Winning the war of weight loss

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Michael Washburn
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  In the battle against Airmen's waist lines, the Health and Wellness Center here has a new piece of equipment to help win the war on weight loss.

"The device is called a MedGem," said Guy Leahy, an exercise physiologist at the Health and Wellness Center. "It's a handheld device that's designed to measure your resting metabolic rate. Resting metabolic rate is the minimum amount of calories your body needs to exist in the absence of activity or eating."

The whole process is very quick and takes around 10 minutes. When doing the test, the individual sits in what's called a relaxation chair, which puts them in the closest position to resting as possible. A clip is placed over the nose to ensure breathing is done through the mouth. After about 10 minutes, the machine will beep, signaling the end of the test and the estimated minimum number of calories the body needs will be displayed.

Of course, as with all equipment, there is a chance the number could be a little off.

"To help lessen the margin of error, individuals should not eat four hours before they get the test done or exercise three hours before, because both will raise their resting metabolic rate," Mr. Leahy said.

With the increased number of PT failures, having information like this is a great benefit for all Airmen, according to Mr. Leahy.

"The majority of the failures are minimum component failures, most commonly the push-ups and sit-ups," Mr. Leahy said. "One of the determining factors in the amount of push-ups or sit-ups someone can do is their amount of body fat. The more fat you have, the less repetitions you can perform. So for those who are looking to lose weight, they need to know what their minimum calorie needs are."

For example, if an Airman's resting metabolic rate is 2,000 calories, he would still need to eat that amount even if he doesn't do any activity that day. The Airman also needs to take into account their level of activity. The more active the Airman is, the more calories they can consume.

Someone who exercises four to five times per week could possibly eat 4,000 calories without gaining weight. If they wanted to lose weight in a healthy way, without hurting their body, they would have to keep their calorie intake between 4,000 and their resting metabolic rate.

"If someone falls below their resting metabolic rate, their body would have to start cannibalizing parts of itself to keep the rest of it alive," Mr. Leahy said. "That means converting muscle into carbohydrates, which is what we don't want the body to do."

Resting metabolic rate is always going to differ from person to person. An Airman may have a resting rate of 1,700, where as a football player could be 3,000. It all depends on the individuals muscular composition.

For more information on the MedGem or to schedule an appointment, call the HAWC at 228-2294.