anyone can lose weight (3rd ed)

7/27/2019 Anyone Can Lose Weight (3rd Ed)

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This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The

reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and

particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical

attention.


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Introduction .................................................................................. 4

Living In A Food Paradise ............................................................ 10

All It Takes To Lose Is To Count ................................................... 13

Some Learnings Along The Way .................................................. 23

Dispel The Myths ......................................................................... 30

You Are What You Drink ............................................................. 35

The Final Word ............................................................................ 41

Epilogue: The Art Of Weight Maintenance ................................. 42

About The Author........................................................................ 51


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Do you like being overweight?

If you are like most other normal human beings on the planet,

your answer would be:

Of course not, silly.

Yet many of us weigh more than we should, but we dont domuch about it.

It could be a few kilograms, or many. As we go through life with

its ups and downs, we have come to accept conventional wisdom

that with age comes the inevitable weight gain and spare tire

around the waist.

Then there are standard excuses we give ourselves and others: I

have no time to exercise. I dont do crash diets. I live to eat,

not eat to live. Life is too short to eat bland, boring food.

The list goes on.

It is as if we are wired to defend our current waistline andlifestyle.

Ironically, we are bombarded daily with an endless barrage of

marketing messages to get slim and beautiful. Thats because the

weight-loss industry is a huge one, worth billions of dollars

around the world.


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Slimming centers, weight-loss pills and beverages, home exercise

machines, fitness trainers, books (that cost much more than this

modest effort), DVDs and so on.

Being slim does not necessarily equate to being beautiful, but

being overweight definitely means you could be healthier.

As an ex-journalist, I was trained to be skeptical abouteverything.

And when I got serious about losing weight, I studied the weight

loss methods out there for several weeks, weighing all the

perspectives and remembering my own experiences as a school

athlete.

I realized that there is so much information (true and false) out

there, equaled by the same degree of ignorance or

bewilderment from the audience being preached to.

From zero carbohydrate diets to eat-all-the-fat-you-want diets,

they can sound ridiculous or too good to be true to any of us.

And youre right. Our common sense knows better.

There are many short-cuts to losing weight, but they often come

attached with a dismal price to pay.

For many people who go on fad diets, the consequence may be

as mild as an immediate rebound to their original weight, to


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developing life-threatening conditions such as anorexia. Youve

probably also read about how many people have gotten health-

scares or actually died from taking dubious slimming pills.

What struck me through my research and my conversations with

friends (and which is why Im writing this book despite the

immense collection of weight loss literature out there) is that

most people have not been properly educated in nutrition and

weight management!

Its amazing, that we can go through many years of formal

education, know all sorts of mathematical formulae, language

skills and scientific fact, and yet have little to no idea about

how to maintain our bodies and the impact of every meal we

consume.

This short book is written to share the tried-and-test basics of

weight management, without any prescription to the hundreds

of different low-carb, low-fat, low-whatever methods out there,

and delivered in a clear concise manner that you may not have

read before.

You already know about the food pyramid, the types of food

groups, and the benefits of exercise. What you probably dont

know is how all these come together in a simple way so you can

master your body and become healthier than youve ever

imagined.


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We are constantly preached to by schools, health ministries and

gurus to get healthier, but I believe there has been a massive

breakdown in communication in getting the correct messageacross.

As I wrote this short book, I constantly reminded myself that I am

not an expert nutritionist, sports scientist or physiologist.

What I am is a communications professional who wants to step

aside from all the noise out there and show you some simpletruths so you can get started.

Much of what you read here, you can find on the Internet or at

the local library, but often only after sifting through layers of

marketing pitches, misinformation, hubris or excess detail.

Ive done much of my research on government health sites they are honest and accurate, but they tend to be weighed down

with too many dry and boring details.

Ive distilled the right information down to a few chapters, so

you can probably read this entire book within 30 minutes and get

started right away.

Let me assure you that losing weight does not need to cost big

bucks, dangerous pills, take a long time, nor does it require that

you starve yourself throughout the day.


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What you need is just a little determination (OK, make that a lot

of determination!), patience, simple math, and the assurance

that you can still enjoy delicious food while bringing yourwaistline down for good.

You think this is not possible because youve tried losing weight

so many times but the results never lasted for long.

The real reason is that you didnt know betterabout the right

way to manage your weight, and youre not alone.

I dare say 90 percent of the people around you are not in the

know either.

With the right attitude, nutrition information, and some simple

math, I assure you that excluding any pre-existing health issues

(illness, pregnancies, medical exceptions),just about anyone canlose a significant chunk of the excess weight on their bodies.

However I do not promise that you can look like a supermodel

after youve lost weight.

All of us have a healthy and ideal weight range that we should be

in, but our different body shapes will also determine theoutcome of any weight management program.

Being overweight, even just by a few kilograms, is a clear sign

that we arent in control of our health and our lifestyle.

Being underweight is unhealthy too, because your body needs

enough food and nutrients to function well.


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The secret to effective weight management, as I shall freely

share with you, lies in first understanding the reality we live in

today, and then grasping the power of nutritional knowledge.

Soshall we get started?

(Note: This book was written for fellow Singaporeans in mind,

because there is an embarrassment of food riches here. However,

the learnings in this book will apply to anyone living in any

country.)


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From the time I started work at 21 till I was 35 in 2011, my

weight of 63kg gradually crept up and hit 73.5kg. My waistline

kept expanding over the years, slowly but surely from 29 inches

to 33.5 inches.

I was going through what many people living in developed

societies experiencea sedentary lifestyle of deskbound work (Iwas a journalist and later, a marketing guy) while enjoying good

food all the time.

With a busy work schedule, I did not exercise regularly, and often

rewarded my hard work in the office with rich meals full of fried

dishes and tasty snacks.

