Re-calibration and Body Fat Percentage

August 07, 2006

[gso]: hello thank you for chatting with me tonight
[llb]: hello
[gso]: how are you llb
[llb]: i'm ok, how are you?
[gso]: good thanks
[gso]: hello mimi how are you?
[llb]: hi mimi
[mimi]: hi mimi, hi llb ok and you?
[llb]: hi lavendar...wb
[lavender]: hi llb, thank you
[gso]: hello lavender how are you tonight?
[mimi]: I meant to type gso and llb
[mimi]: hi lavender
[lavender]: hi gso, okay thanks and yourself?
[lavender]: hi mimi
[gso]: does anyone have a topic they would like to start with?
[mimi]: hi dimples
[gso]: hello dimples how are you tonight?
[dimples]: hi everyone
[llb]: hi dimples
[lavender]: hi dimples
[gso]: any questions or comments of interest?
[lavender]: I do
[gso]: thank you lavender go ahead
[lavender]: yw
[lavender]: I'm wondering why I'm so angry at myself for eating too much today
[gso]: were you hungry?
[lavender]: I think so
[gso]: who says it was too much?
[lavender]: I do
[gso]: how do you define that?
[lavender]: my stomach hurts and I feel so fat
[mimi]: what did you eat?
[lavender]: I snacked and had some dinner
[lavender]: a whole bag of chips
[gso]: well I talk with my clients about how their hunger and fullness cues may not be calibrated correctly
[lavender]: can you say more
[gso]: if someone is overweight, they need to define fullness more clearly and use the 20 minute rule........
[gso]: the 20 minute rule is that it takes the fullness hormone leptin 20 minutes to take effect
[gso]: so if you wait until you feel full......you may end up feeling uncomfortably full 20 minutes later
[lavender]: and if someone is underweight?
[gso]: if someone is Anorexic or Bulimic they too have calibration issues
[gso]: for example
[gso]: the stomach may be so small and the body has used it's survival skills to adapt to minimal intake, then this person is likely to get full much too quickly
[mimi]: gso, is there a blood test to tell if their leptin is working?
[gso]: not sure....do you feel like yours is not working?
[gso]: that can be because of anxiety or depression.....which cause appetite problems (increased or decreased)
[mimi]: something isn't, never thought of leptin
[gso]: lavender.....did you get that?
[lavender]: about the stomach
[gso]: a person who doesn't eat enough....the body adapts by shrinking the stomach ........the body thinks there is a famine or drought which killed the food supply
[lavender]: yes, I get that
[gso]: so they adapt to the food amount that is typically given to it
[lavender]: I see
[lavender]: thank you
[gso]: so if you are underweight.....you may feel like you really overeat....some feel like they have binged.....but when you look at the total calorie intake.....it is either reasonable (2200-2500 calories) or it is under what is needed and the stomach and fullness are mis calibrated
[gso]: it is a tricky concept because the feelings can be so real for someone who is underweight
[lavender]: so I probably did eat too much for my stomach?
[gso]: yes...or ......you ate what your body needs and your stomach has shrunk too small
[lavender]: okay
[lavender]: does anyone else have this problem
[dimples]: yes i do
[System]: arsc_user_enter~~soulsearcher~~Author's Suite
[mimi]: hi soulsearcher, welcome back
[gso]: dimples can you tell us a little more about you to help lavender feel a bit better
[soulsearcher]: hi mimi
[gso]: hello soulsercher.....
[soulsearcher]: hello gso
[dimples]: not sure i would do a good job with that -
[gso]: soulsearcher we are talking about mis calibrated hunger and fullness cues......
[soulsearcher]: okay
[gso]: Oh dimles give it a try....:-)
[gso]: just tell us how you can relate
[dimples]: im in recovery and had my first sensation of feeling hungry this week - it freaked me out
[gso]: dimples that is a very good sign......that took hard work to get your body to that point
[dimples]: i do not like eating
[lavender]: that's how I feel dimples
[dimples]: you do lavender?
