Welcome to Wonderland; Monday Sunshine

I could be studying for tomorrow’s quiz right now, but the weather is so ridiculously hot and I can’t concentrate. So here’s a blogpost.

Let’s talk about NOMMING. In other words, EATING. I’m not talking about eating to lose weight. I’m talking about making healthier choices when it comes to eating.

Banish the term ‘dieting’ from your life. Diets are extreme and unrealistic most of the time. You’re supposed to ban certain food like fruit and carbs and only eat 800-1200 calories. Have everything in moderation. You have to eat more than 1200 calories, depending on your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Eat less than your BMR requirement, you’ll lose weight. Eat more than your BMR requirement, you’ll gain weight.

Not all salads are created equal. So you go to a restaurant, and you tell yourself: “OKAY. I’M GONNA EAT HEALTHILY TODAY.” So you order yourself a Caesar salad. Unfortunately, the creamy dressing, the bacon bits, the parmesan cheese and the croutons all add up. And that Caesar salad ends up being loaded with saturated fat and calories. Skip salads with creamy dressings and bacon bits. Either you choose the dressing or the bacon. You can’t have both. And get dressing on the side, too. Your heart AND your waistline will thank you.  Another thing to remember is, iceberg lettuce basically has no nutritional value. It’s basically water with a crunch. So if you’re planning on making salads at home, please ignore the iceberg lettuce when you’re in the supermarket.

Just because something is labelled “low calorie/low fat/fat-free” doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Shocker. That mixed berries fat free yoghurt you have in your fridge might be fat-free, but look at how much sugar it has in it. Foods usually labelled as fat-free/low fat/low in calories tend to have added salt and sugar. Healthier choice, my butt.

Say goodbye to junk food! This might be painful for a lot of people. Twisties, Cheezels, Coke, Pepsi, KFC, McDonalds and everything else that fall under this category are convenient options for most people. The snacks are there in supermarkets and convenience stores while a fast food drive thru is available every few kilometres or so. The amount of chemicals, preservatives, additives, fat, sugar and salt that are in junk food is disgusting. Even if you can eat ten burgers at one go without gaining weight, STAY AWAY FROM IT. Junk will wreak havoc to your body in the long run.

If you consume junk on a daily basis, reduce it to twice a week. Twice a week will eventually become once a week, once a month and then never at all. Take baby steps. If you really can’t avoid fast food, then make better choices. Instead of getting a set because it’s supposedly value for money, just get a burger and a bottle of water, ok?

CARBS ARE NOT EVIL. THEY’RE NOT. We need carbohydrates to function. But carbs get all the bad press thanks to people and their bad choices. To all you people who disagree and say that carbs make you feel tired instead of giving you energy, if you eat simple carbs like white rice, white bread, white sugar and pasta, then of course you’ll get a food coma.

Eat complex carbs. Quinoa, brown rice, breads made from wholegrains, oats. If you try it once and hate the taste, try again and again and again. Do not sacrifice your health for pleasure. Do not sacrifice your efforts of eating better just because you want to avoid the taste.

Butter > margarine. Butter has more calories than most types of margarine. BUT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER THAT MARGARINE HAS A HIGHER SATURATED FAT CONTENT. Margarine is evil. Get real butter for your toast. If anybody tries to tell you otherwise, tell them to go somewhere else with their margarine or Planta.

Drink lots and lots and lots of water. I have friends who whine that they don’t drink a lot because they don’t want to have excess weight from water. As a matter of fact, if you don’t drink enough water and eat too much salt, you will retain water. And you will be dehydrated. So don’t be afraid to drink water. If you can drink an entire 1.5 litre bottle of Coke, why the hell can’t you drink water? Water has no calories. And drinking a glass of water before your meal will make you feel full faster. Win!

Stock up on fruits! Apples, bananas, kiwis, berries… Whatever floats your boat. Turn it into a smoothie if you don’t like the taste of the fruit on its own. Or eat it with plain yoghurt. Don’t let anyone convince you that fruits are too sugary. They’re full of nutrients and yes, they do contain sugars. NATURAL SUGARS.

SO, there you go. A post about food. I sound like a mak nenek now. Yay!

“OMG you lost so much weight!”
“You’re so skinny now!”
“I thought you wanted to lose weight, but you look like you’ve gained…”
“You don’t eat _______? Are you on a diet?”

Such are examples of what people tell me when they see the selfies I post on Instagram or finally see me in person after some time.

Let’s address these four statements.

I) Yes, I have lost some weight.
II) No, I’m not skinny. And no, I don’t intend to ever be skinny. Also, my mirror is a teeny bit distorted? Just a teeny bit.
III) Screw you. I’ve lost 8.8kgs as of today.
IV) No, I’m not dieting. I’m practicing clean eating. I have treats now and then so as to not deprive myself.

I’ve always been that person who struggled with my weight. Always the fat one. Since like forever. I was thin once, when I was a kid on medication. Then I just kept gaining and gaining and then try to lose some of the weight through my half-assed efforts. 

I have starved myself. I have skipped meals. I have tried countless diets. Nope, nothing worked. The weight finally started to drop off after I started taking things seriously and educating myself on food.

I read food labels now, a habit my entire family finds annoying. I stopped drinking soda. I avoid fast food outlets unless I absolutely have no choice. I no longer eat deep-fried food. (Unless it’s Uncle Bob Fried Chicken…Yum!)

Your body is one hell of a machine. So why would you fill it up with junk instead of fuel? And to people who starve themselves because it’s all part of your ‘diet’, let’s put it this way: If your car runs out of petrol, it won’t move. If you don’t eat, you have no energy to do things and you will always be in the shittiest mood. Ever.

So, EAT. Cut portion sizes by half instead of cutting them by like, 80%. All those magazines that tell you how to lose weight fast using a certain diet plan? THROW THEM OUT. SERIOUSLY. Also, things like “Don’t eat dinner past 7pm!” “Don’t eat carbs for dinner!” are all BULLSHIT. Eat whatever the hell you want, when you want to AS LONG AS they’re not high in calories, fat and sugar.

And when it comes to moving your body (Read: EXERCISE), don’t be too lazy but don’t be too ambitious either. Start slow. If you set yourself up for something extreme when you’re a couch potato in reality, you’re setting yourself up for failure unless you have a really strong will. Also, don’t ask me how to shrink your waist or butt or arms or thighs because there is no such thing as spot-reducing. So walk. Take the stairs. Strength train. 

When I first started being serious about losing weight, I couldn’t do ONE pushup. Nope. Not even on my knees. And to all you girls/ladies out there, PLEASE do not be afraid to lift weights. You will tone your body as you lose weight. You will NOT get bulky like men. You will NOT look like a bodybuilder. Those people take supplements and protein to look like THAT.

On this journey, I’ve also made peace with myself. I no longer hate my body. I no longer feel like I’m never good enough just because I’m fat. I still have days when I wake up and feel like a mutated potato. I still have days when I wake up and feel annoyed that my thighs are still the size of logs. Everyday, I tell myself that I’m on my way to being the fittest I’ll ever be. Slow progress is better than no progress. Lazy days are inevitable but that doesn’t mean I’m throwing in the towel soon. I probably have another 20 kgs to lose? Yeaaaaah. Long way to go!

Lastly, I’d like to remind everyone that I’m not a nutritionist nor am I a personal trainer. I learn through reading fitness magazines, health articles/websites and fitspo blogs as well as through trial and error. I make mistakes. To err is human, correct?

So there you go. The fat girl speaks. If you’ve got questions to ask about MY lifestyle, the askbox is open. Or you could tweet me. 

Bye!

P/S: I apologise for the length of this post. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry.