If You Feel Stuck At The Same Size When Trying To Lose Weight…
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It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!
Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!
In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!
No question/request too big or small 😎
❝I keep trying in different ways but whatever I do I just don’t lose weight, is this something that’s just me?❞
Well, we can’t diagnose from afar (or at all, actually; we are not doctors, let alone your doctors), so we can’t comment on whether there’s something exceptional going on in your case, but we can say that certainly many people report experiencing what you are describing.
Let’s start with some good news: if you weight is staying the same, then your weight is stable, which for most people is a good thing!
Next, some extra good news: if you are doing the “correct” things (healthy lifestyle habits in general), then you are getting benefits regardless of what the bathroom scale has to say about it.
For example:
- If you are eating healthily (especially: plenty of plants for fiber and polyphenols, and sufficient protein/carbs/fats from good sources), then you are flooding your body with the nutrients it needs to keep you well
- If you are getting your recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week (ambling around counts), your heart will be thanking you for it
- If you are sleeping well (i.e. at least 7 hours of good quality sleep per day), your body will be better able to take care of itself in the ways that it needs to
- If you are abstaining from harmful substances (e.g. alcohol, tobacco, red/processed meat, etc), then those substances will not be harming your body
- If you are looking after your mental health (which for most people most of the time includes managing stress adequately) then your physical health won’t be held back
For more details on these, see: These Top Few Things Make The Biggest Difference To Health
Special note on that about the exercise and heart health: in fact, the American Heart Association made a statement on this one recently, saying such things as:
❝Independently of weight loss, physical activity and exercise programs improve major cardiometabolic risk factors, including hypertension, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia, which are highly prevalent in patients with overweight or obesity.❞
You can read the statement in full, here: Role of Physical Activity in Obesity Treatment and Cardiometabolic Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association
It’s also worth bearing in mind that a lot of people, especially women and especially over a certain age, often overestimate how much weight loss would be healthy.
Media tells us we must be thin to be healthy, but science is a little more nuanced, and regular 10almonds readers may remember how “overweight” BMI is a protective factor for people over 65 and actually reduces mortality.
So for this reason, you might want to: Stop Trying To Lose Weight (And Do This Instead) ← this is about metabolic health in a more general fashion, and is very important
All that said, if you’d still pressingly like to lose some weight, then you might want to swing by: Hit A Weight Loss Plateau? Here’s What To Do
Want to learn more?
You might like these main features on getting your body just the way you want it, sustainably and healthily:
- How To Lose Weight (Healthily!)
- How To Build Muscle (Healthily!)
- How To Gain Weight (Healthily!) ← this one’s specifically about gaining healthy levels of fat, for any who want/need that
And also:
Can We Do Fat Redistribution? ← yes we can, but there are caveats
Take care!
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Futureproof – by Davinia Taylor
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The goal here is to put tools in the readers’ hands to (per the subtitle) “build resilience, feel younger, live longer”. The author herself is not a doctor or scientist, but a supplement company CEO and social media influencer—which means that in this book you’ll find quite a bit of awareness of health science advances made in the past 15 years, and no hard science.
In terms of health advocacy, one strength of this book is how it highlights, and puts into numbers, the time lag in “translational research”. What that means is that the most ground-breaking research discovering things now, won’t actually make its way through the system to become advice your doctor gives, for about 17 years on average. Which might be longer than you want to wait to address some problem.
She also, while not advocating for extreme changes, does tackle the idea of “relax, have fun, enjoy a little treat” when very often the “little treat” in question is alcohol addiction or obesity or a sedentary lifestyle or such—things that while they may present their comforts, often do not correlate to improving quality of life on balance, and indeed, often quite the contrary.
Her dietary advice is a little hit-and-miss; while she discourages ultraprocessed foods, she encourages getting plenty of dairy, something strongly associated with inflammation.
