How Many Calories Should Each of My Meals Be?

I was recently asked this very interesting question from a friend of mine and i decided that this will make an excellent blog post. he asked me how many calories should each meal have? Meaning would a 600 calorie meal be considered too much or is it OK?

Well i thought about his question for awhile and then i told him, well that truly depends on a lot of things and its hard for me to just say if that is too much or not.

Firstly, it would depend on what your goals are. If you are looking to gain weight, then your calorie per meal would be different than that of someone who is trying to lose weight. Secondly, it would depend on how much activity are doing for that day. If all you are doing is sitting at home and watching the CSI marathon, then you are not going to need much. Thirdly, it would depend on what you are going to be doing for the next 3 - 4 hours after your meal. if you are just going to watch TV, then you won't need as much as someone who is heading to the gym or going for a jog. It would also matter how many meals per day you are eating.

With a puzzled look, he asked me. OK, lets just say i am an average Joe who just wants to lose weight and eats about 3 meals a day. Then how many calories should i be looking at for each meal. He says he always goes to a restaurant and is not too sure how much to eat because he just doesn't know how many calories he should be eating for each meal.

Well again it would really depend on how many calories you need to eat in a day (based on your body and activity level) and you need to eat less than that to see weight loss. So for example, if your Daily Calorie Requirement is 1,500kCals a day and you eat 3 meals a day, then roughly, each meal should be around 500kCals. To find out how many calories you need in a day, you can check out one of my previous posts by clicking here. Now to lose weight, you want to eat less than 1,500kCals a day. So in this case, lets say you want to reduce it to 1,200kCals per day... this would mean that each meal should be roughly around 400kCals.

So i told him though it is OK, to follow this rough calculation of just dividing, its still better to eat as per your activity level. So i offered him some tips as below which help to make his calorie decision for weight loss more effective:-

1) Eat lower calorie meals when you know you are going to be inactive after the meal. Like dinner. You don't need to as much calories for dinner as you would for other meals.

2) Eat higher calorie meals before or after a workout or when you are going to do intense activity. So if you are going to laze around, eat less calories. If you are going to spend those calories soon, you can eat more

3) If one meal is higher than what you should be eating, make sure you adjust it for the next meal. Let's say you are aiming for an average of 400 calories per meal and end up eating a 600 calorie meal. Then be sure to subtract 200 calories from another meal to ensure you don't go above your target.

4) If your target us weight loss, then its always better to eat less than more. Meaning if you are deciding between foods and trying to justify that the higher calorie food is still OK, but you are not too sure, then go for the choice which has less calories.

5) It is also important to consider what i like to call the fill up factor of the food. A bag of Twisties has about 500 calories but does little to fill you up. A Fillet-O-Fish in McDs will be about 450 calories. Eating 5 apples will be around 250 calories. Which one is more satisfying to your hunger?So how many calories should each meal have? Well firstly you need to calculate how many calories you need in a day and then start doing the math. Its OK to just divide evenly and have each meal have the same number of calories but its far more effective to eat according to the tips i presented. If your goal is weight loss, then following the tips above will make a huge difference in the results you. From there you will be able to make a better decision on how much each of your meals should be. Try it out and see. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Weight Room Ethics

One of the main reasons why i get up so early in the morning to go to the gym, is because the weight room is not over crowded at 6:30am. There are usually only 3 or 4 people in the weight room at this time, and that's how i like it. This way, i get to go in, do my work out quickly with minimal interference and be out of there. Secondly, i realized that here in Malaysia, a lot of people are unfamiliar with what i like to call weight room ethics. These are just simple unwritten rules that everyone should know when stepping into a weight room. Now i know these are unwritten rules and not legally binding. But at the same time, i think following these rules (if you want to call it that) is just plain courtesy to the others. But sadly not many people are aware of this and don't follow it and it really irks me sometimes. So here are some of the things that should be followed when you are in a weight room.

