I'm Such A Loser

Image via WikipediaThese words are heard so often, that I gave up on them a long time ago.

But, to be honest, I have uttered them myself, in the past.

It's just a simple case of "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".

Whatever your fitness goals are, be it to lose weight, get toned, or build muscles, these words are a killer to yourself. Don't wait till tomorrow, do it today!

See, it's very common for women to say that they are fat (even when they aren't). Then they'll say "ok I'll go on a diet/workout tomorrow". Why? Because they've just seen that chocolate cake, or that nice yummy peppermint ice cream, and they feel like having it right now. When you reminded them of their own goals, ie to "lose weight", they always say the same thing - "I'll start tomorrow".

The thing is, there's always a "tomorrow". Just like numbers, you can always +1 to any figure to increase it, hence there's never an end to a number. If you keep saying you will "start tomorrow", you will never start it. One of these "tomorrows" has got to become a "today".

If you're trying to lose weight, going on a "diet" alone won't help much. Yes the weight might go down on the scales, but weight loss is more likely muscle mass than fats (which is what you women are concerned about, right?). Eating less (in quantity) means less nutrition. If you do not workout, whatever else you eat will not be burnt as fuel - they get stored as fats. Even if you eat very little, they get stored as fats too.

The only way to make the body burn whatever that comes in as fuel, is exercise. The more you exercise, the more you are telling the body that it needs to burn fuel, and fats are the body's stored fuel reserves.

To make it simple, "fats = fuel". You don't workout, fats won't go away. No matter how little you eat, you will still have the fats in storage. The reason you see yourself "become slimmer" is due to loss of muscle mass (and perhaps water).

So, when you "start tomorrow", don't just start on the "diet". Start on the workout too.

Labels: diet, motivation

Whenever you are to embark on a weight loss or muscle building program, you always see that part of the requirements is that you must "eat right".

For example, many people just think that to build muscles, all you need to do is just work out at the gym and the muscles will grow.

The truth is, "working out at the gym" is only half the equation. What happens at the gym is that you are stressing your muscles to tell them "Look, I have to lift this amount of weight, and I need to be able to do it with less effort". So you trigger the muscles to adapt and hence, to grow.

However, to grow, the body needs nutrients. How do us humans get nutrients? From eating food. In the muscle building example, you need to eat the foods that will promote muscle growth, that means protein-rich foods like meat and dairy products.

If your goal is weight-loss, chances are you have been eating too much "junk food", which have all collected as "fats", and hence you're overweight. "Eating right" in this case means to eat proper food, like meat, vegetables and fruits - not potato chips and ice cream.

For weight loss, there isn't really any short-cuts you can take. You need to eat right, and workout to burn off the excess fats. If you continue to eat junk food, working out alone will probably not achieve any significant weight loss, if any.

As an aside - for my own "weight loss effort", I didn't even go on any "detoxification" process. All I did was to change my diet, and started working out. The pounds just shed by themselves. Granted, the speed of the pounds shedding may not be fantastic, but they still do come off.

Similarly, if your goal is to build muscles and you do not "eat right", then your muscles are deprived of the right nutrients to grow, and hence they won't grow. Your workouts in the gym are thus, wasted hours.

Remember my mantra here on this blog - "Don't go on a diet. Change your diet completely!"

Labels: diet

Image via WikipediaIn my previous posts, I had talked about how surprising it was to me when I first discovered that soy products wasn't good for me, and then much later, about how clinical results seem to prove that the benefits of soy products were overhyped.

Now, it seems we have yet another reason. You may become impotent if you continue to consume large quantities of soy products. It was only after I started to seriously work out that some mistaken, but well-meaning friends told me that soy products contain lots of protein and will help in my workouts.

And I'm the kind of guy that doesn't take everything at face value, and did some research on my own, hence discovering that the conventional wisdom on soy was incorrect.

In fact, even as a kid, I didn't like soy products. I never liked tofu, or tau pok (dried tofu). I loved tau huey (soyabean in sweet syrup) though, but never really ate a lot of that. Most of the time I get my proteins from meat and milk now. That means, after a workout, I drink milk, and eat a meal heavy with meat products.

