"Points to be remembered, to keep yourself healthy, with fit and good looking appearance!"
I have a cute reader met me in my chat box, cried out for some fast weight lose program from me. Hmm.. Not only for my reader, I guess. It’s for my own good, too.
I think I put on 1 – 2 kg recently (sob. sob). I want to shed some weight now! My latest resolution is to have weight reduction of about 2-3 kg in a month time!
Yes, to refresh my 7-day detox plan which I’ve posted last mid year, I am going to revise a 2nd edition weight losing plan here:
1) Set a target and timeline
Set yourself a target and time of accomplishment. Do not be over-ambitious, set a realistic target, please.
Some experts say no more than 1 kg (~2 lbs) per week. Reduce about 500 calories intake (should not be more than that) from your daily need each day will do, if you wish to lost weight healthily.
Simple calculation: A caloric deficit of 7000 kcal to lose 1 kg is needed, you will lose 1 kg of weight in 2 weeks time, with deficit of 500 kcal per day!
2) Exercise
1 hour of work-out on daily basis at home or outdoor. It helps to increase metabolic rate, and to burn away excessive fat with muscle build-up. I think swimming is good. Using butterfly-style or any other vigorous swimming for an hour helps to burn about 500kcal, while jogging burns about 380kcal. Some say evening work-out will be more effective than any other time.
Well, I am not a good swimmer, in fact. Even though I learnt Karate-Do and used to rollerblading quite frequently during teenage, but swimming and, still, cardiovascular exercises aren’t my forte. I choose working out at home, doing housework. I sweep floor, mop floor, clean table and chairs, do laundry and ironing, after meals. Then, I do squatting and ‘roaming’ around the house while watching tv, for at least 30 minutes. Those “exercises” help me to burn extra 340kcal each day.
3) Restriction on diet
To lose weigh fast, cut all these away immediately !
There will be NO fatty food, fried food, sweet stuff and junk food in your regular diet.
See No. 1 ‘killer’ of weight watcher:
a) Cakes and cookies which contain not much nutritional value, besides sugar, sweetener, and carbohydrate;
b) Chocolate/ other flavoured bread e.g. strawberry jam bread, vanilla cream bread and etc, which give you only sugary carbohydrate;
c) Chicken/ meat skin and fat;
d) Fried chicken from outside store (not even homemade ones if you want to lose weight quicker);
e) Curried food which contains lots of coconut milk;
f) Vegetables stir-fried with lots of oil e.g. preserved/ salted vegetables (梅菜，菜尾);
g) Soup cooked with meat skin/ fat where you drink not only the soup, but together with the fat which to be stored in your ‘spare tyres’.
4) Eat the right ways
When I went on strict lose weight program (created by my own), every single calorie intake counts a lot to me! Even when I had craving on high carbohydrate food or wanted to eat a little more, I chose my food thoughtfully.
Try to eat homecook food as often as you can. Unlike outside food which contains more oil and preservative ingredients for "artificially" better taste, you can always adjust your cooking with less oil and more fiber. Or, choose those healthy stores for meals.
When eat at home, eat it right:
a) Bread – choose whole meal bread instead of white bread. Only allow yourself to be fed max 2 slices each time.
b) Filling/ Spread – No. No butter, not even margarine. Get water-based tuna spread with lots of fresh (organic) lettuce to go with your bread. This can be your proper meal as lunch or so.
c) Water/ Soup – Drink half a glass of warm water/ a regular bowl of soup before your dinner. This will fill your stomach and reduce your intake of solid food in your meals.
d) Guava or fresh turnip (沙葛) – Want some bites or snack for tea? Ok, you can have it. Here you go! One wedge of plain guava (eat with skin and seeds) or turnip is allowed during your weight lose period.
5) Food replacement meal
Instead of normal food intake, I have my lunch replaced with my low fat, low sodium and low calorie food replacement meal, Total Soup, sometimes. It comes in a sachet, whereby I just open the sachet to pour in a glass/bowl of hot water and mix it. I will have a bowl of hot steamy ‘cream’ soup which is so delicious and healthy, as my lunch! The soup contains 50+ types of balanced nutrients in it, and it counts less than 60 kcal.
Taste has never been so good. Unlike other replacement meals which taste very awful, the one I have taste so creamy (but no cream in it at all!) which resembling the taste of cream of mushroom!
6) Fill your stomach with only 70% full each time
Each meal takes only 2/3 of regular portion. Do not over-load your stomach. Be gentle to it by lessen its loads from your food intake. Have a good digestive system built up definitely help in shedding your weight fast.
7) No meal after 8pm
To be exact it is best no later than 7.30pm, as your digestive system slows down after evening.
Meal is also best to be taken at least 4 hours before your bed time.
8) Tiny-winy thing that counts
Remember, every little things we do, eat and choose, in our daily routines, might affect you and your appearance, in long run.
If you wish for a beautiful appearance, do bear in mind that you have to sustain what you are doing fine to keep a perfect waistline. You might once be tempted and gave in to the feast on the table, always pull yourself back in time, and constantly be remindful. Keep the faith alive!
A note to "Reader" girl: Please do not get too upset with those who mocked you. Do not be too anxious over your desire of losing weight, too. I am glad that you remembered mentioning about losing weight with healthy ways! That's the right attitude you have! Frankly, I don't quite have a super quick natural weight lose ways for you. Those abovelisted are the best I could do so far. Hope it helps though.. We will work it out together!
"Bake your own supermoist banana cake at home, sprinkle some icing sugar and devour this savoury sweet treat, anytime, anywhere!"
Instead of using a big retangular stainless steel cake tin, I used two smaller disposable aluminium foil ones (8" x 4"). Don't forget to grease the tins before pouring the flour mixture.
I let the cakes to completely cool down in the aluminium foil tins the same night after baked till the next morning. Then, I have the whole cake removed and sliced them before placing in my air tight container to bring to work.
One tray of cakes were brought to work for my colleagues while another tray was kept at home for my family. My girl also brought 1 slice to school for light bites during her reccess time.
The banana cake maybe served just by itself, or dust some icing sugar either on top of the whole cake before cutting it or sprinkle on the sliced cake only when you serve it. Personally, I loved it with icing sugar because my banana cake was added only with moderate amount of sugar in the recipe. Hence, icing sugar may enhance its sweetness and make it tastes even better. I did not dust the icing on the whole cake, but did it only after I sliced and placed in the container so that the icing will be coated on only on the top, but have it scattered on the piece. *Click here for recipe.
