Diet Tip: Nutrition with Portion Control and Moderate Exercise = This

Full Article RE: Comprehensive Guide to Losing Weight

Took a while to write, but got it done. Still has typos and there are some areas i'd like the elaborate on. Guess we can call this draft 1.

Click me to read.

Diet Tip #9

Work out your major muscle groups.

1. Chest
2. Legs (hamstring, quads, calfs)
3. Back
4. Arms

I had an incorrect view of this. Before I used to think that working out parts that I wanted to shrink meant that I shouldn't work them out. I wanted skinnier quads because I have soccer legs and cannot fit into skinny jeans if my life depended on it. But that is false. Working out the 4 major muscle groups is important because they will help you burn the highest amount of calories per day even if you aren't working out. Particularly legs. You pretty much use them everyday - and I believe other than your glutes - it's the largest single muscle group in the body. Having a strong muscular leg means you will burn that much more calories per day. I have been dismissing my quads too long - when I would have been training them the most.

This story all comes into a circle now. That's because I remember back in High School when I was training hard - I would do the stairmaster for 15 minutes every day. That thing really works your legs compared to regular treadmills. Looking back at that fact now, is probably the reason I was so successful then.

The commercials that try to sell ab machines.. completely BS. Doing 15 minutes of abs everyday will not help you loose weight. Abs are such a small piece of muscles in your body that it will not help. Curse at those infomercials next time you see it.

Squats, Dead Lifts, Bench Press, Pull Ups. Work those major groups. Stronger major muscles = more calories burned.

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Additionally - I forgot to mention that my weekly shopping expense has significantly declined. Who knew eating healthier was also cheaper?! haha. If you go to Diet Tip #8, it will show a list of what i used to buy. Now my list is this:

Water $3
Eggs $2
Chicken Broth $1.50
Brown Rice $2
Chicken (8 pack) frozen $7

$15.50. That's half of what it used to be. Perfect.

When I read some of my older entries, my strategies seem to keep developing and evolving. Guess that's just part of life. Experiencing things first hand to see if it works or not.

Diet Tip #8: Eat Right

"Blah blah blah" is what i used to hear when people used to talk about just dieting or eating right instead of working out and burning calories. Things have slightly changed now. I experienced it myself. Let me tell you the back-story.

Around sometime in July when i first started working at my new job, my boss was on this crazy chicken breast diet. Chicken breast and some mixed garden salad. That's all he ate. So, he would feed me the same thing he was eating for lunch and dinner. I ended up loosing like 15 lbs in one month. However, this didn't last because we started eating really bad and late at night. Pizza, KFC, etc. Guess it was comfort food since we were so stressed out from work. From about September to December of 2012, i ate really bad. Also in November i stopped working out because i was too busy to go to the gym. Drinking Goose and Redbull at 1am didn't help either. In any case, i ended up getting a belly. The turning point was after lunch in January 2013 when my pants were too tight and i needed to unbutton the top to breath.

Round 2 began around January 15th 2013. There were two resolutions i came up with.

1. Work out at home at least every other day.

2. Eat right. Completely cut off bad sugar. Sugar is digested and is processed into fat. Sugar is bad. No more soda. Lower carb intake - specially simple carbs like White Bread or White Rice.

Eating right is harder than it seems. I crave junk food - especially food loaded with carbs. So i made an adjustment. I get to cheat on weekends. Ever so slightly.

Here's what my diet consists of and i've lost about 10 lbs in 1 month and gained about 10 lbs in muscle mass.

Breakfast:
1. 2x Egg whites (no yolk). Seasoned with salt and pepper. Cooked in extra virgin olive oil.

Lunch:
Option 1: Tuna Melt. Canned Tuna / Wheat Bread / Pepperjack cheese
Option 2: Chicken Melt. Chicken Breast / Wheat Bread / Light American cheese

Dinner:
Option 1: Chicken Breast. Baked in a toaster oven. Marinated with olive oil and salt and pepper.
Option 2: Progresso or Chunky soup. Clam Chowder and Chicken Noodle are my favorites. Low in calories and filling.

This is lots of protein and very low in fat. I should probably add some garden salad for lunch, but i hate vegetables. I do need more fiber in my diet, and have been buying the Double Fiber wheat bread.

Impressions:

So far so good. My pants are now looser. I can definitely see more definition in my chest and shoulder area. I have a 2 pack.. almost 4 pack right after i work out. I feel leaner and healthier. I gotta do this for another 2 months and step up my work outs by mixing in some endurance training to get leaner.

Other Blurbs:

Shopping List. I generally go every week.

