Category Archives: Nutrition Fact & Myth

Fun fact: The problem for most struggling dieters isn’t WHAT they eat, but

HOW MUCH?

Let’s break this down.

The two most important pieces of any successful nutrition plan are:

1. Food Quality  2. Food Quantity

The food quality aspect of weight loss is straightforward... Whether your goal is to lose fat, build muscle, or maintain a healthy body, the bulk of your diet should come from micronutrient-dense whole foods.

But the food quantity aspect is a whole other story.

Studies show time and time again that people grossly underestimate their caloric intake and portion sizes.

If you’ve been struggling to lose weight despite exercising hard & eating healthy, here’s what I’d recommend doing:

First, start tracking your food. Use an app like MyFitnessPal OR anything to log what you’re taking in regularly!

Second, start measuring your food. Ideally with a food scale ⚖

I recommend doing this especially if you're new to calorie counting since it’s the best way to ensure what you’re tracking is actually what you’re eating!

And before you ask, no – you don’t have to track calories forever.

But when you’re just starting out, or you just wanna cut some fat, a food scale is a fantabulous tool to have at your disposal!

There will inevitably be situations — restaurants, parties, etc. — where you don’t have a scale, though.

That’s where this comes in:



This easy portion control guide is to help you stay mindful & better estimate your portion sizes.

This guide is especially useful for estimating portions for higher-calorie foods like nuts, dressings, oils, cheeses, Nutella, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, cake icing and anything.

What I meant to say was:

The palm of your hand is good for estimating a serving 3-4oz of protein, such as chicken or steak.

Your fist is about the equivalent of 1 cup, think veggies, cooked grains/carbs and fruit.

Your thumb is a good rule for 1 thumb of nuts, dressings, nut butter and oils.

Point is, tracking is super helpful! And while it’s best to use a scale to measure your food, this easy portion guide can help too.

Is it perfect? Nope.

But it's better than saying, now, instead of saying: "I had chicken, mixed veggies, and rice."

You can say: "I had roughly a palm of chicken, 2 palm of mixed veggies, and a fist of rice"

Better than nothing, am I right?

Short answer, the body fat of the person will be the main determinant of whether fasted cardio is important or not.

There are 3 primary steps in fat loss.

Mobilization, transport, oxidation.

Mobilization refers to actually getting stored fat (specifically fatty acids) out of the fat cell.

Transport refers to the actual transport of fatty acids (bound to albumin) within the bloodstream; this step can be an issue when folks are dealing with stubborn body fat (such as lower ab/low back fat in men and hip/thigh fat in women); blood flow is impaired in those areas.

Finally is oxidation which is the actual burning of fatty acids within tissues such as skeletal muscle, liver, and heart.

Individuals at the very end So, short answer, no it doesn't matter if you do it fasted or not because the majority of the population is between very lean and obese, from about 15-35% body fat in men and 20-40% body fat in women there are really no issues. Mobilization is usually not a problem since the body hasn’t started to fight back, transport isn’t an issue since stubborn fat isn’t being targeted, and oxidation is rarely a problem since the defects show up at the extremes of obesity generally aren’t present of both spectrums will have their own set of issues with each of these steps but that is a topic for another time.

Calories in versus out matters more in this case.

A protein is a naturally occurring, extremely complex substance that consists of amino acid residues joined by peptide bonds. Proteins are present in all living organisms and include many essential biological compounds such as enzymes, hormones, and antibodies.

Now that the science part is out and done with, why is it important?

Because without protein, you'll die. There is no such thing as essential carbs, but protein and fats are essential to the living cell.

There is an area of your brain called the hypothalamus which regulates your weight.

A higher protein intake actually increases levels of the satiety (appetite-reducing) hormones GLP-1, peptide YY, and cholecystokinin, while reducing your levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin.

By replacing carbs and fat with protein, you reduce the hunger hormone and boost several satiety hormones.

This leads to a major reduction in hunger and is the main reason protein helps you lose weight. It can make you eat fewer calories automatically.

In a nutshell, protein is more satiating than carbs or fat.

How? Why? I need to explain something called the THERMIC EFFECT of food.

To put it in layman's terms, the thermic effect is the process where energy is needed to digest and metabolize food.

Although not all sources agree on the exact figures, it is clear that protein has a much higher thermic effect (20-30%) compared to carbs (5-10%) and fat (0-3%)

If we go with a thermic effect of 30% for protein, this means that 100 calories of protein only end up as 70 usable calories.

Which means... It plays a very important role if you're DIETING for fat loss.

