weight and fat in our bodies, it really isn't possible to accomplish. Your question is an interesting one, as most people want to build and strengthen their calves, which support the ankles and help define and compliment the curves of the legs.
Calf work, inclusive of stretching the fully belly of the muscle - from the origin at the knee to the insertion at the soleus - will elongate the muscle and help to define the leg. My advise is to work your legs with lunges and calf raises to define, strengthen and build the muscle. These should be followed by stretching them to lengthen the muscle.
Lastly, be conscious of your salt intake, which for many may result in the body holding water which may collect around the ankles and calves.
Q: I'm underweight and need to gain weight. I am 157cm and about 42kg - female. I do a lot of exercise at the gym and am trying to do more weights. I need to increase my diet, but I am concerned about having more fat in my food as i want to gain muscle, not fat. I am currently drinking soya milk but don't know whether to switch to drinking lots of skimmed milk so I can have more kcal and protein, but less fat. Similarly, I eat oatcakes rather than bread, but they are higher in fat - so would bread be better? Any advice would be great.
A: Resistance training, coupled with a healthy diet - inclusive of protein, complex carbohydrates and polyunsaturated fats - is essential to strength and muscle development. I advise clients to eat 5-6 small meals daily - healthy protein, dark green leafy vegetables and brightly colored vegetables/fruit and "liquid" (polyunsaturated) fats. The latter can be easily obtained from olive oils, canola oils, peanut oils vs saturated fats, such as butter, margarine, animal fat. Unsaturated ("good") fats are also found in avocado, nuts and seeds.
Our bodies need each, protein, carbs and fats - in balance - for our systems to operate properly.
Regarding your specific question of "bread being better" depends upon the amount of energy you are expending in your strength and weight training regimen. Whole grain breads will provide needed fiber and be a great energy source for the active individual. If you are seeking to gain weight while you are building muscle, you will need to build up the fuel stores in your body (whole grain pasta and breads, whole milk can be good sources in balance with protein and fats, as mentioned earlier) so that you provide your system with enough "caloric fuel" to withstand your training and still have a surplus such that you add overall weight to your frame.
You have not identified your age, but given your height and weight, I would recommend minimizing your cardio programming and increasing your strength and resistance training to build muscle as you focus on healthy dietary habits.
Q: I am trying to find the best food or drink to have after my workouts (spike). Nearly everybody seems to suggest dextrose/maltodextine but I am reluctant to use any type of highly refined sugars and try to keep things as natural as possible. It seems that most healthy alternatives either have too much fructose or have a low GI. I cant seem to find any information on how much glucose/fructose is in certain high GI foods (eg dates, date sugar, sucatant, amasake, watermelon, grapes, brown rice syrup). can you steer me in any kind of direction?
A: All the foods you have listed here have a high GI, which means they are broken down and digested very quickly by the body and send more glucose into the bloodstream.
To build muscle, I would recommend refueling depleted energy sources with a healthy protein and complex carb - again, since it all gets converted to glucose - use the fuel source that stays within the system. My favorite to precede or follow a good 60-90 minute workout is Muscle Milk RTD. That is when I don't eat grilled chicken and broccoli or salad.
Complex Carbs and High GI index sugars are temporary satisfiers - like eating a candy bar after a run in the park.
The following site has a database of information about glucose levels, GI (glycemic index) and GL (glycemic load) on a variety of foods:
The Official Website of the Glycemic Index and GI Database
Q: I'm trying to lose weight but i am confused about energy, carbohydrates and fat. Could you tell me what a good quantity per day would be for each?
A: Energy is the calories (or kilojoules) that is present in the foods and drinks you consume each day. Everyone needs a certain amount of energy to survive. The amount of energy you require depends on the amount of energy you exert (the physical activity you engage in).
To understand your individual calorie (the energy from the food you eat) requirements each day, use the following calculator:
The amount of the macronutrients you require each day are recommended in the following ratios (this is based on general guidelines recommended by dieticians):
- Carbohydrates - 45% of total energy intake
- Protein - 30% of total energy intake
- Fat - 25% of total energy intake
Be aware that these are guidelines only and everyone's individual circumstances are different, so you can vary this a little for you.
In addition to this, all foods generally contain some carbohydrates, protein and fat, in different ratios (there are a few exceptions to this general rule). To give you some idea about this, take a good look at the food values section of this site (it gives the nutritional content of many natural foods) and view the carbohydrates, protein and fat content of various foods to understand this better.
We will be adding a nutrient calculator shortly, which you will be able to use to calculate your carbohydrate, protein and fat intake depending on your calorie intake, so stayed tuned for this.
Q: Carbohydrates and sugars tend to make extremely tired after I eat them. Is there a reason and solution for this?
A: All carbohydrates get converted into glucose in the body, to be used by energy by every cell of the body. Once the carbohydrates are converted into glucose, they are released into the bloodstream.
Once the glucose is released into the blood, the pancreas then produces insulin to help the cells take in the glucose for energy. If there is too much glucose than is required, it gets stored in the liver and as fat around the body, to be broken down and used as required.
Foods that are simple carbohydrates or have a high glycemic index (GI) are broken down very quickly into glucose and this causes a big spike of glucose to be released into the blood very quickly, which the pancreas finds difficult to dissipate into the cells through the release of insulin, which is not enough to cope with the sudden and high influx of glucose in the blood.
This is the reason why you feel tired after a meal that has a high GI or if you eat a large meal that is carbohydrate based after not eating for many hours. Your body basically cannot cope with it and your pancreas may slowly stop working as efficiently if it is under such pressure all the time (this is how the condition insulin resistance occurs).
Basically most processed foods are made from processed flour, which has a high GI, so they are broken down into glucose very quickly and cause this to occur.
Foods that are considered to have a low glycemic index (low GI) get broken down into glucose slowly and they cause a very gradual release of glucose in the blood, which the pancreas is very well equipped to handle by release appropriate amounts of insulin.
Foods that are made from 100% wholegrains will cause a much better insulin response in the body and are also better for you.
Have a look at the article on glycemic index and also the food values of various foods, which lists the glycemic index of many natural foods.
Q: i have started to count how many calories my boyfriend and i intake and burn. After realising that his golf playing does burn lots of calories, his calorie intake totalled to 1495 one day. He is 31years, 175cm and 82kg. Would consuming this low amount of calories result in mostly fat loss or would his muscles start to shrink?
A: Your concern is warranted here.
The calorie intake for a male of 31 years, 175cm tall and 83kg is:
- 1854 calories - at rest
- 2700 calories - doing light exercise like golf
Basically this means that your boyfriend is not eating enough calories to ensure his body is working at optimum levels and to allow all the metabolic processes to occur in the correct manner, with all the right nutrients.
If not enough calories are being consumed on a daily basis, the body will go into a state called ketosis, where it will burn muscle tissue to gain enough energy to carry out all the metabolic processes the body needs to stay alive. If his calorie intake is at such a low level on a regular basis, this means he is basically starving himself.
Your boyfriend should monitor his calorie intake for two weeks to determine if he is eating enough on most days and adjust his intake accordingly.
If you are concerned, see a registered dietician who can help assess his situation and create a diet plan to ensure he eats enough food.
Engage in more fitness for your health!