Labels: diet

Image via WikipediaI have been a regular customer at a certain pub here. When it closed last year, I became a "nomad" searching for a new watering hole to call "home".

Recently a friend told me the guys there had opened a new place at a different location, and I headed there.

When the guys saw me (after 1 year) they commented "Wow you lost so much weight! You look fighting fit and trim now!".

Ok that's nothing much new there since I have shared similar comments from people who've seen me after an absence of a few weeks.

Now the interesting thing is that while they might have commented on how slim I am right now, they also mentioned that they have tried in vain to "lose weight and keep it off". From what they tell me, everybody had the same "flaw".

They all "went on a diet and an exercise regime".

The problem is, when you keep thinking that it's a diet and exercise routine to get rid of your "excess baggage", you're expecting it to be temporary. Whatever "diet" you're on will not be a permanent feature. Whatever exercises you do to "get rid of the flab" will never become part of your lifestyle.

The moment you achieve the desired results, you stop. Once you stop, it all comes back. You go back to eating your unhealthy mix of foods. You go back to lazing around.

The trick is to change your diet permanently. Don't just "go on a diet". Change it. Pretty soon, once you've gotten used to your new, healthier, more balanced eating habits, you'll find you no longer eat cakes, candies, sweets, ice cream etc as often as before. Even when you DO "binge" on the odd occasion that calls for it, it will "impact harmlessly against your metabolic shield". Ok that's not quite true in that you have a "shield" but when you do work out, your metabolism increases naturally. When you do "pig out" on junk food and desserts, they won't immediately collect as fats. Chances are they'll be burnt off by your metabolism.

I sometimes spend a whole WEEKEND eating junk food, ice cream, and fatty foods. I still don't "put it on" immediately. The body has already become accustomed to burning whatever comes in as fuel.

But, changing your diet is only the first step. The second step is to have regular exercise. You need to condition your body to always burn the calories that come in. Sitting around just eating healthy doesn't really do the trick. Some people might achieve "weight loss" by just changing their diets (especially true for women who go on "crash diets") but even if they do, it'll be just temporary. I have a few female friends who always try a new fad diet. After a few weeks, they'll be slim and sexy. A month or so later, they're back where they were (not "fat" but "not slim"), simply because they stopped their "crash diets", and they never coupled it with exercise.

So, forget pills that promise you they'll absorb the fats in your food. Forget the pills that tell you they'll increase your metabolic rate. You can do it all FOR FREE. Just work out and eat right, permanently.

Labels: diet, Weightloss

I received the following in an email yesterday. I thought it was just one more of those useless jokes or fake virus warnings until I read it. Now, I'll admit that it doesn't really have much to do with losing weight or bodybuilding, but it still relates to your health and well-being in one way or another.

So without further ado, here they are:


1. When You're Stressed...

Eat This:
1 Cup of Low-Fat Yogurt or 2 Tbsp of Mixed Nuts
Scientists in Slovakia gave people 3 grams each of two amino acids — lysine and arginine — or a placebo and asked them to deliver a speech. Blood measurements of stress hormones revealed that the amino acid–fortified public speakers were half as anxious during and after the speech as those who took the placebo. Yogurt is one of the best food sources of lysine; nuts pack tons of arginine.

Not That!
A Can of Soda
A study from the American Journal of Public Health found that people who drink 20 ounces of soda daily are three times more likely to be depressed and anxious, compared with those who drink less.

2. When You Want to Increase Your Metabolism...

Drink This:
Green Tea
Catechins, the powerful antioxidants found in green tea, are known to stoke your metabolism, making it burn hotter and torch more calories. A study by Japanese researchers found that participants who consumed 690 milligrams of catechins from green tea daily had significantly lower body-mass indexes and smaller waist measurements than tea-totalers (i.e., they avoid the stuff).