What kills progress is hunger. This brings me back to the original point. Remember where I said protein is more satiating?

There we go. Also, do remember that there is a difference between FAT loss and WEIGHT loss. You want the majority of your bodyweight loss to be fat, not precious lean muscle tissue. Protein has a sparing effect.

Calories go down, protein should be considered a macronutrient priority to bump up.

So next time you're considering a snack to satisfy your hunger cravings, consider something with a higher protein ratio vs something sugary which does nothing much for appetite suppression.

A calorie is a unit of energy defined as the amount of heat needed to raise a quantity of water by one degree of temperature. Calories = energy. Now that all the scientific mumbo jumbo is out of the way, let's simplify. The concept is rather simple. Whether you gain weight or not depends on calories in versus out.

Calories mean the amount of food you put into your body. Calories out mean the amount of energy you expend. Therefore to lose fat, you need to create a deficit. Two ways you can achieve this, by consuming less food or increasing your activity levels. So why is having a basic concept of counting calories important? Because most individuals outside the fitness field aren't aware of how many calories they're actually consuming.

Every food is comprised of calories in the form of 3 macronutrients. Carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Carbs = 4 calories | Protein = 4 calories | Fats = 9 calories

See where I'm getting at? This means even the hidden sauces you're not aware of in your favorite daily foods also have calories. Knowledge is power. And if you know roughly how many calories you're consuming, it's already a good start. Here's an eye-opener. You're typical
Malaysian foods have more calories than their western counterparts. Iced milo has more calories than a can of Coke. Char kuay teow has more calories than a double cheeseburger.

For most people, it's not really a matter of totally changing your diet but cleaning it up. Omitting and substituting certain foods would result in a significant amount of caloric reduction = weight loss.

Again, knowledge is power, take the time to Google the calories in the foods you eat daily, you might be surprised how much you're overeating.

Google the basics first. A cup of rice, a serving of your favorite protein source, eg. chicken, beef, fish, pork, etc. Adjust from there. If you're not the type who enjoys calorie counting, you don't have to do it forever. The point is to graduate away from counting calories and progress to
mindful, intuitive eating.

Be patient, developing good habits take time, but it's worth it. It keeps you ACCOUNTABLE. Every meal you eat is an investment into your long-term health. Make more good investments than bad ones.

 

Rigid dieters are individuals who have a predisposition to constantly control their overall food intake.

This is a recipe for disaster when it comes to long-term weight loss and most importantly the maintenance of their new targeted body weight.

They never relax, they never themselves to eat flexibly. This type of eater WILL achieve superior short-term goal results. The keyword is SHORT-TERM.

You see, all diets work. The concept of calorie restriction is nothing new. Calories in vs out. Everyone knows this. The problem is adherence. The problem is, if for some reason they happen to go off their diet, they go completely OFF.

Why is rigid eating a problem? Let's say if you've been dieting perfectly for 6 days. And you suddenly give in and eat a cookie.

Hell, you'll go insane and decide the diet is completely broken and you'll cave in and eat a whole bag of cookies. Why not just stop at 1 cookie, or maybe 2. One cookie is around 150 calories. So? In the grand scheme of things, 150 - 300 extra calories won't matter. It is the long haul that does.



Rigid dieting is prone to guilt. Guilt destroys you when you keep applying a concept of morality to a basic act of living, which is eating. Life is a balance between eating to live and living to eat. If grandma wants you to have a slice of cake on her birthday, have that damn
cake.

You can always catch up on a diet. You can never catch up on lost time with loved ones.

Just because you are in a calorie deficit does NOT mean that you will get the same results eating burgers and the occasional protein shake as you will when you eat mainly whole foods.

Processed foods do not use as much fuel to eat, process, or digest as whole foods do, and they do not give your body the proper nutrients that it needs on a regular basis.

You can't just sub healthy fats for saturated or trans fats, or sub simple carbs for complex carbs and expect "best results". Here are some tips!

We need adequate protein to repair build lean muscle. Eat proteins that contain less saturated or trans fat like fish, seeds, poultry, etc.

We need carbs for energy. Low/no-carb diets are quick fixes and most often can’t be maintained long term. Avoid a lot of simple carbs that cause insulin spikes and throw you into craving frenzies.

Eat healthy fats! There is a definite misunderstanding about which types of fats are healthy and those that are not so great. Just because your plan states 57g of fat doesn’t mean seek out garbage foods that are high in trans or saturated fats; it is counterproductive.

