Weight Loss

Pose for the BODY~~~~

2006-07-17T15:47:00.000-04:00

immediately after i posted my need for motivation to hit the gym, someone gave me a suggestion for motivation.

Find a picture of a star whose body you desire.

However, it's important to Make Sure that your body shape is suitable with the body shape of whoever's picture you wanted to use.

1. Stick it somewhere that you will be able to see the first thing in the morning. Nothing helps more than a fresh burst of motivation early in the morning.

2. Bring the picture with you to the gym and place it in front of the threadmill or whatever machine you are using

3. It's a motivation, for goodness sake. Still stay healthy while you are losing the pounds. Eat healthily, portionize and exercise. (ok ok..telling that to myself too)

Check out who i have as a motivation~~~~~~~~~

My new experiment!

2006-06-08T14:22:00.000-04:00

'Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time."
Excerpt from the Alchemist

Just the other day, a very nice client turned friend, Steve, walked into my sales office and remarked that i lost weight. Then amidst the bantering, he started to share with me how he managed to lose 90 lbs in 2 years by changing his lifestyle.

SO wat was steve's trick?

Portions and 6 meals a day. His rationale was that regular eating will keep the body from going into starvation mode, and metabolism rate will maintain at a regular rate, rather than spiking up and down. He was happily eating all the time and losing weight. (don't forget abt the exercise part tho!) In fact, he got too thin one time that he had to make a conscious decision to eat more!

Awesome, you might think, but then, a nagging voice in the back of your head reminds u abt the seemingly irrelevant quote in the opening. So yeah, niki, what's the link?

Now, allow me to fill in the missing pieces.

Just yesterday, i met another guy in the building and i did a double take cos the man did lose some major weight. 28 lbs in 4 months to be exact. And being the nosy person i am, i had to ask him how he did it and he said the exact things that Steve said to me! Portions and 6 meals a day! He marvelled at the fact that he was eating more than he ever had but he was losing more weight than he ever did when he was only eating 1 big meal a day!

And the weirdest thing was, a couple of moments later, a lady came by and we started talking abt metabolism and she was saying the same thing abt eating regulary which helps to increase your metabolism and is a great way to lose weight effectively.

Talk abt coincidence!

So here you go,these trinity of coincidences led me to believe that i should embark on this new experiment. (alas! divine intervention and of course, i'd jump at any situation that allows me to eat more..haha..self confessed foodie)

the exercise regimes remain- an hr of walking daily

projected meals i shall have (ooh..so exciting!)

1. breakfast (btw 7-9)
2. brunch ( betw 10-11)
3. lunch (betw 12-2)
4. tea break~legacy of being from a country that was previously colonised by the UK (betw 3-5)
5. dinner (betw 6-8)
6. supper (betw 9-11)

There are 2 elements to this habit-

1. eating 6 times a day (woo hoo!)
2. portions!

This serves as an important note to myself that just because i can increase the number of meals i have, it doesn't automatically mean that i can increase my portions too. So, the caveat in this experiment, as i see it now, is that I shall endevour to keep to 1 portion per meal. Let's see how well this experiment will work. The previous one was ok, and i did lose weight, but the fact that i cheated a couple of times ( i.e, eat more meat than i should, and snack too much) simply proves that the experiment wasn't for me.

I do plan to eat salads for my supper, cos an awesome family i visited over the weekend shared with me how their grandpa (who is Italian) insisted on eating a bowl of salad everynight since young, and was a very very healthy and happy old man who lived to the ripe old age of 92. Heck, he started a new barber shop in his 80s and insisted on managing it himself. If that wasn't good proof of taking good care of your body for the first half of your life so it'll take good care of you for the rest of your life, i don't know what is.

As of right now, i intend to start with salads for breakfast and supper. A fruit like an orange or banana, or a handful of nuts, or maybe a nice pastry for brunch and tea break, lunch and dinner- pasta, rice, or whatever i can cook up. (yes yes,i'll look out for simple and fast recipes to post here, but! if you wan really yummy recipes for pastry, you should check out my friend's interesting blog, helps if you can read mandarin cos she has a lot of interesting insights written very well in mandarin)

Alrighty! The new experiment shall start officially on June 9 2006 and will last for 15 days (June 23). Ready, get set, GO!

Weight Loss - Day 12-19

2006-05-30T14:03:00.000-04:00

Woo hoo! a week swept past, and a guilty sinful trip down to new york over the weekend for shish kebabs, custard cakes, huge portions of African grilled fish, broadway and orchestra! What a happening memorial weekend i had! (more on that later)

Today i had my weight in-

I've lost 2 kg, 0.5 inch off my waist, 1.5 inch off my butt, 1 inch off my thighs and i could fit in the pink beach shorts i could barely button up juz a month ago.. isn't that amazing? not to mention the fact that i have increase productivity!

