Does eating fat make you fat?

I have been reading this topic a lot in many blogs and i thought i would like to address this issue as well. Many of the blogs i read say that fat doesn't make you fat, its consuming more calories that your body can use that makes you fat. This statement is true. There is no denying that.

Though the statement above is very true, this is only half the story. People forget that there is another essential part to this statement. Without this second part, you will give people the wrong impression. The second part should be - however, it is important to note that it would take less fat than carbohydrates to make you gain fat. Confused? Let me explain.

See it is true that fat alone does not make you gain weight. If you eat lots of fatty food and your calories in is still less than you calories out, then bravo... you will not gain fat. Because in order for you to gain additional unwanted weight, you must have a surplus of calories which your body cannot use. This is true. So it is possible to eat butter and other high fat foods and still get away with it.

Now on to the second part. If you were to only focus on eating fatty food all day, you can only eat very little, and trust me, you will be extremely hungry the rest of the day. This is because 1g of fat has 9 calories, where else 1g of carbohydrate only has 4 calories. As you can see, 1 g of fat has more than twice the amount of calories as fat does. So, you could eat twice as much on a full carb diet compared to a full fat diet. Which one seems more appealing to you now? To be able to eat more or to be able to eat less?

Lets look at it this way. One stick of butter (roughly about 110g) has about 800 calories. If you need to consume 3,200 calories a day to maintain yourself (assuming you are pumping iron really hard and work as a labourer), you can only eat 4 sticks of butter or about 440g of butter for the whole day. That's it. Anything more will cause you to overshoot your caloric intake for that day. How full do you think you will feel? Can you really survive the entire day with just 4 sticks of butter? And remember, to spend 3,200 calories, you will be doing LOTS of activity. Highly unlikely i think.

1 slice of white bread has about 80 calories. To reach 3,200 calories, you will be allowed to eat 40 slices of white bread. Now which diet do you think will keep you full longer. 40 slices of white bread or 4 sticks of butter. Can you see my point? It IS possible to get fat on fat, because faty foods are very high in calorie. So it makes it that much easier to surpass your limit.

So yes folks, though technically fat itself does not make you fat, but it can, when done in exaggeration, just like anything else. You can even get fat on a pure fruit diet, as long as you consume enough of it. So knowing this, what should you do? Should you cut down your intake of fatty foods such as cheese and butter or should you just continue as usual? Since the statements now seem contradictory.

Well, here is my take on that question. As you know, losing weight is a pure numbers game. Calories in vs. Calories out. As long as you know how to manage these numbers, then you are fine. But because its a numbers game where your aim is for the lowest score, eating lower calorie foods would help you achieve a lower score compared to foods with high calories. Food with high fat content (which will also naturally mean higher calorie content) means you can eat less. Again, you want to be able to eat and stay full and not where you feel hungry and uncomfortable.

So you know yourself best. If you are the kind who will put in the work after eating an unhealthy meal, then yes, go all out. If not, then you can increase your chance of success by staying away from fatty foods, because it CAN make you fat. So staying away from fatty foods will give you a huge advantage in succeeding. But at least, now you know the whole story and not just part of it. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Is Wholemeal Bread really better than White Bread?

Hi Guys, firstly sorry for not posting up anything last week. Was busy traveling and didn't get a chance to post up anything. Kinda burnt out from all the traveling and looking forward to having regular workout sessions again. Was away for Iron Maiden's concert in Singapore (which was awesome, although there were some sound problems) and later i was away at Fraser's for a seminar. My weight lifting routine came in real handy for the concert as i was standing near the front of the stage. The crowd got a little too excited and we were continuously being pushed everywhere and it was a challenge to stand still. One of my friends came out of the concert with a back ache. See... working out is important for everything... even rock concerts. My body probably didn't feel anything because it is used to the stress of lifting weights.

Through out the week i barely worked out and was eating loads of crap. So now that it is back to my good old routine, i hope to get back in shape as quickly as i can. This morning's workout was tough, but felt good to start the machine moving again. But yeah.. haven't been working out properly since CNY and there are some small bulges starting to show up so i'm on a mission to trim it back down.

Anyway, just the other day, i was buying bread from 7-11 and happened to compare the difference in calories between white bread and whole meal bread. Did you know that the difference is only a mere 11 calories for 2 slices of bread? That means 5.5 calories per slice of bed. Meaning that whole meal bread is just 11 calories less than white bread. If this is the case, is it worth the effort to eat whole meal bread or should you just switch back to white bread. After all, 11 calories seems hardly enough to throw your diet off course.

For me, putting on weight is not too much of an issue as i know how to balance my nutrition and activity level. When i feel like i am eating too much and gaining more fat, i make it a point to do some extra running or balance it back the next day by eating smaller meals.
So i choose white bread coz it just tastes better. But if you are trying to watch your diet, then you want to go for whole meal bread... not because its 11 calories less, but because it is more complex and takes longer to break down.

