This could be the most common questions in the minds of the millions who are thinking of slimming down. But can slimming centers really slim you down? Or rather, can those claimed weight managers really 'manage your weight for you'? Notice that I've used quotations for "manage your weight for you", because the fact is, YOU are really the one who is managing your weight and not them. Those machines that they use on you, are really temporary measures that makes you walk out feeling 'slim' and to convince you to sign on a package with them right after a treatment. Let's list down the things that slimming centers do to you that 'slims' you down:
1. Sauna Machines - purpose: to make you perspire
how the scam works --> fat in our body are stored in cells known as adipose tissue, which also stores 10-14% of water in the tissue. These fat-storing tissues are typically found under our skin. So the trick is, to make you perspire, so that you can get rid of these water in the adipose tissue to lose a whooping 1-2kg after the treatment! But are the fats still there? OF COURSE...
The liquid loss will be quickly replaced after a few glass of water.
2. Plastic wraps - purpose: to compress the fats
how the scam works --> fats in our body exist near our skin to serve the primary purpose of absorbing shocks (in case we fall) and to keep us warm. These shock absorbers are naturally compressible and upon the application of pressure, naturally gets smaller making you look firmer. Naturally, they will bounce back into shape once pressure is removed, but in time for the 'weight consultant' to 'prove' to you your 'weight loss' after the treatment. But are the fats still there? OF COURSE...
3. Medicines - purpose: to block cabohydrate
not quite a scam, but there are the side effects --> carbohydrates are the basic nutrients that our brain and other parts of our body feeds on. So by blocking the absorption of carbohydrates, we are in fact depriving our body of nutrients and sacrificing the ability for the maximised functioning of the brain. Besides the side effects of getting tired easily and feeling wobbly all day long with the inability to react or think properly, you do get to eat heartily and not gain more weight, but are the original fats still there? OF COURSE... Is it worth the sacrifice on your ability to function normally through the day? You decide on that yourself.
4. Detox pills/drinks - purpose: to purge the 'unwanted/poisonous stuff' out of your body
how the scam works --> most of these detox pills/drinks are mostly filled with laxatives for us to clear our bowels most unwillingly. But as a matter of fact, what these 'unwanted stuff/poison' really is, no one can put their finger on it and if you were to ask this to the next promoter who tries to sell you this kind of product, ask him for me, see what he can tell you. Most likely he will just keep saying, "you know, those toxics in our food, your fats, the pollution..." There's only one thing that kills the negative elements that causes the break down of our body and that is antioxidants, can be found in fruits like blue berries and carrots (more on anti-oxidants here). Not aware to most of us, our KIDNEY does exactly the function of getting rid of 'toxics' consumed by us! So do we really need to detox? Many research has shown that 'detox' does not work and does nothing to our body. (Give me a buzz should you wish to see those research papers.)
5. Food supplements - purpose: to replace our regular meals
how the scam works --> these meals can come in the form of liquid or packets of meal in low cabohydrate and fats. However, carbohydrates and fats also serves the purpose of making us 'feel' full by sending a chemical up to our brain to tell us to stop eating. Without these chemicals, we'll not only not feel full, we'll end up eating more 'cause we'll be looking for food after the replacement meals to curb our hunger pangs. It works for you only if you can overcome the psychological test, if not, don't bother...
But how is it that there are so many success stories from weight management centers? Simply because, there ARE indeed truths and knowledge of food intake that these weight consultants tell you! They tell you to watch your diet, eat only certain food, and do regular exercise to make the program work. Given the amount that you pay, you will naturally listen to them and really want the program to work for yourself. But is it really the machines and pills that worked? NO! It's your own watch on your diet and the regular exercise that worked... do you really need to spend a few thousands of dollars for those knowledge? No again... you are getting it for free here... :).
Read more about calories here and what it means.
Read more about your day's calories intake here and how your weight is really determined by your lifestyle.
Click here to find out how to read food nutrition facts label and how it helps you calculate your true calories intake.
Monday, July 20, 2009
How to read Nutrition Facts labels on your food packages?
So we've learnt that fats contain more energy then carbohydrate and proteins, so how exactly can we use the information to slim down?
Let's start with the common things in life that we see but ignore most of the time, the nutrition facts labels on our food packages.
You may have noticed that not all food packages have nutrition facts labels, well that's simply because they were produced in different countries and not all countries made it mnadatory to contain information as such.
One interesting point to note in the US's labeling is that, fat amounts less than 0.5g are rounded to 0g. For example, if a product contains 0.45g of trans fat per serving, the label would show 0g of trans fat! So if the package contains 18 servings, the product actually contains a total of 8.1 g of trans fat when consumed all at once! This is how misleading such nutrition facts can be. The good news is that, (for those who are really keen in calculating fats consumption to keep it to the lowest), you can actually spot such misleading information by simply calculations.