And my way of coping was merely to shrug it off and buy larger

pants and shirts. After all, we cant stop the process of aging and

putting on the pounds right?

To make matters worse in a First World sort of way, I am based

in Singapore, located in the heart of Southeast-Asia and it is

world-renowned food paradise.

Singapore, just 50km across in land area, is a veritable melting

pot of the different Chinese, Indian, Malay and other native races

in the region.


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Where India is famous for its Karmasutra, Singaporeans regularly

buy the Makansutra, a local food guidebook that is updated

annually with rankings of the best local food stalls. (Makanmeans to eat in the Malay language). Food blogs are popular in

Singapore too.

Hunting for good food is thus a national pastime, and locals

express pride when they can rattle off the top eating haunts like

a badge of honor.

Even tourists will quickly learn that the best food stalls are those

with long snaking queues at all times of the day.

Like my fellow countrymen, I love the taste of local dishes like

Hainanese chicken rice, Malay nasi padang, Chinese Teochew

noodles and Indian roti prata.

I also have a hearty appreciation for Italian pasta, Western

burgers and French pastry. Any type of food you desire, you can

probably find it within a thirty minute drive in Singapore.

This is pretty much the same situation for anyone living in the

major cities of the world, be it New York, Hong Kong, Dubai,

Sydney or Rome.

Rich food is in abundance, and were constantly asking ourselves:

So where should we eat today? Whats good on the menu?


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We have no idea that is many other parts of the world, people

are undernourished or starving, and we continue stuffing our

faces with every exotic or sumptuous dish we come across.

Singapore is filled with thousands of food courts and restaurants,

and each meal is often accompanied by soft drinks or alcohol.

In many restaurants, you are charged for ordering plain water

(even if it came from the tap), because the restaurant owners

want to encourage you to buy higher-margin beverages.

This is the norm, isnt it? you ask.

When you grow up in such a society, it is indeed the norm.

But it is a norm you have to recognize as being excessive when

you begin to learn the long-term impact on your body.

We may be living in a food paradise, but we dont know that

were like hapless sinners slowly descending into a hell of heart

disease and other health conditions.

Ok, that sounds too dramatic, but what better way to get your

attention?


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My unexpected journey to cleaning up my diet and body started

in late 2012 when I got infected by a really bad case of athletes

foot (thats foot fungus if youre not an athlete).

It refused to heal despite me resorting to all sorts of medicine,

and I had to stop jogging for two months because it became too

painful to even walk.

(Tip: The most effective method of dealing with athletes foot or

any fungal infection on your legs is the ancient vinegar soak (50%

white vinegar, 50% water for 20min twice a day) and it will kill

the fungus with an unholy vengeance.)

The infection forced me to stop eating heavy foods and reducemy snacking, because I knew I couldnt burn them off with

another long run.

This was especially miserable during the Christmas season when

people were supposed to be making merry and gobbling food.

But that didnt change my thinking on food, which was to live toeat. Two years of running with the Nike+ pedometer/watch

system gave me more stamina, but I gained about 3kg rather

than losing weight.

Why, I love my pork lard, dry noodles and curry rice!


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Then I purchased a digital weighing scale to replace the old

spring version which has been showing the wrong readouts for

years.

The new scale came with a fat percentage analyzer, and to my

horror, my fat count was over 24% (healthy is 20% or under,

according to the weigh scale manual).

It didnt help that my BMI was borderline overweight at 25 (it

should be under 25, according to global standards).

Ive been mildly unhappy with the gradual disappearance of my

jawline over the past few years too, and the weighing machine

sparked the decision to change my eating habits for good.

As I got fed up with my weight issue, I did a lot of online research

and I established some key fundamentals in adjusting foodhabits:

Most of the time, we make decisions without the right

information. Working in journalism and Microsoft has taught me

a healthy respect for collecting relevant data before acting.

One of the reasons why I never lost weight since my army days is

because I havent actually bothered to research what I was

eating.


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How many calories was I actually eating a day? What is the

trajectory of my unstoppable weight gain?

I had been jogging on and off over the past six years to ensure I

dont fail the annual army fitness test.

But even when I jogged regularly, it was clear that constant

exercise was not helping me to keep the weight downeffectively.

I quickly figured out that the culprit in weight gain was largely my

diet, and not so much my exercise regime.

So, I spent a day researching on calorie counting apps, and

remembered the Singapore Health Promotion Board folks tellingme about theiriDAT (Interactive Diet and Activity Tracker) app.

I downloaded it and was astounded to find all sorts of local food

and their respective calorie figures in the database. It also came

with a basic GPS feature to track your various fitness activities.
http://www.endomondo.com/idat/summaryhttp://www.endomondo.com/idat/summaryhttp://www.endomondo.com/idat/summaryhttp://www.endomondo.com/idat/summary


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The iDAT apps main screen, which shows you a quick summary of your calorie

intake versus requirements. The green bar shows your daily baseline

requirement and the yellow bar shows calories expended by exercise. The

orange bar refers to how much youve consumed so far in the day.

So I decided to do a simulation of my usual intake of delicious SG

food and it wasnt a good report card. Its scary how many

calories our local Singapore food contains.

We know the dishes arent healthy, but the numbers are

sobering.
http://iantan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IMG_4828.png


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This was an average days worth of food I was having regularly:

Breakfasto

Bun with curry potato filling (214 kcal)

o

Soya Bean Drink (138 kcal)

Lunch

o

Chicken rice (666 kcal)

o

Soft drink (133 kcal)

Dinner

o

Rice with 2 vegetable dishes and one meat dish

(580 kcal)

o Ice Lemon Tea (87 kcal)

Snacks and Tea

o Ice Milo drink (175 kcal)

o Biscuit (150 kcal)

o

Some crispy tapioca snacks (200 kcal)

TOTAL2343 kcal!