Let me explain. Though it is true that weight loss depends on calories in vs calories out, there are other factors to consider as well. One main factor is, how fast a particular carbohydrate is changed into sugar. As you may know, 1g of pure protein has 4 calories and so does 1g of pure carbohydrate. They both have the same amount of calories, yet protein is considered "belly friendly". The reason why people advocate a high protein low carb diet is because protein is more complex and takes longer to breakdown. Simple carbohydrates (like white bread) break down into sugar almost instantly, and if you are not going to be using that energy anytime soon, guess where it goes... yup, stored as fat. save it up for a rainy day. Complex carbohydrates (whole meal bread) on the other hand, take a longer time to breakdown and get converted into sugar. Because its a slower process, the amount of energy being released is also released slowly, reducing the chance of excess energy being stored away as fat.


Also, when you eat simple carbohydrates and sugar, your body releases insulin to regulate your blood sugar. Insulin is a storage hormone and because of this, you are more likely to store this unused energy as well. There are heaps of other reasons why protein aids weight loss, but we shall discuss that in another post. For now lets go back to our scenario of white bread vs whole meal bread.
So, with whole meal bread, it takes longer for it to break down into sugar, hence you get a more regulated release of insulin in the blood stream which ultimately means, less storage. Don't get me wrong, white bread is perfectly fine if you eat it and then go for an intense workout or help your friend to paint his house for the next 3 hours. But if you are just going to be sitting in front of your computer and do work, then whole meal bread will be a safer bet. Not just because of the 11 calories, but because of how quickly or slowly, it turns into sugar. All carbohydrates have what they call a glycemic index which indicates how quickly a particular food turns into sugar. The higher the index, the faster it turns into sugar. The lower the index, the longer it takes to turn into sugar. So whole meal bread not only has less calories but also a lower glycemic index than white bread.

Now before you swear off white bread completely, its also important to consider how much bread you eat. If you are only eating 2 slices of bread a day, then i would say, go ahead. knock yourself out and eat the white bread - unless you really really enjoy the taste of wholemeal bread. But if your diet is one loaf of bread a day, then you might want to stick with whole meal bread as it is healthier. But if its just 2 slices, i am pretty sure you could eat it and still get away with it.

So is whole meal bread really healthier? Well now that you know the facts from above, you can make a better decision. It really depends on you and how much you are eating. So consider all these facts before making a decision. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

PS: Please also take a moment to cast your votes on our latest poll on the top right hand side

What's your Learning Modality?

Being a corporate trainer, i have to be aware of people's learning modalities because different people have different preferences when it comes to processing information. What you say to some people may make absolute sense, but you might have others giving you a blank stare. that's because you are not conveying the information in their preferred style. In short, there are 3 different learning modalities and we are all capable of all 3, but we have our preferred and of course our least preferred modality. So below are the 3 and a small description of each

1) Visual Learners - learn best through visual aids or when they see pictures. Don't tell them about something, show it to them.
2) Auditory learners - Learn best from listening to people. These are the people who can easily understand road directions on the phone. Visual people would understand better is you drew them a map
3) Kinesthetic learners - learn best by actually doing it. So they understand how to do something better once they do it themselves. They are also known to be more empathetic than other learners.

As you can see, when i give my trainings, i have to ensure that i satisfy the needs of all 3 modalities or else i would lose the crowd. If i I only talk continuously, then i would satisfy the needs of the auditory learners, but the rest would be yawning out of boredom. So i have to ensure i meet all 3 modalities. But like i mentioned earlier, we have all 3 in us, its just that 1 of it will be our dominant and most preferred style.

Now what does all this yapping about learning modalities have to do with fitness? Well interestingly enough, i discovered that if you understood your learning modality, you could find ways to easily motivate yourself better when you train and exercise? How? Let me explain further.

Lets take jogging as an example. If you are an auditory person, running without music will be extremely boring for you. In fact, you would feel unmotivated to give it your full if you had to jog without music. My wife is an auditory person and she can't run much without her trusted MP3 player. So for her, as long as she has music, she is fine. Me, i am more of a visual person. Being a visual person, i don't like going round and round the same block. i need to see new things to keep me motivated in my running. So i have to run a random course which is visually appealing to me or i will feel bored and fed up. My wife, she is fine with running around the same block 20 times... as long as she has her music. See the difference? Kinesthetic people are also emotional learners and for them, they will be encouraged to go further if they are running with someone or if someone continuously encourages them that they can do better. They would not enjoy running alone.

Lets look at the weight room. Auditory person, no problem. Blast some music and they will be able to lift heavy. Visual people would probably want to wear more fitted clothes that shows off their muscles, as this would inspire them to lift heavier. They would also love to see themselves lifting if possible. Kinesthetic, if you are spotting them, make sure you give them loads of encouragement as how much they lift, depends on how they are feeling.