Not That!
Nothing
Skipping meals lets your body's calorie-burning furnace go cold. Spread out snacks throughout the day. Try a cup of yogurt with fresh fruit or almonds between breakfast and lunch, and a hard-boiled egg or hummus with vegetables in the afternoon.

3. When You're Low on Energy...

Eat This:
A Handful of Trail Mix
Raisins provide potassium, which your body uses to convert sugar into energy. Nuts stock your body with magnesium, which boosts metabolism and improves nerve and muscle function. (When magnesium levels are low, your body produces more lactic acid — the same fatigue-byproduct that makes your muscles ache at the end of a workout.)

Not That!
Espresso-Based Drinks
Sure, the caffeine will perk you up, but the spike in blood sugar that follows — with anywhere from 16 grams (latte) to 59 grams (white chocolate mocha) of sugar coursing through your veins — will ultimately launch your own personal energy crisis. Stick to brewed coffee with one packet of sugar, max.

4. When You Need a Brain Boost...

Eat This:
Blueberries
Antioxidants in blueberries help protect the brain from free-radical damage, which could decrease your risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and improve cognitive processing. Wild blueberries, if you can find them (or grow them!), have even more brain-boosting antioxidants than the cultivated variety.

Not That!
Ice Cream
Sugary foods incite sudden surges of blood glucose that, in the long term, cause sugar highs and lows, and make you as distractable as a toddler in the Disney store. And foods high in saturated fat can clog blood vessels and slow the flow of nutrients and blood to the brain.

5. When You're Under the Weather...

Drink This:
Ginseng Tea, Hot or Iced
In a Canadian study, people who took 400 milligrams of ginseng a day had 25 percent fewer colds than people who popped a placebo. Ginseng helps kill invading viruses by increasing the body's production of key immune cells.

Not That!
Caffeinated Beverages and Energy Drinks
Excessive caffeine messes with your sleep schedule and sabotages key immune agents. And insufficient sleep opens the door to colds, upper respiratory infections, and other ills. What's more, caffeine can dehydrate you, and hydration is vital during illness: Fluids not only transport nutrients to the problem zones, but also carry away toxins.

6. When You Need to Wake Up and Go...

Eat This:
Eggs and Whole-Wheat Toast
Eggs are a great source of protein, and having them for breakfast sets you up for a perfect day of eating. Saint Louis University researchers found that people who eat eggs for breakfast consume 264 fewer calories the rest of the day than those who eat bagels and cream cheese.

Not That!
Bagel and Cream Cheese
At 500 calories and 20 grams of fat, this deli disaster is one of the worst ways to start your day. Sixty grams of fast-burning carbohydrates will cause a dip in energy and a spike in hunger, long before lunchtime. The same goes for croissants, danish, donuts, and pancakes.

7. When You Want to Get ''In the Mood''...

Eat This:
Dark Chocolate
The cocoa in chocolate contains stimulants that increase your body's sensitivity. Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine, a chemical that can give you a slight natural high. And Italian researchers found that women who often eat chocolate have a higher sex drive than those who don't. Make sure your chocolate has at least 60 percent cacao.

Not That!
The Third Glass of Wine
The alcohol in wine affects your prefrontal cortex, which can decrease inhibition and up your sexual appetite. But only for the first glass or two. Beyond that, the toxic affects of alcohol in your system take over and are as likely to make you sleepy as they are to make you sexy. The more pouring, the more snoring.

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Labels: diet

You'd be surprised at the looks I get when I say this.

No seriously, it's true.

I have written about this very important fact a few times, and one of them is, conveniently, here. Yeah I did the hard work for you so you can go ahead and click on that link.

Recently I was talking to a female friend. She's stick skinny at 45kg standing at 160cm tall, and she keeps saying she's FAT, and needs to lose weight. So I told her - eat more often to lose weight (although she doesn't need to. She looks fine. Beginnings of anorexia nervosa, maybe?). Can you imagine the immediate response? Naturally, the usual, misguided "noo I have to stop eating! I cannot eat lunch anymore! Must skip! Drink milo at most!".

She thinks she's fat because her size S dresses were starting to get "tight". Man, she buys clothes at the teenager section, of course they'll be "tight"!

