Modern life is making us overweight! Just think about it: in the office we have e-mails, mobile phones, escalators, lifts. At home, we have the microwave oven, electric blender, and of course the remote control that just about operates everything from the
television set to the electric gate and air-conditioner. We have cars to take us from point A to point B, and we no longer have to climb the coconut tree to get our own coconuts! In fact you could say that modern-day technology is making us FAT.
And to make matters worse, most of us are probably guilty of “munching” at some point during the day, be it during the slow periods in the afternoon, morning coffee breaks with friends or best of all, the delicious tit-bits we all love to have in front of the television at night. And it is apparent that we Malaysians enjoy our food. Everywhere we go, there is at least one mamak stall beckoning us to eat its roti canai and nasi lemak, and drink its sugar-laden the tarik.
It is obviously time that this phenomena be “nipped in the bud” before it gets out of control. Contrary to everyone’s belief that to lose weight, one must run 10 miles, bench press 200 lbs, do 150 sit ups and swim 25 laps in the olympic-size swimming pool every day, losing weight is actually much simpler than that albeit slower results. In fact, weight problems can easily be rectified by simply re-assessing our lifestyle, adopting healthier eating habits and exercising.
There are several easy steps to losing weight.First, make sure you monitor your calorie intake, taking into account of everything that you put into your mouth, from that morning cup of coffee to the croissant that you always have for tea. At the end of the day, add up all the calories and weigh yourself. This first step is important so that you can plan your weight loss more effectively. To make things easier, keep a journal of what you eat, your daily calorie intake and your weight so that you can appraise your diet programme as you go along.
Second, consists of cutting down your calorie intake based on your current calorie
intake. So, let’s say you counted 2000 on the first day, you should then cut down your calorie intake by 500, bringing it down to 1500. So for the next week or so, you can only have this number of calories per day. You can do this by cutting down your 3 big meals to 5 small ones per day. Of course it won’t help if you consider that small packet of nasi lemak to be a small meal, and end up having 5 of those every day. Have more fruits and greens instead. One tip is to drink a full glass of water before every meal so that you won’t eat as much. Drinking water won’t do any harm to your body, in fact it is good practice if you drink 7-8 glasses of water a day.
One misconception that most people seem to have is that eating involves the act of consuming your food until you feel full. Actually, you shouldn’t eat until you are full. Rather you should eat just enough to fill your stomach. And in order to ensure this, spend at least 20 minutes on your meals. This is how long it takes for your brain to tell you that you’ve had enough. So take your time, about 20 minutes of it, and enjoy
every morsel of food, making sure to chew properly.
A necessity in any diet programme is
exercise. Make sure you do some cardio workouts, be it cycling, running, aerobics, walking or jumping rope. Cardio workouts are a must if you are looking for results. The recommended prescription is 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week.
But depending on how much you weigh, and how much you want to lose, you can increase this to your discretion. And it’s always easier if you do your workouts with a friend whom you know will support you all the way. A lot of people may not realise this but having a gym buddy is very important!
So there you have it, some easy steps to losing weight. Don’t expect to lose 10 kgs in the first week. If you do, then you should go and see a doctor immediately. Instead, expect a realistic weight loss of between 1-2 lbs per week. It may sound little but if you add it up, that’s about 3-4 kgs a month, enough to bring you one size down!
Old man said,
“It is your responsibility to yourself and to your company to take better care of your health...and it begins with good eating habits and physical activities.”
Good Luck!
ps: This article received from one of my friends. (source: unknown)