1) Re-Racking your weights
If you are done with the weights you are using, please put them back. The reason for this is, 1) it keeps the weight room looking neat and not to mention safer so no one trips on your dumbbell 2) it lets people know that you are done with it. Just this morning i saw a guy jump from the decline bench press, to the incline bench press and then the bench press. As he went a long, he just left the weights there and moved on. Come on buddy... you can recycle the weights. Meaning that you can transfer the weights you were using on your decline for your incline and so on. This is one method of clearing of the weights while re-racking your new bench. It takes the same amount of effort and time as pulling new weights from weight rack. So please... the next time you are done with something, put it back. I have seen incidences where i walk into the weight room at 6:30 am (i am the first use of the weight room for that day) and i see all the dumbbells scattered all over the floor and all over the weight room. It makes it difficult to walk around and a chore to find the dumbbell you are looking for. Situations like these should not be happening



2) Sharing your bench
Now it is OK to share your bench with someone else between sets. After all, you are not doing 3 sets of bench press back to back without any rest. So while you are resting, whats wrong with sharing it someone else. I usually get 2 responses when i walk up to someone and say "Hey buddy, you mind if i work in with you?". 1) some of them just say OK and then take everything and run away. This has happened to me many times. I am not kidding. 2) OH i still got 5 more sets. YES, i know you have 5 more sets, but can i jump in for a few sets between your sets. I don't understand why people just can't share it. What irks me the most, is he tells you he has 5 more sets and then he is busy chatting with his friend who is hogging the incline bench press. Jeez dude... if you want to chat, why don't you let someone else use it while you are chatting. You get this a lot when you go in the evenings when the gym is crowded. I have experienced this so many times when i attempted going to the gym in the evening after work. This is one of my main motivation factors to stay away from overcrowded weight rooms in Malaysia. When i was in the States, it was a general understanding that people jump in between sets. In fact, that's how i made so many friends. It just makes everything better. Plus, you now have a spot.

3) PT's can't share equipment with normal folk.
Personally, this has never happened to me. The PTs that train their clients in the morning are really cool and i have loads of respect for them. They usually ask me if they can share the bench with me and similarly i have also asked them if i could jump in for sets while their client is resting between sets and they are OK with it. But i know friends who have experienced snobbish PTs who won't share and worst still, being shoo-ed away by the PT, because they want to use the bench you are using. Well they don't literally shoo you away with words, but they ask you in a nasty way and then just stand about and look at you hoping to intimidate you. This should not be happening. As a PT, you should not be setting the wrong example in the weight room. Or maybe PTs are resorting to this because of reason number 2. Hmmm.... makes me wonder.

4) Don't stand in fron of the mirror and block someone else
If a guy is using the power rack to do squats, please don't stand right in front of him and do bicep curls and block the mirror. This is just plain rude. Whenever you are doing an exercise, take a look and see if someone else is using the mirror first. If there is someone else behind is using the mirror, find another spot to do it. Don't plant yourself right in front and block that person. Its just rude. This has happened to me enough times and i really feel disgusted with this.

5) Spotting someone correctly
Maybe i should write a post on how to spot someone properly, because generally, most people don't know how to spot properly. Over and over again, i have seen one person doing bench press, while his spotter is doing bicep curls at the same time. Group workout???? When you spot someone, you are not supposed to lift as much weight as you can so that the other person doesn't have to do much. I understand when you are helping someone move houses, you would like to help as much as you can, but when it comes to lifting weights, its not the same.

You are supposed to stand by just in case of an emergency and offer minimal help to get them through their sticking point. That's it. Please don't attempt to do bicep curls while i am doing my bench press. When you are spotting someone, ask them how many reps they are going for and ask them how many reps they think they can get on their own. This way you have a better picture of how much help to offer and when to offer it. If i am aiming for 8 reps and say i can do 6 on my own, try not to touch the bar before 6 reps... unless i really get stuck, then yes, do jump in. But otherwise, please don't start your bicep curls from the first rep.

So here are just some weight room ethics which is at the top of my list. What about you guys? Have you experienced any other "irk-ing" scenarios that you wish to share? Or did i miss out any other weight room ethics worth sharing. Do share your thoughts and as usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

What Colour is Your Food?

I was watching Oprah the other day where she was featuring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has a new show in the US called Food Revolution - not sure if this show will hit our shores any time soon. This show aims to help people understand the importance of eating healthy and staying healthy and he goes around educating people how to make simple yet healthy foods in their own homes. Food Revolution is a spin off from Jamie's previous show in UK which aimed at getting school cafeterias to start serving healthier foods to the school children in UK. After all, a healthy lifestyle is best cultivated when you are younger.

I honestly think Food Revolution is such a brilliant idea and i hope someone in Malaysia will do the same. Anyway, from watching some of the little snippets of the show, i picked up this really cool and important tip from Jamie, which i want to share with all of you.

