You Need to Lose Weight! 5 Classy Ways to Handle Fat Shaming

Last week's story.

My daughter returned home from school and looked a bit upset when I asked her about her art class. They had an art exam that day. Days before, they were given list of things they can choose to draw on the exam day. She choose a pineapple. But her friends, according to her, commented that her drawing is ugly and that's what made her sad. She cried. Trying to comfort her, I told her that everyone has their own opinion. It's okay. Two people can look at her drawing and see something totally different. We respect our friends' point of view. However their opinion is not necessarily true. Upon hearing that, she falls into peace again.

When I say that to my daughter, I have a feeling that it's like I'm telling this to my own self. People sometimes can be so mean or maybe too honest about your appearance. 'You've gained a lot lot lot of weight since I last saw you,'  'you shouldn't eat that burger', 'you need to lose weight', 'you look like a rugby player with fat legs'. Fat shaming doesn't motivate people to lose weight. From my own experience, criticizing someone's weight actually only makes them feel terrible about themselves and causes them to eat more and gain more weight. My dad and mom maybe thinks that they are just being real honest that every time I came home they will repeat the same fat-shaming advice in front of my husband. My dad even used to joke and laugh a lot about my weight. We can't shut people's mouth. People can say whatever they want about you but their approval doesn't matter. Not everyone will understand your weight loss journey or your struggle with gluttony. I never tried to correct people in my family because I don't think they will understand. Author of EatQ, psychologist Susan Albers, PsyD, said that to prevent judgy comments from weighing you down is by telling them about how their words make you feel since they may not be aware. But it takes a lot of courage to tell someone else how you feel without feeling silly or risk embarrassment.

What is the other best way to react fat shaming from your family, or colleague in the workplace?

1. Look on the bright side
The people who care about you may say harsh comments with no intention to hurt you. They feel like as a family and friends it's their job to tell you the truth about your weight and health. They might say some super-insensitive comments, but try to remind yourself that this could be an attempt to show how much they care for you.

2. Silence is the best answer
Try your best not to respond. "Behaviours we reinforce continue, and those we ignore should stop," says Albers. Divert the conversation in another direction. Don't add anything to a conversation to belittling yourself.

3. Take care of yourself
When someone knocks you down, don't buy into it. Criticism at the wrong time can kill momentum for successful weight loss. Use this chance instead to build your confidence. Remind yourself each day to not just talk about your weight loss goals and aspirations but go out and do something about it. No matter how many times people try to criticize you, the best revenge is to prove them wrong.

4. Mentally prepare for the situation
You are going to attend a family event where you might bump into Critical Cathy so plan a few emotional strategies in advance. Breath deeply and evenly to help you feel much more relax. Visualize a relaxing experience to control immediate emotional responses. Close your eyes and imagine your safe place. Create as many details as possible. What sounds do you hear? What do you see? What does it smell like? What textures do you touch? 

Learning to communicate assertively can also be very helpful in controlling your emotions. For example:
"Why are we focusing on what's bad about how we look? Let's focus on what we love about ourselves."
"The way you are talking about yourself (or someone else) is making me feel really bad about myself. 
"I'm/you're beautiful and lovable the way I am/you are."

5. Reaching out to your support system
I hit up my most empathetic friends when I have to deal with this kind of situation. I can say that they are my great kind of therapy. Sometimes, it is necessary to vent to a friend about rude comments to keep your sanity.

Talk It Over

• What strategy do you use to keep your cool when someone fat-shaming you? Share in the comments. 

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10 Day Weight Loss Mental Challenge

Are you familiar with this quote 'Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve'?

It’s Napoleon Hill's most famous inspirational quotes on the power of positive thinking. It means when you truly believe on something, your mind find ways to accomplish it. Same goes to negative thinking. The moment you have a negative thought, it’s already hindering you from achieving something that you want, less energy instead of more energy, less peace of mind instead of more peace of mind, less success instead of more success.

I remember reading a story about a traveller who went to visit a beautiful waterfall. Scenic view was mesmerizing and the water was crystal clear, the surrounding area smells so earthy fresh. He took a sip from the waterfall, the water couldn't get any purer. Just as he had finished, he saw a signboard nearby that read "poison". He suddenly felt sick, his vision suddenly became blurry, he had trouble breathing, his heart race like crazy. He shouted for help and his tour guide sent him immediately to the hospital. The doctor asked, what happened? He told his story, but the doctor burst out laughing instead. The doctor in his teary laugh explained that the signboard that he just saw was actually written "poisson", double "S"- a French word that means fish. The man thought he was going to die because of the 'poisonous' water, and he became what he think. He started to feel the symptom of poisoning. Moral of the story is our mental attitude can either improve our health and increase our chances of success, or vice versa.

These final 10 days of September, I'm going to do a different weight loss challenge from the challenge I did before. It is called the 10 Day Weight Loss Mental Challenge inspired by Anthony Tony Robbins, the author of Awaken The Giant Within.

THE TEN-DAY WEIGHT LOSS MENTAL CHALLENGE
RULES OF THE GAME

Rule 1. In the next ten consecutive days, refuse to dwell on any unresourceful thoughts or feelings. Refuse to indulge in any disempowering questions or devitalizing vocabulary or metaphors.

