Managed to prevent weight gain after holiday

February 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I’m back from my holiday! Actually, I was back last Friday, sorry for the late update because, as usual, there are so much work to pick up after a holiday. ;)

I did remember to weigh myself the next day I got home — I didn’t put on weight, in fact there was an insignificant drop of about 0.5 kg, or so I thought, haha! So I did pass my own challenge. :)

Frankly, I didn’t adhere to all the 6 ground rules to preventing holiday weight gain I laid out for myself before the trip.

Stack up on fruits and salads (source for carbohydrate and fiber) during breakfast.

Failed. Sad to say, the only fruits available during breakfast in the hotel were pineapple and watermelon, there were no salads provided, and the food choices were limited. My breakfast for the three mornings consisted of: some cubed watermelon, a glass of mango juice, 2 slices of white bread with butter and jam, an egg, two pieces of cocktail sausages, one small scoop of noodles and one small scoop of rice. A very typical Malaysian-style breakfast. :P

Drink lots and lots of water! Will always carry a bottle of plain drinking water in my tote.

Definitely! In fact, one bottle of water is not enough to last you one day in Langkawi Island. Luckily bottled water is conveniently available on the island, sold in convenient stores or petrol stations.

Avoid oily and fried foods as much as possible.

But still couldn’t resist a few bites of fries when they were around, haha!

Opt for lean meat and fish as protein source for lunches.

Followed this quite closely.

I probably can’t avoid greasy seafood for dinners (hey, I have to respect the food ‘choices’ of my holiday mates :P), so the only rule I can apply is portion control.

The seafood dishes we ordered were not prepared in a ‘greasy’ manner, and our dinners always comprised of a healthy mixed types of food, and in the right portion (plus some red wine, too).

Perhaps I should also bring along a small bottle of mixed raw nuts to snack on when I’m hungry between meals or at night. That will be better than munching on chocolates or cakes or chips.

Forgot to pack the mixed nuts!! :P Broke this rule actually, because the chocolate temptation was just too great to resist! However, I took just that little bit. ;)

So, how is it that I managed to stay the same weight (let’s forget about that insignificant weight drop ;) )?

The answer is simply… lots of walking and sweating, i.e. being physically active. Trekking up a hill, jumping at the beach (i.e. doing the jumping pose for the camera, silly huh?), a stroll after dinner, etc, as long as we keep our body moving, we are able to burn away part, if not all, of the extra calories we took in. And this, really helps to prevent weight gain after a holiday.

Now you know how to plan your next holiday so that you can prevent weight gain and stay healthy, right? :)

Posted by Valen | Filed Under My weight loss plan 

Preventing holiday weight gain - my challenge this week!

February 15, 2009 | 1 Comment

Why is it a challenge? Because I’m going for a 4-day island holiday with my family tomorrow!

I’m sure you know how appetite can become bigger when you’re on a holiday - good company, stress-free mind, and of course, the NICE food (in this case, seafood, seafood, and more seafood)! Everything seems to taste better when you’re  relaxed and surrounded by family members and the best of friends. :)

I want to enjoy the seafood, but I don’t want to come home with extra kilograms (it’s okay if it’s my luggage that is well fed with souvenirs), so I figured that I need to set some ground rules for myself so that I will eat happy and healthy to prevent holiday weight gain during this trip. Also, eating right can avoid other problems like indigestion or constipation, which usually happen to me during holidays! Urgh!

My 6 ground rules to preventing holiday weight gain:

1. Stack up on fruits and salads (source for carbohydrate and fiber) during breakfast.

2. Drink lots and lots of water! Will always carry a bottle of plain drinking water in my tote.

3. Avoid oily and fried foods as much as possible.

4. Opt for lean meat and fish as protein source for lunches.

5. I probably can’t avoid greasy seafood for dinners (hey, I have to respect the food ‘choices’ of my holiday mates :P), so the only rule I can apply is portion control.

6. Perhaps I should also bring along a small bottle of mixed raw nuts to snack on when I’m hungry between meals or at night. That will be better than munching on chocolates or cakes or chips. (Ooooh, the bad 3Cs!)

That’s about it. Six steps to help me prevent weight gain this holiday. So tonight I will check my current weight, and re-check after I’m back from holiday.

See you all in a week and let you know if I pass this challenge! :)

Posted by Valen | Filed Under My weight loss plan 

My weight loss plan this coming holiday

January 21, 2009 | 1 Comment

I know I’m supposed to shop for foods following the recommended plan in the Diet Solution Program so that I can start my daily meal plan. Well, I did shop a lot last week - not for foods in my healthy weight loss plan though. :P

I am busy preparing for Chinese New Year, a very important festive that Chinese celebrate falling on the coming Monday. Just like Christmas, it’s a season that involves meeting up with family and friends PLUS lots of foods and drinks. And this celebration actually lasts for 15 days before it’s considered ‘THE end’! This surely poses a great hazard to my weight loss plan. ;)

Anyway, since I’m now well aware of my body metabolic type, which is the protein type, I definitely know which foods to choose and which to avoid this coming holiday. My ideal food type ratio is 45% protein:35% carb:20% fat, so I will consciously add more, for example lean meat and nuts, and less carbo, for example rice and bread, in my meals.

The greatest ‘challenge’ of all will probably be the assortment of yummy homemade cookies! Cookies are usually loaded with butter, flour and sugar - this spells DANGER! That’s why many people tend to get few pounds heavier after CNY.

To tell you the truth, I won’t totally avoid the cookies, or else there is no fun at all, right? However, I’m not going to stuff myself with them either. I just want to satisfy my taste buds, not to curb my hunger! Once you know the reason why you are eating, you will know when to stop. ;)

In addition, 3 to 4 times of exercise next week will help me to burn off inadvertently consumed extra calories, haha!

I still have to come up with a shopping list for the foods I need for my protein-type diet, and pile them up in the fridge for meals in the following week. That’s about it for my weight loss plan during this CNY holiday (if it’s considered a plan at all). :)

So, to all the Chinese readers out there: Happy Chinese New Year, wishing you a healthy and fit year ahead! :)

P.S. This will probably be the only post for this week, but I will try to get one post out next week coz there’s so much to share about healthy lifestyle and weight loss! :)

Posted by Valen | Filed Under My weight loss plan