During one of the snippets, he visits this family which is already obese. The father, the mother the kids, everyone is just way overweight. So Jamie Oliver goes in to find out what their diet is like and its mainly frozen foods such as fries, corn dogs, TV Dinners, Frozen pizza, fried chicken etc. The reason for this poor choice in nutrition is the usual excuse - we have no time to prepare proper food. Basically, their children have been brought up eating nothing but frozen food. Yikes.

So then Jamie heads to their freezer and takes out everything they have stored in there. He opens up the boxes / packets and starts pouring everything out onto the dining table (see picture below). He then asked the mother, what colour do you see in all these foods. With tears in her eyes, the mother answers "golden brown". Which is so true. Everything on the table is just one colour. Golden brown.This is when Jamie Oliver tells her that their family is seriously missing out on many essential nutrients which is vital for a healthy life. Ideally, the food they eat should be multi coloured. You need to have your greens, your oranges, reds and purples. The different colours in fruits and vegetables gives us different nutrients that we need which also has different functions, so its best to eat foods which have as many different colours as possible. Yes, golden brown is permitted, but it should not be golden brown all the way.

So what are you putting on your plate? Just take a quick glance and see if you have many colours or is all just predominantly one colour. Lets take a look at some of our local favourites and see if it is multi coloured or just one colour.

Hmmm....As you can see, its quite easy to fall into the same trap as the family i mentioned above. If you eat out most of the time, then its quite easy to miss out on all the different colours that we need and just eat one colour. If i were to eat without thinking and just follow my taste buds, yeah, i would do the same. Its called eating on auto pilot.

So how do we prevent this from happening? Simple. The next meal you have, just a take a quick glance and see what colours you are eating. If you are pre-dominantly only eating one colour for all your meals, then you know you know you need to throw in some vegetables here and there. If your meal already looks colourful, then, bravo... you are doing good. Keep it up. I am not a big fan of vegetables and have a limited choice of veges that i do like to eat. So i make it a point to prepare meals that uses these vegetables as much as possible. Or sometimes i make it a point to gulp down a good serving of the veges i do like first, before indulging into my main meal. I also eat lot of fruits to balance out my diet. So again, there are ways to work around this to ensure that you do get in all the various nutrients that you need. The overused excuse of no time has no place here. If you can't be diligent with your meals, then make it a point to eat the different colours during your snack time.

So, what colour is your food? Golden brown or multi coloured. Take a glance at your next meal and see what you are eating. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Is Snacking Healthy For You?

I am often asked this question by people trying to lose weight - "Is Snacking healthy for you?" Well my answer is always, "it depends what you are snacking on." Many so called weight loss experts always preach that in order to lose weight, you should avoid snacking. Well this is kinda true if you look at snacking from the traditional aspect - which is chips, goreng pisang and other tasty yet unhealthy choice of foods. But what if you were snacking on healthier stuff? Would that be OK?
Lets look at some basic principles of weight loss. When it comes to weight loss, a huge part of it is calories in vs calories out. As long as your total calories in is less than your total calories out, then you will lose weight. Its just simple science and mathematics. On top of that we also know that starvation diets don't work. In other words, depriving your body of nutrition for long periods of time is counter productive. Why? Because when you starve yourself, your body kicks in into survival mode. In this mode, your body decides to build up its reserve, should there suddenly be a situation when there is no food coming in. This way your body can survive as long as possible. How does your body build up its reserves? By storing whatever you eat as fat. So in order to avoid this situation, you need to eat regularly. With that being said, it does not mean you have a free hand to eat continuously. Remember what i said earlier... it all comes down to calories in vs calories out. So you still have a limit / quota of how much you can eat and still see weight loss. Your job is to spread it out smartly so your body does not go into survival mode.

One of the best techniques to reduce fat storage in your body is to eat every 3 hours that you are awake. This way, your body knows that there is a continuous stream of nutrition coming in, so it does not have to kick in its survival mode sub-routine. So if you traditionally eat 3 meals a day and you are awake for about 18 hours a day, you know for a fact that your body is going through long stretches without food, which is not good for your waist line. So in between those meals, it best to snack in between so there is food going in every 3 hours.

The big question is, what can you eat in between those normal meals of yours. You could eat your chips and goreng pisang, if you were a construction worker using about 4000 calories a day. Sure thing. For the amount of physical labour you are doing, you will need all those extra calories. But for most of us reading this, the most activity we get is when we work out or for some who don't work out, then your total activity for the day is very little. This also means that the total calories your body needs is very little too. So this means you will have to be careful with what you choose to eat so you don't burst your budget.