Rule 2. When you catch yourself beginning to focus on the negative - and you certainly will - you are immediately use the problem solving question as your first line of attack, for example:

1. What is great about this problem?
2. What is not perfect yet?
3. What am I willing to do to make it the way I want it?
4. What am I willing to no longer do in order to make it the way I want it?
5. How can I enjoy the process while I do what is necessary to make it the way I want it?

Remember by asking question like, "what's not perfect yet?" you're presupposing that things will be perfect. This question can direct your focus toward a better emotional state, help you break a pattern of negative thinking, and actually come up with a solution to your problems. It doesn't ignore the problem, but it keeps you in the right state while you identify what needs to be changed.

In addition, set yourself up for success each morning for the next ten days by asking yourself the Morning Power Questions before you get out of the bed or while you're in the shower and use the Evening Power Questions, or any questions you believe will put you in a great state before you drop off to sleep.

Morning Power Questions

1. What am I happy about in my life now?
2. What am I excited about in my life now?
3. What am I proud about in my life now?
4. What am I grateful about in my life now?
5. What am I enjoying most in my life now?
6. What am I committed to in my life now?
7. Who do I love? Who loves me?

(substitute “could” for “am” if you get stuck.)

Evening Power Questions

1. What have I given today?
2. What did I learn today?
3. How has today added to the quality of my life or how can I use today as an investment in my future?

Rule 3. For the next ten consecutive days, make certain that your whole focus in life is on solutions and not on problems. The minute you see a possible challenge, immediately focus on what the solution could be.

Rule 4. If you backslide - that is, if you catch yourself indulging in or dwelling on an resourceful thought or feeling-don't beat yourself up. There's no problem with this as long as you change immediately. However, if you continue to dwell on unresouceful thoughts or feelings for any measureable length of time, you must wait until the following morning and start the ten days over. The goal of this program is ten consecutive days without holding or dwelling on a negative thought. The goal is to knock things out before you ever get in a negative emotional state in the first place. This starting-over process must happen no matter how many days in a row you've already accomplished the task.

Admit it, we all have our mental indulgences. We are habitually feel sorry for ourselves for many reasons. We bad mouthing ourselves when we are not able to workout, we sometimes feel like we're a bottomless pit because we want to lose weight so bad but can't stop eating unhealthy foods. Or it is our looks that makes us feel insecure. This weight loss mental challenge is really an opportunity for you and I to become "addicted" to a positive focus for the rest of our lives.

Today is my Day 1 of weight loss mental challenge. What about you, have you decided yet whether you're going to do this? Let me know in the comment.

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Going to the Gym Won't Actually Help You Lose Weight – But Why I Still Go to the Gym Every Week?

August is ending soon! It's been a while since I last posted. I wrote my first blog post after haven't posted for the last 3 months last night but the internet line was so slow that I had to save as draft. When I checked the post today before I get it published, the post was not there. Blogger not saving my blog post draft, I am so irritated right now! Huh.

The hubs got a new job recently and we just got busy moving to a new town that I have no time to write a blog post. And while I'm busy adapting to a new environment, my diet falling off the diet wagon. Well, things happened. But tell ya I'm sooooo ready to get back on track because life goes on no matter how hard it gets, no matter how you feel. My motto for now is stop hanging on and just move on. Life won't wait for you while you're wasting time waiting for the right time to bounce back from weight loss failure, right?

I signed up for a gym membership earlier this month. Look, I'm not fond of gym. I prefer to workout at home where I can own my own space, I can wear whatever I want, or even listen to my favorite music as loud as I wish. But then why I still choose to pay tons of money to join a gym when I can workout at home instead?

1. Atmosphere 
You are in the fitness atmosphere, and this motivates you to workout. Being surrounded by other people who are in the same boat can boost your motivation to make exercise part of your regular routine. My goal this month is to push myself to go to the gym at least three times a week and find my rhythm. And when I already got my momentum I may going on a more regular basis, which will help make my weight loss goals more attainable.

2. Distraction 
I am prone to procrastinate when at home. Taking 5 minutes nap after sending off the children to school often becomes 30, 1 more episode of Kdrama usually end up marathoning all the episodes. And who hasn’t told themselves, I’ll get in my workout, right after checking my Facebook or after I reply this WhatsApp message. At this point, I might tell myself I’ll work out later, or tomorrow—and the vicious cycle of procrastination wins. Gym is a good distraction. You’re away from the dirty dishes in the sink, the piled up laundry which can easily distract your focus.

3. Equipment
You're not going to want to spend $10,000 or more on expensive gym equipment. Treadmill, elliptical machine, set of dumbbells, hip abductor machine, abs coaster - the gyms is going to have it all for you. With that wide selection of workout equipment, it'll greatly expands the list of exercise options you have when developing a workout routine for yourself.

4. Price
It is much cheaper to get a gym membership for a year than it is to buy enough equipment to have your own home gym.

