Bodybuilders and Diets: Insights to Struggling Dieters

Some of us question the credibility of a number of different sources on our path to healthy weight loss: Do we believe health care professionals, even the new Surgeon General, many of whom are poor role models (i.e., overweight, smokers, etc.)? Do we believe weight-fluctuating TV talk show hosts, or nutritionists and trainers looking to hawk personal services, a book or a website? Do we follow the low-fat paradigm which has dominated the diet industry since the 70's, which has been accompanied by an increasing proportion of the US population being overweight, with a proliferation of low-fat products which may not, in fact, be low-calorie (e.g., a company could simply substitute carbohydrates, such as sugar, for fats)?

Before going further, let me note that I am speaking of diets in a general sense. Obviously people with specific dietary constraints for serious health conditions, e.g., organ disease, diabetes, lactose-intolerance, Celiac disease, various food allergies, etc., should eat in a manner consistent with medical advice.

One of the ways we learn is by emulating the example of someone whose performance we admire. For example, a young golfer may try to emulate Tiger Woods' swing, and a swimmer mimics Michael Phelps' strokes. In my case, I attempted to implement the swing and batting stance of my favorite baseball player, Hall of Fame home run slugger Harmon Killebrew.

So how do we apply this within the context of  weight loss? Well, of course formerly overweight celebrity athletes, entertainers and actresses promote prepared food programs by vendors like Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem; we do know that (whether or not it's fair), appearance is a factor in the entertainment field. What about nearly emaciated models? For me, they often look frail, not in robust health. Even some professional athletes have not been not in the best shape (e.g., baseball icon Babe Ruth, football player William "Refrigerator" Perry, and wrestler Dusty Rhodes). No, I would argue that the best role model would have a well-toned, fit body: in particular, competitive bodybuilders.

I have admired bodybuilders for their extraordinary discipline and detailed eating and training regimen leading to competition; they know exactly when, how frequently,  how much and what to eat; there is a purpose for everything that goes into their bodies.  They know how to tweak their diets to deal with plateaus and to lower their body fat for competition. I have learned a lot about nutrition simply by reading some bodybuilding forums (e.g., posted diets) and reviewing products sold by bodybuilding and health web superstores.

My interest in the bodybuilding regimen was not based on the example of Arnold Schwarzenegger or an interest in various competitions; rather, it stems from a project I was on in the Chicago area in the 1990's working with another Oracle DBA whom also was an amateur bodybuilder. This guy was so motivated to help me out with eating the right way he offered to give me $100 if I would go home and throw out everything in my refrigerator and freezer. (I turned down his offer but did listen to his advice.) I learned, for instance, that he had a small bowl of olive oil during his meals in which to dip his bread, thus impressing the fact that fat is not inherently bad but a necessary food; he also introduced me to products like EAS Myoplex (nutrition shake mix).

One of the best-written, most intrinsically interesting books I've come across and purchased on nutrition and weight loss is from a natural (non-steroid) bodybuilder named Tom Venudo; he sells an e-book called "Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models".  I will not summarize what he writes here, but for example he discusses the bodybuilder strategy of carbohydrate cycling, caloric density, scanning ingredient labels of  foods, including nutrition bars (e.g., for sugar content), different types and dietary significance of carbohydrates (fibrous, starch, etc.), the relevance of the glycemic index to a specific diet [the glycemic index is a tool which attempts to measure the nature of individual foods to raise blood sugar], a daily strategy on the nature and timing of carbohydrate consumption, the thermogenic nature of protein consumption (versus carbohydrates and fats) and so-called negative-calorie foods,  tailoring carbohydrate consumption to body type, and the pros and cons of sustained low-carb dieting. I found affirmation for some of the same concerns I had with certain aspects of a strict low-carb regimen, including nutrition balance and the gimmicky nature of the induction period which promotes a motivating but artificial early weight loss by zapping water-dense glycogen (energy stores) in muscles and the liver.

Dieters often search for simple rules--low-fat or low-carbs. Certainly food product manufacturers understand that and market their products accordingly. But these rules must be interpreted in the context of overall dietary goals and objectives. For example, a certain amount of fat is necessary to facilitate the body's absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). Many Americans don't get enough brain-nourishing Omega-3 fats (e.g., cold-water fish) or heart-healthy monounsaturated fats (e.g., olive oil and nuts) in their diets. On the other hand, carbohydrates are a preferred energy source for brain functioning and movement and, in some foods, a key source of heart-healthy soluble fiber. Buying certain foods, e.g., nutritionally-vacuous pork rinds because they contain zero carbs, is a poor choice in calorie utilization, of maximizing basic nutritional coverage in one's daily diet.

One of the problems I've found as a dieter is that there is a lot of information in books and online to learn about diet and nutrition in a piecemeal fashion. You can find multiple websites, for instance, critiquing various diets, but quite often the criticisms are not independent. The nice thing about Venuto's book is that it provides both a conceptual model of how all of these items work together and a summary of practical advice distilled from his own search and trial-and-error experience of what works and doesn't work over his years in competition; instead of reinventing the wheel, we are able to leverage the knowledge of someone whom also started from ground zero. I would suggest, before my fellow dieters throw away good money after dietary supplements that don't work, the latest diet book which will be in the bargain bins a year from now, or gimmicky diet foods, they invest a little money in fundamentally understanding what goes on in one of the few things all people share in common--the need to eat.