1. Dozen Eggs - $3
2. Frozen Chicken Breasts - $7 (pack of 10)
3. Canned Chicken Breasts - $3 (I try not to buy too much of this because it's expensive, but nice to have if you are in a hurry and can't defrost)
4. Water 24 pack - $3
5. Wheat Bread (double fiber) - $3
6. Canned Tuna - $89 cents each
7. Light Cheese - $4
8. Soup (Progresso / Chunky) - $2 each
9. Orange Juice $4

I buy about $30 worth of food every week. $30 / 5 = $6 per day for breakfast / lunch / dinner. That's pretty damn good.

Save money. Loose weight. Gain muscle. Be healthier. It's win win.. and more win.

Diet Tip #7

Find motivation.

Be it a picture, or maybe someone you want to impress. Maybe you just want to look good for yourself. In any case, you will need a motivation to stick through it. It's hard not being able to eat junk food - or sleeping in.

My current motivation is something I encountered at 24 Fitness sauna. Two Asian guys walked in, and they were ripped. Probably 5% or less body fat. They were talking about food and sharing each other's diet tips - when one of them said:

"Doesn't your gf love Italian pasta? You should take her to this place downtown, they have awesome pasta."

"No, I'm never eating carbs and killing my diet. Not even for my GF."

Harsh? Maybe a little extreme. Cheating once in a while wont' kill you. But it was his determination and discipline that impressed me. He knows what he wants. He wants to stay ripped like a mother, so he won't eat carbs - or go to restaurants that will tempt him even for his GF.

When I feel like eating my Drunken Noodles from Thai BBQ - I always remember this guy and get the Chicken breasts out of the freezer. :)

Happy Dieting.

Diet Tip #4: Vitamin B-12

I am pretty sure there is a mass number of people around the world that are just tired everyday. That's why energy drinks and coffee has become a vital part of our daily lives. I have been going to work at 6am and coming home at 10pm these days. I am so tired at the end of the day that it's hard to get anything else done (like working out). So in the morning i have been buying a can of Monster for the energy, and it really does work. I didn't have my afternoon crash and wasn't tired until i actually got home. However, the caffeine, sugar, and $2.76 i spent everyday was becoming ridiculous.

Right around that same time, Pae told me that he was taking multi-vitamins with complex b-12 for energy. I did some research on Vitamin b12 - and from what i gather, it's a very good vitamin that the body needs to sustain energy throughout the day. So i ended up buying this:



$44 at Vitamin World. 180 capsules that should last 3 months by taking 2 a day. I'll let you all know how this goes.

Diet Tip #5

Eat chicken breasts.  Its all about animal protein.  For the past 6 months I felt as if I had hit a plateau and couldn't shed anymore lbs.. the scale was actually moving in the wrong direction.  I was counting calories and simply eating rice and noodles to a max of 1500 calories.  That was the problem.  I wasn't getting leaner because my body wasn't taking in enough protein.  Sangchun and Kim Jong Gook have a similar diet consisting of fish and chicken breasts and you can tell it works for them.

A single chicken breast has about 150 calories (10 from fat) and avg of 20-30g of protein.  It will help your body loose the fat and get leaner muscle mass. 

I have tried this diet for only 2 weeks and I already see results particularly around my lower waist and sides.  If you think you've hit a plateau I would strongly recommend trying this out.  My current diet consists of chicken breasts, fish, and boiled eggs.  I do cheat once a week but I try to minimize the effects by exercising an additional hour after a night of binging.

Dieting Rule #3: Fatty Foods

Many fitness experts will tell you to cut down on fatty foods such as pizza, hamburgers, etc. What they fail to tell you is why. Some of these "experts" that i've come across at 24 Fitness didn't have great responses.

#1 response was, "Because it's processed fat, and if you eat it - it will just go straight to your love handles"

There is some truth to that. Eating foods with high fat content will not help you loose any weight. But the true reason it's bad for you is because it clogs all of your internal organs. Particularly the liver, which is key to a healthy metabolism. Have you seen what fat looks like in a jar? It's pretty thick.. and it would certainly clog up most unconventional drains. Now imagine that clogging up your liver.

Completely abstaining from fat isn't good either. Your body needs fat for a few different reasons. Particularly to prevent essential fatty acid deficiency. Being moderate in what you eat is important.

Dieting Rule #2: Green Tea

Some of you who have been following my diet should know that i love green tea. It's not super bitter, and it's very easy to drink with a roast aroma. I began drinking it because i read it helps with loosing weight.

During this summer, i stopped drinking it because it was too hot to even consider brewing a cup. During those 3 months, i noticed a few things. I was getting bloated in the morning, my weight loss discontinued, and i felt tired.

