With the kick-off of the local Biggest Loser show today I thought I'd blog about what I've been doing to be more healthy. A few years back I was this thin -
And I was actually thinner when I graduated. I was only 85 pounds and I already had a kid! Unbelievable huh. My metabolism was just unbelievably fast and I guess my heart condition also worked my body hard. After my surgery I lost a lot of weight and was just about 105 pounds. My doctors then told me, "Eat!"
Well... I ate too much! Haha! Now they want me to shed off about 10 kilograms. Boohoo. (Just look at my header to see how much weight I've gained!).
My metabolism slowed down since my surgery. My housemate in Singapore said, "That's because you are a normal person now!" Yeah, 100% blood flow = you now have the capacity to exercise and burn those excess fats. After surgery I told myself I was going to join a run this year. Maybe run 3K. I've been listening to my body and it's telling me it isn't ready. The most I could do is walk 1.5km before I start panting. So here are the baby steps I've taken to stop gaining weight and slowly lose some.
(1) Installed MyFitnessPal on my phone to watch my calorie intake. When I started I still ate what I would regularly eat, but learning more about what I was eating slowly helped me change my eating habits. As Coach Jim Saret said, "You shouldn't eat mindlessly. You should think about what you eat."(forgot the exact words he said). It took me months to change my eating habits and I think I'm just about halfway into understanding better what I should be eating, but at least I'm not overeating and my weight gain trajectory has stopped.
(2) Watch what you eat and drink. This is easier said than done that's why I installed an app. I did not know that beverages can contribute a lot to your weight, i.e. milk tea, coffee, juice, soda. So I cut down on "colored drinks". I can't live without coffee, but I've managed to wean myself away from high-calorie coffee drinks and now just drink sugar free instant. For food, I also learned to eat smarter because of the app.
(3) Research about food! I'm a picky eater and I like sticking to my favorite food. From watching what I eat though I realized that I needed to change what I ate since I was always going over my food quota. In my research I found out that there was a study made about eating based on your blood type. It said that there are some food that could be poisonous to your blood and may be the reason why you are always getting sick. In the last few months I've been having cough and colds often and I was sick of having to go for a check-up again and again. My immune system is just not at its prime so I thought maybe I should eat the food that's good for my blood. So I've been eating more veggies and fish in the last few weeks and my body feels so good.
(4) Exercise! Ugh! I'm not a sporty person. I've always been sedentary. I'm not pushing myself too much since I don't want to overdo it so I've been counting my steps everyday. I walk at least 3,000 steps everyday and that's already a lot of exercise for me IMHO. The most I've walked in a day in the last year is 10,000+. According to Coach Jim though if you walk only 5,000 per day that means you are sedentary. Oh okay... this is something I need to work on. I've taken a liking to walking around our compound every night lately so this helps a lot.
(5) Cook the right food! Ahhh, I recently bought "The Sexy Chef Cookbook" and I've been using it in the last week. This way we're able to measure better the number of calories we're eating since it's included in the cookbook. And I could say that I've increased the number of daily searches I do on Google because I research about food almost everyday (even on my phone!).
(6) Get a B.A. buddy! Yup, it's easier to lose weight when you have partners in crime. For me, it's Sweetie and Bagets!
These are the tiny steps I've been taking to get back in shape (hopefully in time for summer!). I hope I don't get a big scolding from my cardio when I go for my check-up!
And I was actually thinner when I graduated. I was only 85 pounds and I already had a kid! Unbelievable huh. My metabolism was just unbelievably fast and I guess my heart condition also worked my body hard. After my surgery I lost a lot of weight and was just about 105 pounds. My doctors then told me, "Eat!"
Well... I ate too much! Haha! Now they want me to shed off about 10 kilograms. Boohoo. (Just look at my header to see how much weight I've gained!).
My metabolism slowed down since my surgery. My housemate in Singapore said, "That's because you are a normal person now!" Yeah, 100% blood flow = you now have the capacity to exercise and burn those excess fats. After surgery I told myself I was going to join a run this year. Maybe run 3K. I've been listening to my body and it's telling me it isn't ready. The most I could do is walk 1.5km before I start panting. So here are the baby steps I've taken to stop gaining weight and slowly lose some.
(1) Installed MyFitnessPal on my phone to watch my calorie intake. When I started I still ate what I would regularly eat, but learning more about what I was eating slowly helped me change my eating habits. As Coach Jim Saret said, "You shouldn't eat mindlessly. You should think about what you eat."(forgot the exact words he said). It took me months to change my eating habits and I think I'm just about halfway into understanding better what I should be eating, but at least I'm not overeating and my weight gain trajectory has stopped.
(2) Watch what you eat and drink. This is easier said than done that's why I installed an app. I did not know that beverages can contribute a lot to your weight, i.e. milk tea, coffee, juice, soda. So I cut down on "colored drinks". I can't live without coffee, but I've managed to wean myself away from high-calorie coffee drinks and now just drink sugar free instant. For food, I also learned to eat smarter because of the app.
(3) Research about food! I'm a picky eater and I like sticking to my favorite food. From watching what I eat though I realized that I needed to change what I ate since I was always going over my food quota. In my research I found out that there was a study made about eating based on your blood type. It said that there are some food that could be poisonous to your blood and may be the reason why you are always getting sick. In the last few months I've been having cough and colds often and I was sick of having to go for a check-up again and again. My immune system is just not at its prime so I thought maybe I should eat the food that's good for my blood. So I've been eating more veggies and fish in the last few weeks and my body feels so good.
(4) Exercise! Ugh! I'm not a sporty person. I've always been sedentary. I'm not pushing myself too much since I don't want to overdo it so I've been counting my steps everyday. I walk at least 3,000 steps everyday and that's already a lot of exercise for me IMHO. The most I've walked in a day in the last year is 10,000+. According to Coach Jim though if you walk only 5,000 per day that means you are sedentary. Oh okay... this is something I need to work on. I've taken a liking to walking around our compound every night lately so this helps a lot.
(5) Cook the right food! Ahhh, I recently bought "The Sexy Chef Cookbook" and I've been using it in the last week. This way we're able to measure better the number of calories we're eating since it's included in the cookbook. And I could say that I've increased the number of daily searches I do on Google because I research about food almost everyday (even on my phone!).
(6) Get a B.A. buddy! Yup, it's easier to lose weight when you have partners in crime. For me, it's Sweetie and Bagets!
These are the tiny steps I've been taking to get back in shape (hopefully in time for summer!). I hope I don't get a big scolding from my cardio when I go for my check-up!
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