Well, we often hear people said "you lose weight in the kitchen" to which I agree. When it comes to shedding extra kilos, eating less is much more important. Exercise has many benefits, but we can't rely fully on it to control weight. Sticking with a healthy eating plan is a real challenge for me this month. I am still trying to fix my bad eating habits but on the bright side I'm slowly begin my exercise routine, slowly building up momentum and the willpower to exercise. Non scale victory, YAY!

Now let me hear from you: What feels right for you, workout at home or join the gym? Share in the comment.

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How to Make Pleasurable Changes for a Joyful Weight Loss

This alligator jokes is quiet old and I'm sure you've heard this somewhere. For today's post I want to retell you this story, it will be entertaining to those who do not know the story, refreshing to those who do.

Alligator Jokes
A rich millionaire decides to throw a massive party for his 50th birthday, so during this party he grabs the microphone and he announces to his guests that down in the garden of his mansion he has a swimming pool with two alligators in it.  
'I will give anything they desire of mine, to the man who swims across that pool.' 

So the party continues with no events in the pool, until suddenly, there is a great splash and all the guests of the party run to the pool to see what has happened. In the pool is a man and he is swimming as hard as he can, and the tails come out of the water and the jaws are snapping and this guy just keeps on going and the alligators are gaining on him and this guy reaches the end and he gets out of the pool, tired and soaked.

The millionaire grabs the microphone and says, 'I am a man of my word, anything of mine I will give, my Ferraris, my house, absolutely anything, for you are the bravest man I have ever seen. So sir what will it be?' the millionaire asks.

The guy grabs the microphone and says, 'Why don't we start with the name of the bastard that pushed me in!' 

The reward offered by the rich man is fancy enough. He promise to gives just ANYTHING to his guest, 1 million cash, Lamborghini, or a luxury trip to Maldives, you name it but under one condition. Swim across a swimming pool with two alligators in it. Obviously the man who accept the challenge is not really after the prize at all even though it sounds attractive much. He made it because someone push him in it and he was scared to death that he swim as fast as he could to reach the end. I bet he'll win the Olympic gold! The pool surrounding area is the guest's comfort zone. The lucrative reward the rich man offered are their goals. But before claiming the prize, they need to face off the challenge, the swimming pool and it is not just a normal pool. There are two alligators in it!

Similarly, we have our own goals. If you and I want to lose weight, we know we need to change in order to achieve our goals. Instead of sitting on the potato couch all day watching our favorite telenovela, we need to get moving. And not just that, we must watch what we put in our mouth. You eat crap, and you'll feel like crap and never lose weight.  But change is terrifying. Like the story above, the guest are not brave enough even to dip their foot into the water. They may think, what if the alligator catch me?

What if I lose all the weight, but I'll gain it all back anyway? What if I lose all the weight, but I will get loose skin? What if I lose weight, but that makes my face look older?  This mixed emotions sometimes cause us to be uncertain as to what to do and keep holding us back from achieving our goals. Anthony Robins in his book 'Awaken the Giant Within' wrote that the only way we're going to make a change NOW is if we create a SENSE OF URGENCY that's so INTENSE that we're compelled to follow through. To turn around our mixed emotions, Anthony Robins talk about reaching a pain threshold. That means you experience pain at such an intense level that you know YOU MUST CHANGE NOW. Maybe you're not able to squeeze into your skinny jeans anymore, that kind of experience will finally push you over the edge. But Anthony said, if you've tried many times to make a change and you've failed to do so, this simply means that the level of pain for failing to change is not intense enough.

Why would someone not change when they feel and know that they should? Because changing will move them out of their comfort zone. Because making a change is painful than to not changing. Anthony list down two ways to reverse this so that the idea of changing is pleasurable instead of painful.

1 - Ask yourself pain-inducing questions
"What will this cost me if I don't lose weight?" "What will I miss out in life if I stay obese?" Make the pain of not changing feel so real and intense that you can't delay your action any longer. Focus on how it will affects your children, and the people you care about.

2 - Use pleasure-associating question
"If I lose weight and reach my ideal weight, how will that make me feel about myself?" "What other things in life I could accomplish if start losing weight for good?" Get lots of strong reasons why must take action immediately.

Now your turn: You can intentionally train your brain and create positive emotions to start making a change and lose the weight for good. Apart from the hack above, what other ways to trick your brain into doing what you want? Leave your comments below.

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Quitting Caffeine or Coffee: 4 Best Ways to Cope with Coffee Withdrawal Symptom

So it's not happening. Tried to keep everyone update on my April Slim Down Challenge, mmmh... actually posting about it is more about to keep myself accountable with the weight loss challenge, but my bad I just can't keep consistent with blogging schedule. I'm still trying though to become more productive next time.

I only lose 2 kg as a result of April Slim Down Challenge. 2 kg lost is not something to be proud about, because you know...2 kg? You'll no doubt gain it back as soon as you resume to your normal eating habit. Even so, I can't say that I have failed it altogether. During this weight loss challenge I've learnt to change my relationship with food. I no longer want to turn to food for emotional fulfillment, but eating because I'm physically hungry. Only one thing that seem to disturb me was the withdrawal symptom I experienced when I tried to quit 3-in-1 coffee. Coffee withdrawal symptom is no joke. The first few days I had dizziness and headache. I felt sluggish and tired, and lack of motivation...and oh maybe that would explain about this blog slow updates.  :P

4 best ways to coping with coffee withdrawal symptom

1. Staying well hydrated
Drink plenty of water during the withdrawal process will help replenish and rehydrate your body, and ward off feelings of dizziness,

2. Get plenty of rest
When you quit caffeine, it's common to feel tired but not a normal tiredness. You may sit up straight but still can't keep your eyes open. Get extra sleep to combat fatigue and grogginess.