Give or take, the average Singaporean male needs 1800-2000

kcal a day on average to keep going.

Of course, I dont eat such rich food at every meal but with anexcess of 343 kcal a day, one will gain 1kg in just 22 days if you

lead a sedentary lifestyle and dont exercise.


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Calorie In must be balanced with Calorie Out to maintainthe same weight. When you take in less calories than you

expend, youll experience a calorie deficit which then leads to

weight loss. Vice versa too.

According to online wisdom,losing 1kg of body weight is

equivalent to burning 7700 kcal.

To burn off 1kg of weight, you need to have a calorie deficit each

day of 500 kcal over 15 days. The reverse is trueovereat by 500

kcal per day and youll gain 1kg in 15 days.The advice is not to

have a deficit of more than 1000 kcal per day for healthy weight

loss.

The Singapore Health Promotion Board website has much more

info on local food and you should do your research there.

Now what puzzled me waswhy didnt I know all this facts on

weight management before?

Why was it nobody teaches this in school or provided such

advice when dishing out gems on healthy living?

My suspicion is that most people never bother to find out until

they meet a nutritionist or read a book like this.

Anyway, armed with this data, I reworked by daily diet to look

something like this:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/318390-how-many-calories-are-needed-to-lose-1kg/http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/healthtopic/Weight%20Management;jsessionid=KJdPRHvfF23dT3LHGJCVbq2Gw9pHzhW2lnYLdCDm8vLwLp9ynWHT%211395146924?_afrLoop=22138252807200118&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=null#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dnull%26_afrLoop%3D22138252807200118%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Dlg5wsfioc_4http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/healthtopic/Weight%20Management;jsessionid=KJdPRHvfF23dT3LHGJCVbq2Gw9pHzhW2lnYLdCDm8vLwLp9ynWHT%211395146924?_afrLoop=22138252807200118&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=null#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dnull%26_afrLoop%3D22138252807200118%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Dlg5wsfioc_4http://www.livestrong.com/article/318390-how-many-calories-are-needed-to-lose-1kg/


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Breakfast

o Gardenia Softmeal Bread 2 slices (137 kcal)

o

Cheddar cheese spread (thin) (30 kcal)o Kopi O Kosong (black coffee) (5 kcal)

o Apple Raw (96 kcal)

Lunch

o

Wanton noodle soup (290 kcal)

o Cordial Drink (88 kcal)

Teao Wheatmeal biscuit (110 kcal)

Dinner

o Rice with 2 veg and 1 meat (580 kcal)

o Ice Lemon Tea (87 kcal)

Supper

o

Nestum 3-in-1 drink (110 kcal)

TOTAL1533 kcal

Overnight, I would have shaved off 800 kcal from my usual

unhealthy diet. Even with a baseline calorie requirement of 1800

kcal, I would have a deficit of 267 kcal.

This would theoretically lead to a loss of 1kg over 28 days. I

dont stop myself from eating my favorite dry mee pok

noodles or fried rice though, I just eat half a portion and

substitute the rest with colorful fruits to ensure I dont feel

hungry.


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Heres another days reduced diet mix.

Now all my friends know Im an impatient guy and I like to seequick results, so when you add exercise to the mix, the calorie

deficit increases even more.

To cut the long story short, jogging about 6km at a moderate

pace (say within 35 min) will burn about 400 kcal, or roughly the

equivalent of a bowl of dry wanton noodles.
http://iantan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IMG_4757.png


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So if you choose to exercise at a moderate rate for 30 to 45

minutes every day, you can still stay slim even if you eat like

most Singaporeans do.

However I believe that exercising every day at that rate is

dangerous as your body doesnt get enough time to recover, so I

do it every alternate day. That means I have to continue

moderating my diet.

My original diet goal was to lose 3kg so my BMI would go downto from 25 to about 23, and with the above focus on diet, data

and exercise, I lost about 1kg in the first week (which is deemed

the safe limit for healthy weight loss).

This was the first time in my life that Ive actually bothered to

lose weight seriously, and it was not as hard as I feared it would

be. My jawline quickly redefined itself and my jeans became

looser.

However, there was a day I cut back too much on food intake

(about 1200 kcal deficit) and I spent the whole day feeling a little

faint and sleepy.

So when you start changing your diet dont go to the extreme

and end up being anorexic or bulimic please.

In those few months after I started dieting, I annoyed my

Facebook friends by posting all sorts of calorie information on

various foods (do you know one cup of roasted salted peanuts


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has 1000 calories?!?) but really, once you start getting into the

data, you cant stop.

After a few weeks of dieting, I switched from the HPB iDat app to

the MyFitnessPal app, which provides a much better food

database, nutrition breakdown, user interface and it syncs

properly across devices like smartphones, tablets and PCs. Itsavailable on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and in your Internet

browser.

Still, the iDat app was a good start and I do thank the HPB for it!
http://myfitnesspal.com/http://myfitnesspal.com/


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While experimenting with food intake and exercise patterns, I

also learned some hard lessons, both with myself and other folks

whom I tried to influence with my weight-loss ideas.

Weve heard it all before Muscle weighs more than fat!,

Dont believe the BMI chart, doesnt apply to everyone, Its ok

to be bulkier when you age.Im sorry if this hurts you, butthey

are all rubbish excuses. If you fall outside of the healthy BMI

range, you have to accept that no matter your body shape or

bone density.

Now our Health Promotion Board has pretty harsh BMIbenchmarks compared to the West. Where healthy is up to 24.9,

our SG standard is up to 22.9 (which means I have one more kg

to lose)

BMI (kg/m2) for Adults 27.5 and above - High Risk

23 27.4 - Moderate Risk

18.5 22.9 - Low Risk (healthy range)

Below 18.5 - Risk of nutritional deficiency diseases

and osteoporosis


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Unless you are a bodybuilder, below 18, a senior

citizen, pregnant or suffering from illness, you cant run away

from this objective chart. The biggest hurdle in dieting, in myopinion, is our perception of what our ideal weight should be.

