All About The Study...

Hi everyone! So as most of you know, I voluntarily decided to admit myself into Solitary Confinement! AHHHHH! Jk Jk Jk :-D....Derek does refer to it as a "Solitary Confinement Diet." *LOL* But really, it's a clinical study at the Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research Section of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institue of Health, in Phoenix, AZ. So, in easier terms...I'm at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center. I'll be undergoing numerous tests while losing weight over the next 10 weeks. I figured I'd journal my stay and tell ya'll about the procedures I go through each week.

Here's a bit of an explanation about what it is that the NIH is studying, and what my typical day is like...

THE STUDY
The intent of the study is to determine if the way a person expends energy during overeating or fasting can predict how much weight a person will lose, in order to learn if certain people lose weight quicker than others.
Specific aims are:
(a)changes in the body's metabolism (or energy expenditure) with overeating ~2x as many calories as usual over 24 hrs., and with fasting over 24 hrs. predicts how much weight I will lose
(b)how other behavioral and hormonal measurements may relate to the changes in metabolism
(c)whether they can precisely measure how many calories I eat & excrete (in stool) and whether this can account for the weight that I lose.
Ultimately, this study will consist of 105 subjects, each of which will be studied over a 5 year period; including the 10-week inpatient stay and additional monthly to yearly visits over a 5 year period. During the 10-week stay, I'll undergo MRI and DXA scans for measurement of body fat & bone density, fat & muscle biopsies, measurement of free-living energy use, 11 overnight stays in a metabolic chamber, weekly stool & urine collection & blood draws, and weekly measurement of core temp. & physical acivity level using monitoring devices on all 4 limbs & around my waist.
The stay invloves 2 weeks of initial baseline studies (weight maintenance; which is the phase I'm in now) where most of the testing occurs, 6 weeks of weightloss (weightloss; liquid diet = Ensure Plus for EVERY mean...not looking forward to that, *LOL*), and 2 final maintenance weeks where I'll repeat everything I did during the initial baseline.

TYPICAL DAY
I wake up every morning around 5-5:30 am to get weighed, go back to sleep, and wake up for breakfast at 7:00 am. Depending on what sort of tests I'm doing that day, I usually stay awake throughout the morning for the testing because most tests are done right after breakfast. Blood draws are done in my room through an IV, and other scans & biopsies are done in their respective parts of the hospital. Lunch is served at 11:00 am, and I'm usually free to roam the floor for the rest of the day. Dinner is at 4:00 pm, with a snack at 7:00 pm. All meals are served in my room or in the lounge, depending on where I'm at. I shower in the evenings because most tests don't allow showering in the morning because you either can't be wet for the test, or you're too weak to shower because you've had so much blood drawn, *LOL*.
On the days that I'm in the Metabolic Chamber, I get weighed as usual, then swallow this big ol' horse pill that monitors my body temperature as it travels thru my body and relays the temp. to an external device that I wear around my belt. On these mornings, I usually have a fasting blood draw right before breakfast, eat around 7:30 am, and enter the chamber at 8:00 am with my pillow, 3 movies, 3 sodas, and some water. I stay in the chamber for 24 hours, while collecting all of my urine throughout the 24-hr. period into these orange jugs (kept in the refrigerator...YUK). Then when I get out the next morning, I do another fasting blood draw, eat breakfast, and then go on to that days tests.


Well, there's the details of the study... I'll start posting pics here when I can & hope ya'll keep in touch. Hope you enjoy "Life With Sara in Solitary Confinement!" :-D