Yeah, she's the weird sort that would rather starve and "look beautiful" than to really get into a good and healthy diet and be free from ever worrying about being fat again.

Look, I don't want to nag, but "eating less" actually makes you get fat FASTER. I wrote about it in the previous entry which I linked above. In short, your body goes into survival mode since "food is hardly coming in anymore", thus every scrap that comes in has a priority to be stored as FATS instead of being burnt as fuel if you don't require it.

Eating more often doesn't mean eating more in quantity. You just eat more times a day, but if you ration out your portions, you can end up eating the same AMOUNT per day as you usually do. Eating more often also has the small effect of triggering your digestion to start working, thus burning up some calories.

The main point of eating more often is this - you are telling your body that food is in PLENTIFUL SUPPLY, and it does not have to keep everything coming in as "fats" anymore. If food is bountiful, it'll burn whatever is required and only store the excess as fats. If you're on a "eat less" diet, then everything coming in is prioritized as storage as fats, and only using up whatever is required to burn for the day's activities.

The key is to eat more frequently, not more quantity.

Now, this part only tells the body that it can stop keeping food as fats. Now, how do you lose the fats already in your body?

To lose weight, there's no escaping the fact you need to burn calories. Eating more often but reducing your total daily amount from normal, plus exercising, creates a calorie deficit. When the body runs out of food to burn as fuel, it'll go into the fat storage to burn those. If you are trying to lose weight, you have to exercise.

Many people advocate cardio workouts, ie treadmill, running etc. Personally I hate cardio so I do circuit training, ie doing some exercises like push ups, sit ups, weights, and rotate among the various exercises for about 30 to 45 mins. The heart rate is up just like doing cardio, and it's not boring, because I'm changing exercises every 3 to 5 minutes. Doing 6 exercises (for different parts of the body), each for 5 minutes, already takes up 30 minutes. Trust me, time flies when you're not bored on the treadmill. You don't even need to keep looking at your watch or clock to see "how much longer I need to be on this treadmill".

Final word to women - you are NOT fat if you are not over 55kg at standing at 160cm. If you're 45kg, you're probably even underweight. "Fat" is all in YOUR MIND. Don't fear to weigh yourself. If you don't weigh yourself and think you're 50kg when you're actually 40kg, you'll starve yourself to death. And all for the sake of "looking beautiful".

Here's a secret - men don't like SKINNY women ok? Men like women with curves. Skinny women have no curves. Therefore men don't really like you if you're stick thin and still want to lose weight.

Labels: diet, Weightloss

Image by galant via FlickrOnce again, I come here and say the same thing - don't "go on a diet", especially not a "eat less" one. I've already covered why not, so just search for my previous entries for "eat less" and you should get a couple of posts on it.

I came across this website here, called Diet Recipes. I thought it's great because on every recipe that it presents to you, it tells you the calorie value of the recipe. Hence, if you're on a "eat less" diet, this site with its mouth-watering pictures and calorie-calculated recipes, should be great for you.


Personally I'm on a "eat more" diet myself, and I wish I found a website where it tells me that. No, pigging out at MacDonalds and so on doesn't really qualify, ok?

Labels: diet, dieting, healthy diet

Among all the websites out there, many of them tell you they offer free tips, but to truly access their in-depth database of knowledge, you will have to become a member (and thus pay membership fees).

Well, fret no more! I stumbled across this website called Weight Training and Weight Lifting Tips, which is TRULY FREE!

It has 2 sections actually. One for those going for weight loss as a goal, the other for people who aim to pack on the muscles. It even has a section solely on diets and nutrition, and exactly what to eat to achieve which kinds of results.

I have actually gone through their tips, and they are for real. They don't tell you to buy xyz supplement or whatever. The owner of the site truly made the website to help people who need guidance on how to achieve their fitness goals.

The website gives you no-frills, no-bs kind of tips. If you want to achieve this, do this. No long stories nor anecdotes about his younger days. It even has diagrams on how to perform the required exercises so you are doing it with the correct form.