Ideally you should snack on low calories foods like fresh fruits (also a great way to get in heaps of micro nutrients like vitamins and minerals), muesli or maybe even a protein shake if you are taking one. This way you get to ensure you don't totally bust your daily calorie intake because you are eating every 3 hours.I know its difficult for those in the working world to try and abide by this rule diligently. With meetings and rushing off reports, sometimes even having a regular lunch hour seems impossible. But with a bit of planning, you should be able to do just fine. The idea here, is for you to go to work prepared. The problem why most people can't seem to do it, is because they go to work without being prepared for this.

I personally like recommending simple fruits like apples, bananas, grapes etc, because they are easy to eat on the go and you can store them just about anywhere. You don't need to prepare them before eating, so this removes a lot of the fuss. Buying loose muesli to munch on is great too, but i personally find it a little more cumbersome. Protein shakes are awesome because you can even bring it with you for a meeting. Just put it into a thermos and everyone will think you are sipping down a cup of coffee and won't even know you are drinking a protein shake. Got a long meeting? No problem... if you have your protein shake handy, you won't have to worry about it.


So the big question now is, what are you snacking on? Just because a colleague buys some curry puffs at 4 pm, doesn't mean you have to gulp those down. The problem arises when we don't plan and don't have any other healthy foods to consume. But if you came prepared, then you don't have to snack on that curry puff. Of course its ok for you to chow down that curry puff every once in awhile ( i love curry puffs), but if you are serious about your weight loss, then you know what you need to do to burn off those additional calories because of the curry puff. You will need to work it off somewhere. So do the math and decide which is more important to you - temptation of the curry puff or your figure.


Being prepared is the best way to avoid eating unnecessary unhealthy foods. Carrying some fruits with you takes no time at all to prepare, so there is no excuse as to why you can't do it. Same goes with protein shakes. Its easy, convenient and takes no time at all to prepare. So plan your snacking properly and watch the fat melt off. Its that simple. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Suspension Training Certification

If you are a personal trainer who is looking for a course that will set you apart from the competition and gets you more clients, then this is the course for you. If you are gym buff / fitness junkie who is addicted to the TRX and want to learn more on how to truly unlock the full power of the TRX, then this course is for you too. If you always wanted to purchase the TRX, but was not sure on how to use it, then you definitely want to attend this course, because you will kill 2 birds with one stone.

TRX Malaysia is organizing a 8 hour certification course that is for anyone who is interested in learning how to unleash the full potential of the TRX. With the TRX gaining more and more popularity in Malaysia, more and more clients are actually asking for it by name, and being able to use it effectively and safely, sets you apart from everyone else.

For PTs who specialize in home based personal training, having a TRX as part of your exercise equipment is a definite bonus. Its easy to carry around and you are able to provide your clients with an almost unlimited array of exercises.

The 8 hours hands on course will teach you how to:

• Set up the TRX in a wide variety of locations (extremely useful if you are doing home based PT sessions)
• use the TRX in a comprehensive manner so its efficient, effective and a stimulating exercise tool for you and/or your clients of various fitness levels
• train different client populations for optimal results
  

The fees for this certification course is going at a special introductory offer of RM 1,388.00 per participant. With your training fees, you will get

• 1 Suspension Training Course Manual
• 1 TRX set (P1 Model)

So if you were thinking for purchasing the TRX, now you have the option of purchasing the unit while getting yourself certified to use the TRX. Great deal isn't it?

OK, so who is going to be the trainer facilitating the 1 day course? This course will be facilitated by Marcel Daane, who is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Neuroscience. Marcel has a Bachelor of Health Science Degree in Complementary Medicine coupled with an Associate's Degree in Applied Nutrition. With more than 15 years of experience as an Olympic Level Sports Performance Coach, his credentials also include : NSCA Certified Strength Conditioning Specialist, ACE 'Gold Standard" Certified Advanced Fitness Specialist, ACE certified Mat Pilates Instructor, AFPA Certified Sports Conditioning Specialist, and USA Weightlifting Certified Olympic Weightlifting Coach.

Years of Health and Neuroscience Research combined with Two Decades of Field Experience have enabled Marcel to develop the Body-Brain Performance Institute, through which he conducts Performance Enhancement Programs for Executive Teams of Multinational Companies, such as SAP-Asia Pacific, CISCO, and Accenture to name a few.

In 2007, Marcel conceptualized SPEED Institute, which is now one of the largest Sports Performance Training center in South East Asia.

