Slim Down Smarter

Hi

The key to successful and  sustainable weight loss is moderation... but there are certain people like me who are not really good with moderation.. I like to do things in extreme so that I need only to do them once... There are week I will go for really super healthy food for every single day without miss, which actually a bit non realistic to maintain in a long run or there are week where I would exercise every single day and would do sometimes two hours  a day, a few times a week or there are week I will combine both extreme... but after a while, all this extreme is impossible to sustain in a long run except you quit studying or working and stop living, then maybe this will be realistic..  Below I  list down  a few ways in my opinion, to slim down smarter..

1. Don't Ever Ban any Food
I don't even like to eat meat, fries and pizza although I eat them occasionally because they are some of food that my family and friend like to eat... but when I started to say to myself never to touch all that, I started to build a weird craving for the food that I don't even enjoy...Even carbonated drink, I rarely drink carbonated drink as it making me gassy but there is one time I got a very intense craving for Coca Cola..I don't know how but I think it is human nature that we love to do things which are prohibited and don't like to do things when they are legal.. Like in Lady Gaga song Judas which somewhat saying that we all know that religion is good for us but we are more attracted to Judas the bad side..so the key is that eat what you want but in moderation...small smaller and smaller portion when it is super duper unhealthy... but If you have a super crazy craving like Carbonara which can be up 2000-3000 calories make sure you really work hard that week before you eat them.. Try this you will have less weird craving!!!!!!!

2. Love Exercise
The reality is that you can't lose weight only just by watching your diet... You will be jiggly and lose lots of muscle which contradict the purpose of being healthy... Exercise is a very fun things to do for me... I been engaging in active physical activities since a very young age... but again excessive eating of unhealthy food and sedentary lifestyle due to modernisation and living in the middle of city factors exceed my physical activities which making me fatter rather than slimmer...  Exercising sound and look scary but there are a wide range of activities you can do from in the gym like treadmill to weight lifting or group fitness where you can make friend... I like Body Pump it is a very energetic and pushing the limit class... or you can engage in sport.. I love playing basketball and futsal... then last year I took squash lesson and  love them.. or you can do things like walking in the beach, swimming, dancing Zumba is fun... They key is that choose something that you like.. people say treadmill can make you lose weight easily... I got a treadmill in my room since forever but as it is not something I love to do, nothing much it did to my weight.. When you do things that you enjoy, you don't feel like doing anything...

3. Being Able to Differentiate Muscle Soreness and Injury
One thing that always stop people from exercising is that soreness and pain which always making people think that they are injured.. but the reality is that muscle soreness is a part of process for the muscle to be stronger... when you exercise especially a new routine, you will sometimes feel sore which is actually Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness(DOMS)..it is just a way of muscle adapting to the new changes... when we exercise like lifting weight, there will be some tearing of our muscle fibre which need lots of energy to fixed the tear... we feel sore but at the same times this use lots of energy to fixed the tear making we loss more weight... some loss some gain..but the key is to understand your body... You are injured when you are unable to do basic living process like walking... If you just feel sore and tired, have  a rest and it will be fine after a few hours or days...  Like I said before, weight loss is not easy... It is lots of sacrifice, discipline and dedication..

4. Don't be Stingy, be Financially Smart
One thing I realise about weight loss is that be generous with money.. There are things like cooking which takes up so much time and effort, if you are in a rush just grab something healthy to eat like Subway or sushi...the problem is the if you wait and go back and cook, by the time you eat, you will be super hungry and will end up eating way too much... so better to spend some money rather than saving and gain more pound...  Instaed of buying ordinary oat that you need to cook, but the quick sachet oat which will be done 2 min in the microwave... the reality is that as a student regardless how organised you are, there are times things can be pretty chaotic and out of control... Easier things always costing more but again sometimes we need to be realistic above all... In Wall Street movie, there is a very good quotation "...money is not the prime asset in life, time is...."...but if money is your concern, then, be disciplined and always plan your meal way ahead....

5. Avoid Negative Thought

I think one of the hardest things about weight lose is that fear that keep on haunting you... before you start the weight loss process, the fear will be will I be able to ever lose weight??.. but as you started to lose weight the new fear will emerge thoughts like will I be able to sustain all things??... You need to avoid all this evil demon thought... They can be damaging... but again sometimes you cant help... like me I been overweight my entire life... in 2 months, I was lighter than I was in this past 10 years, it is a lie if I said I am not scared that all this just temporary and I will never be able to sustain this in a long run... the key is that acknowledge your fear, talk to someone, write in diary and then you will  feel better... but again it is good to have fear at least you always be reminded that you have something to lose... just don't make them take over your life..

6. Have Support System

When I start this weight lose program, in a way I am changing my lifestyle... It is hard to make some people to understand you... your family or friend will feel you eat western society food way too much, nothing Asian about eating vege and protein dinner or they feel you starting to lose yourself or excessive exercise is way more damaging than good or people feel you no longer fun when you no longer hanging out in Starbuck or eating fatty greasy fast food... Contrary to Biggest Loser, it is way harder to have support system in real life... but you need support system... so stay away from negative people and always talk to supportive people... 

7. Stop Stressing Out About The Number On The Scale

Exercise will make you build muscle which is heavy so the number on the scale can be disappointing... the better indicator is that your clothes... you can see that you are actually shrinking...

8. Sleep

A good sleep also vital in weight loss process... sleep repair the muscle and rest the body..

9. Patience is a Virtue

Weight Loss is not a one day thing.. You can't expect to run 5km and lose 5kg tomorrow... you need to have faith in things you do...weight lose is somehow mystery... sometimes the result is quick sometimes it is slow.. so just do what you do and have faith in your effort... work more than others but expect less than others..

10. Day Off

Always have day off from exercising or healthy food... We need to be able to indulge in food or lazying in bed  one day in week without feeling guilty.... then when you are in this stage not feeling guilty for being naughty here and there, well done you already achieve high level of understanding of weight loss...

Last but not least, there is no use in doing things that you don't enjoy... Work hard but have rest here and there...Reward yourself all the time... Don't be too hard on yourself... Push when you can, stop when it is way too much...Understand your body...Rest when you severely sore... Good luck all the best :D

Third Follow-up (14/10/2011)

Had my third follow-up last Friday..for safety and also to avoid frustration, a few days before the weigh in, i already warn Kristy not to be hopeful and i just can pray i don't gain weight...but it turn out i did lose 1.2 kg... with not much attention paid to my diet and also super decrease in exercising it is still amazing that i did lose weigh... lose some muscle which is a bit frustrating... i did realise some jiggly jiggly in my arm...basically once you exercise and do weight training u cant stop...it is so easy to lose muscle...

it been 3++ months m doing this healthy lifetsyle... it been a roller coaster... one moment m super excited and disciplined...one moment i feel m ungrateful so far in my life never work really hard...and when trying to lose weight which require lotss of sacrifice from me, i realise how ungrateful i was... never being appreciative of things that i have in my life, never make full use of God gifted talent, making me becoming hard working and grateful with my life for a while... one moment i was a bit anorexic...i hav a compulsion to do excessive exercise when i eat or i eat really really little... then, one moment i feel people don't understand  and supportive of me... ... life is too short to not to eat so much delicious foods that the world got 2 offer and to exhaust yourself every single days... then now i think m becoming lazy... eating healthy no longer a really tempting thing to do and my muscle, bone and body are just too lazy to exercise... i already vow to myself that i will be discipline and motivated back in all this weight lose...basically, all this weight lose thing, is not easy... there will always be roller coaster... but u juz need to keep going and preach what you believe... :D