I think the best feature of the site is his list of "top 5 power exercises", meaning if you're hard pressed for time, do the 5 exercises which will effectively work the majority of your muscle groups in your body.

Make this site one of your favourites today, and visit it often! I know I do!

Labels: diet, exercise, gym, weight loss, workout

Asians are the world's native rice eaters. If we tell you a particular rice type sucks, you bet it sucks. Vice versa, if we tell you it's good, it's good, trust us.

After some research, I learnt that brown rice instead of the usual polished rice we eat normally, is the healthier and more nutritious choice. Since I still have like 2kg left of my 5kg pack of normal polished rice, I bought a small tiny packet of brown rice, "for trials". You know, see if it's good or tasty etc.

According to the back of the pack, brown rice needed approximately twice the amount of water compared to normal. So ok fine, I scooped up the required amount of rice that I normally ate, added in water as per normal, then doubled it. I left it to cook.

Man, it sure takes a long time to cook brown rice!

Verdict?

Brown rice is grainier, and tastes different. Well one can argue that rice technically is tasteless, but let me tell you, it tastes different from our normal rice. I don't know how to describe it, but if a typical Singaporean were to eat brown rice, he/she will definitely want to put heaps of soya sauce, or gravy, or some other condiments to make it tastier. Which, effectively, cancels out the benefits you get when you eat brown rice in the first place!

Going by taste alone, I wouldn't have picked brown rice to be my "staple". I'd still prefer to eat the usual polished rice we normally eat, although they might be "useless" as far as health benefits go. Plus, triple the usual cooking time for brown rice as compared to normal rice, makes me wonder if people will actually switch to brown rice permanently as a staple diet.

Ah well, guess I might as well finish this tiny pack of brown rice since I already bought it.

Labels: diet, healthy diet

Mention the word "diet" to most people, and you can literally see them cringe. "Diet" seems to be such a bad word that must not be uttered to people who are losing weight.

General perception is that, when you're "on a diet", you have to eat very little, you cannot eat this, cannot eat that etc. In other words, when "on a diet", they are deprived of the things they love. I call this the "eat less" diets.

The problem with "eat less" diets is this - once the person has reached his weight-loss goal, he/she goes back to his old diet, ie the unhealthy one. That is when the weight starts piling back on again, and people have trouble keeping it off.

If you look in the dictionary, the meaning of diet is "the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group: The native diet consists of fish and fruit."

Hence, if you change your diet permanently, you no longer are "on a diet". As soon as you change the food you eat, ie to healthier alternatives, and make it part of your daily life, you no longer will hate the word "diet". For example, when a person decides to become a vegetarian, that person has just decided to change his/her diet.

First of all, you need to know which kind of food is bad for you, and keep those out of your new diet (and by diet, I mean the dictionary version, not the "eat less" ones). Once your new diet consist mainly of nutritional food, and you consume them on a daily basis, they'll become a part of your life. You'll no longer crave junk food, sweets, candies etc anymore.

However that doesn't mean you can't eat those. You still can, just in moderation. Don't eat burgers and hot dogs everyday for example. Have one when you feel that you haven't had one in a long time. It's fine to eat a couple every month, but not every day. Personally, I have a "cheat" day every week. This is the day where I can eat stuff I loved, before I changed my diet. For example, this week I ate pig trotters (猪脚), with all the fats and grease and everything on Wednesday. On all other days, I ate my normal, usually balanced meals consisting of fruits, vegetables, meat and grains.

Of course, if you're on a weight-loss plan right now, for the moment you need to watch your calories. Your output, ie, exercise and workouts, must exceed your input, ie, the food you eat. This is only temporary, however. Once you have reached your goal, you can go back onto your (new) normal diet. Remember, if you eat healthy and nutritional foods, and exercise regularly (once or twice a week), your weight should be able to be kept under control.

So, change your mindset. Going on diet doesn't mean you have to be on a "eat less" diet. Make a decision to change your diet permanently. Decide to eat healthy, and you will benefit by keeping the unwanted weight off.

