Myth 1: I can't do exercise, I'll gain weight!

How many a times have we heard our friends say this or even encounter this myth ourselves. 'Myth'... what do I mean by this is a myth?? It is a FACT! After we gain muscle mass from exercising, we DO gain weight!! BUT.... this is healthy weight gain.... allow me to explain.

Weight gaining is not a sin as long as it is not fats gain. Muscles, due to its protein nature, weighs more than fats, which is mostly made up of water. When we lose fats and gain muscles instead due to the exercising that we do, our weight will naturally go up, but in turn, we'll look toned and healthy!

Also, another important thing about gaining muscle is that, our metabolic powerhouses known as "mitochondria" will increase in number, which will increase our metabolic rate in converting food energy into energy for daily usage --> meaning, we burn fats more easily! Find out more about this building of mitochondria in another post of mine.

Just to clarify, when we say gain muscle, we do mean those tough-looking bulging muscles, but rather, imagine a toned and non-flabby arms which looks the same whether you have it down beside your body or flagging for a cab, nothing is waving in the air with every wave...

To conclude, do not fear weight gain, rather, we should be looking forward to the weight gain after some exercising to confirm that we have lost some fats and gained some muscles which will ultimately contribute to an increase in metabolic rate.

exercise = loss of fats = muscles gain = weight increase = increase in metabolic rate = a toner looking body

HURRAY!

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.