Those Who Indulge, Bulge. (Weight Management Post 1)

Weight Today: (haven't had the nerve to actually weigh myself yet.)
Height: 1.65M
Target Weight (realistic version): 45 Kgs
Target Weight (unrealistic-for-my-height-but-one-can-only-dream version): 43Kgs [The last time I was 43Kgs was in 2003... gasp!]

Ok... I've probably forgotten about losing weight for the last year or so... but suddenly I'm feeling the need to shed the kilos again. And now that I'm in my mid to late 20s... I just know that if I don't seriously do something now, I will really regret it when I'm old and fat.... instead of just being old.

And it's going to be harder this time because not only did I not lose the weight which I had set out to get rid of last year... but I've gained a few more pounds on top of that!

So let's look at possible diet/exercise regimes and figure out which I could take. (OR you could take... yes you, Porker)

1.MEAL REPLACEMENTS
These are usually a powder based diet in a packet sort of thing which u replace your normal solid meals with. Logic in this is that the supplement meets your dietry requirements but is low calories. So your body burns it off fast and then gets down to using up your fat storage. Brilliant isn't it?

I was on the Cambridge diet for a while. The soups tasted awful, the milkshakes were ok... but can you imagine just being on that for days on end?

I replaced my lunch with a Cambridge shake. The first 3 days I was good. But after that, I felt so deprived that I pigged out at dinner, eating more than I usually would. Defeats the purpose of putting up with the damn clumpy-vomit-inducing milkshake for lunch doesn't it!?

But wait ladies and gentlemen... it got worse than that. After the first two weeks, I'd have the meal replacement for 'lunch', and then actually have a proper lunch on top of that! Which is worse than not being on a diet at all.

Holly Jean's Verdict: If you enjoy variety in your diet and food gives you pleasure, then Meal Replacements won't work for you.

2. NO CARB/ LOW CARB diet
Carbohydrates, whether they are in the form of pastas or chocolate cake, turn into glucose once they enter the bloodstream. yada yada yada... long story short, this excess sugar gets stored as fats.

This one is not a problem for me, I don't like bread or rice or pasta. But the thing is.. I've probably been on a low carb diet just naturally all my life, so my body is already used to that amount of carbs. If I were to cut down my carbs, I'd literally be eating none at all.

Holly Jean's Verdict: If you're already on a high carb diet... this might really do wonders for you. Nothing drastic, just cut your rice/pasta intake by half...

3. The DEMURE SALAD EATING GIRL
I tried a salad diet for a few weeks... and that made me miserable and hungry all the time. And for some reason, at the end of those few shitty weeks, I ended up putting on weight! ( I remember this clearly because when I happened to mention this matter at work, one of my female colleagues said out loud with a slap-deserving amount of glee " Hahaha!That's damn Loser")

One good thing about this diet is that people will admire you and think you're like super health counscious... and you get to look demure in restaurants.... ( compared to the girl wolfing down a bloody steak). The second good thing is that it is actually healthy for you.

Holly Jean's Verdict: NONE. But I just thought of something funny... during the Demure Salad Eating Girl phase of mine, I was at a school function where the men wore like that little flower and leaf thingy on their lapels... a male colleague exclaimed, "Quick.. keep it away from Holly or she'll goble it up".

4. DESSERT DIET
One of my old mantras used to be - If you're going to get fat on something, might as well be on something you enjoy. - Well, now, I take it to mean that I should not eat something I don't enjoy, just for the sake of having lunch or dinner etc. If it doesn't taste good, just dump it. Which is the greater evil?? Food to waste, or food to waist?!

So, instead of having a main course for dinner, I just have the dessert. I have done this many times so far ( though not consistently) and I have found it very satisfying. Just a small tiramisu, or macadamia cookie, or scoop of macadamia ice cream or to-die-for rum soaked cherries in a good slice of Black Forrest.

Holly Jean's Verdict: Surely the amount of calories in a small dessert as a substitue for a whole dinner would be a lot less sinful, no?

5. NO DRINKS
This is difficult ... but if I cut out all carbonated or sweetened drinks, I should be able to lose weight. I have at least one can of Sprite or rootbeer a day. Minimum. If I drink mineral water instead, I'd be so much better off. But it's extremely sad.

Unless it's a glass of cold iced water on a hot day... but have you heard??? I just read on MSN that- Cold water causes the oils and fats in your food/body to actually solidify and clog your arteries or something to that effect. So we're encouraged to drink warm water or hot clear soup with meals instead (like the Japanese and Chinese... who have less heart related problems than others). But I hate warm and hot liquids!

Holly Jean's Verdict: I'm probably sticking to cold water... if you really think about it.. how freaking sub zero degrees kinda ice cold does your water intake have to be in order to bloody solidify fats!

6. ACTUAL EXERCISE
OK.. I have not actually worked this one out yet.

I dont have time for a yoga class in a fixed weekly time slot. I don't have the discipline to do it at home in my own time. I tried doing Yoga on my own at home... I kept sticking to my floor type stretches cos I was so lazy... eventually ended up napping instead!

Even worse is when I do like the Twister or Stepper type exercises in front of the TV... It's like some kind of twilight zone thing that happens ... I swear! One moment I'm hula-hooping and watching the Simpsons on DVD, and then the very next moment I find myself on the floor, my head propped on the bean bag and eating a bag of chips.... of the Ruffles Crinkle Cut variety. And I have no recollection of how I got that way.

Holly Jean's Verdict: I know I need to combine diet AND exercise... but it's so much easier said than done. Need more time to figure this one out.

Comments

  1. Anonymous1:18 pm

    I would go with #4..something which I do anyway, being damn picky when I eat so I end up eating very little and letting all the Food go to Waste. And then I eat whatever the hell dessert I want. Basically I eat for my tastebuds, not my stomach -- so I get sick of something in 4 spoonfuls and the rest goes into whoever's stomach:) --nn

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  2. Anonymous4:10 pm

    45 kg for your height is a little light don't you think?i stand at 1.61m and weigh 45kg and people are complaining that i am too thin.Anyway,am trying hard to lose weight at the butt and thighs because most of my weight goes there.:( and the only way to lose that is exercise which i HATE!

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  3. Anonymous1:04 am

    this blog is damn utter rubbish!! 45kgs, standing at 1.61m n calling yourself FAT!!! Oops!! maybe u weigh 50kg now.. Please...do u call that fat????!!!

    Well..u gota face it.. if u admit u are fat..

    u're 'blessed' with good genes for 2 decades so now get ur butt off the chair n EXCERCISE!!! stop the whinning and the so call diets... do u seriously think they work??

    i thought u gals who r so damn 'fat'(but weighs no more than 50kg all their life) r well knowledged on that!!

    NO PAIN NO GAIN...
    well then again maybe u can.... by fasting (only plain water) for an entire month.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why do you take such umbrage over my post?
    Are you a fat girl? Or are you a guy who could never get the skinny girls? (ok.. i jest.. only partly though)

    I weigh 50 now.. and would like to get my weight down to 45. Is that such a bad thing that it should invoke such a reaction? And 45Kgs for my height is not at all fat... that's why I chose it as my target weight.

    Yes diets don't work.. have you not actually read the whole post? I was sizing up all the different method I took in the past for the benefit (and entertainment) of my readers. Please take these posts with a pinch of salt. Or just don't read them at all

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
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