Let'd look at one Nutrition Facts label:
From this label, it was written that the total calories is 130 (about 1/5 of a meal), given that it's a cornflakes pack, this should make a pretty 'slimming' snack for tea break.
Recalling that per gram of carbohydrate and protein is about 4cal and fats is about 9cal, a basic calculation will reveal that:
Let's start with the common things in life that we see but ignore most of the time, the nutrition facts labels on our food packages.
You may have noticed that not all food packages have nutrition facts labels, well that's simply because they were produced in different countries and not all countries made it mnadatory to contain information as such.
One interesting point to note in the US's labeling is that, fat amounts less than 0.5g are rounded to 0g. For example, if a product contains 0.45g of trans fat per serving, the label would show 0g of trans fat! So if the package contains 18 servings, the product actually contains a total of 8.1 g of trans fat when consumed all at once! This is how misleading such nutrition facts can be. The good news is that, (for those who are really keen in calculating fats consumption to keep it to the lowest), you can actually spot such misleading information by simply calculations.
Let'd look at one Nutrition Facts label:
From this label, it was written that the total calories is 130 (about 1/5 of a meal), given that it's a cornflakes pack, this should make a pretty 'slimming' snack for tea break.
Recalling that per gram of carbohydrate and protein is about 4cal and fats is about 9cal, a basic calculation will reveal that:
Fat energy = 0.5 x 9 = 0.45cal (rounded off to 5cal in the label)
Carbohydrate energy = 30 x 4 = 120cal
Protein energy = 4 x 4 = 16cal
total engery = 0.45 + 120 + 16 = 136.45cal
Noticed the discrepancy? Imagine you eat 2 packets of this, one for breakfast and one for tea break, you will be eating 12.9cal extra and in a week, you will have consumed 90.3cal extra calories.... Not exactly what you want to happen when you are in a low-cal diet.
This happens due to the rounding off of figures here and there in the guidelines and laws of food nutrition facts labels, so we as consumers have to be clear of what we are consuming.
Sometimes, you may also find a short-fall from the calculated calories stated in the label, when that happens, it's most likely because they have (purposely or not, you can decide) used the rounded-off value of the trans fat and saturated fat, which is less than 0.5g to calculate the value. So do be careful when labels and advertisement says the product is "Trans fat free", it simply means it's lesser than 0.5g, not that it's not really there, and that the calories of such products is in fact higher than what is reflected.
Read more about calories here and what it means.
Read more about your day's calories intake here and how your weight is really determined by your lifestyle.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
What is calorie?
We always see the word 'calorie' and we know they have got to do with our weight, but how exactly? It is basically a measure of how much energy the food will give us. For example, food with 300 cal can definitely give us more energy than food of 50 cal. Oh, 'cal' is the short-form of calorie obviously, and 'kcal' (kilocalorie) is most often interchangeably used; they basically mean the same thing.
When we say energy, we really mean food that when digested, is chemically broken down and infused into our blood stream to contribute to the equation of energy creation for moving, breathing and thinking.
Only carbohydrates (including fiber), fats, proteins, organic acids, polyols, and ethanol contain food energy. All foods are made up of a combination of these six nutrients. Everything else in food is non-caloric, including (but not limited to) water, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, caffeine, spices and natural flavors. Tea and coffee also have no calories without sugar or milk added.
Fats, naturally, have the largest amount of energy per gram, 9 cal/g, compared to the other 5 nutrients. Proteins and most carbohydrates have about 4 cal/g. Carbohydrates that are not easily absorbed, such as fiber or lactose in lactose-intolerant individuals, contribute less food energy. Polyols (including sugar alcohols) and organic acids have fewer than 4 cal/g.
So why do we need to understand calorie? The answer can be quite simply expressed in the equation below:
When we say energy, we really mean food that when digested, is chemically broken down and infused into our blood stream to contribute to the equation of energy creation for moving, breathing and thinking.
Only carbohydrates (including fiber), fats, proteins, organic acids, polyols, and ethanol contain food energy. All foods are made up of a combination of these six nutrients. Everything else in food is non-caloric, including (but not limited to) water, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, caffeine, spices and natural flavors. Tea and coffee also have no calories without sugar or milk added.
Fats, naturally, have the largest amount of energy per gram, 9 cal/g, compared to the other 5 nutrients. Proteins and most carbohydrates have about 4 cal/g. Carbohydrates that are not easily absorbed, such as fiber or lactose in lactose-intolerant individuals, contribute less food energy. Polyols (including sugar alcohols) and organic acids have fewer than 4 cal/g.
So why do we need to understand calorie? The answer can be quite simply expressed in the equation below:
Input = Output,
if not,
excess Input = FATS
The equation in simple English will mean that if our body does not use up the food energy (calories) that we have consumed, they will basically be stored so that it can be used later....... Why so?! Why is our body so dumb? Why doesn't they simply get 'shitted' out? Well, that will be a history lesson that covers human evolution. Will explain that in another day's blog ,look forward to that!
