Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay

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Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay

An overview of weight loss during Competitive Sport Age

Active competitive sports entail a constant practice of Exercise to ensure keeping fit at all time. Functional exercise is administered to ensure perfect strength for competition, to balance various body functions. Early exercise practices result in a good recovery for a beginner in sporting activities.Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay. A retiring athlete is faced with the challenges of post-weight loss feedback effect resulting from years of weight regulation and control through nutrition watching and regular exercise.

Athletes normally require an increased intake of calories relative to non-athletes. This is dependent on the body’s height, weight, Body mass index, age the sex the stage of growth and the fitness level characterized of the sporting involved. Often times people take weight management into their own hand and render their whole loss unfit. (Astrand P.O. 1992)

Studies have shown that the physical look had a relatively low influence on performance. Professional handling of weight loss is recommended in the sense that only the fat are burnt off without reduction in the lean muscle mass which may cause dystrophy or atrophy. Uncontrolled weight loss will rapidly result in a significant reduction in the lean muscle mass affecting an athletes’ whole efficiency. The uninformed athletes would rather face the poor out come on non-performance. Weight loss reduction is recommended not to be more than 1.5 percent of the total body weight (1.5%). Averaging about 1 to 2lb per week (Fox, Matthew, 1976;37 pp332 –339)

Over 14,700kJ of calories would require burning 1lb of fat in a controlled weight loss. An appropriate nutrition for an active athlete usually consists of about 8400kJ per day. This gives a rounding of 55% to 65% of carbohydrate in a diet, 15% to 20% calories from protein and the remaining 20 to 30% calories as fat in a standard diet. It is professionally advice to rather maintain a certain level of weight to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases with higher metabolic rates (154.6 kJ/m2 per hour)

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Unhealthy Weight Gain Practice This is a common challenge to athletes who have reached the peak of their career, retiring into other activities. They have lost the usual consciousness of weight watch and the expended energy per day is drastically reduced. Overweight post-athletes are embattled with a high risk of hypercholesterolemia, obstructive and non-obstructive gall bladder disease, wide ranges of cardiovascular diseases, malignant and benign hypertension, and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Some athletes in their active season before retiring, are addicted to the use of certain supplements that minimizes weight gain and enhance competitive performance, their later life do no longer require the supplements, hence, predisposition to overweight. Some athletes have their weight controlled earlier in life after professional evaluation of their genetic composition, this form the basis for keep-fit prescription.Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay. A career out of competitive sporting would equally require a second professional consultation which many decline. Hence, unhealthy weight gains results.

Towards a Healthy Weight Gain 1. A healthy weight gain would entail the placement of essential nutritional needs for adequate growth and development without food starving. A retiring athlete would still require the counsel of physicians’ services in area of dietary assistance 2. All medical check up should include a weight history and a feeding description, any previous anti-dietary practice, and generally any significant factors noticed in the past to have contributed to weight loss or weight gain. 3. A retiring athlete needs employing physicians to report signs and symptoms of eating disorder early enough (e.g dysphagia, orthinophagia). This is required for nutritional and physiological assessment. 4. They should avoid ergogenic self prescription and non-therapeutic use of supplements. 5. There should be no attempt to gain weight on emergency need. Early attempt should be made to allow for gradual and guided growth rate. After which the fluctuation should be discouraged.

Physiological Benefits in avoiding Unhealthy Weight Gain

Diverse range of diseases in medicine is connected to overweight and obesity. These Range from heart problem, brain problem to circulatory system dysfunction. For females, uncontrolled weight gain leading to obesity is a proven risk factor predisposing uterine fibroid, menstrual disorder and fertility. The survival life span is enhanced when a patient continually keep fit owing to a lowering blood pressure with a modest weight. Physiological researches equally show that asthmatic patient with about 31lb weight loss over a year is a demonstration of an improved lung function. Reduced or moderate weight assists diabetic patient in limiting the recommended drugs (Horswill CA, Hickner 2003; :pp470 –476) Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay.

Several recent large prospective studies suggest that intentional weight loss is associated with decreased mortality (Williamson D.F., 1995 pp1128-41). A study of about 45,000 women was any effort aimed at intentional weight loss yielded a huge health benefits in the long run. “In this study, women who intentionally lost weight had a 40-50% decrease in deaths from obesity-related cancers and a 30-40% decrease in death from type II Diabetes Mellitus. In another study of about 50,000 men, a plus of 32-36% showed decline in death from Diabetes Mellitus. This test was conducted among men with health problems who intentionally lost weight (Williamson D.F., 1995, Epidemiology 1999; pp149:491-503.).”

