SWEATING MORE BUT LOSING LESS?

CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA! ACCORDING TO A recent Gallup Poll, 51 percent of Americans now exercise regularly, compared to only 24 percent in 1961. But don’t start celebrating-the National Center for Health Statistics says we’re getting fatter, that the average twenty-five to thirty-four-year-old in 1980 was six pounds heavier than his 1960 counterpart, but only a half-inch taller. What are we doing wrong?

We need to make some changes, says Dr. James Key, a local sports physician and author of The Weekend Athlete’s Guide to Sports Medicine. While we may be exercising more, we’re not doing much about bad eating or health habits. In other words, you have every reason to be proud of yourself for sweating at the health club, but rewarding yourself with a pint of Haagen-Dazs or a Corona is simply defeating the purpose. The workout-pigout cycle is tripping up a lot of well-intended fitness buffs.

Although we’re getting heavier, Key says that could be the effect of better prenatal care, more knowledge about nutrition, and more exercise. Other experts, though, say it’s time to dig out those old Chicken Fat LPs. Amy Jones, program director at The Aerobics Center, thinks we’re just getting fat and need to quit eating so much. And Chris Senerote, registered dietitian and clinical coordinator at Baylor University Medical Center, says that eating has simply become too easy. “We seem to really be into the freezer section.” We’re also “really into” dining out these days, and those chic meals and gooey desserts are taking their toll.

Still, nobody denies that our preoccupation with fitness is for the best. We have the right idea-and it’s a good one-but our programs need some fine-tuning. “The wellness era is here,” announces Key. It’s time to tune up our tone-ups.



ACCORDING TO THE CONSUMER PRODUCTS SAFETY COMMIS-sion, 60 percent of sports injuries are due to overtraining. After we get the guilts from that little pigout, it seems we try and make up for it by working extra hard, pushing too much. Thus the word of the hour-moderation. One local fitness guru. Dr. Kenneth Cooper, says if you are running more than fifteen miles a week on the track, you are doing it for reasons other than fitness. Guilt, perhaps. Or ego. Most amateur athletes should try to keep their workout at a less strenuous level, Cooper says.

Variety in the workout is also a fitness boon. Key lauds the triathlon as one of the greatest competitions to hit fitness. Key points out that the variety of activities required-running, swimming, and cycling-ensures that triathletes are working all the major muscle groups, while overworking none.

The pounding on the knees that comes with running and aerobic dancing is widely recognized as detrimental. Thus the development of low-impact aerobics is a step in the right direction, as is the growing fascination with walking for an aerobic workout. It does seem incredible, when you consider the sweat differential, but walking offers exactly the same aerobic benefit as running-it just takes longer to achieve. For instance. Cooper says that in order to obtain full aerobic benefits from walking, the average thirty-year-old should walk three miles in forty-five minutes or less, three times a week.

Aquatic aerobics-exercises done in a swimming pool using the resistance of the water-is another way to tone and strengthen without putting too much stress on the body. Jones says it’s a terrific way for pregnant women, the elderly, the obese, or those suffering from injuries or arthritis to work out.

So, if you’re still sweating to the old “no pain, no gain” chant, it’s time to realize that knocking yourself out for a week, only to be laid up with shin splints and aching muscles for two, is like being penny-wise and pound-foolish. And those pounds are showing.



ANY DAY NOW, RONCO WILL PROBABLY COME OUT WITH ITS version of the “elastics” workout, no doubt for $19.95, Samurai knives included. Elastics are portable, they give a good isotonic workout, and they’re easy to use, which is why they’ve become instantly popular. Both Amy Jones of The Aerobics Center and Ann Dahn, aerobics coordinator at the Premier Club, like the idea but say that the bands are hard on the joints because they’re not flexible enough. Both women prefer the more flexible surgical tubing used by physical therapists.

And. talking about fine-tuning a workout. Dr. Blauer Bangerter of Brigham Young University has developed an itty-bitty weight machine for exercising the fingers and toes. Bangerter’s weight machine also works the wrist, which can benefit racquet sports enthusiasts. The machine is not yet on the market, but Bangerter hopes to sell his machines to health clubs.