Labels: diet, healthy diet

I actually had to wait a couple of days to confirm this. It appears I might have gained some weight. I literally weighed myself the past couple of days to reconfirm the weight is actually there. I know some people don't know this, but your body changes weight throughout the day. You should weigh yourself the same time every day to get more "consistent" results.

Anyway, it seemed that I might have put on some weight. It's not much, just 1 kg. I haven't been pigging out (not much), so I sure hope it's not FATS but MUSCLE. Yeah, I hope so, since I've gotten the Bodylastics thing and learnt some new stuff about building muscles. I've put what I just learnt into practice the past couple of weeks, ie trying to build muscles.

On a related note - there are many websites and blogs that extol virtues of weight-loss pills and other drugs. On a lot of them, I just read 'em and chuckle. No matter how good the pills or drugs are, there is only one thing you can do to lose weight - increase your metabolism. Higher metabolism means you're burning fats off you. Pills and drugs can do that, yes, but what happens when you stop taking them?

If you exercise regularly, you are increasing your metabolism naturally - all drug free, and FREE too! You don't have to waste money on having a constant supply of those drugs. Besides, taking drugs to lose weight is just the lazy way out - you wanna lose weight but you don't want to exercise. Working out with weights doesn't necessarily mean you'll bulk up. It depends on HOW you do your workouts. Besides, having a little bit more muscle mass means increasing your metabolism anyway because muscles burn fat, so it's all good.

Yep, I'm not the kind to spend money on pills and stuff. I am aiming for natural. Nature has given us everything we possibly need. We don't need artificial stuff. Besides, working out is actually fun if you make it fun. The feeling you get after working out is great too. There's no words to describe it - it's like a "high" but you don't really get high.

Labels: diet, personal

It's inevitable, isn't it?

Chinese New Year, the time where bak kwa's are aplenty, where pineapple tarts and other "finger foods" are served for visiting relatives.

And, where there are fats just hiding, waiting to jump out at you!

To make matters worse, Chinese New Year is actually 2 weeks long! Well, 15 days to be more precise, but in Singapore, we're only given 2 days of holiday by the government.

So, it is expected that:

1. People will MC on Monday
2. Married people will be much poorer
3. People will put on weight

* note - "MC" is a local slang for going on sick leave, or as the Americans would say, "call in sick".

Yeah, it's how things are. Me? I don't plan on putting much weight on. I've already lost 'em, I don't want 'em back!

In any case, don't worry, because if you're like me, ie have been consistently working out, whatever you put in, SHOULD be negated by your workouts, and your naturally higher metabolism (if you've been working out and eating a proper diet).

My body stopped aching, so today's a good day to get started on the circuit training thing. Yeah, right before excess useless calories get shafted into my system tonight at the Reunion Dinner. Yup, there'll be heaps of sweet stuff, sour stuff, fatty stuff, and fried stuff. All the sinful stuff that I shouldn't be eating.

Since my normal "cheat" days (days where I let go and eat whatever I want instead of the usual proper diet) are on Fridays, I guess this week it'll have to be today and tomorrow. Cheating a day or two won't skew your diet out too much - just remember to continue with your workouts. Your body should already be conditioned to "burn" the calories when they come in.

Labels: diet, personal

We Asians, especially Chinese, are at a disadvantage when it comes to health and healthy diet. We eat mainly RICE, which is basically Carbohydrates. The meat and veggies are mainly "side dishes" to go with the rice. So that means, lotta carbs, very little "other stuff".

In the grand scheme of things, that's not good. For losing weight, you need to cut down on carbs, because unused carbs get turned into fats (if I remember what I learnt back in 1998 is still correct). For gaining muscle, you need protein (meat, egg whites etc), not carbs.

So, when we cut down on carbs, we need "fillers"... and that either means more meat or more eggs. Somehow I don't think we'll feel "full" if we ate only eggs.