Weight management for athletes and active individuals is unique because of their high daily energy expenditure; thus, the emphasis is usually placed on changing the diet side of the energy balance equation. When dieting for weight loss, active individuals also want to preserve lean tissue, which means that energy restriction cannot be too severe or lean tissue is lost. First, this brief review addresses the issues of weight management in athletes and active individuals and factors to consider when determining a weight-loss goal. Second, the concept of dynamic energy balance is reviewed, including two mathematical models developed to improve weight-loss predictions based on changes in diet and exercise. Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay. These models are now available on the Internet. Finally, dietary strategies for weight loss/maintenance that can be successfully used with active individuals are given. Emphasis is placed on teaching the benefits of consuming a low-ED diet (e.g., high-fiber, high-water, low-fat foods), which allows for the consumption of a greater volume of food to increase satiety while reducing energy intake. Health professionals and sport dietitians need to understand dynamic energy balance and be prepared with effective and evidence-based dietary approaches to help athletes and active individuals achieve their body-weight goals.

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Key Points

The strategies include the following:
Avoiding severe energy restriction.

Monitoring protein intake, timing, and quality.

Adopting a low-energy dense (ED) diet.

Timing of food intake around exercise and spreading meals/snacks throughout the day.

Monitoring intake of ED beverages.

Weight management is difficult for most individuals, as indicated by the high numbers of overweight and obese individuals in the USA and around the world [1]. Currently, ~66 % of the US adult population is either overweight and/or obese, with ~34 % being obese [2, 3]. Unfortunately, the obesity epidemic is not limited to adults. Currently, 32 % of children and youth between the ages of 2 and 19 years are above the 85 % percentile for body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) for age [4], which means that more young athletes will come to their sport fatter than considered desirable for optimal performance.

Although not typically obese or over fat, elite and recreational athletes can also struggle with body-weight and image issues. Depending on the sport, it is not unusual for athletes to want to lose body fat while gaining or maintaining lean tissue. While some athletes appear to be naturally lean, with weight and body size well matched for their sport, others need to change their weight and/or body composition to be competitive. If a child/youth athlete is overweight or obese, they may have a significant amount of weight to lose to be considered competitive and, thus, be pressured by themselves and others to lose weight. Youth sports programs are an optimal time to help young athletes learn to eat for health, performance, and weight management, applying the basic concepts of energy balance. Thus, there is a need for weight-management guidelines to help both elite and recreational athletes of all ages achieve an optimal body weight and composition for their sport and health. Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay. This brief review discusses weight issues in athletes, reviews how an athlete might determine a realistic body weight for themselves and their sport, discusses dynamic energy balance in the context of sport, and reviews new methods for predicting weight loss while dieting, and provides dietary strategies an athlete might use to successfully facilitate the maintenance of a healthy body weight or increase fat loss, while maintaining lean tissue. As much as possible, the research presented is from studies using athletes or active individuals. Over-the-counter weight-loss supplements [5] and weight gain in athletes have been covered elsewhere [6].

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Weight Issues in Athletes and Active Individuals

In general, most athletes and active individuals who want to lose weight fall into two categories:

Those who are overfat or obese based on body-fat levels.
Those who are already lean, but desire additional body fat loss. Some of these athletes fall into weight-sensitive (e.g., endurance athletes, ski jumping), weight-class (e.g., wrestling, judo), or aesthetically judged (e.g., gymnastics, figure skating) sports [7].

For the athlete with excess body fat, weight loss could improve sport performance and reduce the risk of chronic disease. For example, Borchers et al. [8] found that 21 % of their Division 1 college football players (mean age, 20 years) were obese (≥25 % body fat) and had insulin resistance, while 9 % had metabolic syndrome (all obese). Thus, for these athletes, weight loss could improve performance and prevent the development of serious chronic diseases.