Now, to tie this in with my happening memorial day weekend, which is, despite all the food i gobbled down, the weigh in i did this morning(with apprehension of course) showed no signs of my weekend decadence.

my purpose in saying this?

1. walk more (it's low impact and increases metabolism, not to mention leaner thighs)
2. eat less meat, or opt for fish instead ( maybe it's psychological, but i do feel lighter)

Take care of our bodies for the first part of our lives, and our bodies will take care of us for the rest of our lives.

that being said, i'm super tempted to change my routine a little bit.. more on that soon! Let me work out the details now and i'll share after day 30 of this expt.

Stay tuned!

Weight loss expt- Days 8-11

2006-05-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

I've been observing myself for the past 4 days. What are my observations then?

Eating Habits

Budgeting a certain amout of money for food and grocery is essential. I found myself in a situation the past few days whereby i had more spare cash, i bought a lot more food, and kinda overindulged (even tho i bought more fruits, but i also bought more chocolates and chips).

i also realised i have a tendency to splurge on unhealthy food once every month (biological clock. ding ding ding!) especially on chocolates and all. Check the package for the nutritional value and gasp. For every mouthful of reeses i put into my mouth, i am effectively ingesting 100 cal or so. But even tho i know it, the desire refuse to comply with the rationale. So, how can you have your chocolate and still eat it?

The trick is, SHARE!

Buy chips and chocolates and sweets. Sure you can do it, just make sure you share it with your friends. That's what i did. I bought a choco bar today and 'forced' my colleague to share it with me. For the past few days, when i found myself craving for sweet stuff, i reached for oranges instead. (i had 3 at one go, so i'm wondering if i'm overdosing on vit c! fruits, esp sweet ones, can be high in calories too. But at least i'm getting my fiber!) This increase in discipline is really giving me a boost in my self esteem and reinforcing the idea that i can do anything if i put my mind to it. :)

Sleeping Habits

My inner body alarm has adjusted very well and i can now wake up at 6am without any help of the store bought alarm clock. I get knocked out at 11 ish. which means i get an average of about 6 to 7 hrs per night, and wake up feeling fully refreshed. Double plus point is that i get so much work done before i go work or sch, which is fabulous!

Exercising

I spend about 45 min in the gym daily.I'm getting a bit bored at my routine so i try to alternate by going to the huge park nearby my house. I cant wait for my condo pool to become available this summer! Swimming is one of the best full body workout one can ever get. It's low impact on joints and gives the body a good stretch. It's super for our spine and lengthens it cos of the movement. You might even find yourself getting taller!

So, i'm now looking at investing in good sunscreen and effective moisturizers. Will u do that too? Can't wait for May 31 to come^^

Log Book - Day 6-7 of weight loss expt!

2006-05-18T09:36:00.000-04:00

Week numero un down for this simple experiment.

Day 6-7, I began to notice a difference in my sleeping patterns. Instead of me going through the whole day from 6am to 12 midnight without a wink,i find myself dozing off around 10 ish to 11 ish.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining. I think it's a great thing cos my body is getting used to the changes and is adjusting accordingly. I remember reading somewhere that the best optimal time to sleep is actually between 11pm-2am cos that's when the body is at its optimum recovery mode, repairing wat that was worn out over time.

I get an average of 6-7hrs of sleep daily, and feel so much more energetic then when i was clocking in 8-9 hrs. I wake up at 6am and by 830, i would have cooked my lunch, had my breakfast, exercised for 45 min and read a couple of mags. Not too bad for someone who used to rush to work upon waking up at 8 and had no time to do anything, including breakfast.

I feel myself getting stronger, more focused cos of the changes in my daily habits, not juz physically but also mentally. Throughout the experiment, i've constantly remembered to slow down and listen to my body. As a result, it's working better than it had ever before! ME LIKE!!

Are you still with me on my experiment? ^^

Log Book- Day 5 of Weight Loss expt

2006-05-16T12:46:00.000-04:00

Day 5.

I find myself checking my reflection on the mirror beside me in the gym more often than ever when i fast walked on the treadmill this morning.

I begin to notice definitions on my legs that were never there before. My butt looked perkier(at least to me) and i like the way my hair was shining, as a result of the deep conditioning i did for my hair the night before.

I smiled at my reflection. I have been more productive than ever (look out for upcoming articles in the personal development category) and I feel healthier.

Just two subtle changes i made to my life.

Light exercise daily AND eating only one meat meal a day.

PUMPED UP!

Log Book-Day 4- Weight Loss Expt

2006-05-15T10:22:00.000-04:00

Day 4 has ended and I'm beginning to see and feel a difference in the way i go about in my life.