Marcel is an accomplished Olympic Level Sports Performance Coach. With his knowledge of Resilience and Sports Performance training, he helped the Singapore National Boxing Team secure medals at the 2009 South East Asia Games and the 2010 Tri-Nations Cup, an accomplishment not witnessed since 1972.

How do you register for this course? Just log on to the link below and you can register for the course on-line.

http://trxmalaysia.com/trxtraining.html

or you can email Danny G at danny@trxmalaysia.com

Simple right? Here are a few more details of the course for those of you who are interested:

Date: December 5, 2010

Time: 9am to 5pm

Venue: No 331, Level 3, block A2, Leisure Commerce Square, Bandar Sunway

Will you be attending this course? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments on this.

Trip to Langkawi

Firstly, my sincere apologies for not having a post last week. Was a bit tied up with some stuff, so didn't get a chance to sit down and post something. Secondly, Happy Belated Deepavali to all my Hindu readers, clients and friends. I had a blast for Deepavali as me and my family decided to go to Langkawi for the break. As i mentioned in my recent post on my India trip... you know a holiday is good when you feel sad to come home... and i sure did feel sad. So it indeed was a great holiday.

We stayed in the luxurious Westin in Langkawi which was near the town. This hotel truly was superb and this is my first time staying in a 5 star resort in Langkawi. My usual favourite hotel is Holiday Villa. But since my brother in law had a Starwood Privilege Card, we got the rooms at RM 380 nett....as compared to RM 1,000++ a night if you were to book it yourself... BIG difference. Is it worth the price? For RM 380, yes. I wouldn't have minded paying RM 500 or RM 600 for the room, but RM 1,000 is a bit much. Don't get me wrong, the room was gorgeous, but my expectation for RM 1,000 a night is a lot more than what we got.

Anyway we left for Langkawi on Friday morning with Air Asia and met up with my sister and her family there, since they were flying from Singapore. Once we checked in, me and my nieces headed straight to the pool. Yes, they are water bums like me. I brought along my trusty float and i had no idea it would be such a hit with my nieces. So much so, that i bought them each a float to take back with them. On the first night, the hotel treated us to a complimentary BBQ seafood buffet dinner. I was excited by the sound of this but was disappointed when i actually ate the food. Lots of the seafood barely had any taste and it tasted like they didn't even marinate it before grilling it. The desert was good though, so i ended up filling myself up with deserts rather than with healthy grilled food.

2nd day, we went out to the shops in Kuah town to buy stuff, especially duty free liqour. Got myself a bottle of Jagermeister (hope this is the correct spelling) and some Strongbow Cider. After that, we went to the pool some more and then at night we headed down to Pantai Chenang. Initially, the plan was to have a Chinese dinner at Pantai Chenang, but then we stumbled upon some Chinese restaurants in Kuah Town itself and decided to have dinner there instead. We then took a drive to Pantai Chenang to have a look and this place has really expanded since the last time i was there. There are a lot more shops and restaurants.

3rd day, me and wifey took my nieces out to the beach. The beach at Westin wasn't all that great, so we decided to drive up to Tanjung Rhu...we got there at late morning and we were the only ones there. Nieces had a blast making sand castles (see pics above) and of course swimming in the sea. We stopped by for lunch on the way back and was planning to head out to the pool after that. But when i got back to my room, i was just too burnt out to do anything... so i fell asleep. That night, we headed out to Pantai Chenang again for dinner. We dined at Oasis (see pic below), which is a restaurant that has tables on the beach... yes, you are on the sand. Awesome. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.Our last day was spent packing and rushing off to Kuah town for some last minute shopping. Our flight was at 1:30pm and Air Asia actually took off at 1:15pm... bravo... 15 minutes earlier than schedule. By the time we reached home, it was 4 plus and boy, it sure was a tiring but fun holiday. It truly has been too long since i last had a holiday that i enjoyed so much.

On a side note, the breakfast at the hotel was really great. Besides your usual stuff like the egg counter, bun counter etc, they had a "blend your own shake" counter. You get to choose if you want milk, yogurt or Soy milk, and then your choice of fruits, nuts etc. And then it is blended just for you after that. How cool is that? So for those who want to be health conscious during your holiday, here is one way to do so. They also had a pancake and waffle station which made fresh pancakes and waffles only when you order. Really great stuff.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the pictures i posted and as usual, look forward to hearing your comments.PS: These mini's were up for rental while you are in Langkawi. RM 888 for 8 hours. Anyone fancy renting one? Wifey took pictures with the cars as this is one of her dream cars.

PPS: This is also my 100th post. So happy "centennial" post?