So now that you know all this information, your next questions would of course be "so how do i find out my learning modality? Well easy. Go to the site below and take the quick test.

http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm#vak%20learning%20styles%20free%20quick%20test

From there you will easily learn if you are an auditory, visual or kinesthetic learner. Now remember, just because you have a low score in one, it doesn't mean you are not capable of it. It just means, that that is your least preferred style.

There is actually a 4th learning modality which is new and that is known as the digital learner. I can't find an online test for that, but if you were to buy the book Law of Connection from Michael J Losier, then you can take the test there. Digital people like sequences that make logical sense and they need a lot of information before making a decision. The reason i didn't add this is in earlier, is because i am not quite sure how Digital learners would benefit in fitness. when i did the test, my most preferred style is Digital, Visual, Auditory and lastly Kinesthetic. So my 2 preferred styles are Digital & Visual. Probably explains why i love watching TV so much. :-)

Anyway, just thought i would share that there is a 4th one and like i mentioned, not too sure how it fits in for fitness, even though i am a digital person myself. But I do know how to motivate myself visually.

So what is your learning modality. Take the test and find out and you will even discover why there were certain things you couldn't do or just hated doing. But with the right stimulus, you can easily motivate yourself to do much more. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments on this.

Does weight training help you burn fat?

In one word, absolutely. I was in the gym the other day and someone asked me if I watch my food religiously. I said, no, although I am a bit conscious about what I eat but I am not anal about watching every calorie that I consume. I do indulge every once in a while, but for the most part, I try to make a healthy choice. He then asked me if I eat rice. I said YES. I make it a point to eat rice at least once a day (since I am currently going through a Muscle Gain phase). So he was shocked and asked how is it I can eat rice once a day, do mainly weight training and yet look so slim. He does loads of cardio everyday in the gym and found it difficult to lose that unwanted fat. From his understanding, if you only do weights and eat normally, you will become big like weight lifters and not slim and fit. Yeah you will be strong, but no way will you look slim and fit. The only way to lose weight is to do cardio and lots of it. Oh and not to mention, he believed that you must be extremely careful with your food. Now, nothing wrong with that concept. It’s a good one, but at the same time it’s not the only way for you to lose fat.

There seems to be this common misconception that you can only lose weight with cardio and weight training makes you BIG and bulky. The more you lift, the bigger you become and if you lift heavy, you have to be fat. I have to explain this concept with a lot of my new clients, coz they expect me to take them through a pure cardio session when they want to lose weight. When I introduce weights, the first question is always – “Are you sure we should be touching dumbbells if we wanna lose weight?” or the other classic one is “I am not interested in building muscle, I just want to lose weight”. No, you want to lose FAT but inevitably, you will need to preserve whatever muscle you have or probably even build a little more. You want to look slim, and having a little more muscle helps you with that goal. You can look super slim and have some extra muscle mass at the same time.

Anyway, back to my buddy in the gym. So I explained that weight training does help you to burn fat. A really heavy weight lifting session can burn more calories than a slow paced cardio session in the gym. When I lift, I lift real heavy and most of my sessions are done in supersets. Does it get my heart pumping, YES. Am I using massive amounts of energy to complete my task, YES. So if you are using energy, you are using up calories… YES. If you are using up calories, is that an effective fat loss strategy? Absolutely. Most people don’t realize that a heavy weight training session uses an immense amount of energy and like I said, can easily be more effective than a cardio session.

The other benefit of weight training is, that it helps you to build muscle tissue. The more muscle you have, the more calories you are going to burn even while at rest. This is because muscle is active tissues that need to be constantly fed just to stay alive. Because it needs to be constantly fed, you will require that extra amount of calories to keep and maintain those hard earned muscles. If we were to take 2 identical people who had identical activity levels each day and identical diet, but one person had more muscle mass than the other person - the person with more muscle mass will require more calories than the guy who has less muscle. So because of this, maintaining muscle mass is extremely important, even if you ONLY want to lose weight to fit into that dress, you want to maintain whatever muscle you have. Muscle is healthy mass and healthy tissue. Fat is bad. So don’t lump them both together.

So can you lose fat by just doing 100% weight training? Absolutely. You can have an extremely low body fat % if you eat right and do just weight training. No harm in doing some cardio to help you reach those goals, but if you did NIL you would still be OK.

PS: Today is the first day of the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese Calendar, so let me take the opportunity to wish everyone Gong Xi Fa Chai and may the year of the Rabbit bring you and abundance of health wealth and happiness. I am currently in Singapore celebrating CNY with my family so I shall give all of you an update once I am back in KL.

