Eat fat and lose weight.

What would you say if I told you that there was a diet plan out there that said you can eat fried chicken, bacon, eggs, butter and Mozerella cheese and still lose weight? You would probably think I am pulling your leg right? But jokes aside, there really is such a diet out there. It’s called the Atkins Diet and it was created by Dr. Robert Atkins in 1972. This diet basically spawned the sudden craze of High Protein, Low Carb craze which all of us hear about on a daily basis.

The Atkins Diet is a system that enables our body to lose weight in a natural way by motivating a change in our eating habits and metabolism. Dr. Atkins theory was that most people are fat today because of refined carbohydrates and he wanted a diet plan that was palatable yet effective. So instead of trying to lose weight by swallowing food that tastes like cardboard soaked in water, people could lose weight by eating high amounts of protein and fat, but limiting the intake of carbohydrates, sugars and fruits and vegetables. It is recommended that you limit your carbohydrates / sugars to 20 grams a day, and 15 grams of that should be made up of vegetables and other high fiber food products.

An example of what an Atkins Dieters menu for the day might look like is:-

Breakfast: 3 eggs omelets with ham, mozzarella cheese and tomato, decaffeinated coffee with cream.
Lunch: Beef round steak (8 oz), spinach and mixed leaf salad with mushroom, onion
Dinner: Bacon sandwich on wholemeal bread with butter and cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes etc

As with any diet plan, there is a host of Pro’s and Cons. Here are some of the Pro’s of this diet?

Atkins Diet allows the people to eat variety of meat, fish and vegetables

Hunger is the major reason for the failure of most weight loss plans and programs because of the limitation of foods, but with the Atkins Diet, you will have a huge variety of foods and never have to go hungry. Not to mention, its much more tasty than most other diet plans out there.

Atkins Diet mobilizes more fat to use as energy

This diet mobilizes more fat to use as energy than any diet you have ever come across. Therefore, you have not to count calories every time whenever and whatever you eat.

Atkins Diet encourages the lipolysis process

Carbohydrate, in the form of glucose, is used to burn as the first fuel to provide energy to the body. Atkins suggests that by reducing our intake of carbohydrates drastically, our body will use fat as its first fuel because it lacks carbohydrates which can be turned into sugar. This process is known as lipolysis. The supposed result: weight loss.

The Con’s

It’s Expensive
Sticking to a diet high in protein is expensive especially when you eat out. Not to mention, Malaysian’s love Carbohydrates and everything that is nice has carbohydrates in them. From Roti Canai to Maggi Goreng to Nasi Briyani…. Carbohyrates are cheaper and trying to eat equal amounts of protein will burn a hole in your pocket.

Health risks
Many medical profeesionals say that the Atkins diet can lead to loads of health problems such as kidney failure, bone and liver abnormalities and hasten the onset of Type II diabetes.

No Sustainability
Critics say that the Atkins diet gives remarkable results in the beginning but does not show any results with continued results for those who stay on it for long periods. Hence you only see some difference in the beginning

So what’s Fitness Malaysia’s take on this? To do or not to do. I recommend for those who want to try this diet to read and learn more about this diet first. What I have posted is just a tip of the iceberg in terms of information about this diet plan. I also recommend that it is OK for you to do this diet, but I recommend that you do it in 2 week phases and no more than that. This means 2 weeks of the Atkins Diet, and maybe 1 month of your normal diet and then back again to the 2 weeks. Of course, it goes without saying that in order for you to see more results, exercise and doing this diet will increase the efficiency of your weight loss.

So check it out and as usual, I look forward to hearing your comments.

Gym Etiquette

For this week, i decided that instead of me writing all the time, i got one of my friends Azmy (who is also been a big fan and supporter of Fitness Malaysia and our initiatives) to write a post for Fitness Malaysia. Thought i would take a little break. If you are wondering who he is, well here is a brief intro.

Azmy Mohamed is a certified trainer by the National Fitness Council of Malaysia and also holds a Core Certification by FISAF, & currently a Graduate Certificate holder in Exercise Science.He is a freelance instructor at various fitness centres all over Klang Valley. Apart from that, he is also a part-time Personal Trainer.

A Kuala Lumpur native & previously obese, Azmy is aspiring on becoming a Weight-Loss Specialist in the near future. His all-time mission & vision is to make Malaysia an obese-free nation, or at the very least, close to it.'