The style is very direct and personable, and/but has a normal British amount of casual swearing that might shock some American readers. The book is very jargon-free, and scientific concepts are presented in very simple terms, making this accessible to all. There is a modest bibliography, mostly to back up statistics.
Bottom line: if you’d like a book that has a fair “finger on the pulse” of modern longevity-promoting biohacking, but that isn’t a very dense read, then you’ll enjoy this.
Click here to check out Futureproof, and futureproof your health!
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Sleep & Exercise: A One-Way Relationship?
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It’s a long-held reasonable assumption that sleep and exercise benefit each other. After all, sleep is restorative ready for exercise, and exercise tires you out ready for sleep.
Indeed, this forms at least part of a lot of circadian rhythm-based approaches to healthy living, for example:
10 Tips for Better Sleep: Starting In The Morning ← note though that the exercise timing advice here is “Exercise regularly but avoid strenuous activity 2 hours before bed. Optimal exercise time is 4–6 hours before bedtime.”
And yet, it turns out that the relationship is a lot more one-sided than has been believed:
You snooze, you… Choose? Enthuse? Put on your running shoes?
Researchers (Dr. Hannah Scott et al.) looked at data from 70,963 people (using an under-mattress sleep sensor and a wrist-worn health tracker) for a little over three and a half years, and found some surprising things, including:
- only 12.9% regularly attained the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep and more than 8,000 steps per day
- on the other end of the scale, 16.5% slept less than seven hours and walked fewer than 5,000 steps—an association with higher risks of chronic disease, weight gain, and mental-health challenges
However, putting the data together in a way we haven’t seen done before, Dr. Scott and her team were able to establish that there was more to this than “healthy people tend to be healthy in multiple life areas; unhealthy people tend to be unhealthy in multiple life areas”.
Specifically, six to seven hours of sleep was linked to the highest next-day step counts, though sleep quality remained most important. In other words, high-quality, efficient sleep (less tossing and turning) reliably predicted higher step counts the next day.
On the other hand, and which is more surprising, doing more steps during the day did not meaningfully improve sleep that night.
Putting it in numbers, we’ll quote directly from the “results” section of the paper:
❝We show that only 12.9% of people achieve the recommended sleep duration of 7-9hrs/night and >8,000 steps/day, with 16.5% having short sleep (<7hrs/night) and sedentary lives (<5,000 steps/day). Approximately 6hrs sleep equates to the greatest next-day step count (e.g., +339 steps vs 8 hrs/night), and sleep efficiency positively predicts next-day step count in a dose-dependent manner (25th vs 75th percentile: +282 steps/day). Sleep appears largely unaffected by previous-day step count. Effects are similar across age groups but decline in magnitude when adjusted for awake duration.❞
You can read the paper in full, here: Bidirectional associations between sleep and physical activity investigated using large-scale objective monitoring data
Note: curiously, and which doesn’t really affect the science here but we should found it interesting:
- Josh Fitton is the corresponding (and thus first-listed) author of the study, although he is a student, and
- Dr. Hannah Scott is Senior Research Fellow, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, and co-Lead of the Clinical Sleep Health research group at the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (FHMRI): Sleep Health Flagship program, and also has getting on for a hundred peer-reviewed papers to her name. Oh, and she’s the Chair on the Board of the Australasian Sleep Association (ASA): Australia’s peak sleep advocacy body. Aside from that, she’s received multiple awards including the Flinders University Vice-Chancellor’s Early Career Researcher Award, the ASA New Investigator Award and ASA Helen Bearpark Award, and the Society of Behavioural Sleep Medicine Fellow Rising Star Award. In short, she’s pretty cool and she knows her stuff.
Given that Dr. Scott’s research specialty involves investigating the use of digital technologies to better assess and manage sleep health and sleep disorders, we infer that Mr. Fitton is one of her students.
About those technologies, Dr Scott is also one of the researchers responsible for THIM: the first wearable device specifically to track and treat chronic insomnia.