Moativational Medicine™

Have you ever heard of real life stories such as these:

• A guy who doesn't smoke, doesn't drink alcohol and is a vegetarian and exercises regularly, suddenly dies of a heart attack at age 40?
• People who seemingly live a "bad habit" lifestyle and is supposed to be at high risk does not get cancer, where else another person who has a healthy lifestyle and a much lower risk of cancer ends up getting it?
• People who have nagging ailments that have been going on for years, and despite all the drugs / treatments and medication can't seem to cure it?
• Why some people can recover from cancer while others are not able to.
  

There are many other puzzling scenarios like the ones above, and over this last weekend, i attended a 2 day seminar on Moativational Medicine™ (still pronounced as Motivational, in case you were wondering) which helped to answer the questions above. Now before i go on, i am sure the one question on all your minds is, what the heck is Moativational Medicine.

Moativational Medicine™ which was created by Richard Moat, PhD, which demonstrates the direct link between our emotions and our physical ailments. Doctors and respected members of the medical community are confirming that our physical health is directly linked to our thoughts and emotions. They admit to not having all the answers and are embracing complementary and allied approaches to getting people back on the road to wellness.

Below is an excerpt from http://www.moativationalmedicine.com/ website which gives a clearer picture on what Moativational Medicine™ is all about.

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The fundamental principle which underpins Moativational Medicine™ is that, of all the factors that can influence our state of physical health - diet, lifestyle, environment, thoughts, feelings and genetics - it is the realms of thoughts and feelings, the psycho-emotional aspect of our being, which is the most influential.

This also appears to be the least understood aspect, although over the last twenty years it's emergence as the most widely researched area of medicine - formally known as psycho-neuro-immunology, or PNI - suggests it is likely to prove both significant and revealing as we search for answers to questions such as 'What has caused my illness?' and 'How do I get better and stay well?

Since medicine was first recorded, the psycho-emotional make-up of an individual seems to have been a necessarily observed factor in assessing the cause of an illness. Study any number of health and healing philosophies and practises from around the world and you will find plenty of evidence to support this as being a critical area.

Over time, Western medicine seems to have lost sight of this aspect, preferring instead to create a pill for every ill rather than understand, explore and treat what might be at the root of those ills. Today the term stress is widely and loosely used to conveniently bundle together any number of possible causes, leaving much room and desire for specific answers and solutions.

When we look deeply and honestly at the major causes of stress today, it is wise to observe that it is the thoughts and feelings we generate in response to life's events that hold the key. Our beliefs, values, feelings and behaviours are all inter-twined to create an unconscious way of being and relating in the world, a combination which suffers from the distraction of suggesting that events, people or circumstances are the cause.

This distraction has been so successful that we exist in a time when more people have more unwanted physical conditions - and for longer - than at any other time in history. Moativational Medicine™ is the result of exploring the lesser-trodden paths for answers, re-discovering and re-presenting in an easy-to-understand-and-apply manner what has always been true.

Moativational Medicine™ explains and demonstrates as simply as possible the role our thoughts and emotions play in the on-set and maintenance of the illnesses, ailments, symptoms and dis-eases that can befall any one of us at any time.

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Through the 2 day seminar, i learned some of the techniques that Richard Moat uses in his treatment for ailments. No pills or injections, its a technique of discovering what emotions you have been holding on to and how do you dissolve these dis-empowering and damaging emotions once and for all. By dissolving these emotions from your system, you are able to almost immediately clear the physical ailment that you are suffering from. Over the years, Richard has successfully treated over 2,700 people. Now its important to note that Moativational Medicine™ does NOT deny that factors such as diet, lifestyle and habits do play a role in ailments. No one is denying that. But its also equally important to note that a bigger part of ailments is actually caused by emotions and not just external factors.

Below are some of the people that have been successfully cure by Richard:

Kevin Patton was in hospital on life support with terminal leukaemia. Doctors said that he had 5 days to live. A experiencing a "dose" of Moativational Medicine™, 2 weeks later kevin walked unaided out of the hospital.

Andy Whitfield, star of Spartacus: Blood & Sand was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma and his oncologist could not offer an explanation as to why he had contracted the disease. After one session with Richard, he was able to discover the cause and set about reversing the condition.

The list of testimonials go on and on, but i guess you get the picture. This stuff REALLY works and its highly effective. So if you are only concerned with being physically healthy and think that it is the end all to staying healthy, think again. Emotional well being plays a huge role in your health and heck even how long you live. So its extremely important to take care of that as well.

So what are your thoughts on this? As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

PS: As promised to some of my other blogger friends, i recently purchased a rare memorabilia and i am extremely proud of it. Many of you who are close to me will know that i am avid fan of the movie Troy and an avid fan of swords. Being in Malaysia where everything is banned, i really thought there was no way i could ever get my hands on this. But i did. Check it out, it is the Achilles's sword from the movie - ok i admit, its not a 100% replica but pretty damn close. Its made from 100& stainless steel (not plastic) and is full length and size.