The change in eating habits and increase in exercise have done wonders to my energy and productivity level.

Here are the list of changes:

1. My body automatically wakes up ard 6 AM daily, almost 1-2 hrs earlier than usual, feeling surprisingly refreshed! Giving me almost 1-2 hrs of head start to my day, increasing productivity- reading, exercising and cooking. My day typically ends ard 1130 -12 midnight and my energy level remains consistently high throughtout the day. I go to bed feeling i've fully expended my energy and happy.

2. I find myself calmer and have more clarity in my thought processes. Take for example, something happened to me the night before, and instead of getting angry (as anyone in the same position would have), I took another perspective on the situation and saw an immediate improvement in my mood and the situation(but i gotta admit i was quite sad initially).

3. Exercising daily makes me feel more alert and energetic too. I recently read an article from a fitness magazine that a new study done at the University of Florida suggested that regular light activity( eg a daily 30 min walk or a one mile run) may actually decrease celuular aging in the brain. What that means is that it can also reduce the likelihood in Alzheimers and Parkinson's disease( typically believed to be caused by oxidative damage to brain) Not bad eh?

I'm liking my experiment so far^^

Log Book- Day 3 of Weight Loss Expt

2006-05-14T18:45:00.000-04:00

Day number 3 of my simple and easy weight loss experiment went by as quickly as it came by.

I find myself gaining momentum in my exercise regime, being able to push myself a little bit more with a faster speed without feeling uncomfortable. I really like fast walking but as i was on the treadmill, i find myself eyeing the ellipetic machine just beside. I realised I needed a change in my routine before i get sick of my treadmill. As the saying goes, too much of a good thing can be bad too. I'm resolved to take my fast walking out to the nearby park as summer approaches!

I had brunch of brown rice and coleslaw and chinese dumplings in my office. Tried out the egg soup recipe( carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, eggs) i found on allrecipes for dinner with not so delicious results..maybe the problem lies with my culinary abilities (or the lack of..lol)

Surprisingly, i don't find myself craving for meat as much as i thought i would (used to have meat for every meal)

I treated myself to a banana mask which was amazing for my skin! (look out under the home remedies for good homemade facial recipes to give ur face a treat and the benefits of using natural ingredients)

Emotional Level:
My friend, Stephen (he was once a vegetarian) said to me the other day that he felt that when he was eating only veg, he felt mentally light, it's like having a certain sense of clarity I'm beginning to see his logic.. but since i'm only eating less meat, does that mean less clarity for me?OHM~~~~

Physical Level:
Nope, no draw back on my energy level. I'm a bit tempted to see what will happen if i cut off meat totally from my diet..hmmm..let me think this through..

Log Book- Day 2 of Weight Loss Expt

2006-05-14T18:16:00.000-04:00

ok, let me start with a confession~~ i had one and a half slices of pizza for dinner. (there u go, Adrian! ^^) But then again, life is about balance and moderation so it's always ok to have a couple of slices of pizza once in a while^^plus the fact that my creative cooking skills failed me abysmally for lunch( more on that later) i need my comfort food. Besides, they were serving only pizza for the meeting i went to so i chose to eat pizza instead of going hungry,even thoi had a banana and a bowl of cereal an hr before that meeting (is this beginning to sound like self justification to u?I thought so too haha)

Righty,onto DAY 2.

Ooh, i'm beginning to experience and appreciate the subconscious power of our human mind. Ever since i have made the conscious decision to wake up at 6-630 am daily, i find myself waking up daily at around the same time (6~630), regardless of the time i slept the night before~automatically and considerably refreshed! I'll keep my eye on this interesting trend and blog accordingly to share my experience (my hunch is that an alarm clock is not really necessary, let's wait and see)

Walked on the threadmill for 30 mins after doing some leg stretches. Stretching is very very essential , I cant stress enough of that!! Stretching is important because

1. It relaxes and warms up ur muscles before you embark on more strenous exercise- (so u'll have less strained muscle= less strain on body)

2. Lengthens ur muscles so that u'll get a great 'lean' look. As for weight training, keeping in tune with what i want, burn fat, not build muscles, i did 3 sets of repetitions of biceps, triceps, butt, calves and back muscle training, each time 10 times.

Shall reveal my inch loss in the upcoming articles! keeping fingers crossed!

Moving on.. Lunch was, well... interesting. Since i woke up early and had more time to explore my creative culinary edge, i decided to be more adventurous with my lunch tt day. FYI. i pack lunch to work, so i cook in the morning before i go work- i'm interning in a realty company as part of the educational program i'm on. i like cooking and experimenting cos u see and control wat's in ur food,so it's healthier and more economical too~

ok. Before i share about what i did for lunch, here's a disclaimer. Don't read this if you are intending to eat or eating now. Righty, considered warned!