On which note, you might want to check out: What Your Fitness Tracker Is Best & Worst At
Want to learn more?
For a particular kind of exercise that can help you sleep, you might like this book that we reviewed a while back:
Yoga For Better Sleep – by Mark Stephens
Sweet dreams!
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Seasonal Affective Disorder (Beyond Sunlight!)
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For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the time of increasing darkness is upon us again. Depending on our latitude, the sun barely rises before it skitters off again. And depending on other factors of our geography, we might not get much sun during that time (writer’s example: the ancient bog from which I write has been surrounded by fog for two weeks now).
So, what to do about it?
Firstly, we can make the most of whatever sun we do get (especially in the morning, if possible), and we can of course make some use of artificial sunlight. To save doubling up, we’ll link to what we previously wrote about optimizing both of those things:
‘Tis To Season To Be SAD-Savvy
More ways to get serotonin
Sunlight, of course, triggers our bodies to make serotonin, and hence we often make less of it during winter. But, there are other ways to get serotonin too, and one of the best ways is spending time in nature. Yes, even if the weather is gloomy, provided there are still visible green things and you are seeing them, it will promote serotonin production.
Of course, it may not be the season for picnics, but a morning walk through a local park or other green space is ideal.
On which note, gardening remains a good activity. Not a lot of people do so much gardening after a certain point in the year, but in one way, it’s more important than ever to get some soil under your fingernails:
There are bacteria in soil (specifically: Mycobacterium vaccae) that work similarly to antidepressants.
When something is described as having an effect similar to antidepressants, it’s usually hyperbole. In this case, it’s medicine, and literally works directly on the serotonergic system (as do many, but not all, antidepressants).
See also: Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!
While many antidepressants are selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (i.e., they slow the rate at which your brain loses serotonin), Mycobacterium vaccae increases the rate at which you produce serotonin. So, you feel happier, more relaxed, while also feeling more energized.
^this one’s a mouse study, but we’re including it because it covers exactly how it works in the brain, which is something that the ethics board wouldn’t let them do on humans, due to the need for slicing the brains up for examination.
As to how to benefit: touching soil will get you “infected” by the bacteria, yes, even if you wash your hands later. Growing food in the soil and eating the good (including if you wash and cook it) is even better.
Boost the other “happiness chemicals”
Serotonin is just one “happiness hormone”, other feel-good neurotransmitters that are just as important include dopamine and oxytocin.
Dopamine is most associated with being the “reward chemical”, so it pays to do things that you find rewarding. If you’re stuck for ideas, engaging in small acts of kindness is a sure-fire way to get dopamine flowing and lift your own mood as well as theirs.
See also: 10 Ways To Naturally Boost Dopamine
Oxytocin, meanwhile is the “cuddle chemical”, and can be triggered even if you have nobody to cuddle*. If you do, by the way, make it at least 20–30 seconds, as that’s generally how long it takes to get oxytocin flowing.
*Vividly imagining it has much the same effect, since the brain can’t tell the difference. Alternatively, looking at pictures/videos (your choice) of small cute animals tends to work for most people also.
For more on these things, check out: Neurotransmitter Cheatsheet
Take care!
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How To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)
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How To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)
High-Intensity Interval Training, henceforth “HIIT”, is a well-researched and well-evidenced approach to exercise that gives powerful health benefits.
Specifically, health benefits that we don’t get from moderate exercise (as important as that is too) or endurance training.
Super-quick overview of the benefits first:
- Burns more calories than other forms of exercise
- Boosts your metabolic rate for hours afterwards
- …which means it actually works* for fat loss
- Reduces blood pressure (unless already healthy)
- Can promote muscle growth (depends on other factors)
*remember that most forms of exercise aren’t very good for fat loss, because our metabolism will slow afterwards to compensate. So HIIT flipping this one is quite a big deal.
What actually is it?
