Tom Seabourne Ph.D

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Q:I'm gaining weight but I want to run a marathon. How do I lose weight while running? Suzie (e-mail)

A:Suzie, as you know weight loss is a function of exercise AND calorie intake. You might do a food diary for a week to tabulate calories in vs. calories out. There are several marathon training programs available. Some of the best authors are Galloway and Anderson. Any marathon training program requires a progressive overload in order to prevent injury. You might check out Runners World magazine or their website.

Back to the weight loss. Healthy eating is all about simplicity and variety. That is, try to eat a variety of non-processed foods that are God-given. Eat plenty of starchy carbohydrates, fibrous vegetables, essential fat and lean protein. Carbohydrates, such as sugar and starch are readily broken down into glycogen, the body’s principal energy source. The foods you choose to eat must taste good; otherwise, you won’t eat them. Follow an eating style that satisfies both quality nutrition and good taste.

Eating frequent mini-meals of complex carbohydrates, protein and essential fats insures that the calories consumed are used for energy to power your runs. I carry oatmeal, brown rice, baked potatoes, along with tuna, and a variety of fruits and vegetables to work each day, supplying breakfast through mid-afternoon meals. Preparing meals in advance ensures that you won't be tempted to make a detour into a fast food establishment.

Basic eating rules and regulations:

• Under-eating during the day can lead to over-training.
• Schedule meals in advance.
• Become sensitive to your energy needs.
• Do not skip meals.
• Remember eating the right foods along with moderate running helps fuel your muscle to increase your metabolism.
• Consume most of your calories before and after your running workout. Buy large quantities of fruits and vegetables to use as munchies. Don't eat fewer than the number of calories you need to support your training.
• Eat a wide variety of foods, especially complex carbohydrates.
• Eat essential fats from fish and mono and polyunsaturated

Runners who consistently eat a carbohydrate rich diet have greater muscle glycogen stores to draw on during training. This helps to delay the onset of fatigue as you quicken your pace. Also, the workouts will seem easier when you have enough glycogen in your muscles.

A:The good news Margaret is that there is no target heart rate for weight loss. The best way to lose fat is to train in all of your energy zones.

By that I mean, maybe on a Monday you can do 20-30 minutes on the treadmill at a moderate pace (not huffing and puffing) so that you could comfortably carry on a conversation with the person on the next treadmill. On Tuesday you could do intervals. That is, after your warm up, walk fast enough to get your heart rate (hr) up to 65% of maximum (or until you are breathless). As soon as your hr reaches that number, walk slowly until your hr comes down to 30% of maximum (this should feel easy).

As soon as your hr reaches that number, begin walking quickly again until you are at 65%. Continue this cycle of efforts and recoveries for 30 minutes. On Wednesdays you may do the same steady state workout that you did on Monday. And on Thursday you can do speed bursts. Speed bursts are 10 seconds of fast walking until you are breathless and 10 seconds of recovery throughout a 30 minute segment. Be sure to warm up and cool down. Friday might be a good time for a steady state, aerobic, fun, easy 40 minute session.

Margaret, as you can see, the key is to get into all of your energy systems. That means some days a lot of effort and other days less effort but an increase in duration. Continue your weight training to maximize your muscle (one pound of muscle burns an additional 50 calories/day). And feel free to use other cardio machines (bikes, stairclimbers, etc.) as your heart doesn't know the difference between them.

A:Your rotator cuff is a series of four muscles/tendons that hold your humerus (arm bone) in the shoulder socket (glenoid fossa). You must get checked out by your physician so that you don't make the problem worse.

Sometimes, unknowingly, when we train with weights we make strong muscles stronger and the weaker ones "fall asleep". That is, if you are feeling pain, your body tries to get the job done (lift the weight) without utilizing the painful muscle. Soon the painful muscle atrophies (weakens further) and without knowing it, you created a muscle imbalance. A physical therapist will help you to discover if there is a muscle imbalance; and if so, how to train properly.

The reason I am suggesting that you visit your physician is that you may have another type of shoulder problem unrelated to your rotator cuff (e.g. subdeltoid or subacromial impingement) that is quite common. I recommend that you continue your "pain-free" aerobics until you can get your shoulder problem diagnosed.

A:Great question! And the answer depends on what you do with the resistance. If, for example, you increase the resistance on one of the cardio machines, but decrease your cadence or turnover rate then there may be no change in your energy expenditure. However, if you increase the resistance, and MAINTAIN your cadence or turnover rate, then you will increase your power output, work ratio and caloric expenditure.

So keep on experimenting with the resistance. For example, on an indoor cycle, the goal would be to gradually increase the resistance and gradually increase the cadence until the cyclist is pedaling as fast with as much resistance as she can handle. The most important thing Dorothy is to continue to challenge yourself but stay safe (and I KNOW you'll keep it fun!).

A:First of all, congratulations on your weight loss! Don't worry that your resting heart rate is high. First of all, to get an accurate resting heart rate, you would have to be measured at 4:00 a.m. while wearing a halter monitor as you sleep. The way we can figure out a guesstimate of your resting heart rate is to take it as you wake up naturally (before getting out of bed) seven mornings in a row, and then take an average of those.Secondly, a high resting heart rate does not mean you are unfit. In fact, much of your heart rate is determined by genetics, smaller hearts beat faster than larger ones, other factors include humidity, caffeine, altitude, and stress.

The next thing you might take a look at is to determine your true maximum heart rate. The formula 200 - age = maximum heart rate is not valid for everyone. In fact, if you are older, and are in good shape you can pretty much throw out that formula. To determine your true maximum heart rate you may visit a hospital or university setting to take a stress test. The experimenters will have you run on a treadmill or pedal a bike until your heart rate no longer rises and you are on the verge of exhaustion - this is your true maximum heart rate. With this in mind, begin to correlate your heart rate with your perceived exertion. If you are only at a perceived exertion level of "7", then check your HR and begin to make correlations based on how you feel.

Soon you should be able to glance at your heart rate monitor and pretty much know before you looked what your heart rate was going to be. It's great that you are weight training, spinning, and kickboxing! These are all excellent ways to burn calories and lose weight. Strength training helps you to put on muscle to increase your metabolism (1 pound of muscle burns an extra 50 calories/day.) The kickboxing and spinning are interval training workouts which help you to burn between 400 - 600 calories per session. Your eating program is a crucial component to weight loss. Be sure that you are eating enough calories to support your workouts, but not too much to gain extra body fat.

Continue to use your heart rate monitor as a motivational tool to guage your intensity. You may also check your heart rate to be sure that you have recovered fully to do your next pedaling or kicking interval. When you are training on your own, you can use your heart rate monitor to help you to find the same levels of intensity that you did in your spinning and kickboxing classes. Continue your good work and eat to fuel your muscles.