The past couple of days I have been really cutting way down on rice/noodles. And, since I have been working to muscle failure, I eat alot of eggs and meat. For some strange reason, I don't feel "hungry" per se. It's probably because I ate enough so that the body doesn't trigger any "craving" mechanisms to tell me that I lack something.

To eat like the ang mos, which I think is actually more ideal if building muscles, is gonna be expensive. Then I'd be eating western food most of the time. Yeah well, at least, eat like the ang mos at home. If you eat Western outside, you get all the unhealthy mayonnaise, salad dressings etc. If I cook at home, at least I can cook the meat plain (no oil needed), and the veggies are simply boiled. No extra useless calories.

In any case, my body is aching today, so I didn't even do the circuit training workouts. Guess my original plan has a couple of flaws :p I forgot to take into account bodyaches after the weekend intensive training...

Labels: diet, dieting, eating, workout

When you were back in the army, remember the feared phrase? Yeah that one, the "Gennermen, you all try to be funny right? KNOCK IT DOWN!!"

(OK if you're a female visitor then yeah it wouldn't apply to you unless you actually signed up for the SAF, but WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!)

I remember that during that time, I learnt a "cheat" to the push-ups. People told me that if I kept my arms close to my body and pushed, it's easier. So yeah, it was.

Back around end of Sept, or beginning of Oct, I couldn't even do ONE of those "cheat" push-ups. I ain't shitting you, not even one! I was THAT out of shape! It was right before I decided to stop being fat and sloppy and get in shape, and thus, the birth of this blog.

Since then, my workouts have primarily been centered around the Steel Bow (the Bullworker clone product which I bought). I haven't actually been following the wall chart faithfully though, but I *have* been working out.

Today, for no reason whatsoever, I thought I might try to see if I could do any push-ups. So, I adopted the "cheat" push-up position, and found that I could easily do 10. Not only that, I could have done more, but I stopped.

So I shifted to the wide-arm push-up position, where it supposedly ("supposedly" because I have not researched this and thus cannot confirm its validity) uses your chest muscles instead of your arm muscles. I easily did 25, and could have gone for a few more but I stopped. However, let's be honest. By the 25th one, my body was starting to "curve" and keeping it straight as per proper push up position was starting to get difficult. I was starting to get tired.

After this, I thought to myself - "damn, the workouts worked!" and not only that, "The Steel Bow works too!".

So there you have it, my own personal proof that the Steel Bow is not a "gimmick" but it actually does help you build muscles. My dad was wrong!! :) Yeah when I was a kid I wanted a Bullworker, but he never got me one because "it's a gimmick".

However, working out and building muscles cannot happen by itself. You need to eat properly to make it happen. In an earlier post, I talked about how people joked that "diet" is to "die with a T". The general perception is that when you're on a diet, you "eat less". This cannot be farther from the truth.

The truth is, when you're on a diet, you're "eating properly" and not necessarily "less". You're now watching what you put into the body, making sure you get the right amount of nutrients your body needs, and no longer just stuffing burgers and cakes down. For OBESE people (ie serverely overweight), diets generally mean "eat less", because they need to get into a calorie-deficit situation for the body to lose fats.

For those typical "slightly overweight" or "with a bit of spare tyre" kind of people, you don't necessarily "eat less". You generally "eat right" to achieve weight loss, in conjunction to your workouts.

Also remember that your body knows itself better than you think. Nature has created an eco-system inside all of us. If you need water, your body makes you feel thirsty. If you need food, your body makes you feel hungry. It is important to keep the following statement in mind. If you continue to ignore these signs and refuse to drink/eat, your body will eventually go into "survival mode". In survival mode, ANY food you put into your body has a higher priority to be stored as FAT.

Why?

Because you have just trained your body that "food is scarce". When it signals you that it is hungry, you still do not put food in. So, the next time food comes in, the body will store it as fats "in case no more food comes".

Ladies, now you know why when you go off your "eat less" diets, you put the weight back on almost immediately eh? Yeah it's because during your "eat less" diets, your body is already storing fats. When you eat normally again, you body has more food to store as fats. Fat + Fat = More Fat.

So logically, does it mean that to counter this, you should put more food in?