PPPS: I finally have a new poll / survey out. Please vote on it and let me know your thoughts.

Certified Law of Attraction Facilitator / Trainer

Have you guys heard or read the book Law of Attraction? If you have read the book The Secret, then you will be familiar with this. I read the book about a year ago, and after reading it, i was an instant fan of Law of Attraction and finally understood how i was attracting certain "unwanted" things into my life and also learned how to start attracting the things i want into my life. From money, to friends, to relationships - you will be surprised. In fact, i use Law of Attraction all the time even for running Fitness Malaysia, and honestly, the results have been awesome. I have attracted so many clients into the business, just by using Law of Attraction. If you are looking for a good book to read which will help you improve your life, get this book. It only costs you RM 41 from MPH and its an easy read and a definite life changer.

As you may already know, besides running Fitness Malaysia, i am also a free lance Training Consultant and a lot of the corporate training programs i run, are based on Law of Attraction. So when i heard that the author of Law of Attraction, Michael J. Losier was coming down to Malaysia to run a series of seminars, i jumped at the opportunity. One of the seminars he was running in KL was the Law of Attraction Certified Facilitator Program, which i attended and i am proud to say, i am now a certified Law of Attraction facilitator / trainer, having being certified by Michael himself.

The 4 day program was absolutely wonderful and i learned so many little things to improve my skills as a trainer / facilitator / speaker. Before this, all i did was just plan my talk and then deliver it. I try to make it as funny as i can, and that was about all i knew in terms of engaging a crowd. But with the program, i learned so many other tips on how to engage your audience, how to get their buy in to your topic, using Accelerated Learning Techniques as well as many other secrets. He even thought us about room arrangement, crowd control, venue selection and many other tips. So before teaching us all this, he invited all of us for a public seminar where 300 people attended. So he did his magic of engaging the audience of over 300 people and we were all wondering how he did it. How did he get everyone so engaged? How did he get people to write down everything he wanted them to do? How did he get everyone to learn so much in 2 hours and then test them and they still remember everything. Well, thats what we learned after that. He showed us all his little secrets, hand gestures etc and how we can also do the same... and now i know the secrets of becoming a top notch speaker. It was like watching that show on TV, breaking the Magician's code... you see the magic trick first, and then they reveal everything to you.

In addition to that, he also shared with all of us, his life story and how he managed to make it big and be the famous author that he is today. He has appeared 4 times on Oprah and is constantly traveling the world to educate people about using Law of Attraction for their lives. My favourite quote from him during one of our chit chat sessions:

Me: Good Morning Michael, how are you doing today?
Michael: I am doing great, coz that's how i planned my life.

So what was Michael like in person? Very down to earth, loves sharing with people and has a true passion for life. He keeps telling us he is actually a shy person by nature, but honestly, when he walks on stage, he takes command of it. His biggest passion in life is touching people's life through his books & seminars.

The program also taught us how we could start marketing our very own seminars, or better still, how we can run our own Law of Attraction seminars. The whole idea is for us to start running seminars and make money from doing something we love. I love giving talks, and touching people's live and now i know how to make this into an income generating hobby. So all in all, it was one of the best courses i have been too.

Whats all this got to do with fitness? Well not much actually. Just wanted to share my excitement with everybody. One thing for sure, the next time i do a fitness talk, i am sure going to use all the techniques i learned to engage my audience and to get everyone's buy in. So you can expect my talks to be much better, more engaging and of course everyone will learn something that they will remember, even after the talk.

So, have you read the book Law of Attraction? What are your thoughts on it? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Are Meal Replacements Really That Bad?

OK, i decided to tackle this topic because i have been reading some fitness blogs and other sites and the general consensus about meal replacement are that it is considered cheating, its for whimps etc etc. In short, most people have a very negative view with regards to using meal replacement shakes as a mode of weight loss. Now i used to feel the same way too until some time back i spoke to one of my clients and we decided to give meal replacements a try and it worked wonders for her... of course this is in addition to an exercise routine which i coached her on. So the big question is, are meal replacements really that bad? Is it really considered cheating? Well here is my opinion on it.

Meal Replacement are basically low calorie shakes which is consumed in place of a normal meal. So instead of eating your usual meal, you replace your meal with this low calorie shake. They usually taste very good and have anywhere from 80 to 100 calories... which is pretty low for a meal. It is also usually pretty thick and this is important as it needs to be able to fill you up. If its watery, then you are less likely to get full on it and will feel hungry and probably munch on other things because you feel hungry. Also, its important to note that most meal replacement products are still designed to give you all the nutrients you need from a normal meal, but just without the heavy calorie baggage. So all in all its actually a good product and i don't see any harm in people using this to lose weight.