Read more about your day's calories intake here and how your weight is really determined by your lifestyle.
Find out how to calculate your Daily Recommended Calorie Need.
Click here to find out how to read food nutrition facts label and how it helps you calculate your true calories intake.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Calories in a night-out
Think about this... a casual outing with friends downtown, ate buffet at Sakura Orchard, everything there looks delicious, from the Sashimi to the deserts and the free flow of soft drinks!! Mmmm.... one can get hungry just thinking about it... That's not all! After some few hours of chit-chatting over dinner, it's time to get happening at some clubs! Down a few beers and a few vodkas, not so much of a dancer though... so it's about time to get home, but before that, let's have some supper first... Roti Prata (similar to the Mexican wrap except that it comes with curry and sometimes sugar upon request) at the nearby coffee shop, plus another can of green tea to 'detox' after the crazy drinking, now that's healthy isn't it? And it's time for bed!
Sounds familiar?? Seems so like the typical night-out of just about anyone in any country and now just Singapore, the hang-outs may be different but the intake of food... I believe... is similar in most developed countries... But what's wrong! That's life man! Food and drinks!
That's exactly the point... food and drinks, sedentary lifestyle otherwise, will determine the type of clothes you can fit into. Many factors can be discussed in just this short night-out activity.
For this blog, let's start with calories-intake.
How much your body requires for a day's work can be easily calculated using a formula, which takes into account your current weight, height, age, gender and exercise intensity per week. But don't worry about the calculation, you can get it done here. For an average Singaporean women, it's about 1800 cal per day, assuming you exercise about once or twice a week in Yoga or aerobics.
Looking back into the buffet dinner, assuming you eat some sashimi, fried ebi, green beans, some cakes, 3 scoops of the ice cream, some fried vegetables, oysters, 2 cups of soft drinks, half bowl of miso soup, half bowl of corn soup etc... not much, but let's see the break down in calories:
some sashimi = 280 cal
fried ebi = 500 cal
green beans = 25 cal
some cakes = 300 cal
3 scoops of the ice cream = 300 cal
some vegetables = 52 cal
oysters = 50 cal
2 cups of soft drinks = 200 cal
half bowl of miso soup = 40 cal
half bowl of corn soup = 100 cal
Total calories consumed = 1847 cal
More detailed break down of food calories is available here (use the search engine, type main words, e.g. miso soup, type only 'miso', searches better)
Let's recall again how much calories do we need in a day? About 1800 cal. And we've consumed the entire day's needs in one whooping meal!! Not to mention the rest of the supper and beers and vodkas... they contain calories too! (Click here to find out how you can calculate your exact Daily Recommended Calorie Need.)
So what happens after you have consumed so much more calories? They turn into fats of course!
My lifestyle = my weight? DEFINITELY.
Sounds familiar?? Seems so like the typical night-out of just about anyone in any country and now just Singapore, the hang-outs may be different but the intake of food... I believe... is similar in most developed countries... But what's wrong! That's life man! Food and drinks!
That's exactly the point... food and drinks, sedentary lifestyle otherwise, will determine the type of clothes you can fit into. Many factors can be discussed in just this short night-out activity.
For this blog, let's start with calories-intake.
How much your body requires for a day's work can be easily calculated using a formula, which takes into account your current weight, height, age, gender and exercise intensity per week. But don't worry about the calculation, you can get it done here. For an average Singaporean women, it's about 1800 cal per day, assuming you exercise about once or twice a week in Yoga or aerobics.
Looking back into the buffet dinner, assuming you eat some sashimi, fried ebi, green beans, some cakes, 3 scoops of the ice cream, some fried vegetables, oysters, 2 cups of soft drinks, half bowl of miso soup, half bowl of corn soup etc... not much, but let's see the break down in calories:
some sashimi = 280 cal
fried ebi = 500 cal
green beans = 25 cal
some cakes = 300 cal
3 scoops of the ice cream = 300 cal
some vegetables = 52 cal
oysters = 50 cal
2 cups of soft drinks = 200 cal
half bowl of miso soup = 40 cal
half bowl of corn soup = 100 cal
Total calories consumed = 1847 cal
More detailed break down of food calories is available here (use the search engine, type main words, e.g. miso soup, type only 'miso', searches better)
Let's recall again how much calories do we need in a day? About 1800 cal. And we've consumed the entire day's needs in one whooping meal!! Not to mention the rest of the supper and beers and vodkas... they contain calories too! (Click here to find out how you can calculate your exact Daily Recommended Calorie Need.)
So what happens after you have consumed so much more calories? They turn into fats of course!
My lifestyle = my weight? DEFINITELY.
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