Conversely, many elite and recreational athletes are normal weight or have low body weights, yet they still want to lose weight to improve performance and/or to achieve a body shape for aesthetic reasons. Some of these individuals are young and still growing, which is the least desirable time to severely restrict energy intake while participating in high levels of exercise. In helping these individuals achieve their weight and sport goals, it is imperative that the risk of introducing restrictive and disordered eating behaviors is minimized, especially in those athletes participating in lean build sports [7, 9, 10]. Finally, it can be difficult to manage safe weight loss in athletes who need to meet a designated weight on competition day, such as lightweight rowers, jockeys, or wrestlers. Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay.These individuals typically weight cycle, with their weight fluctuating dramatically between the competitive and off seasons [11, 12]. In addition, for athletes in aesthetic sports (e.g., figure skaters, synchronized swimmers, gymnasts), keeping weight low over a competitive season without injury or illness or the use of extreme weight-control methods is also a challenge [13]. Few athletes are naturally light weight enough for these types of competitive sports, so weight loss will be required the weeks or days prior to competition [14].

Regardless of why the athlete needs to lose weight, working with a registered dietitian (RD) trained in sport nutrition can help the athlete identify and reach a realistic goal weight without the use of extreme diets or dangerous weight-loss practices or supplements [7].

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Achieving a Healthy and Competitive Body Weight

Depending on the sport, the weight an athlete can maintain without dieting is typically higher than their competition weight. Thus, many athletes will restrict energy intake to achieve their competitive weight and gain weight in the off season. The ultimate goal is to identify a healthy body weight that the athlete can maintain for most of the year, while minimizing the amount of weight that needs to be lost for competition. This approach reduces the yo-yo dieting that occurs each season. For some sports, trying to maintain a low competition weight throughout the year is not possible or healthy for most athletes. The following questions can help the athlete identify whether the weight they are trying to achieve is realistic and can be maintained without constant dieting [15]. The athlete can determine what weight works best for them during the off season and how much time they need to reach their competitive weight while remaining healthy and injury free.

Does the goal weight minimize health issues that can increase the risk for injuries [10, 16] and promote good health and eating habits, while allowing for optimal sport training and performance? Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay.
Does the goal weight take into consideration the genetic makeup and family history of body weight and shape?
Is the goal weight appropriate for age and level of physical development, including normal reproductive function?
Can the goal weight be maintained without constant dieting or restraining food intake, which could lead to disordered eating or an eating disorder [7, 9]?

Ultimately, the goal is to identify a weight that promotes good health and is ‘reasonable’ to achieve and maintain for most of the year, while keeping the ‘diet for weight loss’ periods short. An athlete who is constantly dieting or repeatedly gaining and losing weight may be trying to achieve an unrealistic body weight, which may place them at risk for disordered eating. A sport dietitian can monitor these athletes to assure they are maintaining healthy eating habits. It also requires that the medical and coaching staff know and can recognize risk factors for disordered eating when they occur and initiate early intervention [9].

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Dynamic Energy Balance

Maintenance of body weight is an indication of being in a state of energy balance where energy intake (total kcal consumed) equals energy expenditure (total kcal expended). However, if the goal is to change energy balance, either for weight gain or weight loss, this static energy balance approach no longer applies since weight is changing. Energy balance is a dynamic process [17], and changing one factor on the energy intake side can also impact the energy expenditure side even without any intentional effort to alter energy expenditure. Thus, numerous factors work together to influence each side of the energy balance equation, which ultimately determines body weight. For example, total energy expenditure will be influenced by total energy intake, dietary macronutrient composition, and the energy density of the diet [17, 18]. These dietary factors can also alter the thermic effect of food [18] and the type of substrates oxidized during exercise [15, 19, 20]. Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay.Conversely, exercise type, duration, and intensity can alter total energy intake. For example, high-intensity exercise can blunt appetite-regulating hormones, which may ultimately lead to reduced energy intake [21–23]. Other factors that can confound the assessment of energy balance in an athlete are the total amount of non-sport-related activities (e.g., walking and biking as modes of transportation, yoga, dancing, etc.) [24] and the amount of sitting, standing, and fidgeting an athlete does [25]. While some athletes are very active outside of training for their sport, others become quite sedentary when they are not training, which can decrease energy needs below predicted levels [26]. Finally, assessing energy balance in a highly active athlete can also be challenging. Energy expenditure can be altered due to changes in energy efficiency and body composition with training, which may not be captured unless doubly labeled water (DLW) is used to measure energy expenditure.