So for all you movie buffs out there who like collecting replicas and collectibles from your movies, check out this site

http://www.toyrebels.com/

and get in touch with them. These guys specialize in rare movie / comic / TV collectibles that are extremely hard to find in Malaysia. Don't forget to mention my name so you can get some discounts on your purchase. This site sells everything from costumes to figurines to swords to whatever else you can think of so you can have a slice of Hollywood in your home. My next purchase is probably going to be the 300 sword, Highlander sword or.... i dunno. Check it out. You know you want it. Also look forward to hearing your comments on this.

Updates & Poll Results

Last Sunday, i ran my first ever public fitness talk and it was indeed a HUGE blast. We had over 60 people attending and i hope i managed to impart some useful tips to all who attended. A big thanks goes out to everyone who took time from their Sunday Afternoon to come for the talk. I also hope that this was an eye opener to many that staying fit and healthy is not that hard to do and anyone can do it.

Also, i want to take this opportunity to thank a few people who contributed a lot and made the whole event a great success.

1) Arfian of Corporate Athletes - He was a huge help with running the body fat % tests after the talk. Thanks again bro, i owe you a huge makan.
2) Veron - Who was my MC for the day and also helped to handle the PC and run the videos. Thanks again.
3) Syukran of Simple Wellness who let us use his wonderful facility in PJ and also helped a lot in the marketing.
4) Most importantly, wifey for helping me run lots of logistics, collecting payment and also helping with the body fat % scans. Without her tremendous help and support, this talk would surely have fallen flat.

Thanks again guys. I owe all of you one. So when is the next talk? Uhmmm.... i dunno, with the success of this one, i am itchy to run another soon. Well we will keep all of you posted on the next one. You want to see some pictures of the talk? ARGGHH!!!! unfortunately i was so busy running here and there, brought my camera, but completely forgot to snap pictures. Next time will be better... i promise.

Anyway, this weeks post i wanted to cover poll results of our recent poll. We had a total of 38 votes, and the number 1 winner is "Losing Weight on a Malaysian Diet" which had a whopping 21 votes. Honestly, my personal vote went for "Eat Crap & Lose Weight" coz i thought it was catchy, but unfortunately, that only got about 4 votes, of which, 1 was mine. The other titles also didn't do very well all fetching only about 2 to 4 votes each.

If you haven't already guessed, the reason i ran the poll this time is, i am seriously considering writing a book on weight loss, and the concept i had was, how to eat crap / junk and lose weight. Wouldn't that be something? Lots of people find it hard to stay true to a diet, so i wanted to share some tips on that. I did cover some of this in my talk last Sunday so for those who attended, you now know some secrets on how to indulge and lose weight. Seeing that "Losing Weight on a Malaysian Diet" is the number one pick, maybe i need to reconsider the topic. Maybe i should run a public talk titled "Losing Weight on a Malaysian Diet" and see how the response is before deciding. Hmmm.... i dunno. Lots of plans, not enough time. Anyway, thanks once again for all your votes, it gives me something tangible to work with. Do share which title caught your attention the most and why as this will give me a lot of useful feedback for my book project.

Before i sign off, just one last small announcement to make. Hope all of you will take the time to check out www.active.com.my which is an online fitness e-zine / portal / website which features loads of information about staying healthy. This project is being run by my good friend Arfian from Corporate Athletes. So do check it out when you have the time and i have also included a link to his page on the right hand column.

OK... that's about it for now, lots of updates and i am definitely looking forward to hearing your comments.

When Temptation Lurks: Tips on Eating Healthy in Any Situation

This week, we have a guest post from our friends from "An Apple A Day" blog which is an overseas blog featuring simple tips on how to stay healthy. I was contacted by one of their team members who was impressed with Fitness Malaysia's blog (ahem ahem) and asked if they could write a guest feature. I said sure thing, and so they were kind enough to email me a blog post. How kind of them? Thanks again Tara for organizing all this.

Anyway, enough ramblings from me, here is this weeks post from our friends at "An Apple A Day". Please do check out their blog as well as it is fun, simple and extremely informative. You can click here to check it out.

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When Temptation Lurks: Tips on Eating Healthy in Any Situation

Edward Stern is a guest blogger for An Apple a Day and a writer on earning your nursing degree for the Guide to Health Education.

When you cook for yourself at home and follow your own schedule, it is much easier to stick to a diet and eat healthy. Where many dieters trip up is outside the house. Parties, festivities, and road trips present all kinds of food temptation: snacks, desserts, chili cheese dogs, and other high-calorie food can sabotage healthy eating habits.

However, you don't need to be a hermit to keep eating healthy. There are compromises you can make to indulge a little during special occasions but also keep on track with your dieting goals. Oftentimes, the most successful dieters are the ones who know how to make these compromises. Read on for tips on eating healthy in some common situations that have the potential to wreak havoc on a diet.

