How to lose weight while eating out

January 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment

After knowing my metabolic type and my daily calories requirement to lose weight, what I need to do next is to create my daily meal plan following the meal planning guide given in The Diet Solution Program.

I’ve tried before following the meal plans from Isabel’s program for a couple of days and felt comfortable, so now it’s time to come up with a full weekly meal plan. This will help me do my grocery shopping and plan my cooking chores in advance.

Of course I don’t cook every day. I still eat out a couple of times each week, particularly during weekends. I know, eating home cooked meals EVERY single day can be pretty boring, huh? So sometimes it’s nice and fun to eat out at a restaurant for a change.

Question is: How to lose weight while eating out? How can you enjoy restaurant foods while at the same time making sure it will not sabotage your weight loss plan? Below are some ‘rules’ to safeguard your weight loss plan…

1. Visit vegetarian restaurants

In order to be on the safe side, visit restaurants which offer only vegetarian meals. This is not to say that non-vegetarian meals are bad. With non-vegetarian restaurants, you have to take extra care to make sure that you are not eating high-calorie or high-fat foods.

As an example, ordinary chicken meat served in most restaurants is usually laden with huge amounts of fat. Lean chicken meat, on the other hand, is good for you, but not all restaurants offer lean chicken meat as part of their menus. With vegetarian restaurants, you will be more likely to end up on the safe side.

2. Let the salad dressing go

Salads are good for quick weight loss, provided no dressings are added. Salads are nothing but raw vegetables in chopped form. Raw vegetables, as you might be aware, help you burn fat by boosting your metabolic rate. However, the salad dressing that is provided in most restaurants is rich in calorie. So whenever you ask for salads, make sure to instruct them to remove the salad dressing from the top.

3. Stay away from buffets

A lot of the foods you see at buffet tables are rich in calorie content. These foods are cooked in bulk with a large amount of oil, thereby not suitable for those who are looking forward to shedding some pounds. If you really want to eat from buffets, make sure you steer clear of fatty foods and choose the salads and other healthier alternatives instead.

4. Control your portions

Check the amount of food you are going to eat before you take that bite. If you think that the food provided to you exceeds your allowed portion control limit, eat according to your portion limit, and then pack the leftovers home as your lunch for the next day. Most restaurants will have boxes for their patrons to pack leftovers.

There is nothing wrong with eating at a restaurant once in while, as long as you know what to eat and how much to eat so that it will not spoil your weight loss plan. So go ahead and appease your taste buds! :)

Posted by Valen | Filed Under Weight loss plan 

Finding out your daily calories requirement

January 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Daily Calories RequirementOnce you found out how much weight you need to lose, the next thing you’d want to do is to find out how much is your daily calories requirement.

If you are using this calorie counter for men or calorie counter for women (cool tools!), by the end of answering 4 questions, you will get a whole bunch of information about your own calorie needs. You will know:

1. How much calories per day is required to maintain your current weight without exercise.

2. How much calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintaining it without exercise.

3. How much calories to reduce to lose one pound per week without exercise.

4. How much increase in your current caloric intake will cause you to gain one pound per week.

5. How much caloric intake you can increase to maintain your current weight if you exercise for 30 min or 60 min each day.

6. How much caloric intake per day to reach your goal with 30 min or 60 min of exercise daily.

In The Diet Solution Program, Isabel also has a simple formula to calculate your daily calories requirement in order to lose weight healthily.

Based on both ways of calculation, I found out that I need to reduce my caloric intake to around 1,300 per day to lose weight slowly if without exercising. If I couple my weight loss plan with 30 min of exercise every day, then I will still be able to lose weight by maintaining my daily caloric intake at around 2,000.

After knowing my daily calories requirement, the next step will be to ensure that I don’t consume calories more than I need. This started me wondering–how would I know how much I’m consuming in each meal? Do I need really need to count my calories every time I eat? What should I do if I still feel hungry after I’ve reached my daily calorie limit? I supposed you are asking the same questions in your mind, too!

Perhaps I’ll let Isabel explain what all this calorie counting is about. You’ll be able to read her opinions on the calorie issue in my next post. So stay tuned! :)

Posted by Valen | Filed Under Weight loss plan 

How much weight to lose?

December 31, 2008 | 1 Comment

Here’s a quick way to find out your own ideal weight besides using BMI as a reference. I came across this simple method from a fat loss guide booklet endorsed by the Weight Management Information Centre of Malaysia.

Calculate following the steps below:

1. Your lowest weight (kg) for at least one year in your adult years => X
2. How many years ago was that? => Y
3. Your realistic and achievable weight will be=> X + (Y x 0.5)

Example:
I weighed 45 kg 12 years ago, so my achievable weight will be: 45 + (12 x 0.5) = 51 kg.

You can now use this to quickly find out how much weight you need to lose, and make it your weight loss goal in 2009, which is just few hours from now. :)

In my next post, I will share some information on calorie counting. For now, I just want to wish all of you Happy New Year 2009! May you all look good and stay healthy for years to come! :)

P.S. If you have not downloaded the Top 10 Weight Loss Myths report, go get it now!

Posted by Valen | Filed Under Weight loss plan 

Wanna get rid of that fat by Christmas?

November 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Yoohoo, Christmas is approaching and the whole city is bustling with Christmas spirit, or more like shopping spirit! Haha!

Are you one of those people who want to lose weight fast, i.e. before Christmas, so that you can look stunning and sexy when the party season begins? Hmm, looks like we’re short of time, with only 4 weeks to go. Is it really possible to lose the extra weight before the Christmas day?

While it is impossible (and dangerous!) to lose 10 kg in a month’s time, losing that 2-3 kg of extra weight is a realistic goal.

NO, it’s not about starving yourself to lose weight fast. That is really the WRONG way to go! If you starve yourself, not only will your health deteriorate, but your metabolic rate will also become lower. When your body realizes that you are not providing it with enough calories, it will start storing fat instead of burning it. Why? So that it can use this fat for producing energy. (Don’t blame your body, it’s just trying to help itself).

What you can do is to start to eat right and exercise from today onwards! :P

Below are top 6 rules to help you get rid of fat by Christmas.

1. You cannot lose more than 1 kg of fat per week; if you try to lose more, you will lose muscles instead of fat!

2. You shouldn’t attempt to reduce your daily calorie intake by more than 500 calories.

3. If you want to lose weight fast, you cannot expect to achieve your goal by dieting alone. You need to add some exercises to your daily routine to accelerate the weight loss process. Try cardios and strength training; I heard that they are the best exercises for quick weight loss.

4. Spot reduction of fat is not likely to happen. You may think that you will lose your love handles by doing sit-ups and abdominal crunches frequently. But you might be surprised that other parts of your body are losing fat instead of your targeted area! When it comes to weight loss, it is your BODY which will decide where to start burning fat first!

5. Calorie counting is unnecessary. It’s too tedious and boring. Haha! An easier way to keep your calorie intake in check is to get rid of fast foods such as biscuits, cakes, soft drinks, soda and other junk foods. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables instead. You will naturally consume fewer calories than usual, and you no longer need to count your calorie consumption!

6. Drink plenty of water every day. Water keeps your metabolic rate high and help you burn fat fast. An adult should drink at least eight glasses of water per day, if not more!

To learn more about how you can lose weight fast before Christmas, grab this free report “2 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Before Christmas” as my Christmas gift to you! :) Just click on the Page above that says “Free Report”.

Posted by Valen | Filed Under Weight loss plan 

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