#wellnesswednesday - What I eat in a day?

Last year, I embarked on a #eatclean diet (read about it HERE) and successfully lost about 8kg of fats. Previously while on a pretty restrictive, 21 days diet, I was eating about 1200 to 1300 kcals a day and obviously on a high calorie-deficit. Hence, the weight just came off like magic.

While some may tell you that calorie-counting is bullsh*t when it comes to weight loss, that's actually not true at all. Because a caloric deficit is what causing the weight loss. What's truly bullsh*t about calorie-counting is blindly looking at pure numbers (calorie count in each food you eat) and ignoring all your macro-nutrients and simply forgetting about the importance of a balanced diet.

For example, going for deli meat options instead of lean cuts of fresh meat just to save on that 60 kcals? No, please don't do that!

So while I've (almost) completely cut out refined sugar in my diet, I guess I'm still pretty much on a 15-85 diet, meaning 15% of the time I get to eat whatever my heart desires. Refined sugars included. That basically worked out to 1 cheat day in a week, which previously makes up about 2 meals. I've recently started eating 3 full meals for my Sunday cheatday due my revamped exercise routine, which added an hour's worth of badminton game with the BF in the late morning, hence I just felt that I earned an extra cheatmeal. #iexercisetoeatmore

First up, for my typical 3 meals on a non-cheatday:

For breakfast:
1 hardboiled egg
1 weetbix biscuit
OR
2 slices of 100% wholewheat bread
(not those fake extra soft 50% wholewheat)
1 tbsp peanut butter
OR
2 homebaked high protein doughnuts
1 tbsp peanut butter
WITH
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup grapes
4 - 6 strawberries
Kopi C Kosong

For lunch:
1/2 cup brown rice
WITH
mixed rice dishes
(1 veg + 1 egg/tofu + 1 meat)
OR
a choice of filling soup
(usually lotus root pork ribs, white fungus chicken, or kimchi jjigae)

For mid-day snack:
1 mug of My Protein Hot Mocha
WITH
1 Nugo Smarte Carb Protein Bar

For dinner:
Homecooked dishes & Soup
(1 veg + 1 meat +1 seafood + Soup)

For evening snack:
1 to 2 servings of fruits
(kiwi, orange, apple, plum, tangerine, starfruit)
Protein Shake
(My Protein Total Protein + HL Milk)

Just eating these alone will get me about 1600s kcals, which according to my fitbit charge 2, is still on a pretty substantial caloric-deficit of up to 1000 kcals a day (on my most active, spinning day).
Hence, judging on the extra calories I've burnt while at gym for the day, I'll usually throw in more food over at the evening snack time slot, with more caloric dense food such as:

nuts or legumes
(peanuts, mixed nuts, almonds, walnuts, chickpeas)

chocolate
(I'm eating My Protein High Protein Chocolate)

cookies / biscuits
(Homebaked wholegrain & sugarless, or Khong Guan Marie Biscuit/Cream Crackers)

However, on my non-cheat days, I will still limit my daily caloric intake to a maximum of below 2000 kcals (I will hover in the 1900s on my spinning day, whereby I usually burn up to 2700 kcals according to fitbit) and hit my macro ratio of 4 (carbs) - 3.5 (fats) - 2.5 (protein). My ideal would be 5-3-2 or even 4-3-3, but... I love fats as much as I love carbs, so it's really kinda tough. :(

2700 - 1900s is a huge caloric deficit of 700+, and that's unhealthy, you might say. But I would advise that you do not be too obsessed on how much deficit or surplus you have on a day-to-day basis, but aim to even it out over the week and achieve your targeted deficit (or surplus, or break-even) as a weekly average.

My non-cheat days deficit ranges from a negligble 100+ kcals (usually on Saturdays, whereby I'm less active) to 700+ kcals. But on my Sunday cheatday *insert smirking face*, I usually eat all sorts of crap and can easily even out my 6 days of deficit by hitting up to more than 3000 kcals in a single day of eating when I burn at most 2000 kcals.

So, how do you eat to maintain a good health? Do share with me your eating habits down in the comment section below!

Till then,
Mia Foo

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#fitnessfriday - Fitbit Charge 2

Hello, my fellow fitness junkies. It's been more than 6 months since I embarked on my #eatclean diet (you can read my 21 days detox diet HERE and my tips on sustaining it after the 21 days HERE) and I thought that I should reach out to you peeps again with an update.