So guys, hope you enjoy Azmy's post and of course... keep your comments coming in as usual.

******

For those who frequent the gym all the time, or even those who step into the gym once in awhile, you should be aware that every type of gym/club has unwritten rules on etiquette. These rules include how you should behave and interact with others in the gym. Call it a kind of culture if you will, but those who are new to the gym, should be aware of this culture and adapt to it, or end up looking like a “foreigner” in a matter of speaking.

What exactly are the rules that make up this culture? Let me lay out some tips on how to act more responsibly and more respectably in the gym so you get accepted faster:

1) If someone else is using the machine that you want (esp. in peak hours), do suggest whether you can alternate with him/her. There’s nothing wrong here, it’s perfectly fine. Who knows, he/she might be receptive to your idea. And please bear in mind that nobody, & I do mean nobody, has the right to ‘own’ that a particular machine for an hour or so.

But again, it’s kinda awkward if you have to readjust the machine settings most of the time if you do that. In so, another better alternative would be to skip to another machine until the person is done.

2) as vice versa, if someone is already standing behind you and waiting for that machine that you are using on, You may also suggest that person to work with you. Again, it’s totally fine & nothing wrong here. OR, if you are the shy type, a better (& perhaps more polite) way is to let the person know when you’ll be done. Give him/her a hint like: ‘I have 2 more mins on this treadmill. Then it’s yours.’

3) Please do yourself a huge favor. At any point of time, in case you need help in machine adjustment, or on how to use a machine for that matter, do seek help from a personal trainer or any gym staff. All you have to do is to ask nicely.

4) If you want to learn an exercise from someone (that is, a fellow gym member), please find an appropriate time to ask. The best time is when that person is taking a break in between sets. In most cases, people are more than happy to help. Not only that, some might even feel flattered about it..

5) Bear in mind that safety comes first. If at any point of time, you are facing difficulty in completing a certain exercise, DO ask someone to support you. This is called a ‘spotter’.

6) If somebody or someone across the floor is ‘hitting’ on you & the chemistry is not there, then you have every right to tell them politely to bugger off. Of course this applies more for the ladies than the guys. But guys, if you are the one hitting on someone and have proven track record, please let me know… J

Happy workout, everybody!

Azmy

How fit are you?

Have you ever wondered how fit you are? Or have you ever wondered what the average fitness level of everyone should be? Of course the fitness level for each of us will be different depending on how regularly and how intensely we exercise. However, even if you don’t exercise at all, it is recommended that you meet this minimum fitness level. Being at this minimum fitness level ensures that you you are decently fit and that you are in the relatively safe zone for chronic illnesses caused by obesity. I am not saying that if you meet this level you will not get ill and that you will live forever. However, you might want to check your own fitness level and see if you meet it. If you are below this fitness level, it just means that you are at a much higher risk for chronic illnesses caused by obesity (such as heart disease) than those who are are in the zone. Being below also means that in terms of strength and fitness, you are below the minimum line… so maybe you may want to do something to ensure that you meet at least the minimum.

How do you find out how fit you are?

Simple. Here is a simple test which will take less than 5 minutes to do and at the end of it, you will know how fit / strong you are. Match your results against the table below and voila… you will know your fitness level.

Knee Push Ups – As an adult, you should be able to do a minimum of 5 knee push ups. How are knee push ups different from normal pushups? Instead of resting the weight on your toes, it will be resting on your knees as shown.

Chin Ups – You should be able to do at least 1 chin up as shown below.




Squats – Without weights, do the squats as shown in the picture. You should be able to perform at least 10 reps. Do it slowly without any jerking.



Sit ups – Get into the position as shown. You might want to put a towel or pillow for the lower part of your spine to protect it against the hard floor. You should be able to do at least 10 sit ups.




Running – Try this in your office or home. Best if the stairs are 2 storeys high and continuous. You should be able to run up at least 2 storeys of stairs without stopping. When I say run, I mean sprint up the steps. If you have to stop in between to catch a breath, it means bad news.

So take some time to try this out at home and see how fit you are. If you can perform all of the above or more, then bravo… you are in pretty good shape. If you can’t, then maybe you need to consider doing some amount of working out to bring up your fitness level.

Let me know and I look forward to hearing your comments.