Lets look at some of the arguments that usually arise with regards to this and my opinion on these.

Its Cheating
When it comes to weight loss, there are hundreds of products out there which promise weight loss without effort. From slimming centers to brain surgery to the swallowing worms, you name it some one has thought of it and is already marketing it. Hence even with Meal Replacements, its considered that you are taking the easy way out. This is true, its an easy way out, but if there are no harmful side effects, then whats wrong with it? Let me put it in a different way. If you are looking to build muscle mass, chances are you are consuming some kind of protein shake to ensure you get enough protein in your system. Isn't a protein shake cheating as well? Shouldn't you just tough it out and eat boiled chicken breasts and egg whites to get all the protein you need? The reason you drink the protein shake, is because you are not able to diligently eat that much protein. Hence you supplement it with a protein shake which is convenient. Same goes for taking vitamin supplements? We take it because we know our diet really lacks these minerals and hence why why do it. Same goes for meal replacement shakes. Its just a convenient way for people to ensure they don't over eat.

Its for whimps
OK, usually this comment is followed by because people don't want to exercise and depend on the meal replacement shakes all the way. Personally for me, i don't think anyone should replace all their meals with meal replacements. what i usually recommend is that you swap one meal per day with a meal replacement shake... ideally its the meal which you know you cannot control and will end up overeating. I am aware of some people who sell meal replacements tell you to drink ONLY the shake and nothing else 3 times a day and this is because your shake will finish faster and you will have to buy more and that person makes more profit from you. This is not effective because how long can you honestly go on without eating solid food? a week, maybe 2? then what? This is why i recommend exercise along with swapping of maybe one meal with the shake and the results i have seen are pretty good. And i know its healthy and safe, because it is only one meal a day. So yes, i agree with the rest that consuming this 100% is not the way to go, but at the same time, i think don't think it should be completely thrown out your plan.

Its Expensive
Yes it is expensive but so are protein shakes. My point is, if people are willing to spend that little extra to see better results, why not. Why should we stop them from this? I am not saying that meal replacements are mandatory for weight loss, but if you can afford it, why not? The usual comparison made here by others are that people are willing to spend so much money on these products rather than just jog outside for free. Point taken... but again, i like using meal replacements as a method to turbo boost your weight loss progress. If its works and its safe, why not? Again, not all your meals, just one meal a day.


So would i recommend meal replacements to people who want to lose weight? Absolutely. Would i recommend it with exercise... YES. Would i recommend meal replacements with no exercise? NO, but then you must understand that everyone has their own ideas and a hard headed sometimes. You can tell them what you want, but its up to them to decide after that. Honestly, just drinking meal replacements with no exercise is still better than no exercise and no meal replacement and just maintaining the status quo and continue being overwieght. Which do you think is healthier? So again... if it works and its safe, why not.

What do you guys think of meal replacements? YES or NO in your books? Do share your comments and as usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

TRX in Malaysia

Last Saturday, i was invited for the official launch of TRX in Malaysia. Before this, getting your own TRX unit in Malaysia was difficult and many people actually resorted to going to Singapore to order it or mail order it through the internet. Well now, you don't have to go through so much hassle, as TRX is now in Malaysia and can be purchased easily via a simple phone call to the distributor Eco Lifestyle Fitness Sdn. Bhd.

For those who are unfamiliar with the TRX, let me give you a little history on what the TRX is and how it was developed. TRX is a simple piece of exercise equipment consisting of a handle and adjustable straps that you latch on to a solid beam, tree or door. Once you strap it on, you can do hundreds of exercises and honestly, you are limited only with the creativity of your own brain. You can train your arms, chest, shoulders, back, legs, abs... you name it, you can train it. You use your own body weight as resistance and you can increase or decrease the resistance by simply changing the angle of your body. Go to youtube and type in TRX exercises and voila.... you will be able to easily create a workout routine. Each TRX unit you purchase, comes with a DVD set which gives you instructions on how to use your TRX as well as some exercises you can do. The TRX is also getting lots of publicity now as it is used a lot by The Biggest Loser Asia.