3. . Eat healthy
Eat plenty of fresh veges and fruits to provide your body with the nutrition it needs. Healthy diet deliver natural energy and promote a more positive frame of mind.

4. Get moving
Honestly I won’t feel like exercising, but I've found exercise help minimize caffeine withdrawal symptoms and actually make me feel better.

I heard some people take pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen to help ease headache associated with withdrawal but I prefer to go natural.

Have you ever try to quit coffee or caffeine? How do you endure the whole symptoms of caffeine withdrawal? Share them in the comments below.

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Day 13: 3 Simple Ways to Eliminate Processed Foods for Weight Loss

Day 13 Slim Down Challenge. 13 days has passed so quickly!  I'm so happy today that I finally push myself out from my comfort zone. I start working out again after a long break. Actually the first real workout I did this year. Remember I mentioned last time that we moved to a new place because of my husband's job. We have been living here for 5 months but I just discovered a walking park yesterday. I'm actually looking for some fun outdoor activities for the kids and this is how we found out about this park. Who knows, exercising together as a family is a great bonding experience.

Today's slim down challenge is about nixing the processed food. Processed foods are basically food that has been altered from its natural state like canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. Breakfast cereals and instant noodles are another prime example of processed foods fall under junk food category. To be honest, these two tops my meal option list. We all know it. Processed foods are usually high in sugar and contain all sort of artificial ingredient. Excess consume of sugar is seriously harmful to our health and can block our weight loss goals. But when you have nothing in the fridge, it's very easy to reach one.

30 Day Slim Down Challenge

30 DAY SLIM DOWN CHALLENGE

Day 1 - Put the blame
Day 2 - Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
Day 3 - Ditched added sugar
Day 4 - Avoid refined carbs
Day 5 - Put down the drink
Day 6 - Plan 1 splurge
Day 7 - Allow spontaneous indulgence
Day 8 - Keep grains in check
Day 9 - Eat only when hungry
Day 10 - Go for a walk
Day 11 - Never skip breakfast
Day 12 - Say NO to junkfood
Day 13 - Nix processed foods
Day 14 - Shop for whole foods
Day 15 - Meal prep
Day 16 - Reorganize your fridge
Day 17 - Keep a food journal Day
18 - Ramp up protein intake
Day 19 - Veggies / fruit on every plate
Day 20 - Know your healthy fats
Day 21 - Keep portions in check
Day 22 - Track total calories
Day 23 - Eat at the table
Day 24 - Eliminate distraction
Day 25 - Slow down
Day 26 - Downsize dinnerware
Day 27 - Bust out the scale
Day 28 - Reduce sodium
Day 29 - Sleep 7+ hours
Day 30 - Cut 100 calories 

What exactly you can do to eliminate processed foods for weight loss? 

Ok, I pick these three tips I found on wikihow, am excited to see what happen in the next 2 weeks if I cut out processed foods from my diet.

1 - Write up a meal plan
I think this is a very important part. Proper meal planning will help us ensure the meals meet our nutritional need. We might be tempted to grab fast foods if we don't plan our on-the-go meals ahead of time.

2 - Clean up our kitchen
Go through our kitchen and throw out any processed foods we can find,  Read the ingredient label on the packaged foods to get information about what's in the food, any additives, preservatives or flavorings.

3 - Purchase and eat whole fruits and vegetables
Restock our kitchen with healthy foods. Focus on fresh fruits and vegetables like apples, bananas, or tomatoes. Fruits and vegetables are nutritious foods that contain essential vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. Avoid highly processed fruits and vegetables like canned fruit in syrup.

Your turn: What's the one processed food you can't live without?

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Day 4: Failing at Weight Loss, Do You Start Over or Just Move On?

Day 4 Slim Down Challenge today. I didn't post Day 3 yesterday, well it was Sunday and I usually don't blog on Sunday. #familytime

I am feeling less motivated today.

My progress was maybe only 3 out of 10? Husband is working outstation for a week from today. I just feel like lazing around since today is also school off day, celebrating 'qingming'. No need to send and pick up children from school. No need to welcome husband home from work and a little mess is also okay. So it's definitely my lazy day today. I didn't workout and diet is off-track a bit.

Actually the hubs going outstation is the best time for me to focus on my diet because I don't have to cook fancy fussy meals. I never forced to cook for my husband, well maybe I'm lucky my husband is not picky when comes to food but ya know I still feel guilty when I don't prepared him proper dinner. You probably know the saying, 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.' So I mean when he's out of town for business, it's like cooking 'off-duty' for me. I just basically made a simple and easy meals for the children. There's no way to impress the kids with complicated meals, you know children taste is sometimes different than adult. Good food, feeling full and it's fine already. I'm afraid that if they cannot finish their food it will be always me who became their trashcan - to avoid waste! (Read, diet ruin) So that's it. Simple and zero-waste food for the kids. When I don't have to cook fancy meals that also means food temptation is in control.