Nope, but you should put food in MORE OFTEN. More often doesn't mean "more food". You put food in more often, but each time you eat small portions. Examples - a sandwich, or an apple, etc. If you continue to do this about 5 to 6 times a day for a few days, you will train your body to think that "food is now abundant, no need to store as fat anymore".

Hence, you have those "eat many meals" type of weight loss programs out there. Yes, it's true and yes it works. You still must eat CORRECTLY each time you eat those small portions too. Do not shove snacks or cakes into your mouth.

Another thing to take note is that when you do eat, do not eat until you are "full". You should only eat until you are "not hungry". When you are "full", you have just put in too much calories, and since the body doesn't need that much, it'll store the rest as fats.

So this concludes todays quick tips :)

Labels: diet, Steel Bow, workout

Is cooking without using oil even possible?

Yup, it is. I know many people would disagree, saying that using oil enhances flavour etc.

We go back to my analogy of ancient man. When we first discovered fire, we cooked our food by roasting them over an open fire. When you go camping even today, do you cook your fish that you caught in the river in oil?

Righto, you don't (you don't, right?). Well if you actually bring cooking oil out camping, I have nothing to say except "dot dot dot dot" (local Singaporean slang for "speechless").

Nowadays, cooking pans, woks and so on come with non-stick coating. If you don't scrimp and buy only cheap ones, the non-stick pan you buy today can last you for YEARS. Spend a little more, it'll last long and you'll "earn" back the cost by not having to buy a new "non-stick" pan every couple of years.

Ok why do I say cooking without cooking oil is possible? Well that's because the purpose of cooking oil is to help spread the heat from the fire out quicker and more evenly, so that all parts of the food item is cooked. Also, it helps by not letting the food item stick to the pan during cooking, and therefore you avoid charring the food. Along the way, manufacturers decided to "value-add" to the basic oil, and make food that is cooked with certain brands "tastier".

Pans nowadays are scientifically researched and engineered (if you buy the good brands), and they already do the job of whatever the oil used to do.

I cook without oil, and it's healthier. Although you need oil in your diet, and fats too, those from cooking oil could be the "excess" ones you're trying to get rid of.

Cutting cooking oil out of the equation is yet another simple and small change you can make to your current lifestyle without upsetting it too much to make you hate "dieting" :)

Labels: diet, dieting, healthy diet

Well it had been a busy week for me.

And, I broke away from my regiment more than once. Stepping on the scale this morning was actually like being on a television game show... what's the verdict? Will the results be good or bad?

Well, I didn't lose any more weight, and it didn't surprise me. What surprised me was, I didn't gain any either, even after pigging out! I did manage to grab some time in to do some strength training and a cardio workout in the week, but I am definitely off schedule.

So I guess the minimal workouts I did during the week sort of "maintained" the status quo. Perhaps if I had just totally let go, the weight will come back.

I'm glad it didn't.

Ok next week I gotta make sure I don't get further behind schedule...

Labels: diet, exercise, workout

Imagine to my surprise!

Conventional wisdom says that soy and soy-based food products are generally good for you, containing all manner of nutrients your body needs especially when you're on a diet and working out.

However, this website here says otherwise.

I still don't know what to think, myself. Like all Singaporeans, I guess it's better to be safe than sorry, so from henceforth, I won't consume so much soy-based products. No more tofu (beancurd) for me! Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean.

If this is true, this is yet another classic case of what money can do to alter perceptions of the masses.

Labels: diet, soy, soya, workout

... or is it? :)

Labels: diet, lose weight, pep-talk, Peptalk, Weightloss

Dang! I was caught totally off-guard.

It so happened that a colleague had tendered resignation, and his last day is this Wednesday. As such, a bunch of guys decided to bring the happy resignee out for lunch.

We totally pigged out there! Fish, mutton, chicken, you name it, they had it there on the table. All 9 of us stuffed our faces.

Well, I guess my "1 day a week of cheating" on the diet and workout program has just been used up for this week... *sigh*

Labels: diet, eating, workout