Let me share with u an interesting recipe you might want to consider if you like the smell of puke. First, chop up a variety of vege- cucumber, carrot,cabbage, mushroom and onion. Fry them all, add pasta sauce, add half a cup of water, wait for it to boil,then stir in a beaten egg! Seve when cold. Viola! there you go~food that smells like puke. :s

On the flipside, i considered it a stroke of genius when i added my homemade coleslaw with brown rice! it was YUMMY and was such a life saver! u can almost even consider it as a salad. it's really quite refreshing and low in calories yet filling at the same time. Try it!

Emotional level: Good! Considering the fact that i'm a generally positive person most of the time. The most tell tale sign was that I didn't even feel the slightest sense of guilt when i was eating the pizza until someone reminded me he read my blog and all i had to say about weight loss. Haha, but i forgive myself and moved on.^^Life's too interesting to beat urself up emotionally constantly.

Energy Level: High! Was only feeling sleepy ard 11-ish, and was generally chirpy the whole day. I'm beginning to like my new eating habits.^^

Log Book- Day 1 of Weight Loss Expt

2006-05-14T18:14:00.000-04:00

The first day of the experiment is finally over. I woke up early around 6am, but decided to sleep in for a little bit more since I set the alarm at 630am. Now that i think abt it, it seems silly to allow an alarm clock to dictate when I should wake up, when i have already woken up. Having ideas about a new experiment involving the sleep. more on that in upcoming articles. excited!

Anyhows, i walked briskly for 30 mins and did some weight lifting to get rid of my 'butterfly' arms and had a banana for breakfast. Feeling rather productive cos i had woken up early and had ample time to mull things over,and think about things like how i should format this blog to be more reader friendly :) Had my only meat meal for the day at lunch (chinese dumplings..yum yum! want my recipe? give me a shoutout) and was feeling pretty ok after that, until i walked past wawa and temporarily hallucinated ice cream calling out to me. (ok, so maybe i exaggerated a bit~~)

The rest of the day went pretty fine with no big glitches. I went online and searched on allrecipes for vegetarian dinners and found a really good simple recipe on coleslaw! All you need for dressing is just sugar, vege oil, white vinegar and salt. No creamy salad dressings required so it's not that high on the calories. This is definitely a keeper.

Emotional level: Not bad, not bad at all (except for the tiny heated discussion i had with Andrew regarding how we spend our time. we resolved it thankfully, for those who are concerned.^^)But this really had nothing to do with the day I had. Which is, so far, so good!

Physical level: Not much distinct difference as of now. But judging from the fact that i had been active since 630 am and slept only at 1230 am, it's not that bad at all. Then again, we should never discount the fact that i might be on a high for starting a new experiment and hence the extra energy.Will keep u posted.

Watch out for Day 2 and for more of my new vege recipes- what will work and what will not!

The Raw Deal About Simple and Complex Carbohydrates

2006-05-14T18:11:00.000-04:00

So you might ask, what's the difference between simple and complex carbohydrate and what has it got to do with me?

Righty, Let's start with the definitions first.Carbohydrates are simply sugars bonded together and they are important because they are the body's basic form of fuel.

Simple carbs are carbs which are smaller molecules of sugar. That makes them more easily digestable, and provides quick spurts of energy, like the sugar high one gets after eating a bar of chocolate. Simple carbs include plain bread, polished rice, etc

Complex carbs are carbs that are, well, more complex structurely, and hence take a longer time to release energy when digested. What that means is that you feel full for a longer period of time( feel full longer= less meals = shed pounds) Complex carbs include roll oats, brown rice, multigrain bread. For a more complete list of complex and simple carbs, please go here

If the losing weight part is not enough to make you wanna switch to complex carbs (hmm..i wonder why~;) ), here's another reason why complex carbs could be better for our health.

Complex carbs usually contain a lot of fibre and fibre is excellent for scrubbing out the gunk and crap trapped within our intestines. Having a diet that is low on fibre allows toxins to accumulate in those crevices of our twisted tubes. Remember, we are what we eat. Conversely, if we allow toxins to stay in our body for a long time without clearing it out, this increases the likelihood of us getting ill, and no one likes to get ill. (or so i assume)

As you probably can tell by now, I'm an avid complex carbo-der. I like my fibre and personally, i would attribute part of my weight loss to my choice in switching to complex carbs whenever possible. I switched from polished rice to brown ones, wholegrain bread from the plain old whites, and there were definitely noticeable improvements to my health. I feel more energetic, cleaner ( hmm..could it be psychological?) and my skin condition definitely improved.

I'm a convert. Will u be one too? Drop me a comment to share :)