30 Day Slim Down Challenge

30 DAY SLIM DOWN CHALLENGE

Day 1 - Put the blame
Day 2 - Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
Day 3 - Ditched added sugar
Day 4 - Avoid refined carbs
Day 5 - Put down the drink
Day 6 - Plan 1 splurge
Day 7 - Allow spontaneous indulgence
Day 8 - Keep grains in check
Day 9 - Eat only when hungry
Day 10 - Go for a walk
Day 11 - Never skip breakfast
Day 12 - Say NO to junkfood
Day 13 - Nix processed foods
Day 14 - Shop for whole foods
Day 15 - Meal prep
Day 16 - Reorganize your fridge
Day 17 - Keep a food journal Day
18 - Ramp up protein intake
Day 19 - Veggies / fruit on every plate
Day 20 - Know your healthy fats
Day 21 - Keep portions in check
Day 22 - Track total calories
Day 23 - Eat at the table
Day 24 - Eliminate distraction
Day 25 - Slow down
Day 26 - Downsize dinnerware
Day 27 - Bust out the scale
Day 28 - Reduce sodium
Day 29 - Sleep 7+ hours
Day 30 - Cut 100 calories 

Back to the topic. Today suppose to be good but it happen to be a less than productive day for me. Question is, when you fail your weight loss plan are you starting over from Day 1 the next day or you just move on with the plan?

Perfectionist Dieter
I used to go back to Day 1 whenever I fall off my diet. For example, I plan to do a sugar detox for 10 days but fail halfway. Say, on the 5th day. So I call it cancel and go back to Day 1. I want to follow the rules exactly. I think it's normal for anyone because we believe we'll be successful in melting off unwanted pounds if we do so. Perfectionist dieter detected! It actually feel exhausted to start over everytime you failed. 'I start over tomorrow,' or 'I start over next Monday.' This makes me feel like today or this week is my "last meal", I can eat whatever I want because it's the last time I'm going to eat those food. Tomorrow I'll be strict again. Or next Monday, I'll be strict again. Then when I slightly derailed, I am likely to want to give up for the day and "start again tomorrow" or "start over on Monday" and I end up repeating the same situation over and over.

Perfectionism ruining my weight loss effort. I am done! Sometimes our diet plan or weight loss plan is not as perfect as we want it but it's totally okay. The key is progress not perfection. Now whenever I messed up my diet, I'll try as best as I can to begin eating right at the next meal, not waiting until a certain day to begin. The next meal is a time to refresh, to begin eating wholesome foods again. I promise when I made weight loss mistakes, I'll reflect on how this happened, why this happened, and what I can do in the future to prevent it.

Your turn: Are you a perfectionist dieter? What do you do when you mess up your diet? Are you starting over at a certain day, or are you simply dust yourself off and move on? Discuss in the comments.

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Day 2 Slim Down Challenge: Five SMART Goals for Weight Loss

Day 2 Slim Down Challenge today. To be honest, I am a bit worried if I can't finish this. But just what people always said, there's no try, JUST DO IT.

I am doing a NO CARB, NO SUGAR DIET for 30 days. Okay first for anyone who concerned, cutting out carbs from your diet is completely safe, according to Dr. Mike Roussell, a nutritional consultant and the author of Dr. Mike's 7 Step Weight Loss Plan and the 6 Pillars of Nutrition. Your body function very well without carbs by either making the sugars it needs or finding alternate energy sources. For example, when you drastically reduce or eliminate carbs from your diet, your body is able to make sugar to store as glycogen. If you wanted to completely cut out carbs, power your body with fats, improve your health, and exercise at a high level.

Second thing I'd like to share here, I have not failed. Yes, I had crackers and instant coffee for breakfast this morning which I suppose not to take during this Slim Down Challenge but but well, just a minor slip up – next thing is refocus and move on.

I always believe setting goals for weight loss is important because it gives you direction, boost your motivation and self-confidence. This is embarrassing I had to share my weight loss goals this month from 2 years ago. I mean like this weight loss thing I'm talking about is taking me forever, like two years and I still here? Yup, I know. Action, action, action.

30 DAY #HEWLD SLIM DOWN CHALLENGE

✓Day 1 - Put the blame
Day 2 - Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
Day 3 - Ditched added sugar
Day 4 - Avoid refined carbs
Day 5 - Put down the drink
Day 6 - Plan 1 splurge
 Day 7 - Allow spontaneous indulgence
Day 8 - Keep grains in check
Day 9 - Eat only when hungry
Day 10 - Go for a walk
Day 11 - Never skip breakfast
Day 12 - Say NO to junkfood
Day 13 - Nix processed foods
Day 14 - Shop for whole foods
Day 15 - Meal prep
Day 16 - Reorganize your fridge
Day 17 - Keep a food journal
Day 18 - Ramp up protein intake
Day 19 - Veggies / fruit on every plate
Day 20 - Know your healthy fats
Day 21 - Keep portions in check
Day 22 - Track total calories
Day 23 - Eat at the table
Day 24 - Eliminate distraction
Day 25 - Slow down
Day 26 - Downsize dinnerware
Day 27 - Bust out the scale
Day 28 - Reduce sodium
Day 29 - Sleep 7+ hours
Day 30 - Cut 100 calories 