Game Day

• When tailgating or huddling around the big screen with close friends, chips and dip are a staple of any pre-game spread. Having a couple handfuls of chips won't hurt a diet, but drowning them in dip will. Avoid nacho cheese and other processed dips, especially any containing ranch or sour cream. Instead, enjoy pico de gallo and other more natural salsas, and add a little homemade guacamole (store-bought brands tends to have a lot of added sugars.)
• Go easy on the beer—alcohol is full of empty calories that do nothing but expand your waistline and shrink your head. Nurse one or two light beers if you're going to drink, and leave it at that.
• If you're going to the game, don't eat the junk sold at the concession stands. Hot dogs are chock full of fat and calories and won't fill you up, and much of what else is sold is heavily processed. Eat beforehand at a tailgate and try chicken sausage, which tastes great and has a quarter of the fat of a bratwurst. It'll keep you thin and your wallet fat.

At a Party

• When you’re attending parties with appetizers, eat slowly. It's very tempting to overindulge in the cocktail weenies and other gourmet snacks offered by wolfing them down, but that leads to overeating and the intake of too many calories and too much fat. Pace yourself, eat one thing at a time, and you'll be amazed at how full you get off so little.
• If a buffet is offered, load up on healthy options like fruits, vegetables, rice, and pasta dishes. These healthy and high-carb foods are filling and will give you energy to be your most social. Just watch out for any pasta salads—creamy dressings are high in fat so eat sparingly.
• If dessert is offered, you don't need to deprive yourself. Try just a little bit of everything, and really watch your portions. Many diets are wrecked by cravings and binge eating, so if you treat yourself with a slice of cake occasionally, you'll stay on track. If you're being really good, scrape off the frosting—it's pure sugar and empty calories.

On the Road

• Road trips are notorious diet-wreckers for the constant snacking many partake in. Forget the Cheetos and Hostess desserts. Instead, buy fruit or trail mix. Nuts are a great source of protein and fiber which fills you up. If you have to have chips, try baked brands or the new Pop Chips—both use significantly less oil.
• It's inevitable that at some point you'll make a trip through the drive-thru. Order diet soda (or better, just water) and a grilled chicken sandwich and/or salad which many fast food chains now carry (sorry, no bacon or ranch sauce, and if you're being really good, no mayonnaise or cheese). Fries are very unhealthy, but if you have to have them, get only a small order.
• It's tempting to want to eat out every night, but restaurants are a drain on your funds and your dietary ambitions—the temptation on the menu is often too great. Make a couple trips to the grocery store along the way to your destination where you can stock up on sandwich fixings and fruit. Many grocery chains have food to go, such as hot soup and pre-made sandwiches, and these are a good way to go.

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There you go guys. Simple and useful tips for all situations. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

PS: Don't forget to keep yourself free for our talk "7 Habits of Healthy & Fit People" this coming Sunday (16 January 2011) at 2:30pm. Tickets are selling fast, so do email me if you want to book your seat before its too late.

Diet Vs Exercise

Welcome to 2011 everyone. Hope you are all geared up for a fantastic year and most importantly, i hope you achieve the goals you have set for yourself this year.

Before we jump into this weeks post, just got one small announcement to make.

To kick off 2011 with a bang, Fitness Malaysia is organizing its first ever public health and fitness talk titled:

7 Habits of Healthy & Fit People

What is it that healthy & fit people do differently that allows them to look good all the time.

Come for this 2 hour power packed seminar and learn the secrets that healthy and fit people have been using to:-

• Live a longer healthier life

• Lose weight quickly & look their best

• Never starve themselves and still stay slim and healthy

• Enjoy Life to the fullest

Date: Sunday, January 16, 2011

Time: 2:30pm to 4:30pm

Venue: DVI Studio, B05-02, Dataran 3 Two, Jalan 19/1, PJ

Ticket Prices:

RM 25 per person (normal Price RM 55)

1 FREE ticket for group buy of 5 tickets

RM 35 per person for walk ins on talk day

Seats are extremely limited, so book your tickets today to avoid disappointment. I usually charge RM 55 a person for this talk and have run it many times for many special groups. But i am giving a special discount as this is a public program which is open to all.

To book your seats, email me at rajanrj@hotmail.com

As an added bonus, all attendees will be entitled to a FREE body fat % test so that you can learn what your current health & fitness level is. Also, this will be a great opportunity for everyone to network and meet other fitness enthusiasts.

Do pass the word around to your friends and lets kick off 2011 with the right Habits.

OK, now that that piece of business is out of the way, lets get down to this weeks post. Over the holidays, i went to numerous friends houses for dinner parties and the conversation of losing weight naturally came up. Of course, with new years eve just around the corner (at that time), everyone was making resolutions to lose weight and live a healthier life. From my conversations, it suddenly dawned upon me that most people would prefer to starve themselves than to eat normally and exercise. Whenever i recommended doing some simple exercises, almost everyone told me that exercise is not their thing, no time to exercise, yadda dadda daadaa and the list goes on and on. But if you were to tell me to stop eating this and that, i would much prefer to do it and i think that is easier to manage.