For the past week, (the weather here in California has cooled off) i started drinking my daily cup of green tea - and instantly felt 2 things. One, i feel less bloated - and two, i feel like i'm shedding off lbs again. Although the weight loss could be because of my new workout routine, my body does feel healthier.

Green tea in general is a great drink. According to WebMD here are some of the top reasons why you should drink it on a daily basis.

1. Powerful antioxidants
2. Fights cancer
3. Good for the heart
4. Helps loose fat

Helps you look younger, clears your skin, helps you loose weight, and keeps your heart healthy. Why wouldn't you drink it? In the morning, instead of drinking that cup of joe, why not substitute it for green tea?

Dieting Rule #1: Metabolism

One of the hardest and challenging step of weight loss is metabolism. There are 3 reasons why, and i will list them out here.

1. You need to eat.

Most people think just dieting alone will help them loose weight. Yes, there is truth to that. But, remember that one guy from season 1 of "Survivor?" He lost like 50lbs during the show because he was eating a whole lot less in that island. However, when the show ended and he went back home, the fat also came back. The reason is metabolism.

During winter, bears hibernate. They don't eat, and their bodies are able to adjust and lowers their metabolism to the point where they can survive. Our bodies do the exact same thing. If you stop eating or lower your calorie intake significantly - your body will react and lower the metabolism, thinking if it doesn't you will starve to death. This is why you need to eat. But there are tricks to how you need to eat.

• First, you need to eat 5 times a day. Breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, snack.
  
• Second, you need to eat small portions. THIS IS KEY. Whenever you eat more than your body can handle per sitting, all those extra calories go to fat.
  
• Third, you need to eat smart. Chicken breast and fish, instead of pizza and hamburgers.
  

I am a HUGE offender of this rule. I honestly don't follow any of it. And that is the reason I can't seem to trim the last 10lbs i want to get rid of. I eat maybe twice a day - and during lunch i eat a very large portion (which sums to the majority of my calorie intake in a day). I also love carbs (rice, noodles, bread, etc.) - so my diet stinks.

Don't get me wrong though - you can still loose weight with my bad habits, but the results won't be alarming. To top it off, you have a high risk of gaining all the weight back because of a slow metabolism. However, there is a cheat which i will list below.

2. You need to gain more muscle

Muscle burns more calories than fat. That's a given. The more muscles your body has, the more fat/calories you will burn in a day. Your body will also thank you by increasing the metabolism to a degree.

Doing cardio (running, bicycling, walking) is a great workout and helps your heart stay healthy. I am all for cardio. But what it doesn't do that well, is help you increase your muscle volume. And here comes the big shocker! The downfall of cardio only diet is that your body will stay healthy only as long as you keep doing cardio everyday. Whenever you stop, or take a few days off.. guess what? Your body will not have the required metabolism and will gain all that weight back.

So, along with a healthy cardio, you need to lift weights. If you don't have any weights, use your body! Situps, push ups, etc.

3. Genetics

Just like some kids are born into rich parents and have their whole futures laid out for them. Some people are just born with an instilled gene that keeps their metabolism high even without exercise.

Maybe one day in the future, we can create pills that changes our genes..

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Anyways, i should probably start listening to my own advice. Eat smaller, more often, and get muscle!

Quick tip: Dieting & Late Night Munchies

I read somewhere that some 90% of people in the US try to diet at least once in their life time. Not sure about the accuracy of that comment, but i'm sure many of you who are reading this may be wanting to loose some weight.

One of my biggest challenge is late night cravings. Specially if i'm in front of the TV.. i feel like munching on something. Some days it's donuts.. other days just a bowl full of fried rice.

I will share a secret that i have used for a very long time now. Brush your teeth.

What?

Yeah.. brush your teeth. Why?

1. You won't want to eat because you'd have to brush your teeth again
2. Somehow the minty taste in your mouth kinda helps you from salivating from the thoughts of delicious food

If the laziness of not wanting to brush your teeth again doesn't work, drink fluids. Carbonated water is especially good since it will fill you up.

If you are super hungry though, it's not that bad to have a small healthy snack like fruits or carrots. Just don't eat a full bag.

Diet, Exercise, and Green Tea?

I think I'll start blogging regularly again. It's been a while, and i haven't really posted anything regarding my NY adventures since i've been here. It's now almost 2 years, and it's funny how much I ignored my little blog.

Reading some of my older posts brings back so many fond memories. This entry will be surrounding my current Diet regime. Around 2007/2008, i gained an incredible amount of weight due to stress and depression. I'm one of those people who rely on comfort food to relieve hard times. It eventually took a toll on my body.