What is actually a good weight loss goal strategy?
SMART goals, as I understand is a useful way to help reevaluate our weight loss action plan. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

Specific - declare what you will do, how long you will do it, and when you will do it.
Fitness: Wake up early morning and spend roughly 30 minutes exercising every morning. Exercise will wake you up. If you quickly cleared off exercise from your to-do-list, you can keep the productivity going for the rest of the day.

Diet: No carbs, no sugar. Focus on eating good quality, minimally processed real food.

Measurable - measure a goal.
Fitness: Exercising for at least 30 minutes each day.
Diet: Anything except carbs and sugar, no more than 1,200 calories in a day.

Attainable - goal that you have enough time and resources to achieve.
Fitness: Exercise every morning is attainable. If I can't make it upon wake up I still can exercise after sending the children to school. Lots of free time before the children come back from school just need to learn better time management.

Diet: No carbs, no sugar is actually something I can actually accomplish. Stop eating junk food, just focus on real food. Stop buying junk food, remove it from my house and give away any junk food to friends.

Realistic: Relevant goal, something that is reasonable.
Instead of weighing myself, I look for other ways to measure my progress. What about this, an old shirt? This top I'm wearing should look a bit looser in the middle area by the end of Slim Down Challenge. This is realistic expectation, do not want to expect too much of myself.

Trackable - Goals are best achieved if you keep a record of your progress.
I'm going to create a daily checklist of all the habits that are scientifically proven to result in fat loss, and then use that as your measurement device.

Slim Down Challenge Healthy Living Checklist

Do you have a plan? Are you setting SMART goals? Share in the comments.

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Day 1 Slim Down Challenge: 30 Relatively Small Diet and Lifestyle Changes for Big Weight Loss Benefit

If I tell people I'm 6 month pregnant, anyone would surely buy it. No, I'm not pregnant. This is just fat.

I got asked by friends countless time about my "pregnancy", they refused to believe when I denied. Getting asked this too frequent, even I sometimes would get confused myself, 'could I be pregnant without me realizing about it?' That's enough to give you a slight idea how terribly out of shape I am. Haha~ Well it's not like I never tried to lose weight. If you read my older post, you'll understand my struggle with weight loss. I usually made it well the first 3 days but the motivation to lose weight just faded after few days and I'll finally abandoned it. My bad!

The Diet

Today is 1st April, a brand new day and I decided to restart my weight loss journey today. I have been putting off way too long now. 3 months passed by already and seriously I could have accomplished something but sadly I didn't.

The 30 Day Weight Loss Plan
I plan to do a no carb, no sugar diet for 30 days. And to give myself an extra push, I'm following this #SHAPESlimDown mini daily challenge and I promise to keep up with it for 30 days.

30 Day Slim Down Challenge

Day 1 - Put the blame
Day 2 - Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
Day 3 - Ditched added sugar
Day 4 - Avoid refined carbs
Day 5 - Put down the drink
Day 6 - Plan 1 splurge
Day 7 - Allow spontaneous indulgence
Day 8 - Keep grains in check
Day 9 - Eat only when hungry
Day 10 - Go for a walk
Day 11 - Never skip breakfast
Day 12 - Say NO to junkfood
Day 13 - Nix processed foods
Day 14 - Shop for whole foods
Day 15 - Meal prep
Day 16 - Reorganize your fridge
Day 17 - Keep a food journal
Day 18 - Ramp up protein intake
Day 19 - Veggies / fruit on every plate
Day 20 - Know your healthy fats
Day 21 - Keep portions in check
Day 22 - Track total calories
Day 23 - Eat at the table
Day 24 - Eliminate distraction
Day 25 - Slow down
Day 26 - Downsize dinnerware
Day 27 - Bust out the scale
Day 28 - Reduce sodium
Day 29 - Sleep 7+ hours
Day 30 - Cut 100 calories

Tell ya, this is not easy. Never. I've being in a very comfortable zone for quiet some time. Making a change of routine is going to be a challenge but I'll keep posting about my progress to keep me accountable with the weight loss plan. How's that?

I got this. 

Now I'd like to hear from you. Do you know any other small changes I can follow to lose weight? Share your ideas in the comments.

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Losing Weight: Why It's So Hard To Get Started?

It has been a long time since my last post.

Yes, it's March and I AM STILL FAT. Statistic shows that 80% people already gave up their weight loss or fitness resolution by the second week of February. And as for me I haven't clicked into gear yet. You know, getting started is always the hardest part of anything. That's the reason I haven't post a while because I have nothing of worth to share. Well now it's time for some self-reflection.

Why is it so difficult to get started?