Rice... one bowl or two

I met some friends the other day and the topic of weight loss came up. As usual, everyone brought up their favourite “kalau tak makan nasi, pasti boleh kurus”. Then another friend echoed saying “Actually, I dengar kalau you makan nasi once a day, OK, tak gemuk”. Then echoed another friend “Ah Ah… betul lah, I pun dengar cerita sama”.

OK, if you are wondering why I am writing the dialogues in Malay, is because it is as it happened… and not for any other reasons.

Now back to the topic… is it true? If I cut down my rice to once a day, will I see weight loss?

The answer – It all depends on the amount of physical activity you do in a day. If you just sit in your office chair all day and then sit in you car for the traffic jam, and then in front of the TV… then even eating rice once a day might be overkill for your waistline. But if you work as a construction worker… heck, you could eat rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper and yet your body would be as lean as Bruce Lee. Why? Because of the amount of activity you do.

There are thousands of other weight loss myths just circulating out there and the thing that they all have in common… is that it is a perceived easy way out to weight loss.

Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble… but there is no shortcut to losing weight and keeping fit. Workout more and eat less… you do these and you will definitely lose weight.

Are there any other weight loss myths you guys have heard? Would love to hear them if you have any.

PS: If you want to know more weight loss myths and whether they work or not, do check out “Good Living” magazine which is out in news stands now. I wrote an article for them with regards to weight loss myths. If you see the magazine, please do pick up a copy and have a read.

The Devil’s Workout – Burn Fat in Hell.

I was just checking You-Tube the other day and stumbled upon this workout video. You have to admit, the title of it is extremely catchy and makes you want to try out the workout. The first time I heard it, I wish I had come out with a cool sounding name like that for some of my workout programs.

The best part about this workout. You can do it home. You only need some minimal equipment to do it. Secondly, it’s a fast way to burn fat and workout your entire body all at once. So it incorporates strength and cardio all in one... which more and more researchers are finding is the most effective way to burn fat and keep it off.

I tried it out myself, and honestly, it is a little bit challenging and for those who have never worked out, you might want to to try it at a lower intensity till you build up enough strength for it. Or a series of other exercises (focusing on a single muscle at a time) to build the strength you need to perform the exercises properly. For more seasoned workout-a-holics, you can jump straight into it immediately and I promise you it is a challenging workout to do.

Just click the link below to watch a video and of course, leave your comments on what you think.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpYtdMwKFc

or if the you-tube link doesn't workout, try this link.

www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-btpYtdMwKFc/burn_your_fat_in_hell_the_devils_workout/

Stop “Just” Counting Calories

Everyone I meet… everyone has the same question… I don’t eat much and am always hungry and yet I am not losing weight. Is there something wrong with me?

Yes… because most of the people I talk to or ask me this question have one problem in common. They count calories, but forget one important thing. When you count your calories, you have to also take into consideration what I call the “fill up factor”. What is the fill up factor? The fill up factor is how much a certain food will fill you up because the simple science is, the fuller you feel and for longer, the less you will consume. The faster you get hungry, the more you will eat.

Take Grapes and raisins for instance. If you were to gobble down 20 grapes, how full would you feel? How about if you swallowed 20 raisins. Would you feel anything? Even though each raisin has the same amount of calories as a grape (since they are essentially the same item) yet the fill up factor is almost non existant in raisins. So which one would you rather eat to fill up?
This is why junk food is considered to be such a potent calorie puncher. Each medium sized bag of twisties, cheezels or whatever it is you fancy, has about 500 calories. But eating the whole bag does little or nothing to fill you up. Which means you are more likely to eat something again soon. And when you do, you ring the calorie regsiter again. So stop fooling yourself by skipping lunch just to have a glass of Milo and a bun and think you had nothing and then tell yourself that you can have a big dinner since your lunch was small. The combination of Milo and a bun (I am guessing the bun will either have cheese, Mayo or both) which will roughly be about 400 calories. Eating a normal meal is about 500 plus calories. So which one do you think is better? Eating a little bit more, but you can be sure it will last a while, or something small which is just slightly less in calories but will leave you craving for more within the hour.

So stop being the ding dong that goes to restaurants, orders something small but which is high in fat and calories, and convince youself that you will be fine, since you still feel hungry after the meal. And hey, why not have a bit of dessert, since after all my main course was so small. Eat normally, but choose wisely. Choose things that will fill you up and keep you full but lower on the calorie scale and avoid foods that breakdown fast or just don’t fill you up but high on calories.

