Being healthy includes a lot of factors such as physical activities, diet, and outlook in life. When I was assessing my life whether I have been healthy for about 23 years (obviously not), I came up to a realization that I’m getting old and health should be one of my top priorities (Echos! I just want to look good Haha!). So I draft a plan to put “things” back to “normal”. When I’m drafting the plan, I thought of looking good and feeling good as the main goal. But I realized that this objective entails a more lot sub-objectives because of the many factors contributing to the “Looking Good and Feeling Good” state – I have to change my views in life, I have to modify my diet, I have to stop smoking, to stop drinking alcoholic drinks, to sleep at least 8 hours a night, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I was overwhelmed so I divided these sub-objectives into little projects. This blog entry aims to launch Project Bromstad, my first step to a healthy living and good looking.
So what is this Project Bromstad all about?
Project Bromstad is about correcting the primary health indicators such as BMI (Body Mass Index), Body Fat Percentage, and Waist to Hip Ratio. The specific objectives are as follows:
1. 1. To lower my current body fat percentage of 26.3% to the desirable range of 14%-20% body fat percentage.
2. 2. To lose 26.21lbs to be within the standard BMI for my age.
3. 3. To lose my bulge in my tummy
I want the healthiest attack to this problem, aligned to my overall goal of living a healthy lifestyle, so I won’t go the surgical way such as liposuction nor crash diets and supplements. I want to go the natural way.
And that way I chose to go is to beef up my metabolism. Let me expound further about how boosting my m-e-t-a-b-o-l-i-s-m can help me achieve the goals of this project. Looking deeper at my objectives (lower my…, lose…, minimize…,), notice that the main culprit are the EXCESS elements which are to be LOWERED, to be LOST and to be MINIMIZED. So what are these EXCESS elements? Honestly I don’t know. Most probably, FAT, but it can also be carbohydrates, protein or a combination of those that are in excess and currently stored in my body. But whatever it is, boosting metabolism can get rid of this excess thing in my body.
According to an article by Roxanne Raid for Men’s Health (MH, Sept 2009), the term METABOLISM refers to the way our body processes carbohydrates, proteins and fats to release the energy we need for various bodily processes. And if our problem is the excess carbs, proteins and fat, the next question is how do we speed up our metabolism to process the surplus compounds?
Let me give you and myself also a deeper scientific background of what metabolism is. Another term to remember is Metabolic Rate. It is the rate in which energy is generated from these three compounds. There are three types of metabolism (BMR, PAEE and TEF) that contributes to the total metabolic rate. BMR or the Basal Metabolic Rate is the amount of energy that you need to support basic body functions. This energy is fixed and is expended even if we do nothing or just sleeping. PAEE or the Physical Activity Energy Expenditure is the energy needed for other physical activities other than the “basic body functions”. TEF or the Thermic Effect of Food is the energy required to fuel the process of digesting, absorbing and sorting of food we eat. The metabolic rate is the one that dictates that how many calories we burn and is determined by age, weight, height, gender, state of health and activity level. Obviously uncontrollable factors are our genetic make-up and age but variables are our diet and physical activities and this is the key strategy of Project Bromstad.
A simple equation to remember…
Here, X is the energy needed for the BMR, PAEE and TEF and is primarily supplied by the food we eat. Any energy greater than X will be stored in our body. If the food we eat provides energy lower than X, the gap will be acquired from the stored compounds. So, the key is to lower X or increase the total metabolic rate. And how do we do this? The next paragraphs enumerate my action plans based on this principle.
1. Diet Modification: Eat sensibly
- Balance meal. Every meal, half of my plate shall be made-up of vegetables and fruits, ¼ is meat (healthily cooked) and ¼ is starch such as rice, bread, or pasta.
- Eat little more often. I have to eat 6 small meals per day - 3 meals which is composed of the above proportion and 3 snacks which is rich in protein and complex carbs.
- Don’t skip breakfast. Yeah I know, my mom is so strict when it comes to breakfast. But I shall remember to eat a healthy breakfast – avoid fried stuffs!
- Don’t starve. I won’t, don’t worry.
- Eat little at dinner. Oh no! I shall eat salad instead of a full blown meal.
- Drink plenty of water. I have no problem when it comes to water.
2. Increase Physical Activities: Think while you sweat
- This usually includes cardio exercises such as running on a treadmill, or cycling that increases our PAEE. But since our body adapts to training in about three months, it is better to do cardio exercises that engage the nervous system like sports, dance or aerobic classes because the brain can use up to 30 percent more calories.
- As an action plan, I will include Body Combat and Body Balance to my treadmill run. I will also be active with Badminton session with my High School barkada every Sunday afternoon.
3. Increase Muscle Mass: Build your muscle
Muscle cell is more metabolically active than fat cells; thus, it burns more calories than fat. The greater the proportion of lean muscle mass, the higher our metabolic rate will be. Instead of doing resistance training (free weights, strings and machines) alone, combine these with some movement patterns.
I will be going to the gym as much as I can but my ideal schedule includes resistance training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, cardio workout (mixed treadmill run and cycling) on Wednesdays, Body Combat on Saturdays and Sundays and Badminton on Sundays. Busy much? Yes. And I am giving myself two months to achieve my goals, just timely for my December Coron vacation. And I am sure I can do this. Aja! :)
***Special thanks to Men's Health Philippines September 2009 Issue and David Bromstad for being my Thinspiration for this project.
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