First, change is uncomfortable. For example, sleep is enjoyable and it's a temptation of many to hit the snooze button to gain extra 10 or 20 minutes of sleep every morning. But choosing to wake up early every morning to exercise require us to go out of our comfort zone. Comfort zone is a space or any type of behavior that we feel safe, in control and at ease. Trying new things, tweak off our diet, or motivate ourselves into exercise routine means pushing past our comfort zone, and it's not always easy because we have to adjust ourselves with new situation.

Second, fear of failing, fear of what people might think. Getting started means we're taking risk of attempting something we might fail, something worst can happen that we decided not to try it at all. Past failure makes us afraid to take the first step, when we know we're going to make a wrong end. Or maybe the roadblock is our friends or family that we know will make fun of us trying to lose weight.

Third, poor habit. That's it. You're lazing around just procrastinating day in day out. Remember? Just one more episode, but at the end get hooked on a TV show and binge watch all the episode in one day. When we fall into the pattern of poor time management, feeling weak and unmotivated, it's easy to get stuck because an object at rest tends to remain at rest.

How Do You Get Started, Anytime?
This is what I'm telling myself today, just do it! Easier said than done of course. But I believe it's possible. Even when our thought or feeling trying to hold us back, developing a 'just do it' attitude will help you break the bad pattern off and get started right away. There's a room for a foggy thoughts about what could happen but sometimes we just need to stop listening to them and take action.

Have you ever had a hard time of getting started with something? Tell me about your breakthrough in the comments below.

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The Art of Loving Yourself: How Loving Yourself Can Lead to Weight Loss?

I'm a few days late but Happy Valentine's Day for all those celebrating!

Valentine's Day is celebrated every year on the February 14th for people to express their love to their significant other. People celebrating it by buying greeting cards, flowers, chocolates, or jewelry. But Valentine's Day is not just for couples who can have all the fun. This day is a very good excuse to be lovely to yourself all day, don't you think so? Whether you are single or in a relationship this Valentine's Day, remember to love yourself.

In honor of the month of love, I am doing recap of my old post about loving the most important being in your life: YOU! Loving yourself in this context doesn't mean you're being narcissist. Self-love is not selfish or shallow, it's totally opposite of narcissism.

What Does It Actually Mean To Love Yourself? How Loving Yourself Lead to Losing Weight?

1 - Loving yourself mean you appreciate yourself
Stand in front of the mirror and name things you like about you. It could be your nice long curly hair, or your unique monolid eyes. It could be your sweet smile or your lean arms. It doesn't necessarily your physical appearance that you could love about yourself. It could be other qualities like your positive attitude and your sense of humor.

When you appreciate yourself, you will not resort to any dangerous diet that could harm your health. When you love yourself, you will not let negative thought control and intimidate you.

2 - Loving yourself mean you take fully responsible on your body
No one is responsible for your body and your health, only you are responsible for it. We all know that we need to make new, healthy lifestyle changes to lose weight but sometime we tend to blame our busy schedule to skip workout or use boredom or feelings of emptiness as an excuse to eat crap.

Loving yourself mean you take responsibility for your own choices. Take a moment to make a list of your choices each day. What, when and how much you eat, whether you exercise or not. When you take responsible on your body, you will watch closely what you put in your mouth. You will eat only healthy foods. You will make effort to find at least 10 minutes each day for a quick workout.

3 - Loving yourself mean you embrace your uniqueness
I remember watching this famous Korean talk show called Happy Together where Hwang Shinhye was one of the guest. Hwang Shihye is a popular actress and the host of "Let Me In", a famous plastic surgery show in Korea. One of the topic discussed was about plastic surgery. The host of the show asked Hwang Shinhye whether her model daughter ever mention about getting a plastic surgery. Shinhye did suggest her daughter once that she might need to fix her eyes or nose but Jin Yi, her model daughter refused the idea. She is very confident and wants to keep her unique look.  

 Gorgeous celebrity mother-daughter:
Actress Hwang Shin Hye with her daughter Lee Jin Yi for SURE, October 20th issue.

What I'm trying to say is this - many people these days are trying to fit themselves into the image of what other people's standard of beauty or ideal personality. Maybe you want to sound sensuous and gloriously breathy like Marilyn Monroe when you speak. Or you want to have Gwen Stefani's flat abs. But the thing is you can't copy and paste the perfect body together from parts into a whole. You can't live yourself being someone you're not. This 'unhealthy habit' could damage your confidence and self-esteem. There's nothing wrong with being yourself.

When you love yourself, you will try to find the beauty inside of you and learn to be kind to yourself. When you love yourself, you will want to focus on your uniqueness and positive qualities instead of your flaws and failures. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, loving yourself gives you the opportunity to start fresh and discover your strength, what you're capable of which will further help you accomplish your goals.

Let's discuss about this: What have you done to foster self-love? Please share your experiences in the comments below.

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Fitspiration Friday: Kajol's Weight Loss Secrets Revealed!

Today I choose Kajol for Fitspiration Friday.

Kajol

I first watched her on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and became an avid a fan ever since. I became super excited when I heard Kajol is making a comeback for Dilwale (2015) with Shah Rukh Khan. Aside from looking very fair and lovely compare to her dusky skin in prior years, her appearance hasn't changed much. I'm impressed! How does she stays in great shape, especially after having two kids?