So after hearing all this, i have a theory. Malaysians in general are not keen on exercising to lose weight, but would much rather starve themselves or drink shakes in replacement of meals to lose weight. Hmmm... no wonder there are so many diet programs out there which are a hit.

So today, i went for lunch with some friends and decided to put my observation / theory to the test. I asked a few friends. I have a way for you to lose 5kg in 1 month. But there are 2 options.

Option A: I will give you a specific food guide for every meal, and you must eat exactly like i tell you to for a full 1 month.

Option B: You can continue eating like you are eating right now, but you have to work out 3 to 4 times a week with a specific exercise routine.

Guess what the answer was... no surprise here. Everyone chose Option A. So i asked everyone why Option A and the response i got were

• It's a no brainer... just do as you are told and voila you see results.
• Little effort on my part.
• I don't have time to exercise these days.

Honestly, i am quite surprised with this, because i always thought that watching your diet strictly is far more challenging than exercise... at least for me it is. I will definitely be addressing this topic in my talk on January 16. But for most people, they would much rather watch their diet to lose weight compared to exercise.

So what do you guys think? Heard the same responses as i have? Which option would you choose? There is no right or wrong option, its just a matter of your preference i guess. So, as usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Tips to Stay Fit and Healthy during the Holidays

Firstly, before i forget, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone Happy New Year. This is the last post for 2010 and you can look forward to many more posts in 2011. What a year its been and it sure did zoom past at light speed.

With December being a festive month, where lots of people are on leave and traveling, the urge to eat more than our usual is always there. Almost everyday i meet someone who tells me how they have put on weight this month, or how its impossible to watch your figure in December. Well i admit that it is harder than other times, but definitely not impossible. So i decided to do a post on tips for staying healthy during the holidays.

1) Plan your meals
If you are going for that big dinner party tonight, then maybe you want to have smaller meals through out the day to save the additional calories for your big dinner party. The problem is, many people continue eating like normal and then pig in even more during the party. So if you are going for a dinner party and planning to go all out, reduce your intake for the rest of the day. This way you can enjoy your dinner party without guilt. So start planning your meals and you should do just fine.

2) Do some extra exercise
Now i am not sure how full your social calendar is going to look like, but if you can, try to fit in some time for a jog or walk in addition to your usual workout routine. If you could throw in an additional 20 minute jog every other day, it will go a long way in preventing your festive luncheons and dinners from going straight to your waist. So if you are going to eat more than usual, make sure you balance it off with some exercise. If you are traveling, make sure you bring along your running shoes. This way there is no excuse of why you can't squeeze in a quick 20 minute run somewhere.

3) Alcohol Consumption
OK, i am not going to say NO alcohol at all during the holidays, as i know sometimes we just want to relax and unwind. PLUS, when its festive season, its that much harder to say no. If you are consuming alcohol, do your best NOT to have a huge feast after your drinks at the end of the night. Also, your 20 minute jog the next day after your drinking session becomes extremely crucial. So once your hangover dies down, make sure you do some exercise. While our body is breaking down alcohol (which is toxic to our body), our fat burning system is turned down low. Which is why you want to avoid that post drinking feast. This is one of the main contributing factors to why people put on weight when they drink. One way to reboot our fat burning system is to exercise. So if possible, do some exercise the next day. It does not have to be as intense as your other days, but some exercise is way better than none.

4) Eat slowly
Whenever we eat a meal, it takes time for our brain to register that we are full and signal us to stop eating. So if you eat extremely fast, there is a high chance you are going to overshoot that stop signal, overeat and feel over-stuffed. So slow down your eating and ENJOY your food. After all, what's the hurry. This way you get to prevent yourself from overeating and passing your "stop when full" point and you will stop just at the right spot.

5) Reduce sweet drinks if possible
Sweet drinks are really just empty calories. they do very little to fill you up but it adds massive damage to your calorie intake. I know we all crave to have a sweet drink here and there, but be mindful of it and don't go overboard. For me personally, i would prefer to save those calories for food rather than sweet drinks. So yeah, have your sweet drinks if you must, but keep an eye on it. There is nothing worse than sipping sweet drinks and cola all night only to realize you consumed a good 1 liter of it through out the entire night.

There you go... some simple tips to help you stay fit during the festive holiday season. All these tips are so easy to do, so i really hope you guys try them out. As you would have noticed, these tips are not about don't eat this and don't drink that. You are allowed to enjoy yourself, but you just have to be a little more mindful of things if you are concerned about your waistline. At the end of the day, i personally believe that moderation is key. As long as you remember this rule and follow it, you will do just fine during the holidays.