As usual, i look forward to hearing your comments on this.

Are you resting enough?

Did you know an essential part of working out and seeing results is actually getting enough rest and letting your body recover from the workout. Many people who work out seem to forget that the body needs to rest. Just like how you need a rest after a hard day at the office, your body is no different. In fact I know a lot of enthusiasts who work out 7 times a week all because they want to see quick and fast results. So they feel if working out 4 times a week is good, then 7 times a week has to be much better right? Wrong. It doesn’t quite work that way. Here are 3 reasons why you should make it a point to get enough rest in between your workouts.

Reduce the risk of injury
If your body has not recovered fully from the previous workout and you push it again, you are at higher risk of experiencing injury which could put you out of commission for weeks or even months. So why do it? If you are one of those people who wants to get fast results, imagine what 4 weeks of not working out will do to your goals of losing weight or getting the fitness results you want. It will backtrack your goals.

Burnout
People who work out all the time and don’t have any rest will be at higher risk for experiencing burnout. Burnout is a condition when you get sick and tired of working out and just want to quit. Although it is a psychological condition, believe me, the results and what it does to you is very real. I know many people who start out strong and then experience burnout… and getting them back into their routine is harder than getting someone who has never worked out to start working out. So make sure you get enough rest or you will be resting for a long long time after that. All work and no play will make you sick of anything quickly.

You will stop seeing results
I know people who workout hard 7 days a week and each work out going on for almost 2 hours. That is a quite a bit if you ask me. To top it up, they are on an extremely tight diet because they want to see rapid weight loss. After 2 or 3 months, they realize that they are not losing anymore weight. So what do they do? Make it 3 hours a day and eat even less… and still they don’t see results. Why? Because you have over worked your body to its max and pushed it too far and your body just gives up and doesn’t want to push itself anymore. I have personally guided friends and clients out of this rut by actually telling them to eat more and take a break. And just 2 weeks of eating healthier (in most cases more food) and working out less, they actually start to lose weight again. So trust me… more isn’t always better.

With all that being said, please also know that it doesn’t mean the more you rest the better it will be. So working out once a week and taking the other 6 days off doesn’t cut it as well. Just like everything else in life, it is a matter of striking the right balance between working out and getting enough rest. Below is my recommendation of how much you should workout and how much you should rest:

- Exercise 4 to 5 times a week
- Each session should be between 1 hour to 1.5 hours
- Every 4 or 5 months, take a whole 1 week off from working out… meaning absolutely no working out for 1 whole week.

Follow these 3 simple rules and you won’t have to worry about burnout, injury or not seeing any results. So take a look at your routine and make sure you get enough rest and a break in between your workouts.

As crazy as I am about working out, when it comes to the weekend, I am an absolute bum and trust me… I do very little physical activity over the weekend. So Monday to Friday is my workout days and Saturday and Sunday is when I rest relax and rejuvanate. So what is your routine like and are you getting enough rest. Look forward to hearing from you.

Home Made Burgers

If you like eating burgers, I would like to share with everyone, my secret recipe to making home made burger patties. The advantage of home made patties… you know what’s going in and you get to control it. A lot of burgers out there are made up by grinding up left over parts, skin and fat. So this way, you get to enjoy almost the same taste, without all the heart clogging ingredients. Here’s what you need.

Ingredients
400 grams of lean minced meat of your choice (Chicken breast, buffalo, pork, beef)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
2 slices of White Bread
5 to 6 Wholemeal Cream Crackers (crushed to fine powder)
Corn Starch
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
*Ginger (crushed)
*Chilli Powder
½ teaspoon Fennel Seed powder (Jintan Putih)
*Salt
*Pepper
*Few drops of Maggi Seasoning

All items with * need to be added according to your own taste.

Method
1. Break up the white bread into small pieces and soak it into the milk. Let the bread soak up all the milk until you can stir it with a spoon and the bread completely disintegrates in the milk.
2. Mix all ingredients up (except Corn Starch). You can add more crushed whole meal crackers if you feel the mixture is still too wet. The consistency you are looking for is thick and when you can form a ball with the mixture and it holds it shape.
3. Once the mixture is right, sprinkle a bit of corn starch powder into the mixture. You need to add in roughly 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the mix. This is to ensure the whole thing holds when cooking and does not break apart.
4. Shape into patties and pan fry it.
5. You can also roll this mixture into a ball and make meat balls out of it.