Kajol's Diet Plan
- keeping her mouth zipped
- eating from home before going out
- having 4-5 meals a day to 3 heavy meals.
- consume enough amount of water and have a diet rich in protein. She eats fish, eggs and chicken in good quantity.
- not have any kind of junk food.
- keeps discussing her diet plan with the dietician as and when required and coordinates it with her schedule.

On Screen Romance:
Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 1998 (Left) and Dilwale 2015 (Right)

Kajol's Fitness Plan
- she weight training. She lifts weights and can handle 150 pounds and more in what is known as the ‘dead lift’
- high intensity and calorie burning workout
- Kajol also does endurance training, yoga, lifts and squats as part of her fitness regimen.
- makes sure to workout for around 90 minutes daily.

And when you start working out, you realise you’re calmer, you’re nicer. People are reacting to you differently. Not because you’ve lost weight but because you’re calmer, your perspective has changed. All the angst we have, the stress we have can be controlled, if not completely eradicated, just by working out.

- Kajol

Kajol's motivation to stay in shape
Kajol shares to iDiva that every decision made in life matters, "Some people say — have that beer or have the French fries, nothing will happen with one French fry, eat that cheese popcorn, it doesn’t matter. But it does matter. Each decision you make in life matters, each meal matters. That’s the kind of thinking you should have where work is concerned, where a relationship is concerned. That applies to everything in your life." 

She adds: "Whether it’s your husband, your next meal or your work. If the small things don’t matter then you miss out on the big picture. Make that extra effort for every relationship. Whether it’s with your parents, your children, your husband or your friends. It makes a difference to them."

"I try to give my kids alot of solo time where I play with them, talk to them, listen to them. Similarly, you give time for your workout. You slot a time for it, no matter what."

Kajol's word of wisdom to people who want to lose weight
You have to take charge of your life. If you want to lose weight, you have to be obsessed with it. You can’t depend upon your dietician, your trainer or various health aids that you have. You have to be organised. And believe me it isn’t that difficult.

The first 10 days are terrible because you have to break the lifelong habits that you have made. Also, when you go out with friends you have to order from the menu.

Now I want to hear from you: What is your opinion on celebrity weight loss? Is their diet and weight loss tips make sense to you?

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Weight Loss Resolutions for the New Year: The Top Three Critical Reasons Why It Fail

It's been over a week since we celebrated New Year. So how's everyone is going with the New Year's resolution? Do you still keep up with it, or have you given up already?

It's a trend that every New Year people will make a New Year's resolution. The irony is perhaps the thought of 'starting out a fresh page, the past is officially the past,' give people a comfort of starting fresh all over again. But it's also not a surprise that a week into the new year, just 77 percent of resolution makers are still on track, and after six months, only about 40 percent.

When I had my second child almost 6 years ago, I resolve to lose all the baby weight but after 6 years repeating the same resolutions, I'm ashamed to say that I'm still stuck at the same old circle.**sad face**

The Fat Trap: 5 years battle and still not losing weight :(

Losing weight are the most popular New Year's resolutions. But how exactly some people stick with a goal for long enough and succeed, and why people like me can't seem to follow through and stay focused for very long? I have read some useful tips on how to stick to your weight loss resolutions. So, these are the top three critical reasons Why New Year's Resolutions Fail and how to keep it from happening this year.

Reason 1: Lack of purpose
Most people fail to achieve their goals year-round because they're just thinking about their goals. They're not committed to them. I'd like to share a quote from Steve Maraboli, a speaker and bestselling author, "If you have a goal, write it down. If you do not write it down, you do not have a goal - you have a wish." It is encouraged that we write down any potential goal that pops into your head.

Why? Because making a list will help you keep that initial excitement and push you forward to reach your goal.
What to write? Every possible benefit that you will experience upon completion of the goal. Make a list why you want to make this change and answer it honestly. Keep this list handy and read the list at least once a week to remind yourself why you've started at the first place.

Reason 2: Time Management
Too busy to eat healthy, too busy for fitness. That is the most common excuse we heard (and I heard it from myself). Do you feel like you're too busy to lose weight? We all have the same 24 hours every single day. But why some are busier than others, and then there are some people seem to make the most of it than others? It is actually depends on how you use those 24 hours more effectively.

First off, stop procrastinating and get things done. Make a priority list. Instead of trying to accomplish your goal all in one day, break it up into smaller task that seem more possible to get done. For example, using the stairs every day instead of the elevator at the office.

Reason 3: Giving up Too Soon
Don't despair when you happen to get "off track" with either your diet or fitness goal. Don't pity yourself. Diet relapses happen to the best of us. Start over again! Recommit yourself for 24 hours.

Use the power of positive reinforcement to keep your momentum going. For example, treat yourself a day trip to somewhere you wanted to visit, if you work hard this week. Or reward yourself with a spa day if you quit soda in 24 hours. Before you know it, you will be back on track.

The power of positive thinking is vital for success

Your turn:

• What are your 2016 goals? 
•  How do you plan to tackle obstacles and achieve your goals this year? 

Share them in the comments section below, and let's have a talk about it!

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