You can have your cake (butter or carrot?) and eat it.

Really.

The only condition is that you need to moderate how much of

fatty, oily and rich food you are going to take in a day. It is plain

common sense, you know it, but the only way to know is to

count your calories religiously.

I still have regular treats of ice-cream, cakes, Twisties snacks andsome chocolate weekly, and I dont put on extra weight.

But my taste buds have changed. I walk into local food-courts

today and feel like a war refugee.

There are so many stalls that I dont wish to eat from, because

my palate has changed permanently.

Once your new dietary habits kick in after a few weeks, you dont

even need to avoid the rich foodsyou will have NO DESIRE to

eat them at all.


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Switching to a healthy diet is like a baptism of fire, suddenly your

eyes are opened and you see the truth of our countrys

unhealthy living.

Its very simple, just think of the following key words - Soupy,

High Fibre, Less Fried, Low Gravyand try not to bust 500kcal per

meal.

For guys, dont bust a total of 1800kcal a day(to maintain

weight) or look to have a deficit of 300kcal (ie. eat 1500 kcal a

day) to lose nearly 1kg in 25 days.

Remember, every kg of weight is worth 7700 kcal, so you can

calculate from there.

Be it wanton soup noodles (300-350 kcal), economy rice with

more vegetables and some meat (500 kcal), porridge (400 kcal),

fish soup noodles (300-400 kcal), its all ok. Now some of

you might think its boring and bland, but you dont have to eat

from lousy foodstalls.

Eat from good foodstalls and a simple plate of wanton noodlesalways tastes terrific.

All this doesnt mean you cant eat slightly higher calorie food

like fried rice (600-700kcal) or dry minced meat noodles (400-

500 kcal) regularly.


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You can have it once a day but make sure your other two meals

in the same day are healthier dishes. Once or twice a week, you

can treat yourself to fatty chicken rice (666 kcal and up) or rotiprata(200 kcal per prata).

One problem is the prevalence of carbohydrates. We need carbs

for energy, and you shouldnt go on a carb-free diet.

But if you want to lose weight fast and not feel hungry all the

time, shave off 1/3 or 1/2 your rice or noodles and replacewith fruits in the same meal.

Trust me, your weight disappears really fast this way, and you

wont faint at work.

There are some foods that are definite red flagsand you need to

consider if you should eat them even once a week if you arent

exercising regularly. They contain too many calories per dish, and

some of them dont even make you feel full.

Char Kway Teow (ie. Super friend noodles that cost over

900 kcal)

Nasi Lemak with the works (ie. Aover 1000 kcal)

Any fast food burger with two or more meat patties

(easily over 1000 kcal)

Chocolate bars like Snickers (300 kcal per bar)

Nuts (Cashew nuts are 1000 kcal per cup!)


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Duck Rice (Such fatty birds lah, over 700 kcal for roasted

versions)

Yeah, you can say How can we not enjoy good food in

Singapore?

Yes you can, but many of us have gone overboard on a daily basis

and its become the norm. Yet we are less active than our

forefathers and the food industry spends billions convincing us to

spend on unhealthy food.

The other killer in our diet are sweetened drinks (see chapter

You Are What You Drink). And Im not even referring to soft

drinks like Coke (150 kcal per can)

The only healthy coffee is plain coffee without sugar (5 kcal).

Any other combination of sugar and milk (evaporated,condensed, less or more, whatever) adds unnecessary calories

immediately. Depending on how much milk and sugar are added,

a regular kopi can have the same amount or even more calories

than a bigger can of Coke!

I love Milo(150 kcal) but Ive stopped drinking it regularly too,

since Im no longer a sportsman and I dont need to win races

What I did was to buy several water bottles and place it at home,

at work, in the bag and just keep drinking good old zero-calorie

tap water, or succumb to Diet Coke/Coke Zero at work (0

calories, but may be carcinogenic according to some sources).


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And where you can, reduce the amount of gravythey add to

your foodbe it chicken rice, duck rice, vegetable dishes etc.

They contain too much fat and MSG, which in turn makes youthirsty and retain more water later.

I love my curry, so its a regular sin that I spread on my economy

rice dish but not too much!

I would say 60-70% of the weight loss comes from changing your

diet, and the remaining 30% comes from exercise. You can

always lose weight without exercise, but its going to take much

longer and you dont exactly become the toned looking person

you desire to become.

Rapid weight loss without exercise may just lead to saggy skin,

low energy levels and sallow circulation (thats my theory).

Exercise also clears up the complexion rapidly and removes

toxins from the body regularly (thats true).

Im used to exercising, since I used to be a dragonboater. But

thats not to say I enjoy running three or four times a week. I doit purely out of habit, and its not fun in the hot and humid

Singapore weather.

One thing to note about exercise, whether you run, swim or

cycleits not just the intensity, but the actual duration.


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You can run a 2.4km route at top speed and nearly burst your

heart, but its only going to burn 150 kcal, or the equivalent of a

can of soft drink.

Its better to take a slow jog over at least 35min and burn about

400 kcal, or the equivalent of one meal.

And make sure if you burn 400 kcal from exercise, eat another

400 kcal on top of your regular healthy meals to ensure you

arent under-eating.

We are who we eat, and unfortunately, as Singapore has gotten

more affluent over time, weve piled on the calories without

understanding that our bodies dont need the excess.

We go for high teas, regular restaurant meals and fast food, only

because we think its the middle/high class lifestyle we shouldaspire to. We appreciate good tasting food, but we dont

measure their impact on our bodies.

