Forever Strong: A new science based strategy for aging well by Dr Gabrielle Lyon.
I read this book when it came out in October 2023. It costs £16.99 from Amazon in paperback.
Dr Lyon has worked in psychiatry, geriatrics and nutrition. She thinks that over fatness is less of a problem to being under muscled when it comes to general health, ageing and efforts to live longer in better shape.
She advocates a high protein diet of no less than 100g of protein a day for all adults. This can be more depending on a person’s ideal lean body weight. It is also a lot higher for those who aim to build more muscle.
She offers three different eating regimes. The first is for longevity. For this she recommends higher protein meals for breakfast and dinner and a lighter protein snack at lunch time. Carbohydrates are generally restricted to the same number of grams as the protein spread over the day. These can be increased for those engaged in more than one hour’s vigorous exercise a day. Fat is eaten according to the remaining calories available to maintain weight.
For those wanting to lose weight, she recommends that protein is spread evenly over three meals a day. Carbohydrate should be no more than 30g per meal. Fat intake should be low as the aim is to cut back by 10-20% of maintenance calories daily. She thinks that it is crucial to prioritise dietary protein as this reduces muscle loss and improves satiety. Carbohydrates should be low sugar fruit and low starch vegetables in order to minimise calories and insulin response.
For those who want to gain weight, protein intake is higher and usually needs to be spread over 4 meals. Carbohydrate and fat can be increased as the aim is to exceed maintenance caloric intake. A well planned exercise regime needs to be undertaken and this will usually require a personal trainer at a gym.
The exercise regime offered is based at the beginner in the book but she offers different programmes from her website. I wasn’t able to find these when I looked but perhaps they are still undergoing development.
The book covers the science behind her nutritional advice, a discussion of the mental roadblocks that stop people taking control of their diet and exercise regimes, baseline measurements that will help you figure out what exactly you should be eating and some recipes.
I exercise daily and have been weight training since the age of 27. I also have been low carbing for 20 years. Did I learn anything? YES.
I’ve been making several big mistakes regarding my diet and exercise regime.
Firstly, although I eat about double the protein that I see my friends eating, this is still not likely to be high enough for optimal muscle gain.
Secondly, I really should be eating a lot more protein first thing in the morning so that dietary leucine levels come up to the threshold that prevents muscle breakdown and ensures the best use of protein in the body and for muscle development.
Thirdly, like a lot of low carbers my fat intake is very high, and I pile it on oblivious of the caloric intake.
Fourthly, I do indulge in the odd sugar /starch item and during weight loss efforts these would be better cut out entirely. Same for alcohol.
Fifthly, my weight training regime needs altered. I used to do alternate days resistance training and something else but various injuries and back pain led me to experiment with more stretching and back exercises and this led to a definite improvement in my chronic back pain. I have altered my regime again to add in more resistance work. Dr Lyon thinks that three times a week is best. I’ll see how this goes but at my age I need to consider the injuries and degenerative problems that accumulate.
Overall this is a very helpful book for those who seek the best of physical health and contains information that I was not previously aware of.
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