Do you guys have any other tips to share on how to stay fit during the holidays? If you do, please do share. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.

Is running outdoors dangerous?

I recently gave a fitness talk and was asked many interesting questions. From what kinds of food we should eat pre & post workout to how to gain muscle mass. I rarely get asked about muscle gain during my talks, so it was refreshing that there were so many questions on it. Many also asked how they should exercise to see optimum weight loss. It really was an exciting and very interactive talk. One question which caught my attention the most was if running was bad for you? So i explained that its not, as long as you do it properly. So i wanted to cover this topic in this weeks post.

As many of you know, i am not too fond of running... but recently, i have kinda developed a small addiction for it. I think i just like challenging myself with something that i am not good at. and i am making great progress, which makes me want to do it anymore. I am actually looking at joining a 10km race sometime next year... maybe mid next year. Anyone care to join me?

Many people out there believe that running outdoors is extremely bad for your knees and that using a treadmill is safer. Well it is probably less risky than running outside, but running outside is far more superior in terms of building your cardiovascular endurance and burning calories. Why? Because when running on a treadmill, all you are doing is replacing your steps, while running outside requires you to actually pull your body weight through the distance. in short, running on a treadmill is like running on the spot. Secondly, the uneven terrain and speed makes it more challenging than a treadmill. For these reasons, it is far more difficult to run outdoors than it is to run on a treadmill. If you can run on a treadmill for 20 minutes non stop, it does not mean you can run run outdoors for 20 minutes non-stop as well.So is it recommended that we run on treadmills instead of running outdoors? Lets look back at history to our ancestors. Before there were cars, and horse carriages, mankind depended on their legs to get around everywhere. Because of this, people developed strong legs to carry out these duties. Today, in our sedentary lifestyle, we don't need to do such physical demanding tasks anymore, so in other words, our muscles and bones are kinda "pampered". Just because it is pampered does not mean that you shouldn't work at improving it. Law of use and disuse - If you don't use it, you will lose it. What i am trying to say is, we are NOT incapable of running outside. We just need to start developing this slowly.

Here are some tips to running outside without injury

Get a good pair of shoes - I can't emphasize this enough. If you like running outside, invest in a good pair of shoes. So far the best running shoes i have used are New Balance shoes. For about RM 300 to RM 500 you can get a decent pair which will take you far. A good pair of shoes is not necessarily the one with the most amount of padding and cushioning. Too much padding and cushioning can cause foot muscles to atrophy while shortening and stiffening our foot’s tendons. This over cushioning and pampering of our foot can lead to more injury.

Correct technique - Avoiding injury in any sports comes down to technique. If you run using the right technique, there is no reason why you should injure your knees or any other part of your body. There are various techniques to running safely which you can google easily. Try googling Pose running technique. If you can watch some You Tube videos on this, it will provide an excellent tutorial to you on the proper techniques of running. I will cover more tips on proper running techniques in one of my upcoming posts. Its too long to post here.

Do "them Squats" - Like mentioned earlier, because of our sedentary lifestyle, many of us probably have underdeveloped leg muscles which need to be strengthened before you can run a decent distance. So start doing those squats and other leg exercises and start strengthening your leg muscles, core and back. It will go a long way in protecting yourself from running related injuries

Stretching before and after your run - Stretching before your run and after your run is essential in preventing injuries. So take about 2 or 3 minutes to stretch out your muscles before you head out for your run and another 2 or 3 minutes after your run. I personally find that this also helps with the post workout pains. I usually take a slow walk for about 1km after my run to cool down and then stretch for about 2 to 3 minutes. To warm up, i walk for about 2 minutes and then start my jogging.

Start slow and progress at your own pace - I cannot emphasize this enough. I have seen too many people who get excited and force themselves to run 5km on their first run... then get injured and give up running altogether. Start slow and make it a point to progress, at your own pace. Just because someone you know could progress 1 km a week, does not mean you have to keep up with them. Progress at your own pace and based on the goals you have set for yourself. Everyone is different, so your development needs will be different too.

Running on grass vs concrete - Running on concrete / road will have more impact on your joints compared to running on grass. If you are really worried about injuring your knees, i highly recommend starting on a grass field first. Then as you gain confidence and perfect your running technique, you can attempt running on the road. Again, running on a grass field is still far more superior than the treadmill.

So there you have it. Some simple tips to help you prevent injury when you run outside. For me, running outside is not dangerous. It only becomes dangerous when done wrongly, and done without the right precautions. Just like driving. It can be dangerous if not done properly, but that does not mean we should avoid driving because of the potential risk. With the right precautions, you can avoid injury.

If you follow the simple tips above, running outdoors does not have to be dangerous or harmful to you. Running on a treadmill may be safer, but can be dangerous if done wrongly as well. So go ahead. Try these tips and enjoy you runs outside. Running outside does not have to be dangerous. As usual, look forward to hearing your comments.