Like I said, its ok, and its importantto enjoy good food while we

are alive.

But moderate your eating habits and suddenly youll findyourself looking and feeling much better.

As youll read in the next chapter,dieting doesnt mean starving,

or depriving yourself of good food.


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After my weight loss became more apparent to others, more

friends began switching to a healthy diet too. Thats encouraging

and also indicative of how we are more conscious of our health

issues in our 30s.

Or maybe because Ive scared too many people with my constant

Facebook updates on diet and exercise.

There are some common issues though, which I hope to provide

my own perspective.

I say my own perspective because what works for me may not

work for everyone. I have been experimenting with my own body

and metabolism to disprove some of these issues, and you mightwant to do so for yourself.

This is a popular practice because carbohydrates do make up a

good chunk of the calories we eat everyday.

One of the most well-known low-carb diets is theAtkins Dietand

there are other methods which tell people to stop eating carbs

altogether.Gwyneth Paltrowlimits the amount of carbs her

children gets for medical reasons but others get the wrong idea

that its for everyone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diethttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diethttp://healthland.time.com/2013/03/21/its-all-good-or-maybe-not-gwyneth-paltrow-limits-the-carbs-her-kids-eat/http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/21/its-all-good-or-maybe-not-gwyneth-paltrow-limits-the-carbs-her-kids-eat/http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/21/its-all-good-or-maybe-not-gwyneth-paltrow-limits-the-carbs-her-kids-eat/http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/21/its-all-good-or-maybe-not-gwyneth-paltrow-limits-the-carbs-her-kids-eat/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet


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Lets get it straight people we all need carbohydrates, protein

and fat in our diet.

Proper eating has always been about balance. Eat too much of

anything and youre going to get fat. Carbs are important

because they are a key fuel source especially if you remember

that a healthy lifestyle equals an ACTIVE lifestyle.

What people dont realize is that carbohydrates are involved

when you discuss more healthy topics like dietary fibre.

Carbs are not just found in rice/noodles, milk and cakes, but also

vegetables and fruits. You may think you are cutting out carbs

from your diet but the reality is that you cant avoid it at all. This

is apretty good read on carbohydrateswhich will change your

mindset.

The rule on carbs is simply thiseat more of the healthy food

types (fruits, vegetables), moderate your intake on the heavy

stuff like rice/noodles, and severely reduce intake of the

obviously unhealthy food like soft drinks and sweets.

Youve been hearing this for decades from your parents and

school teachers, and theyve been right all this while.

If you decide to cut out a major carb source, say rice, altogether,

sooner or later its going to come back and bite you. You either

get super sluggish due to a lack of energy or you get intense

cravings that only more rice is going to solve.
http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/carbs.htmlhttp://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/carbs.htmlhttp://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/carbs.htmlhttp://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/carbs.html


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People ask me if Ive been starving myself to lose my weight.

Absolutely notI still eat full plates of economy rice (one bowl

of rice plus one serving of meat and two servings of vegetables)and I eat oily dishes like Hokkien noodles several times a week.

Id go crazy if I dont get to eat good food in Singapore. The

secret is that I dont eat oily food everyday.

As a teenager in junior college, I hit the gym three times a week

with my friends as part of our dragonboat training. We got all

muscular and very strong, but the catch is that maintenance of a

muscular body is extremely hard. The more important thing to

note is that we built up the muscles for a specific purposefor

competitive rowing.

Over the past few years, Ive had friends tell me that its

important to go to the gym to build muscle that will increase the

metabolic rate.

Well, I dont disagree on the science, but really, I have no need

for all those muscles in my sedentary work life. Its nice to look

beefy and such, but the fashion today is to wear slim-fit clothes

you know.

My focus these days is more on cardiovascular exercise, rather

than strength training. Im now running 7km about 3-4 times a

week, a good improvement from the 3km I used to max out at

three years ago.


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While this might seem extreme to some people, I can tell you the

fitter you get, the longer you have to run just to burn enough

caloriesthe body keeps adjustingand its not really thattiring, just time consuming. I dont run marathons because I have

better things to do over 4 hours than try to kill myself.

In my opinion, cardio training has far more benefits over

strength training for the average person. The immediate effects

are a clearer complexion and a lowered resting heart rate (which

means a stronger heart and better circulation).

Coupled with a healthy diet, cardio is the fastest way to lose

weight and keep it down. Strength training is more likely to lead

to weight gain as you pile on the muscle without burning off the

fat fast enough.

Like any exercise, cardio training requires absolute discipline to

see results. Many people get all enthusiastic for the first few

runs, then interest/motivation drops off rapidly.

One useful trick is to use a pedometer or GPS watch, then

constantly upload your running data to share with friends. This

builds accountability and a desire to improve when others arewatching.

Some people cannot do intensive cardio because of weak joints

or other injuries. Theres still the option of swimming for them.

For me, I dont swim regularly because for some reason I cannot


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seem to do two laps without feeling incredibly tired. Different

strokes for different folks!

Regular running can also lead to higher risk of injuries in the

knees or ankles, so it is really important to invest in good running

shoes and know when to cut back.

The minute your body starts hurting (not normal aching), you

NEED TO STOP and REMEDY. Recently, I had to stop using a new

pair of Asics shoes because it was just causing a huge strain onmy right ankle. I switched to a lightweight Saucony model and all

the pain disappeared.

As we progress in the working world, its only normal to increase

alcohol intake as we have more drinking sessions, parties, or

meals with clients.

However, you have to remember that each glass of beer contains

as much, if not more calories per milliliter as Coke. Just because

it isnt sweet doesnt mean that it isnt as fattening as a soft drink

beverage.

Dont get me wrong, I like good beer and getting a little high. But

if youre serious about weight loss, its one of the first things to

cut back on.


