THE ULTIMATE FEAR IN CLASS REUNION .. and how to deal with it

These days, thanks (or no thanks) to technology and apps like facebook and whatsapp, it is very easy for old classmates from the university days and all the way to primary school to "find" one another. Then someone will probably start a social media group of all the old classmates. But this has also given rise to the "ultimate fear" for some people ... More

My Weight Loss Journal - Losing 10 kg in 4 months

Ever since my BMI went into obese level a few years back, I have been trying without success to reduce my weight.  Around September last year, my weight was at an all-time high of 74 kg. Worried that my weight is going to hit 80 kg in the near future, I decided to embark on a very committed weight loss journey. By December, my weight was down to 64 kg, a 10kg loss over 4 months!

Thinking back, this time round I have probably succeeded because the motivational factors have reached a tipping point. So what have motivated me? One of it was people who have not seen me for years commenting about how much weight I have gained. Another factor was health reasons. My bad eating habits and lack of exercise have caused my cholesterol level to remain high for years. Yet another factor was successful weight loss stories of people around me as well as from the social media.

Initially, I started with the Calories Counting Method, which aims to create as much calories "deficit" as possible by reducing calories intake from food and increasing burning of calories through exercise. As such, I needed to painstakingly track my calories "transactions" each day to make sure it is at a deficit. I ate very little for each meal and ran up to 7-8km for 5 to 6 times per week. I managed to lose 5-6kg after 2 months. However, this was not sustainable. I started to suffer ankle pain and eating too little makes me feel giddy at times. Moreover, watching and tracking everything I eat is taking quite a bit of joy out of my life.

After much reading up about nutrition, metabolism, exercise, as well as more up-to-date weight loss ideas, I gradually made adjustments and adopted a more sustainable approach to weight loss. Following are some of the key ideas I have learned and applied to this day:

• I focused on fat loss instead of weight loss. You can lose weight by losing fat, water and muscle, but it is losing fat that really matters. Losing muscle is not desirable as it will lower your metabolism and reduce your body's calorie-burning effectiveness.

• I cut down on my running frequency and distance. Running is a form of cardio exercise, and too much of it will burn away muscle with fat. Instead I did resistance training (lifting weights to build up muscles) and interval training which is more effective in cutting fat and requires less time commitment than long distance running.

• I cut down only on dinner, and mainly reduce intake of carbohydrates like rice. If I feel hungry in the night, I will eat healthier food like a vegetable salad or yogurt and fruit. I eat normally for lunch and try to opt for healthier food.

• I avoided sugared drinks, junk food like potato chips and ice cream, and also fried or processed food and opted for healthier substitutes like baked almonds, yogurt and fruit. 

• Do not expect weight loss to happen overnight. It is also not healthy to lose too much weight in a short time. For the initial 3 to 4 months, I lost about half a kg per week on average, which is within the acceptable range.

• If you are used to a sedentary lifestyle, you have to start slow for the exercise. Be aware of your health condition and make sure diet and exercise changes are all right for your body.

• Set realistic short term targets and long term targets. My initial short term target was to get below 70kg, and when my weight reached 69.8 kg, it created a huge motivation for me to carry on by setting the next short term target. Meeting the targets will also help to prevent you from going back to the old bad habits as you will now be more wary of having all the hard work going to waste.

What works for me may not work for you due to individual differences. Whatever method you adopt, make adjustments to suit your own conditions. Read up on nutrition and exercise to find something to suit you.

At this point of writing, my weight is down to 62kg, a 12kg loss from the peak. I have reached my long term target which was my weight when I got married more than 10 years ago! However, I have also started facing another problem, a good problem actually – all my pants are getting very loose. I am replenishing my wardrobe with smaller sized clothes very slowly, in case my size goes back again. Hope my sharing can help you in your pursuit of a healthy lifestyle!

Old Boys (老男孩)

Heard the following song in radio, and I must have listened to it at least a hundred times already:



Its actually the theme song of an internet movie of the same name that has gone viral in China:



The movie is mainly about a couple of middle age men who took part in a singing contest to fulfill their dreams when they were young. They composed the theme song for the finals, and the song brought back memories of the days when they were young, not only for themselves but also for those who were watching the contest on tv. More about this song and movie can be found in Baidu (百度百科): http://baike.baidu.com/view/238595.htm


Well I did watch the movie and it did not touch me as much as the song does. I think mainly it is because the movie is based in China, and I was unable to appreciate some of  the jokes and subject matter. But according to the Baidu article, the movie and song have gone viral in China with over 3 million hits (should be more at the time of this writing). It has served as a collective memory for those who have grown up in China in the 70s to 80s. But I do like the ending part when the theme song was sung. As the song was being sung, it started showing people in different walks of life who were apparently reminded of the times when they were young. There was a hawker, a office worker who was apparently doing OT and eating cup a noodle for dinner, a man with a quarrelsome wife, and so on. Even if you do not like the movie, it is still worth watching this last part..
 

Though I was not so touched by the movie, I lyrics of the song did stir up some feelings in me.
It sets me thinking about what were my dreams when I was young and where am I now. Like a lot of people of my generation, we are at the point of our lives in which we are so overwhelmed with our work and providing for the family, that we hardly talk about dreams anymore. I do hope that the song and movie can help to stir up something in some people to continue to pursue their dreams, to be as "crazy" as the 2 men in the movie.

Welcome to my new Blog!

Why do I start this blog? I have been an active blogger for an investment blog for about a couple of years. For quite a while, I have been thinking of starting another blog to write about lighter topics which do not require too much research work. Basically thoughts in my head that I wish to pen down. Of course Blogging 101 tells you that if you want to blog, it must have a theme or objective. You can start a blog about bicycles and you can attract cycling enthusiasts to your blog. You can start a blog about pet animals, and you attract pet lovers to your blog.

Anyway I still hope to blog about almost anything under the sun, and I do not want the theme or objective to restrict my postings. So out came this idea of why not I blog about things that are of interest to people of my category? So what category do I belong to? Well I am a typical middle age Singaporean PMET (Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians), a father to 2 young kids, and still serving the last leg of my reservist. Thankfully I do not have problem of receding hair line like some of my peers do, but I do have a ever growing beer belly that does not seems to know how to stop despite having made the effort to jog even on tired evenings after work. Appropriately, I have decided to name my new blog SG (SINGAPORE) FAT UNCLE. In time to come, I shall be posting about topics like fatherhood, frustrations over transportation, financial struggles, etc, basically things that people of my profile will be facing. I do hope that it can be source of reference and advice, and at the same time I also hope it can bring in comments that can be of advice to myself and other readers.

Do hope that you will get to enjoy the postings!