In 1958, Wishnofsky [27] concluded that when individuals consumed a low-calorie, high-protein diet for weight loss, 1 pound (lb, 454 g) of weight lost was equal to approximately 3500 kcals. This calculation was based on examining the energy content of a pound of body fat and the research literature at the time examining weight loss in obese individuals participating in controlled research studies. Many health professionals make a common mistake when explaining energy balance to athletes and active individuals. They assume that changing either side of the equation by 3500 kcal (7700 kJ) will always result in a pound of weight gained or lost, without considering all the other factors that might change as energy intake or energy expenditure is altered. Swinburn and Ravussin [28] gave a classic example to illustrate the fallacy of this concept. Using a 75-kg man, they demonstrated how weight would change if this individual consumed an extra 100 kcal/day (~420 kJ) for 40 years [28]. The static energy balance equation would calculate the amount of extra energy consumed to equal ~1.5 million kcal with an estimated weight gain of 417 lbs (~190 kg) over the 40-year period. Yet, intuitively, health professionals know this would not happen. The static energy balance calculation does not take into account the increase in energy expenditure that would occur as weight is gained. As weight increases, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and energy expenditure would also increase, since there is a greater energy cost in maintaining and moving a larger body. What would actually happen is that after a short period of positive energy balance, body weight would increase, resulting in an increase in energy expenditure that will eventually balance the increased energy intake.Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay. Thus, the individual would eventually achieve energy balance and become weight stable at a higher body weight, which might be a realistic weight gain of ~6 lbs (~2.7 kg). However, to maintain this larger body size, the individual would need to continue to eat these additional kcals each day. Of course, the amount of actual weight gained will depend on a number of individual factors, extra kcal consumed, composition of the diet [29], body composition, type of exercise in which the individual is engaged, and overall energy expenditure.

The concept of dynamic energy balance and some of the key factors that influence each side of the energy balance equation is illustrated in Fig. 1. How an individual responds to changes in each factor will depend on genetics, changes in regulatory hormones that control energy balance and appetite, gut health, and the food and exercise environment that can drive eating, exercise, and body composition. For further details, please see Galgani and Ravussin [17].

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Fig. 1

Factors regulating/influencing energy balance

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Predicting Weight Loss with Dieting

Wishnofsky’s static energy balance equation is still widely used in the research literature and given to athletes as a guide for weight loss [7, 30]. However, we now know that weight loss changes over time with the same level of negative energy imbalance [31]. The energy deficit required for weight loss is less at the beginning of a diet (e.g., <3500 kcal/lb or 7700 kcal/kg) [32], which is attributed to changes in glycogen, protein, and fluid balance [33]. This point was demonstrated by Heymsfield et al. [32], as they found that when overweight (BMI ~28 kg/m²) sedentary men and women restricted energy intake by 25 %, the energy deficit required for weight loss was ~2200 kcal/lb during the first 4 weeks of the diet. As the time on the diet increased, the energy deficit required for weight loss also increased and approached Wishnofsky’s ‘rule’ of 3500 kcal/lb by 6 months [32]. Thus, the degree and rate at which weight loss occurs on a diet will depend on numerous factors, including the level of energy restriction, composition of the diet [34, 35], total daily energy expenditure, and initial body composition [36–40]. Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay.

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To better predict weight change in response to changes in energy intake or expenditure, one must account for the dynamic energy imbalances that occur. To address this issue, researchers have developed mathematical models to simulate how alterations in energy deficit result in adaptations of fuel selection and energy expenditure to better predict body weight and composition changes [33]. One mathematical model has been developed by Hall et al. [41] at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov) and a second model has been developed by Thomas et al. [42] at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC) (http://www.pbrc.edu/research-and-faculty/calculators/weight-loss-predictor/). As one changes energy intake or expenditure, these models take into account changes in RMR, fat and lean tissue mass, voluntary physical activity, spontaneous physical activity, the thermic effect of food, and the energy costs of fat and protein synthesis. Using the Thomas prediction model for weight change and data from the CALORIE I study conducted in overweight individuals [32, 36], these investigators showed that their model predicted within 2.2 kg of the actual weight loss, while the Wishnofsky approach had an 11-kg bias [31]. However, it is important to understand that these prediction models were developed using the results from weight-loss studies with overweight and obese individuals. Thus, the application to athletes and active individuals who are leaner and capable of much higher energy expenditures needs to be considered. Regardless, these models can help the health professional do a better job of estimating the time required for weight changes to occur and to develop more realistic weight-loss goals for a given time period. Table 1 demonstrates the difference in time needed for a designated weight loss change for an overweight rower using the Hall et al. [41] model compared with the Wishnofsky rule. Helping Former Athletes Avoid Unhealthy Weight Gain Essay.