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There is one common thing that Ive frequently observed among

people who find it difficult to lose weight and those who wonder

why they dont seem to be able to save much money theyre

simply not very self-aware of their own habits, and they often

complain that its hard to lose weight or save money.

This chapter is more on our drinking habits, so I wont talk muchabout how to save money because its different for everyone.

Some people have big necessary bills to pay, some have big

unnecessary bills, and some people find it tough to get a good

job. (What I do each month is to simply carve out my forced

savings the minute my pay cheque gets deposited into my bank

and transfer it into another account.)

Now to jump to my conclusion about healthy, economical

drinkingjust drink plain water all the time (duh).

People know that plain water is beneficial to the body, but you

need to look at the economics of commercialized wateryou

may not be aware of how much money you are literally pissinginto into the urinal and helping to fund the huge advertising

campaigns of beverage makers to get you to drink even more

sugared water.

I suspect that people are gaining more weight from the drinks

they consume than the food, because its become a regular habit


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in the developed world to drink anything but plain water

regularly.

Firstly, anything but plain water from the tap is grossly

overpriced today.On average, a can of soft drink or sugary drink

(eg. iced lemon tea) is about $1.60 SGD at time of writing, and

many adults today drink 2-3 cups of that daily.

That means in a month, youre spending about $96 SGD on

sugary drinks, and thats $1,152 SGD a year. It goes up higher ifyou like to drink more expensive drinks from Starbucks or

McDonalds. If you drink Starbucks or some other premium drink

regularly, five days a week, add a $5 daily bill and the total

annual sum goes up to a whopping $2,352.

Some people dont even earn that amount each month.

I dont work in the beverage industry so I wouldnt know the

exact details, but Id wager at least 75% of that $1,152 is pure

profit for the drink companies and 100% pure loss for you

(because it just makes you fat).

What I can guarantee is that you dont need to spend 100% of

that $1,152 if you choose to.The simple solution which I employ

isjust to bring a water bottle with me everywhere I go.

It doesnt mean that I dont spend anything on soft drinks or

premium coffee though, its just not a regular expenditure, more

like an occasional treat. And I wont refuse a free drink, of course

(but I wont finish the entire can if its fully loaded).


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Some thoughts on some drinks I avoid consciously, and potential

annual savings on cash and calories if you are drinking them 3

times a week.

The assumption (as preached elsewhere in this book) is that

losing 1kg requires one to burn off an excess 7700 kcal (hence

the reverse of weight gain is true). The other assumption is that

if I speak in financial terms, the money-obsessed Singaporean is

more likely to remember this

Isotonic drinks or energy drinks are all hogwash if you think its

going to make you fitter or slimmer. You dont need to drink any

of this to replace the salt in your body or to give you more

endurance. Just eat enough of a balanced diet and drink lots of

plain water and you can still finish off that 2km or 10km run

without fainting.

They look beautiful with all the white cream or ice-cream floating

to the top, with a nice tinge of brown, white and black

throughout. Theyre also stuffed with more sugar than Coke.


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A mocha frap with whipped cream can contain nearly 300 kcal in

a tall glass. Thats one-sixth of your days 1800 kcal requirement.

If youre going to hang out at Starbucks or Coffee Bean, try to

order just the plain stuff without milk or sugar, those are almost

calorie-free. Otherwise, try to share the fatty drinks with friends.

There was a big bubble tea craze in Singapore in the 1990s, and

while it has died down, lots of young people are still guzzling

them down. Lately, iced milk tea with scary amounts of sugar hasbecome popular too. I have a sweet tooth, and the one and only

time I decided to drink one of the 100% sugar level drinks, I

nearly developed diabetes on the spot.

In every food court, youll find the drinks stall selling freshly

squeezed fruit juices. Youd ask why is this unhealthy, since it

comes from fresh fruit itself.


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Well, two respected nutritionists once told me that the body

cannot easily absorb the pulp/fibre of four or five fruits that it

takes to make a cup of juice, and thats a lot of sugar youreguzzling down.

Next time you stand at the fruits drinks stall, just observe how

each drink is made at the blender and ask yourself if you can

swallow those four oranges at one go too? Its much better to

just munch on one apple or orange after each meal.

Needless to say, please avoid those packaged fresh juices at

the supermarket because theyre obviously not fresh and are full

of chemical additives.

Ive left out alcoholic beverages like beer because people dont

drink them regularly throughout the day, and if you do so, you

obviously have bigger problems than your weight. Just know that

a can of beer has about 150kcal or more, about the same as

Coke.

Like I said, its ok to drink such sugary, expensive drinks on

occasion, be it weekly or every few days.

For those who are dieting, its also important to treat yourself to

a few sweet drinks weekly so you dont go crazy from sugar

deprivation.

But plain potable water from the tap is still the best


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(By the way, if I forget to bring out my water bottle, I still refuse

to pay $2.00 for bottled water. Instead, I will walk to the nearest

toilet to drink from the tap as the Singapore public utilities offerspotable water everywhere.)

Its when you drink sweet drinks regularly that the danger piles

up for your health, while your bank account is fleeced

unnecessarily. Now, the impact of these drinks are not seen

overnight, but over a period of 5 or 10 years.

I used to drink a cup of full-sugar soya bean drink almost every

work-day in the past, I no longer do so for obvious reasons.

I still drink coffee regularly, but most of the time its kopi-o-

kosong (ie. long black or Americano coffee) with 5 kcal at the

most for the caffeine, and no more than one cup of coffee daily.

If Ive exercised that day, I may switch to a full 150 kcal milk

coffee BUT I avoid the iced version because they charge you

about 66% more just for ice. Hot kopi is $1.50 SGD while iced

kopi is $2.50.

Thats plain price gouging for a few cubes of ice.


