Oct
14
The Cause For Unhealthy Diet
October 14, 2009 | 2 Comments
I’ve been trying to get my 6 packs for 6 years now. Yes! 6 friggin years and I’m still a fat ass (by my standards of course)! I’ve been going to gym all these while and even attempted half vegetarian recently but it is still not working. I’ve been observing myself and this time I’ve extended my scope and I think I found the cause of it. It is “you”. Well, not exactly.
Culture
I’m a Chinese. For those non-Asians, we sort of originated from China and are very well known for cooking. Since Chinese cuisines have many styles and variations, this is where the problem starts. When you have choices, you tend to try. Trying is the problem here. Hopefully staying and cooking on my own can solve this issue.
Besides those domestic issues you have the social culture at large. This is where your parks, towns, states, countries and world falls into. These are influenced by sustained product marketing. Look at Cokd and McG (sure hope they don’t sue me for affecting their market share..:D ) for example, 100 years of promoting their product as hip and convenient is surely a brainwash, and an effective one.
To keep it short, below are the top 10 food to stay away from your daily diet. This list is for those who wish to improve (i think most will use the word “sacrifice”) their diet for a better health and a stunning body. After all, when all else fails, you only have your body to count on.
Top 10 Food To Stay Away From Your Daily Diet
1. Sugar Water
By sugar water I mean everything which is on sale besides bottled mineral water and green tea. A can of soft drink contains 16.5 teaspoons of sugar. Can you believe that? Try eating 16.5 teaspoons of sugar accompanied by warm water, it is inconsumable. How has technology made it so easy to consume sugar nowadays.
If you really need some taste, green tea is the best alternative that I can find so far. You can opt for soy drinks too but most on the market are too sweet to be of actual benefits, keep looking.
2. Rice (especially nasi lemak)
I’ve reduced my rice intake by 80% since a few months ago and I don’t see any different on my body weight at all, so I’ve come to a conclusion that rice is not needed in my diet. Try to reduce your rice intake, especially nasi lemak. They ain’t called “fat rice” for nothing.
http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/restaurants/pantry/nasi-lemak.aspx
http://www.malaysia-hotels.net/food_dining/malay-food.html
3. Cut Down On Meat
I was a pure meat eater previously so I know how it is. Try to do your part instead of indirectly causing the slaughter of animals. Animal lovers who eat meat? Yeah right. Take fish instead if you wish to start things off slowly because they don’t cry while being butchered, it can really heal your conscience, seriously.
4. Bread ,Buns and Donuts
Hoho! I called them the deadly trinity! Enough said. If you must, choose whole wheat bread instead of white bread.
5. Junk Food (sweets, crackers, fries, cakes, chips, nuts, etc..)
They come in all ways and seems to appear always. Just choose and eat wisely. I found the low fat raw almond nuts to be quite inviting sometimes, just don’t chew off the whole packet!
6. Alcohol (beer, wines, liquor)
You’ll be safe if you are able to prevent yourself from crossing the thin line between casual drinking and senseless drinking. I couldn’t, which was why I ended up shying away from most drinking gatherings. The word “health” gets a whole new meaning after a few shots of liquor.
7. Chocolate and Ice Creams
They should belong to the junk food categories but I gave them a special slot since they were once my favourite food. When I was a kid I swore to never turn down any chocolate and ice cream offers. Looks like it doesn’t turn out well.
8. Caffeine
I was thinking of taking less coffee but caffeine is the culprit here. Checkout the link below for more details on the pros and cons of caffeine :
http://www.healthy.net/scr/article.asp?id=1378
9. Whipped Cream As Toppings
Any kind of whipped cream as topping is a sin. Get it and you’ll be whipped.
10. Milk
This one is kind of personal. I’ve had stomach discomfort for many years and I struggled to find the cause. Since replacing milk with my protein supplement, the uneasiness seemed to disappear. I also read that 75% of the world’s population has problems digesting cow’s milk, maybe that could be your problem too?
Now I ate less than 50% of the portion that I used to eat 2 years ago and I’m feeling better than ever and I believe that things can only be better!
Oct
12
Excessive Workout Can Kill You
October 12, 2009 | 1 Comment
It has been some time since my last post. This is mainly due to my not too recent job change in May and also the involvement in the many projects I’m in. Even then, I’ve never skipped gym all this while, holding true to my new year resolution.
Since my last entry in January, I’ve experienced and gone through some major tuning in both my sleep cycles and also my diet. For a start, my personal trainer’s recommendation of 4 days training per week almost destroyed my physical body. How is that so? It took me almost 3 months to realize it! I’ll explain.
Personal Training
For those who’ve been through the personal trainer’s torture, you will understand the true meaning when I say that they DO push you to the LIMIT! Not able to turn your steering wheel properly, not able to scrub your back during shower and unable to walk straight are common side effects. The first month was bad, returning to workout after a year’s break was painful. I quickly adjusted having a 3 days per week workout and an extra day with my trainer. I started off by taking GNC Pro Performance® Mass XXXâ„¢, a weight gain supplement since they are having a buy 1 get 1 free promotion at the time.
It increases my weight from 65 to 70kg from the 2 X 6lb(s) container in the course of 3 months. The taste (both chocolate and vanilla) was not great but it worked, I guess.
The 2nd and 3rd month were the same but I can see and feel that I’m having results, weighing more and growing stronger knowing that I’m carrying heavier weights. At this moment, I started to feel lethargic during work as I go to work after workout in the morning. It got worse from week to week until I fell sick at the end of the 3rd month of workout in March. That really surprised me as I rarely get sick. With the fact that I’m exercising regularly it made it even more difficult for me to find the cause of my sickness. I took a week’s off from gym to recover and I continued my usual workout routine after that.
The Transition
I resigned at the end of April. Having the knowledge that I might need to work late in the future, I’ve decided to have a normal sleeping cycle (12.30am to 7.30am) compared to previously. During this period I finished my weight gain and my trainer adviced me to take MuscleTech® Nitro-Tech Hardcore, a protein supplement.
I would really recommend this if you plan to build you body. Besides the protein it has enough nutrients for your body. You can practically drink a scoop of this and forget everything else for your breakfast. It tastes good too, both chocolate and vanilla. I’m taking 2 scoops during workout day (1 before and 1 after workout) and 1 scoop for breakfast during non-workout days. Most importantly, drink with cold water as hot water will kill off the protein.
I’ve been consistently having my 4 days workout (sometimes 5 days when I can make it!) throughout April and May until I broke down again during the last week of May. This time it freaked me out, getting sick twice in 3 months is unacceptable. Something is very wrong! As with the first, I could not find any reason apart from the rigorous training schedule. So I have no choice but to reduce the frequency to 3 times a week. I took 2 weeks off from training to fully recover. Few weeks down the road as more projects came in I dropped my frequency to twice a week. I’m free from sickness since then..
Listen To Your Body
I’m sure you have experienced a different feeling after eating some particular food, be it spicy, sour, sweet or whatever. Observe and pay attention to your body before, during and after eating and see how your body respond. Most of the time your body will be telling you something, it just depends on how you respond to it. Whatever you do, just treat your body well because your life depends on it, naturally.
I’m quite proud of my body overall but I always feel ashamed every time I’m able to squeeze a chunk of fat from the area around my abs. I did some observation and research on my eating pattern and I found out the cause. I will reveal this in my next article…
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