Whats my favourite feature about it. It weighs about 2 pounds and you can carry it anywhere. I travel a lot for holidays and now with this, i can have a quick intense workout anywhere at anytime. Now the TRX is great to tone your muscles and help you lose weight. But you are not going to be able to build much muscle mass by just using the TRX. With that being said, when i travel, i may not be able to get the same workout as i would in the gym with weights, but hey, it is still better than not working out at all, right? So in a sense, you would be doing some basic maintanence workouts, which is better than skipping and trying to rebuild once i return. I also like how it creates a lot of unstability which is great for your core muscles.

OK, down to its history. TRX ws born in the US Navy SEALS by a former US Navy SEALS Randy Hetrick. The idea came about when US Soldiers who were out in the battle field for long missions, needed a means to work out and stay fit. Being a soldier takes tremendous amount of fitness so you will need to stay at your best shape, escpecially when you are out in the field. Bringing heavy dumbbells and gym equipment to the field was out of the questions. So Randy and his team put together pieces of parachute webbing sewn together with a boat repair kit to form a crude version of the TRX we know today. This idea caught on quickly and soon other Navy SEALS began using it too. In short, the TRX was born out of necessity.

After retiring from active duty, Randy went on to get his MBA and soon realized the potential of the TRX when he took it down to a campus gym to workout. He got dozens of curious onlookers wanting to know how it worked and if they could have one. Hence he went on to develop it with industrial designers to develop the refined TRX which we have today.

Now i have known about the TRX for some time now and thought it was a decent piece of equipment. But after going for the launch and seeing the versatility of it, i am totally blown away and now i am a HUGE HUGE fan of it. Whats more, for attending the launch, they gave a free unit of the TRX to take home. YES, i cannot believe my luck. I actually got a TRX for FREE. My sincere thanks goes out to Danny G of Eco Lifestyle Fitness for his generosity in giving me a unit of the TRX. It will be put to good use, not only by me, but my PT clients as well.

So, if you are looking for an exercise equipment to invest in, which can be easily used at home, very very mobile and yet is able to train multiple muscles with varying resistance, i truly recommend you to invest in the TRX. The price is RM 1088 per unit, but compare that with say, an exercise bike. For a decent unit, you are going to spend well over RM 1,000... and all you can do is cardio. With the TRX you can do circuit training which provides you with great cardio benefits, strengthen your core and tone your muscles. So which would you rather invest in?

For those who are interested in knowing how they can purchase their very own unit of the TRX in Malaysia, you can log on to www.trxmalaysia.com for more details. One thing for sure, i am going to start using the TRX for all my PT clients. So if you like the TRX and not so sure about it, well you do have the option of signing up for some PT sessions with me and i will bring in the TRX for your sessions.

So what do you guys think of the TRX? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Weight Loss Through Brain Surgery

Medical science - sometimes we are thrilled with the advancements that they make, but other times, you just shake your head and say "What the ....".

I was watching Oprah this morning and got the shock of my life at the topic that was being featured. She was having an interview with Dr. Oz and the topic of discussion... you guessed it. Weight Loss Through Brain Surgery. Now of course at first, many may not be able to see the connection here, but basically, our brain controls a lot of our bodily functions, including our appetite, which can lead to obesity.

So the surgery involves drilling a hole in your brain and placing 2 electrodes in there which discharges a small electrical pulse which is supposed to affect the part of your brain which is responsible for your appetite. This electrical pulse is supposed to suppress your appetite somewhat, hence making you eat less, which equals to weight loss. The electrical charges start with a very low voltage and is increased slowly in the months to come. According to doctors, it will take several months before the patient actually sees results.

These electrodes get their power from two pacemaker type devices which are implanted in the patients chest and has a wire running from your chest to the brain. The whole surgery takes about 3 hours to complete and supposedly they have been using the similar technology to treat Parkinson's disease.

So, has this revolutionary medical procedure been tested on an actual human subject? But of course. Carol Poe, the 2nd recipient of this procedure said she has tried everything from diets, to exercise, to stomach staples, but nothing ever worked. (really or you just didn't try hard enough) But now she claims that she can actually control her cravings thanks to this wonder..... whatever you want to call it.

According to Doctors there are no side effects from this procedure as they have been using it for many years on patients with Parkinson's Disease, and thus they are confident it is safe. The other point for adding to your feeling of security (just in case you had any doubts) is that the voltages start at a very low rate and can be manually adjusted, hence doctors are able to monitor their patients carefully before increasing the voltage.

So guys, what do you think about this procedure? Is it sane or insane? Is it really that hard to lose weight that you have to resort to such extreme measures? is exercise really that hard to do? Oprah said she would never attempt such a procedure. So what are your thoughts on this? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.