IF WHAT YOU MOSTLY DO WITH YOUR DIGITS IS STUFF FOOD into your mouth, you’re not alone. Many folks fall into the need-to-drop-ten-pounds category. The universal antidote: four cups of black coffee, six sticks of gum. eight lettuce leaves, a Wheat Thin, and a hard-boiled egg daily. It’s hardly a balanced diet, but you’re not worried. Armed with an arsenal of vitamin pills, you figure you’ve got your bases covered.

Not so. Doctors and nutritionists are putting out the word these days that vitamin supplements are poor substitutes for a properly balanced diet. In fact, some vitamins in megadoses can do you more harm than good, in the long run.

Senerote points out that most of the vitamins bought by consumers are water soluble and pass through the body before they can do much good. Fat soluble vitamins taken in megadoses can be harmful. Vitamin A. in doses exceeding 400,000 units a day, can cause headaches, drowsiness, nausea, dry skin, loss of hair or diarrhea.

Except for specific medical reasons, says Senerote-and your doctor should be the one to alert you to these-there is no reason why an adult who is already eating a balanced diet should be taking vitamin supplements. For adults who are not eating a balanced diet, Senerote concedes that vitamins are better than nothing.

Fiber is one substance found in food that we don’t seem to hear enough about these days. Clinicians keep finding new and wonderful reasons why fiber is a nutrition must. Now, wouldn’t you know it, fiber is available in pill form. You know, the ones being touted as the Europeans’ glamorous beauty secret? Are these fantastic fiber pills worthwhile diet aids’? Fiber-whether in pills or in food-will expand in your stomach, says Senerote, giving you a full feeling-and, in excess, gas, bloating, and diarrhea. If you take the pills before each meal, you will, indeed, be less hungry and prone to eat less. But with one popular brand selling at $12.69 for 250 tablets, these mother’s little helpers are hardly cost-efficient. Whole-grain products-legumes, fresh vegetables, and fruits with the skin left on-will give you more fiber for less cost.



REMEMBER THE SCARSDALE DIET? THE CAMBRIDGE DIET? WELL if you do, and you did, chances are you’re one of the many members of the Diet of the Month Club now practicing the Rotation Diet. Developed by Vanderbilt University psychology professor Martin Katahn, the twenty-eight-day eating plan alternates three weeks of belt-cinching, low-cal eating with one somewhat more indulgent week. While Katahn’s specific, day-by-day, ounce-by-ounce menus may be a little uninspiring, which may make it a difficult diet to stick to, the balance of food groups is basically good, and you couldn’t fail to lose weight while limited to 600 calories a day, not including certain allowed fruits and vegetables that bring the daily intake closer to 800 calories.

Senerote feels the 600/900 calorie rotation of the diet is too severe. She recommends a 1,000-calorie-a-day diet for weight loss (for the average overweight woman), and suggests that a 900/1,000-calorie rotation would be healthier.

The maintenance weeks on the diet, which permit 1,800 to 2,200 calories, are perfectly reasonable. The theory behind rotating low-cal, weight loss weeks with maintenance weeks is that the metabolism will eventually adjust to a consistent low-calorie diet. This can cause a plateau in weight loss, making further calorie cuts necessary for further loss.

While the Rotation Diet will probably fade in and out like so many before it. nutritionists are not finding anything awful to say about it, making it a pretty good diet choice. Since Katahn does venture into the realm of lifestyle changes, you may find yourself wiser even after cottage cheese and crackers have lost their charm.

IS BEING CHIC FATTENING?



Working out is great, but eating out is more fun. After you pay the lab, what price are you really paying for those fashionable, delicious interludes? Following are some calorie counts (courtesy of” Chris Senerote and the Baylor computer system) tor dishes that the “in” crowd has been ordering:



The Mansion’s tortilla soup: 150 calories per serving.

Cafe Margaux’s blackesed redfish: 280 calories per serving.

Sushi on McKirmey’s California roll: 160 calories per six-piece roll.

Massimo da Milano’s pasta pugliese: 540 calories per half-pound serving.

White Zinfandel: 84 calorics per 3 1/2-ounce serving.

Margarita on the rocks: 190 calories per 4 3/4-ouncc serving.

Riviera’s crème brulée: 430 calories per serving.

City Cafe’s crab cukes: 475 calories for two cakes.

Ciao’s polio pizzetta: 615 calories for the “individual” size.

Crystal Pagoda’s chicken and shrimp with cashew nuts: 780 calories per serving, including 3/4 cup of rice.

Routh Street Cafe’s sweet potato tamales: 400 calorics per serving, without sauce.