[lavender]: yes, that's why I'm so upset that I actually ate today
[lavender]: and tomorrow I'll be heavier
[dimples]: i had to eat with my family today - and so i know how you feel
[gso]: lavender do you weigh yourself?
[lavender]: oh dear
[gso]: what?
[lavender]: I usually don't like to tell
[gso]: how frequently do you weigh yourself?
[lavender]: 2x a day..at least
[gso]: lavender you and any other chatters or website visitors need to understand something about recovery.....
[gso]: the weight you gain is likely to be lean muscle mass.
[gso]: when I weigh a person in recovery.....I only use a body fat % scale
[gso]: especially early in treatment, the body fat % goes down at the beginning of recovery
[gso]: so weighing yourself in a lbs only scale can be discouraging and sabotage your recovery
[llb]: would that be because of fluid weight gain?
[gso]: if you hold onto fluid,,,,,that is not considered to be lean muscle mass.....in fact it will artificially inflate the body fat %
[gso]: any comments?
[dimples]: what if you are an over-exerciser?
[llb]: i would think if you gain wt because you were dehydrated...
[gso]: say more dimples
[dimples]: well, how does that affect the lean muscle mass...
[gso]: llb your weight may go up if you are dehydrated but you body fat will too
[llb]: why?
[gso]: athletes tend to have very low body fat %
[gso]: you retain fluid....may swell.......which causes an inflated reading on the body fat % scales
[llb]: makes you not want to hydrate yourself
[gso]: hydration will lower your body fat %
[llb]: i thought you said it would increase it
[gso]: being dehydrated artificially increases body fat % sorry
[llb]: ok
[llb]: got it
[gso]: some athletes are considered obese if you just look at their total weight in lbs
[llb]: because of their muscle mass
[gso]: like Alex Rodriguez NY Yankees weighs about 230 lbs which gives him a BMI which is above normal limitsf
[gso]: but his body fat % is below normal
[llb]: that's why i hate bmi...so misleading
[gso]: body fat % really tells a person what constitutes their lbs.
[gso]: very misleading llb
[gso]: any comments?
[llb]: i ot reprimanded by my doc today for being so dehydrated
[gso]: if you live in a place that has been hot....it is very easy to get dehydrated
[gso]: body fat % also explains weight plateaus
[gso]: if you are exercising and your weight loss stops or stalls.....then you may be gaining lean muscle at the same rate that you are losing fat...lbs stay the same but...
[gso]: in this case, body fat % will decrease
[gso]: s anybody there?
[lavender]: yes
[llb]: yup
[soulsearcher]: yes
[mimi]: yes
[gso]: folks in ed recovery want to be careful in their assuming that they are gaining fat...it is not likely to be true
[gso]: folks that are trying to lose weight need to be careful in their assumption that they are not losing fat during a plateau
[llb]: as well as lean muscle
[llb]: chances are you are gaining fat
[gso]: llb? I missed that
[llb]: backwards sorry
[soulsearcher]: gets kinda scary when you have always been over weight and finally lose weight....I obsess and am scared of gaining it all back
[gso]: it can be very scary no matter which end of the spectrum you are at
[llb]: scary for all of us to gain it back
[dimples]: it just sucks to gain at all
[lavender]: yes it does
[gso]: please remember to think your way through this part of recovery.....e.g., "I need this food"....."I am getting stronger and gaining muscle"
[lavender]: thanks gso....
[lavender]: I will try to think of that
[gso]: you are very welcome......you are working very hard lavender
[gso]: it will pay off
[lavender]: thank you...it's so nice to have this meeting also
[lavender]: thanks llb
[llb]: ;-)
[gso]: please feel free to stay and chat....thank you all for coming...see you next week:-)
[lavender]: bye gso, stay safe
[llb]: thank you...good night
[soulsearcher]: good night
[mimi]: thanks gso, goodnight everybody
[lavender]: goodnight mimi
[llb]: take care everyone
[lavender]: you too llb
[lavender]: bye dimples