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When it comes down to it, there are just too many theories on

weight loss and people get confused. It doesnt have to be so

complex, because you just need to remember a few things

Count your calories. Eat less than you burn and youll definitely

lose weight.

Exercise regularly to accelerate weight loss, but remember to

eat enough to fuel the activities.

Cut down on all sweet, oily and alcoholic stuff but do treat

yourself to these stuff several times a week to satiate the

cravings.

Never allow yourself to go hungry. Or you will lose heart and

give up. Eat fruits/oatmeal/high fibre foods if you need to

snack between meals.

Drink plain water all the time. Almost every other beverage is

unnecessary and fattening.

Its really that simple. Dont let other people tell you otherwise.

I also createda poster you can print outand stick on your wall

that summarizes the same points. Download it here.

All the best in your new food journey!
http://iantan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Anyone-Can-Lose-Weight-Poster-v2.jpghttp://iantan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Anyone-Can-Lose-Weight-Poster-v2.jpghttp://iantan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Anyone-Can-Lose-Weight-Poster-v2.jpghttp://iantan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Anyone-Can-Lose-Weight-Poster-v2.jpg


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So what happens if youve applied the stuff youve learned in this

book and achieved your desired weight loss? This chapter deals

with the Aftermath.

Losing weight is a science, but maintaining your weight is an art.

I coined this phrase on Facebook some time back as I realized

that it was actually more challenging to keep one's weight

constant than to lose weight.

As written in earlier chapters, as long as you stick to some simple

calorie counting, you will lose a predictable amount of weight.

The science is rock-solid reliable as long as you don't give up.

But when you've finally reached your desired weight, it gets very

tiring to keep counting calories, and your body is telling you that

it deserves better than the minimal level of calories it has been

enduring for weeks or months.

The risk of lapsing back into one's old eating habits is extremely

high.

At the same time, your weight can never remain absolutely

constant like a non-living object - your body fluids and mass are

constantly in flux daily as it goes through hormonal changes,


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water retention, illness, reactions to weather conditions and so

on.

That's why some diet plans advise you not to weigh yourself

daily, but perhaps once a week.

I believe maintaining weight is an art - it requires a lot of

flexibility and there is no hard and fast rule to follow.

There are some general guidelines to remember though.

I disagree with the notion of not weighing myself daily.

If I can, I weigh myself twice a day - once in the morning before

breakfast and once before dinner.

You'd be surprised, but often, my weight is lightest before dinner

as the body is burning calories at full steam then. As long as my

weight is within 1kg of my ideal weight of 63kg (ie. 63kg 1kg),

I'm happy.

If it constantly stays in the high range or low range, then my

alarm bells will go off as I either need to lose weight or put on

more weight.

Having a modern, newfangled WiFi-capable weighing machine

likethe Fitbit Aria helps a lot with the weight tracking.
http://iantan.org/2013/12/anyone-can-lose-weight-technology-can-help/http://iantan.org/2013/12/anyone-can-lose-weight-technology-can-help/http://iantan.org/2013/12/anyone-can-lose-weight-technology-can-help/http://iantan.org/2013/12/anyone-can-lose-weight-technology-can-help/


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If you use the Fitbit Aria Wifi-enabled weighing machine, it will log your

measurements into a regular online log.

The answer depends on which ideal weight formula you use. This

interestingwebsite churns out different calculationsdepending

on popular opinion, BMI or approaches like the Devine formula.

If based on a global BMI range of 19-25, I can be 56 to 73kg!

Obviously that is too broad a range.

I decided on 63kg because this is the weight where I can fit into a

Levi's 29-inch jeans, and I have enough fat on my body not to

feel cold all the time. It also gives me a BMI of 21.5, which is

safely at the midpoint of the Health Promotion Board's healthy

range of 19-23 BMI. Find outwhat your BMI is here.
http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htmhttp://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htmhttp://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htmhttps://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/healthtopic/Weight+Management/Know+Your+BMI?_afrLoop=59465468876023216&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=null#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dnull%26_afrLoop%3D59465468876023216%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Durqymuazv_28https://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/healthtopic/Weight+Management/Know+Your+BMI?_afrLoop=59465468876023216&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=null#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dnull%26_afrLoop%3D59465468876023216%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Durqymuazv_28https://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/healthtopic/Weight+Management/Know+Your+BMI?_afrLoop=59465468876023216&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=null#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dnull%26_afrLoop%3D59465468876023216%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Durqymuazv_28http://iantan.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/fitbit-2.jpghttps://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/healthtopic/Weight+Management/Know+Your+BMI?_afrLoop=59465468876023216&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=null#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dnull%26_afrLoop%3D59465468876023216%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Durqymuazv_28http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm


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Interestingly, if my weight drops to 62kg, it's very apparent as my

face becomes more gaunt and unhealthy-looking.

If it goes up to 64kg, my face becomes slightly puffier than I'd

like.

So yeah, looks do matter in this case!

Personally, this is the fine line of facial variances that I've

discovered to help me monitor my weight just by looking in the

mirror.

Even more interesting is that people keep remarking that I have

lost some more weight even though it has remained largely

constant for months. Those must have been the days when I was

1kg lower than the ideal weight.

To readers who have not done calorie counting before, you

might wonder here how is it that I make it sound so easy to

calibrate my weight...to lose or gain one kilogram at will.

Well, that's the beauty of calorie counting - it just takes me a

week to bring myself to my desired weight, and the time needed

is short because it's just a few hundred grams I need to gain orlose.

This is not boasting or fiction, it works for hundreds of thousands

of people out there and is the foundation of all my blabbering in

this book.


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After experimenting for several weeks, I decided that it's ok tohave daily meals in the following combos:

One moderately rich meal a day (eg. up to 800 kcal) as

long as you keep the other two meals healthy (400-500

kcal).

