Seminar discusses losing holiday weight

By April Fuller/reporter

TCC students and faculty gathered Nov. 20 in the NE Campus Galley to “lunch ’n learn” about overcoming weight-loss plateaus.

Stacy Lueking, NE Campus health and physical education instructor, presented ways to increase metabolism and lose weight without the added frustration.

“ Your body is like a parent,” she said.

“ It becomes concerned when you try to lose weight, so it naturally conserves calories.”

Lueking opened the presentation by breaking everyday caloric expenditure into four categories: thermic effect of food, occupational lifestyle, exercise and resting metabolic rate. Each category represents a percentage of the calories a person burns.

The thermic effect of food refers to the amount of calories burned when food is digested —10 percent of caloric expenditure, Lueking said.

“ Now don’t go and eat a bunch to lose weight,” she said, drawing a laugh from the audience.

Occupational lifestyle is day-to-day activity—only 15 percent of a person’s caloric expenditure. Lueking said exercise varied the most, with 5 to 40 percent total caloric expenditure depending on the intensity of the workout.

The resting metabolic rate is the amount of calories a body needs to survive, and it equals 60 to 75 percent of caloric expenditure.

Lueking gave the audience tips for boosting metabolism, such as not skipping meals and eating smaller, more frequent meals as this will not only boost metabolic rate but also curb cravings and expand energy.

“ Do you know how many times sumo wrestlers eat a day?” she asked. “Once — and their goal is to gain weight. We don’t want that.”

Lueking emphasized starting small to avoid getting burned out too soon and giving up by doing things like cutting out sodas or adding more fruits and vegetables to the diet.

Weight loss can only be maintained if it is a result of a lifestyle change, she said.

Overexercise was something else Lueking said to avoid. The body reacts to exercise when it is at rest, so it is important to not overexercise because it could lower the metabolic rate.

Mary Alice Smith, associate professor of management, attended the seminar for her own personal interest and said she found it very informative.

“ I just didn’t think working out too much was even possible,” she said.

This was the third weight loss seminar conducted by Lueking, and she encourages all students and faculty members to attend the fourth, The Anywhere Workout, Dec. 5.

For more information, contact Lueking at 817-515-6958 or e-mail stacy.lueking@tccd.edu.