HIIT means exercise sessions in which one alternates between high intensity “maximum effort” bursts, and short recovery periods during which more moderate exercise is performed.
An example for runners could be switching between sprinting or jogging, changing mode each time one passes a street light.
❝A total of only two minutes of sprint interval exercise was sufficient to elicit similar responses as 30 minutes of continuous moderate intensity aerobic exercise❞
What did you mean about not wrecking your body? Is that… Likely?
Hopefully not, but it’s a barrier to some! We are not all twenty-something college athletes, after all, and our bodies aren’t always as durable as they used to be.
HIIT relies on intense exercise and short recovery periods, but what if our bodies are not accustomed to intense exercise, and need longer recovery periods? Can we still get the same benefits?
The trick is not to change the intensity or the recovery periods, but the exercise itself.
For HIIT to work the “intense” part has to be best-effort or approaching such. That part’s not negotiable. The recovery periods can be stretched a bit if you need to, but with the right tweaks, you ideally won’t have to do that.
Great! How?
First, note that you can do resistance interval training without impact. For example, if you crank up the resistance on an exercise bike or similar machine, you will be doing resistance training along with your cardio, and you’ll be doing it without the impact on your joints that you would if out pounding the pavement on foot.
(Running is fine if your body is used to it, but please don’t make HIIT your first running exercise in a decade)
Second, consider your environment. That exercise bike? You can get off it any time and you’re already at home (or perhaps your gym, with your car outside). Not so if you took up mountain biking or road racing.
Third, go for what is gentle in motion, even if it’s not resistance work per se. Swimming is a fabulous option for most people, and can absolutely be done with HIIT principles. Since vision is often obscured while swimming, counting strokes can be a good way to do HIIT. For example, ten strokes max effort, ten strokes normal, repeat. Do make sure you are aware of where the end of the pool is, though!
Fourth, make it fun! Ok, this one’s not about the safety quite so much, but it is about sustainability, and that’s critical for practical purposes too. You will only continue an exercise routine that you enjoy, after all.
- Could you curate a musical playlist that shifts tempo to cue your exercise mode intervals?
- Could you train with an exercise partner? Extra fun if this has a “relay race” feel to it, i.e. when one person completes a high intensity interval, the other person must now begin theirs.
Need some pointers getting started?
There are a lot of HIIT apps out there, so you can just search for that on your device of choice.
But!
We at 10almonds have recommended 7-Minute Workout before, which is available for iOS and for Android, and we stand by that as a great starting choice.
Enjoy!
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Ageless Athletes – by Dr. Jim Madden
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This is an approach to strength and fitness training specifically for the 50+ crowd, and/but even more specifically for the 50+ crowd who do not wish to settle for mediocrity. In short, it’s for those who not only wish to stay healthy and have good mobility, but also who wish to be and remain athletic.
It does not assume extant athleticism, but nor does it assume complete inexperience. It provides a fairly ground-upwards entry to a training program that then quickly proceeds to competitive levels of athleticism.
The author himself details his own journey from being in his 30s, overweight and unfit, to being in his 50s and very athletic, with before and after photos. Granted, those are 20 years in between, but all the same, it’s a good sign when someone gets stronger and fitter with age, rather than declining.
The style of the book is quite casual, and/but after the introductory background and pep talk, is quite pragmatic and drops the additional fluff. In particular, older readers may enjoy the “Old Workhorse” protocol, as a tailored measured progression system.
In terms of expected equipment by the way, some is bodyweight and some is with weights; kettlebells in particular feature strongly, since this is about functional strength and not bodybuilding.
In the category of criticism, he does refer to his other books and generally assumes the reader is reading all his work, so it may not be for everyone as a standalone book.
Bottom line: if you’re 50+ and are wondering how to gain/maintain a high level athleticism, this book can definitely help with that.
Click here to check out Ageless Athlete, and go from strength to strength!
