The closest thing I've got to Weight Loss Magic

Let's start with a pictorial then and now shall we?

My birthday: February 6, 2007 I was not in good shape physically or mentally. Neither was the decor in my dining room.

(I officially started my "Plan" on the 15th of February 2007.)


March 2007


April 8th 2007 Easter

May 13, 2007 Mothers Day. At goal weight or close to it (that skirt is size 0 and I had been wearing a size 12/14 on my birthday in February.) This was taken just under 3 months after I started. (My mother thought I looked horrifying but I was fairly thrilled.)

Feb 6, 2008 My birthday again. A little below goal weight.

And Feb 15, 2008 Exactly one year later. 40lbs lighter but still bad at the limbo.

About a year and a half ago I lost quite a bit of weight in a short time. About 40lbs in 3 months. I wasn't in the obese category to start with (although I certainly was overweight), so this endeavour took a very concerted effort.

Everyone asked me what I did. And here is the simple, disappointing truth. I ate very little and exercised very much. I do not recommend this approach because it is certainly not the healthiest method and it is all but impossible to maintain long term, thus the results are hard to maintain. It also requires that you become completely obsessed and obsessing about your body that much is not a good thing for anyone. However, having an all or nothing type personality, I knew that it would have to be this way or not at all. So I lost the weight quickly but as we all know, this is just the beginning of the struggle. There is the matter of keeping the fat at bay.

Surprisingly enough though (mostly to me), I have kept the weight off for more then a year. I have fluctuated very little from my goal weight (sometimes weighing a few lbs less). And let me tell you after that first 3 months, I began eating like a normal person. Actually probably more then a normal person. Lots of eating. Oh how I have been eating. However, I have also been keeping up regular exercise, (although not nearly as aggro as I was when I was losing the weight), and therein lies What Works For Me.

There is one type of exercise in particular that I attribute my magical maintenance metabolism to (and also in a large part to my initial weight loss). And so when people want a quick and magical fix (and most people do), this is the closest thing I have to offer. It is called Interval Training. Also known as High Intensity Interval Training and a few other impressive and dynamic sounding titles.

For a long time, personal trainers and fitness experts have been maintaining that keeping your heart rate in a steady aerobic (rather then anaerobic state) would help you to burn more fat then raising your heart rate to anaerobic levels.

I have always believed in my heart that this was not the best way to burn fat fast, it made no sense to me that working out harder would burn less fat, and so, when I began my Fanatical Fat Flinging process, I set out to prove this. I proved it fairly convincingly for myself, and lately I have noticed with some smugness, that the rest of science has caught up with my genius and has begun to validate me. (Google "Interval training for Fat Loss" sometime). I am still waiting for the Nobel Prize people to contact me. Hellooooooo?

So here, in a nutshell is how the "magic" works. The trick is to put yourself into an anaerobic state ( in other words you exercise at near maximum exertion) for short intense timed periods, and then to go back into aerobic breathing for recovery. This method of exercise, interval training, employs and develops both slow and fast twitch muscle. Slow twitch muscle (used for endurance) burns fat and fast twitch muscle (used for "sprint" type activities ) has an "endothermic effect" basically it heats things up in there, creating an "afterburn" which means it kicks your metabolism into high gear for long after you have stopped exercising. Way more so then when you keep your heart rate steady. Muscle takes fat and calories to maintain. And you know what that means? Yes! Right at this moment as I sit on my duff my muscles are merrily burning calories and munching on fat. I so love those twitchy little guys.

The other beauty of interval training is that it increases your cardiovascular endurance quite dramatically in a short amount of time which of course enhances your fitness and performance. Being able to exercise faster or for longer periods of time means even more calorie burn and muscle building. Not to mention increased fitness makes exercise and life in general more fun. See what a beautiful, beautiful thing this is?

My cardio of choice is running, but interval training can be incorporated into whatever exercise you prefer to do and at virtually any level of fitness you are currently at, if you are healthy and medically cleared to exercise. (Check the website I post below for more guidelines)

Here is my typical personal HiIT program where I range from 10 min miles on the treadmill as warm-up ( for 5 minutes) and for recovery (for 1 min) between sprints, and work by 1 minute increments up to running 7 minute miles (which for me is pretty close to all out exertion).

So this is how it would look (picture me all sweaty and red and unattractive on a treadmill):

When I start would run 5mins at 6.0mph, then 1 minute at 6.4, 1 minute at 6.7, 1 minute at 7.0 and....

back to 6.0 mph for 1 minute to rest and get my heart-rate down.

(Don't be afraid to go down to whatever speed it takes to get your breath back so that you can be strong for the next cycle). Getting your heart rate down again is crucial to the success of this method! The secret lies in the peaks and valleys.

So after 1 min at 6.0 or whatever it takes to recover, I'm back up to to 6.4.,6.7, 7.0 and for this cycle I add on another minute of running at 7.5 then I go back down to 6.0 for recovery for 1 minute...

Back to 6.4, 6.7. 7.0. 7.5 and add 8.0 for one minute

Back to 6.0 for recovery

Then right up to 7.0. 7.5. 8.0 and 8.5mph each for one minute

Rest at 5.7

I could do the last sequence one more time if I am not feeling kaput, but generally I am. Which is how it should be. You are going ALL OUT during these sprints and should feel pretty spent at the end of an interval training session (but not so spent that you don't recover within a few minutes of stopping). It's not as hard as it sounds though because it's for a short time and you have those regular breaks.

When I am very fit I will do another cycle and push it up to a 6.30 min mile (9.0mph) for a minute at the end.


Surprisingly you will find that getting to 7.0mph (or your equivalent exertion) during the first cycle is much harder then getting to 7.5mph in the second. Your body really adapts quickly.

Yet another benefit of this type of training is that it makes your workouts go very, very quickly and does not leave room for boredom (as you are too firmly focused on survival). Kidding (kind of). Including intervals in your training program is an awesome way to mix things up, particularly on a treadmill. It also takes less time then my other workouts.

I try to do interval training about 2x a week. I also very much believe in weight/resistance training (I try for 3x a week), you will thank yourself in your old age for resistance training, so please do! I also do long slow runs, moderate length and speed runs and always have at least one rest day. I aim to exercise 5-6 times a week although I have to say that it is probably more of the exception of the rule that I accomplish that. But even when I have had longer periods off due to sickness or other circumstances, my fast/slow twitch muscle buddies have picked up the slack. Oh the punniness!

Here is a great site for building your own interval training routine.

As for the eating? When I was trying to lose I ate a lot of protein and fiber, stayed away from anything in the white flour/sugar family as much as possible and drank a lot of water. Kashi Go Lean rolls were my friends and Kashi High Fiber/High Protein continues to be my breakfast of choice. (I try to be very full after breakfast, but with the kind of food that lets me exercise about 30 mins later. ) I was super strict about the sugar, didn't eat late, all the usual suspects of weight loss, nothing new here folks. I chewed a lot of gum and thought about every single thing I put into my mouth because of that.

So basically there is no magic, it takes hard work, but you knew that. This method simply makes the likelihood of your hard work being successful very high.

*Here's my disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and you embark upon anything based on any of these suggestions at your own risk. It's what works for me so don't try to sue me if you don't lose 40lbs in 3 months or if you drop dead trying to (please be careful, it would be so sad if you dropped dead). Actually you could try to sue me, because Ha, that would be so funny! The only thing I have to lose is debt.

Good luck! For more great tips or to share your own, click on the WFMW link above.

I'm reading: The closest thing I've got to Weight Loss MagicTweet this!