happy and healthy...is what i want to be! :)

This ain’t a diet/weight loss/nutrition blog. This is simply, my blog about the ‘blocks’ I face in wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle…about my journey towards nourishing my mind, body and soul.

I believe I’ve done it all – popping pills, replacement shakes, purging after meals/food, extreme diets etc. I’m proud of none…but neither am I ashamed. When the desire (and pressure) so strong to lose weight takes over…not everyone’s capable of handling it in the right way. When quick fixes are promised, who gives a damn about the old fashioned and boring way of eating right and exercising? Everyone's looking for the easy way out…and so was I.

Hope is a powerful driver. It took me a loooong time to realise 2 obvious patterns: 1) the quicker the fix, the more expensive 2) the quicker u lose the weight, the faster u pile it back on once u quit the fix. The day finally came where I was sick of infomercials that promised transforming Godzillas into bunnies…sick of swallowing pills I swore were the size of bullets…sick of folking out so much money to make my own life miserable. The fact that the pounds somehow still managed to find its way said it all.

i suppose even as a Nutritionist today, it sucks a little to know that it was good ol' healthy eating and exercising that melted the weight. When I look at how hard it was to change my own diet…I can’t help but think how am I going to change others’? Like all other journeys in life…there’re bound to be ups and downs. There’ll be some meals more healthy than others…there’ll be days u just wanna slack away and OD on cake.

So its a good thing that the rules to staying healthy are simple and straightforward..and if you play it right, you can even bend the rules once in a while. At the end of the day, I just wanna be healthy and happy…mind, body and soul nourished. Join me on this journey, would u? :)

weight loss = calories out > calories in

And the verdict's out...its not about cutting carbs, not about including 'fat-burning' foods like grapefruit, not about splitting ur meals into 5 small ones a day...

weight loss = calories out > calories in. period.

Dieters on different plans saw no big difference
http://calorielab.com/news/2009/02/26/diets-listeria-canada-nyc-grades-restaurants/?utm_source=CalorieLab+Newsletter&utm_campaign=a405ddcfa6-00462_27_2009&utm_medium=email
A study involving 811 overweight or obese people who were told to cut calories and follow general recommendations for carbs and protein found that all dieters lost about the same amount of weight regardless of the diet plan they were following....New England Journal of Medicine...any diet can be effective, as long as it cuts calories and as long as you can stick with it long-term.


Study Zeroes In on Calories, Not Diet, for Loss
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/health/nutrition/26diet.html?_r=1
For people who are trying to lose weight, it does not matter if they are counting carbohydrates, protein or fat. All that matters is that they are counting something....The lesson, researchers say, is that people lose weight if they lower calories, but it does not matter how.

Changes.

I'm proud...i actually ran 4 outta 5 mornings last week! it did take a fair bit of mental prepping to crawl outta bed tho. ive learnt that at 6am, no matter how hard you reason with urself, what you promised urself the night before, or even if you slept in ur running gear and all you had to do was wake up and go...it absolutely makes NO sense to choose running over sleeping. haha its purely mind over body.

Man, good habits are hard to cultivate...afterall it requires change and who likes that? that's why we're stuck in our comfort zones..because its always the easier way out. cant say its the easier way out when it comes to our health tho. i dunno about u but i sure dont want my later life to be plagued with ailments of all sorts because of an unhealthy lifestyle now.

to be honest, leading a healthy lifestyle really isnt rocket science. we NUTs would go outta jobs if everyone understood the theory of eating in moderation and bothered exercising 30mins a day.
it does require change tho...from small ones such as cutting back on junk and salt..and coke zero even (big sobs!!), to big changes like committing to exercising at least 3 times a week.

i did not run today...simply coz i couldnt wake up. im not disappointed...and i dont think i've slacked off. i too am human, and somedays are simply harder than others to stick to my health goals. i only had 10mins to spare this morning...and i spent that skipping. and for that, i am proud of myself today too. because every little effort counts...and adds up towards making a change.

AM workouts

i actually dragged myself outta bed today and went for a run at 630am!! quite an achievement may i say...haha but was pleasantly surprised to realise that i felt really good the entire day instead of ache-y and sluggish. no wonder statistics show that people who exercise first thing in the morning are more likely to stick to their exercise routines!
this is seriously worth giving a shot...the hardest part was winning the mental battle of waking up and draggin the feet out. other than that...once u get going...its amazing how fast the body 'wakes up' to match the pace!

here's to rising up to the challenge...literally!!!