Eating Habits

Your diet and eating habits can help you lose weight and maintain your ideal weight.  You need to be aware and take conscious effort to reduce the amount and also be selective in your diet.

Strategy 1: Eat more lean proteinProtein comes from chicken, fish, beef, lamb, pork, eggs, dairy and soy products. 

When you consume protein it is actually much harder to turn to body fat, will keep you full for longer and will assist in building body muscle.  This in turn will increase your metabolism and fat burning.  Protein will also stablise your blood sugar unlike carbohydrates which will reduce your need to snack on sweets, have cravings and feel tired. 

At every meal, it is best to aim for a fat-free portion of protein, about the size of the palm of your hand.

Strategy 2: Reduce carbohydratesCarbohydrates are found in rice, pasta, noodles, bread, potato, pumpkin, sugar and honey.

All carbo are digested and broken down into sugar (glucose).  This sugar is the fuel for the body's cells however if too much carbo is consumed, the body will store the excess as body fat to use for fuel at a later stage.

Additional fat storage results to obesity and raise the risk of weight related illnesses such as Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease and certain cancers.

Aim to reduce carbo intake at every meal to only 1/2 cup of cooked portion or the equivalent of the size of your fist.  By reducing your intake of carbo, you will also notice a reduction in your cravings for sweets, less hunger and a noticeably flatter tummy!

Strategy 3: Reduce FatFat contains the most calories per gram and will very quickly cause you to gain and store body fat if you dont manage this element of your diet!

Fat in food will also increase the risk of heart disease by leaving fatty deposits in your arteries.  One of the most harmful fat consumed is known as Trans Fat which have the ability to lower your good cholesterol (HDL), increase your bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

Trans fat are in most processed foods such as butter, margarine, salad dressings, ice-cream and biscuits.  To keep your body healthy and manage your weight, minimise fat intake especially trans fat.

Strategy 4: Reduce sugary drinksA can of soft drink/soda can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar and nearly 140 calories.  One of the biggest misconceptions is that fruit juice will be the healthier option but the average glass of juice contains 8 teaspoons of sugar and 130 calories. 

To avoid taking in additional calories and sugar, reduce all sugary drinks and fruit juices.  The best option would be to replace these type of drinks with water.

Strategy 5: Limit Fruit IntakeFruit is healthy if taken in moderation.  Fruit is high in sugar and energy (calories).  You should limit your fruit intake to only 2 pieces per day.  

The lower sugar and better options for fruit snacks are apples, pears, watermelon, kiwifruit, oranges and pineapples.  Wherever possible avoid regularly snacking on mango, durian, lychees and jackfruit. 


When you control portions and make healthier choices for your meals, you will be well on your way to managing your weight and health effectively.

Remember, you are what you eat.  So if your diet is high in carbo, fat and surgar, it will have detrimental effect on your body.  A slight modification to the way you eat is such a minor sacrifice for the benefits it can produce.  Prevention is always better than cure!

Follow the 5 strategies above and you will notice the change in as little as a week. 

One last reminder: When you eat, eat slowly.  Best not to eat watching TV or in front of the computer.  Always stop eating when you feel 80% full because its better to waste it than to "waist" it! 

Meals are to be enjoyed - so happy eating!!

How to Achieve Ideal Weight

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of losing weight is to exercise.  I've signed up with a ladies only gym about a year ago in the hope of meeting my weight loss goals.  Due to time constraint, I was unable to go for training regularly.

What I've realised is that while exercising does help in losing the excess weight, this may not be as successful as one might like.  Exercise on its one may not be easy to do everyday for the rest of one's life.  I came across an article on Eating Your Way to an Ideal Weight and here's why:

1kg of fat contains 9000 calories.  An average 60kg person walking at 4 miles per hour will take 28 hours of walking to "burn" off 1kg of fat.  For the general population this does seem unrealistic.   Also not many people realise the extensive exercise needed to "burn" off their favourite treats.  For example, if you consume 1 glass of red wine, you would need to jog for at least 35 minutes to "burn" off the calories.  1 plate of chicken rice would mean 2 hours of jogging and 3.5 hours of swimming if you eat 1 Big Mac Meal.

So exercise does play a part in maintaining weight by burning off some extra calories.  Exercise is also important for a healthy heart.  Looking at the exercises needed to burn off the extra calories, it would be best to just eat vegetables!

I would think that the most successful method of weight loss is through managing your diet.  Through reading several magazines, I've come to the conclusion that it is completely possible to eat and lose weight at the same time.  This method is how you will be most successful.

As the saying goes, you are what you eat.  This simply means the types of food you choose will help you lose weight and also be healthy at the same time, making it possible to eat your way to ideal weight.

What is Ideal Weight?

I always make it a point to weigh myself every evening once I get back from work, after shower.  Some people I know said that I should not weigh myself daily or I should weigh only in the morning.  Then there are some who are afraid of even weighing themselves.

The body is made up of 70% water and then of course there is muscle, blood, bones, tissue, ligaments, skin and body fat.

One conventional method of assessing weight is to measure your Body Mass Index (BMI).  To calculate your BMI, you divide your weight (kg) by your height (metre) in sq metres.  However, this assessment doesnt acknowledge the difference between lean muscle and fat composition of your body.  So it is of very little importance in judging your health.

It does not mean that a skinny person is healthy.  This is why to know if you are at your ideal weight, you need to also consider a couple of important health clinical markers apart from just your weight and BMI.

The clinical markers that should be considered are:

• Body Shape:  Waist circumference, Waist-to-hip ratio
• Body Composition:  BMI, Body Fat Percentage, Visceral Fat, Lean Muscle Mass, Fat-to-Muscle Ratio, Bone Mass, Hydration
• Body Function:  Blood Glucose, Cholesterol, Blood Pressue

Once these clinical markers are within the Normal range, you can be considered as healthy and on your way to living a life of reduced disease risk and a better quality of life.  The challenge is to maintain this.