Go ahead try it and see. If you have a better receipe, please share and I will be more than happy to try it.

Which Fast Food is the worst?

So the results are in and KFC has been voted the most unhealthy Fast Food of all. I too voted for KFC, just because you have pockets of oil which squirt out of the chicken with every bite - so its no surprise that they won or rather lost, depending on how you look at it. You can almost feel a heart attack coming on everytime you are done eating it. As much as I think they are the worst, I too eat them from time to time. So I am not saying don’t eat KFC ever again… just eat it with moderation. But I try to avoid their fried chicken as I personally feel that that is the worst and there is no quality control on how unhealthy it is. Their burgers aren’t so bad and doesn’t make you feel like your arteries are getting clogged with every bite.

The second is McD’s followed by the pizza houses. I still think McDs is not too bad as you do have some healthy options, the portions are small and it isn’t as oil soaked as KFC. A healthy choice in McDs would be their Fillet-O-Fish, which actually uses 100% fish and you can actually see it. So if you ask me to make a healthy choice between 2 evils, I would rather choose McDs over KFC.

A&W received no votes which could either mean, people think they are healthy or nobody goes to them at all, so no one bothered voting for them. Besides their root beer float, I honestly think everything else there really sucks. Even their curly fries suck compared to McDs. If you are going to go unhealthy, it has to have taste or else what’s the point of eating it.

Pizza houses aren’t any better, but if you can stick to the thin crust and avoid telling them you want “extra cheese”, it actually cuts down the “unhealthy” factor drastically. Personally I love Domino’s thin crust and every once in awhile when I have no idea what to eat and stumble upon a discount coupon, I will pick it up and use it.

So which ones did you vote for as being the worst and why? Look forward to hearing your comments.

Staying fit while on Holiday

So there you are laying by the beach, margarita in one hand, and sun block in the other taking in the breathless view. You are on your holiday and all the worries of the world are far behind.

Most people workout hard to look their best during the holiday, and once they are at their favourite holiday spot, they let loose. Nothing wrong with that. Holidays are meant to be enjoyed and i am the king of letting loose as well. But if you wondering how you can still stay fit during your holiday without blowing away all your hard work and also to keep looking good throughout your holiday, you have come to the right place. There are actually lots of things you can do during your holiday to stay fit. Especially if you are on a long holiday, you don’t want all your hard work to go to waste and start from scratch once you get back. So here are some tips on how to stay fit during your holiday.

Swimming

Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise cause it gives you a cardio workout and strength training all at once. And which holiday destination does not have a swimming pool? If you can hit the pool for 30 minutes (actual swimming time not just sun bathing and floating around in the water like a buffalo) your good to go. You will be able to chow down almost anything you want, and your body will look fit as if you never left the gym.

Go for a walk or a jog

If you are by the beach, get up a little earlier than everyone else and have a quick jog or walk by the beach. It may not be as much or as effective as your gym work outs, but like I always say… something is better than nothing

Kayaking and other outdoor activities

If you love the outdoors, then you don’t have to worry about staying fit. Whether it is jungle trekking or kayaking, if you are a nature enthusiast, I am pretty sure you will get plenty of exercise during your holiday. Kayaking is great for your shoulder, arms, back and of course it burns a whole lot of fat. So try to get involved in outdoor activities and you will be good.

Push Ups, Sit Ups, crunches

These are exercises you can do just about anywhere, anytime and you don’t need any equipment. I usually like to get a few crunches in before I head out to the beach… gives your abs that little toning that you need to look your best. If you have a series of exercises, do all of them before you head out. It will make you looked a little more pumped and best of all, it is still a work out. Try it out and see.

Using the hotel gym

For those who are more hardcore, you can always depend on the hotel gyms for your workouts. When? You can always get up about 30 minutes earlier and sneak in a quick workout. If you don’t have a gym, you can always resort to doing some of the exercises mentioned above. It won’t be equivalent to your gym workout, but it sure the heck is better than doing nothing.

Now that you get the idea, going on holidays doesn’t have to mean you will come back looking fat. I always hear people say “oh I just got back from a holiday, that’s why I put on some weight” or “I need to work off those extra holiday pounds now that I am back”. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can stay fit while you are on holiday. I look forward to hearing what other great routines you guys have and want to share with others.