Trans fats cause spikes in cholesterol as well as a disruption in hormones, sleep, libido, etc. Stick to nuts, seeds, unprocessed meat, and whole-grain sources of fat rather than deep-fried foods, chips, donuts, processed cheese, etc.

Mono and Polyunsaturated fats promote the growth of fat-burning muscle tissue, while saturated and trans fats encourage excess fat storage.

The moral of the story; in order to lose weight you must be in a calorie deficit, but losing weight does not necessarily equate to lost body fat.

With yo yo diets and filling up on processed foods you lose water, a little bit of fat, and lean muscle as opposed to the stuff we are really wanting to get rid of which is visceral fat; the dangerous stuff that resides around your organs; the stuff you can't see.

Binge eating for Malaysians is a very common practice in their weekly routine. Therefore, Malaysians have the highest obesity rate in all of Asia. However, with every problem, there is a solution to it. Firstly we need to make a change in our own living lifestyle, by eating the amount of food that we need rather than we want. For instance, we Malaysian intend to use any reason to have a huge binge eating session like; simple celebrations, weekly events, meet-ups and Etc. That reason alone implies habits of binge eating, therefore surpassing calorie surplus.

To overcome such habits, we need to apply better food substitutions to change the calorie intake rather than having calorie restrictions. The key to having sustainable weight loss is to have consistent calorie deficit intake, meaning having low-calorie dense food as part of their daily intake. Foods such as vegetables, fruits, lean cuts of meat that have less fat contents.



To simplify the solution for Binge Eating disorders is by suppressing your ghrelin hormone with a lot of low dense calorie foods, to ensure satiation in your stomach.

The idea of being satiated by hunger is commonly misunderstood, as for the Asian community being hungry is a sign of poor financial status, therefore eating the right amount base on the nutritional guideline is not something that the Asian culture will follow. But for our own beneficial physical and mental health, we must consider eating to be satisfied rather than eating until unnecessary full.

To improve this traditional ideology, is to know the difference between starving, craving, satisfied, and full. Most people mistake the difference between starving and hungry, where one is suffering from hunger that is affecting the body that its no longer able to function as normal. as craving is just something that is in the mind that what that person wants to put into their stomach.

Being satisfied and full is completely opposite to another, as being satisfied is feeling just the right amount to function and energize to go about the day without feeling exhausted. Where being full is when a person could not take another bite and feels uncomfortable, usually happen during events such as family dinners, weddings, or holiday celebrations.

Once this ideology is to equip with this knowledge, limitation of the food that is consumed will be taken place bring each individual their own daily calorie intake to a deficit.

Here are 4 reasons why keeping the fat in your diet may help with weight loss:

1. Fat keeps you full

Fullness is actually a real feeling that’s created during digestion when fat triggers the release of cholecystokinin, a hormone that slows down how fast the stomach empties food into your intestines.

This not only helps you get full but also ensures you’ll stay full for a longer period of time.

Consequently, you need less food to feel satisfied, compared with a diet lower in fat.

2. Fat helps you balance blood sugar

Your blood sugar level impacts insulin levels, which can affect your mood, cravings, and food choices. Additionally, eating sugary foods with too many refined carbohydrates and not enough fat (and protein) can cause your blood sugar levels to spike and subsequently crash.

Including healthy fats with your meals and snacks can help keep your blood sugar balanced throughout the day.

3. Fat helps you absorb nutrients

Ordering that salad with low- or fat-free dressing might be doing more harm than good. Why? You need a little fat to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), beta-carotene (a carotenoid that makes vitamin A), and other carotenoids found in leafy greens and salad veggies.

Not all fats are created equal, and some fats are better than others. Plant-based fats should make up the bulk of your intake, as they contain the healthiest types of fatty acids.

The plant-based fats listed below are a great place to start:
1. Avocados and avocado oil
2. Nuts and nut butter
3. Seeds and seed butter
4. Cooking oils (including olive & coconut)

Moderate amounts of animal fat are fine. When choosing animal-based fats, opt for:
1. Fatty fish (including sardines, mackerel, herring and wild salmon)
2. Lean cuts of meat for beef, chicken, turkey
3. Egg and low-fat cheeses (including partskim mozzarella, ricotta and cottage cheese)

*Plant oil recommended here doesn’t represent vegetable oil, corn oil or canola oil.

It’s also important to remember anything can be overdone, even healthy fats. Just because a little bit is good, it doesn’t mean a lot is better.

Like any other nutrient, when consumed in excessive amounts, fat will lead to weight gain.