M3:D85 Metabolism

I got some awesome news about my RMR (resting metabolic rate).  He says I am awesome at burning fat while resting. In fact, as I sat down my body was burning mostly sugar.  He says this is due to the flight response–you are in a strange place and a mask is on you and you're hooked to a machine, so you want to run!  As I relaxed I quickly turned to burning fat.  It turns out that if I went into a coma I'd burn 1939 calories.  Add to that the normal activities in a day (minus exercise) and I burn 2481 calories a day just by being myself.  It turns out that my maintenance level of calories (when you include exercise into the equation) is 3108.  No wonder I wasn't gaining muscle as fast as I should at 3100 calories!

The bad news is that my body doesn't do as well when exercising.  Ideally I would want to burn fat around a heart rate of 135, but I start at around 105.  He says that is way too low and needs to be adjusted.  He has given me a plan to adjust that.  Over time my body will adjust and I will start burning fat at a higher heart rate, which is the desired effect.  The bad news is that he doesn't want me running at all until I get that number up higher.  The reason is that running will raise my heart rate to a level where I am burning sugar instead of fat and that is bad.  For now I am supposed to do 2 cardio sessions a week where I go for 60 minutes (at least) and keep my heart rate between 105 and 115.  I am then supposed to do 2 more cardio sessions where I do intervals, but in a very different way.  He wants me to bring my heart rate up to 145 and then go for 1 full minute at that level, then slow down for 5 minutes until I recover to 105–that's one interval.  I am to do this for a full 30 minutes.  All of this is supposed to bring my fat burning level up higher (to around 135 where it should be).

He tells me that my respiratory recovery isn't so great (and that's part of why I burn fat too soon), but my heart is in tip top shape (thank God for that!).  The really shocking news to me is that he says if I am going for optimal fat burn, I should take longer rest periods during my weight training because my heart rate gets up too high and I start burning sugar and not fat.  He suggests lifting very heavy (yay!) and then taking a 3 minute rest before doing the next set.  I'm not so sure about that right now, but I will decide that over time.  If the cardio can do it for me I will ignore the weight part.

The final news I got is that my stomach Ph is too base and not enough acid.  As a result of this situation, I am not utilizing the protein I am giving to my body.  This is also another reason why I am not gaining muscle the way I'd like.  He suggested that I get Betaine HCL and take one caplet with every meal. This will help my body digest the protein I give it.  I am going to run out tomorrow and get myself Betaine HCL and then start taking it with every meal. 

He has asked me to adjust some things with my diet.  He wants me to take in 2 grams of protein per pound of LBM and then .8 grams of carbs per pound of LBM.  This adjusts my numbers drastically.  I will be at a new ratio of 20/50/30 and you will see this represented on my Accountability Log below.