Three healthy meals a day (500kcal each) and one sweet

drink (eg. milk coffee with sugar, 150-200kcal)

As you can see, both combos provide about 1800 kcal of energy

each day, which is what I consider the Asian male adult daily

requirement (I think the oft-recommended 2000 kcal is too

much, but this can vary for other folks, so just experiment to find

out your sweet spot).

I also don't believe in having 5 small meals, or just one meal a

day. But your eating habits will differ from mine, just keep the

overall calorie count the same.

Now an 800kcal meal is pretty liberal - you can eat unhealthy

food like char kway teowbut you cannot touch full-blown nasi

lemakwhich is a 1000 kcal meal. Then you also need to ask

yourself if you should be eating such oily food to begin with.

If you've been dieting to lose weight by counting calories, you

will probably not want to eat char kway teoweven though you

can - your palate would have already changed to avoid such

dishes unless you have no other choice of food.


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At the same time, I eat about 100 kcal of snacks daily.It can be

a few small squares of chocolate, or a small fun-sized pack of

Cheezels cheese crackers. That's to keep my sweet tooth at baywhile not putting on the pounds.

Finally, I eat one or two apples/honey dew slices a day. They're

both relatively low in calories (under 100 kcal per apple or honey

dew slice) and provide important fibre for bowel movements.

Some people say that you should just live a happy life and not

feel guilty about the food you're eating, so just go out and eat as

much rich and delicious food as you can.

That's hogwash, my dear reader.

It's like saying you can and should do nasty things to yourself on

a daily basis because you need to live life to the fullest.

Let's say... if you see a big bowl of ice-cream, you can choose to

feel guilty about eating it, or feel self-entitled to enjoying

yourself.

I say you deserve it to eat it if you've been exercising well and

that ice-cream falls within your day's 1800 kcal. If both

conditions are not met, it is only natural that you should feel

guilty.


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Remember, guilt is a natural part of your conscience, and you

should not ignore it.

The problem with most people who do not control their weight,

is that they choose to stop feeling guilty and shout down their

little voice of conscience in their head.

And if you are versed in calorie-counting, you will see that

imaginary calorie number floating above the beautiful ice-cream.

And your unpleasant guilt will be replaced by grim determinationand cold rationality.

The benefits of regular exercise need not be repeated here. But

many people give up exercising the minute they think they've hit

their weight-loss goals.

It's like how many guys only start jogging when they have to do

their annual IPPT army fitness test.

That's obviously the wrong mentality, because exercise is so

critical to overall well-being, it should be done regularly for the

rest of your life. The Health Promotion Board in Singaporerecommends at least 150 min of exercise per week.

Exercise doesn't just help you to burn off any excess calories

from over-eating, it brings a whole host of other benefits like

better skin, strong circulation, toned muscles and more.
http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/article?id=10346http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/article?id=10346http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/article?id=10346


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I alsospent some time researching Fitbit and other fitness

tracking tools that encouraged walking to keep fit.While they do

work to help burn calories, the reality is that walking 10,000steps, or 8km a day, takes a lot of precious time.

It's much more efficient and better for work-life balance to just

jog instead of walk.

Another personal observation is that many people seem to need

the company of friends before they can exercise. Many folksrunning around the downtown Marina Bay area seem to be

gossiping more than they are sweating it out.

Well what happens when your friends are not free to exercise

with you?

Learn how to exercise in isolation or in groups, as long as youkeep at it with personal vigor.

Don't depend on the encouragement of friends to keep egging

you on, sooner or later the running group will break up and you

have no incentive to go jogging.

I often look at old pictures of my 10kg-heavier self to keep myself

going. Friends tell me they didn't consider me fat in the past, but

I know better.

A 1.71m-tall guy should not have a waist of 34 inches.
http://iantan.org/2014/01/thoughts-on-fitbit-and-activity-trackers/http://iantan.org/2014/01/thoughts-on-fitbit-and-activity-trackers/http://iantan.org/2014/01/thoughts-on-fitbit-and-activity-trackers/http://iantan.org/2014/01/thoughts-on-fitbit-and-activity-trackers/http://iantan.org/2014/01/thoughts-on-fitbit-and-activity-trackers/http://iantan.org/2014/01/thoughts-on-fitbit-and-activity-trackers/


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If you're shy about looking at old photos of yourself, this other

trick should work for everyone -just make sure you never get

too big for your skinny jeans.

The minute it starts getting tight, it's not a sign to get a new,

bigger pair. It's time to relook if you've lapsed from your healthy

diet and exercise regime.

That's how most of us gain weight over the years. First we go up

one inch with our jeans and tell ourselves that it's ok. Thenbefore long, we've jumped 4 inches in waist size and we resign

ourselves to our fate or poor metabolism.

That's not fate or metabolism you are resigning yourself to. It's

you succumbing to the ways of the world that gorges itself on

food and convinces you thats what good living is all about.

It is important to eat good and tasty food, because life is short

and we should not deprive ourselves of culinary pleasures.

The question is when do we cross the line of over-eating, and

thats what we fail to ask ourselves every day.


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Ian Tan lives and works in Singapore, and blogs occasionally on

his site Empty Vessel (www.iantan.org)

He has been a photojournalist, newspaper editor, and technology

correspondent in Singapore Press Holdings. Later, he moved to

Microsoft to become a public relations professional, marketing

guy, and became the business lead for several technologyproducts like Xbox 360 and Surface tablets.

He spends his free time trying to be a good husband and dad,

riding his motorcycles, and attempting to become a decent violin

player.

And until he started counting calories, he never thought he wouldever wear a size 29 pair of jeans again.
http://www.iantan.org/http://www.iantan.org/http://www.iantan.org/http://www.iantan.org/

anyone can lose weight (3rd ed)

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