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Semaglutide’s Surprisingly Unexamined Effects
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Semaglutide’s Surprisingly Big Research Gap
GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic, Wegovy, and other semaglutide drugs. are fast becoming a health industry standard go-to tool in the weight loss toolbox. When it comes to recommending that patients lose weight, “Have you considered Ozempic?” is the common refrain.
Sometimes, this may be a mere case of kicking the can down the road with regard to some other treatment that it can be argued (sometimes even truthfully) would go better after some weight loss:
How weight bias in health care can harm patients with obesity: Research
…which we also covered in fewer words in the second-to-last item here:
But GLP-1 agonists work, right?
Yes, albeit there’s a litany of caveats, top of which are usually:
- there are often adverse gastrointestinal side effects
- if you stop taking them, weight regain generally ensues promptly
For more details on these and more, see:
…but now there’s another thing that’s come to light:
The dark side of semaglutide’s weight loss
In academia, “dark” is often used to describe “stuff we don’t have much (or in some cases, any) direct empirical evidence of, but for reasons of surrounding things, we know it’s there”.
Well-known examples include “dark matter” in physics and the Dark Ages in (European) history.
In the case of semaglutide and weight loss, a review by a team of researchers (Drs. Sandra Christenen, Katie Robinson, Sara Thomas, and Dominique Williams) has discovered how little research has been done into a certain aspect of GLP-1 agonist’s weight loss effects, namely…
Dietary changes!
There’s been a lot of popular talk about “people taking semaglutide eat less”, but it’s mostly anecdotal and/or presumed based on parts of the mechanism of action (increasing insulin production, reducing glucagon secretions, modulating dietary cravings).
Where studies have looked at dietary changes, it’s almost exclusively been a matter of looking at caloric intake (which has been found to be a 16–39% reduction), and observations-in-passing that patients reported reduction in cravings for fatty and sweet foods.
This reduction in caloric intake, by the way, is not significantly different to the reduction brought about by counselling alone (head-to-head studies have been done; these are also discussed in the research review).
However! It gets worse. Very few studies of good quality have been done, even fewer (two studies) actually had a registered dietitian nutritionist on the team, and only one of them used the “gold standard” of nutritional research, the 24-hour dietary recall test. Which, in case you’re curious, you can read about what that is here:
Dietary Assessment Methods: What Is A 24-Hour Recall?
Of the four studies that actually looked at the macros (unlike most studies), they found that on average, protein intake decreased by 17.1%. Which is a big deal!
It’s an especially big deal, because while protein’s obviously important for everyone, it’s especially important for anyone trying to lose weight, because muscle mass is a major factor in metabolic base rate—which in turn is much important for fat loss/maintenance than exercise, when it comes to how many calories we burn by simply existing.
A reasonable hypothesis, therefore, is that one of the numerous reasons people who quit GLP-1 agonists immediately put fat back on, is because they probably lost muscle mass in amongst their weight loss, meaning that their metabolic base rate will have decreased, meaning that they end up more disposed to put on fat than before.
And, that’s just a hypothesis and it’s a hypothesis based on very few studies, so it’s not something to necessarily take as any kind of definitive proof of anything, but it is to say—as the researchers of this review do loudly say—more research needs to be done into this, because this has been a major gap in research so far!
Any other bad news?
While we’re talking research gaps, guess how many studies looked into micronutrient intake changes in people taking GLP-1 agonists?
If you guessed zero, you guessed correctly.
You can find the paper itself here:
What’s the main take-away here?
On a broad, scoping level: we need more research!
On a “what this means for individuals who want to lose weight” level: maybe we should be more wary of this still relatively new (less than 10 years old) “wonder drug”. And for most of those 10 years it’s only been for diabetics, with weight loss use really being in just the past few years (2021 onwards).
In other words: not necessarily any need to panic, but caution is probably not a bad idea, and natural weight loss methods remain very reasonable options for most people.
See also: How To Lose Weight (Healthily!)
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
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