And so my total weight loss till date is about 6kg and it has been fluctuating around this figure for a while. Well, I probably could cut out more kilos but I will probably need to go into high calorie-deficit, which I'm really not keen on. 

Anyhow, the huge failure of the accelerometer on my new OPPO R9s phone has made me decided to get a proper fitness tracker. Not like miband or what, but something 'smarter', which can tells me more about my daily level of activities and help me track my calories in and out.

And so, after tons of google searches, quite a few of forced discussions with friends, and a couple days (or was it weeks) of consideration, I finally decided to take the plunge and burn 200 bucks on the fitbit charge 2.
I assure you, I didn't get this just for the salmon pink strap.

But still, it's so chio (pretty), isn't it?

They even have super cool leather straps (HERE) and super pretty metal chains (HERE) for you to switch out as and when you felt like it.

Apart from the usual steps tracking, Charge 2 also track your stairs climbed, daily active minutes, calorie expenditure (BMR and daily activities), continuous heart rate monitoring, sleep monitoring, daily travelled (walked) distance, and allows you to record your daily meals to check your calories in-out, and also allows you to set notifications from your phone to track text messages, calls and set vibrating alarm. Charge 2 also has a few special exercise tracking functions, which includes the ever so popular spinning, running, yoga, pilates, weights and etc.

Charge 2 also allows you to choose your preferred layout on the main "screen" of your tracker and I've chosen the one that shows both my heart rate and steps taken on my main screen, you can easily flip though the screens to check the rest of your stats (calories burnt, distance travel etc) by tapping on the screen. 

And no, it's not a touch screen so... you might need a few taps before it responds. 

Accuracy wise, I'll say the Charge 2 is pretty accurate when it comes to steps counting. I've once checked it against my own manual counting of 100 steps and my charge 2 counted just 1 extra step. As for stairs counting, it can get a little unstable. Certain days it's 100% accurate while certain days it just goes way off. But that doesn't really bothers me as this stairs climbing function isn't what I really focus on when I made the purchase. 

Having a specific spinning and yoga tracking under the exercise tracking function gave this gadget a lot of brownie points IMO, because these two exercises are what I usually do! But it's a shame that there's only ONE yoga function, when we all know there's TONS of variations to yoga and each very different from another in terms of intensity. 

For example, my Charge 2 tells me I burn roughly 266 kcals per hour of Hot Yoga on this particular yoga function, but isn't Hot Yoga supposed to burn more calories as compared to, let's say, Hatha Yoga? And 266 kcals does seem a little too low for hour's worth of near-dying experience in the hot studio too, doesn't it? 

Anyhow, I guess this booboo will actually work in your favour if what you want is to lose weight by maintaining a calorie deficit, because you may be underestimating your actual calorie expenditure. 

So, erm... yay?

In terms of food logging, I didn't feel that their data of food choices is that awesome, hence I'll prefer to log my daily meals on myfitnesspal instead and sync and data over to the fitbit app. 

So after 2 weeks on my Charge 2, I can say it's so far so good. But whether or not it helps in weight management (loss), I can't tell yet. So let's just wait for my next update, yeah?

If you're interested in getting a Charge 2 yourself, do check it out at lazada.sg

Till then,

Mia Foo

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#fitnessfriday - Mia's sustainable #eatclean diet plan for weight loss

Hello fellow fitness junkies! Since I missed my rare #wellnesswednesday moment, I shall turn this into a #fitnessfriday post instead. Do let me know which hashtag you prefer, yeah?

If you don't know me, then you must know that I've started gymming frequently (I usually do spinning, hot yoga and body balance, which is a mixture of taichi, yoga and pilates) more than 1 year (almost 2?) back and along the way I've also tried out various weight management programme, out of which my biggest failure being AgeLoc TR90 (my final post on it HERE).

Despite being physically active, I've never really managed to bring my weight down significantly as I couldn't keep my diet in check.

With a change in job, my gym days decreased significantly and I was eventually shocked out of my wits when I saw a number on the weighing scale which I've never seen before for my entire life.

That's it! I'm going on a diet!

After a few google searches on a certain 21 days detox diet programme that revolves around weeding, seeding and feeding, I decided to give it a shot.

The diet plan is a peculiar one, with specific can-eats and cannot-eats that changes each week, or rather with the can-eats adding on each week, spanning through 21 days. The first week was seemingly the most harsh, with the diet gradually easing up week by week.

So for day 1 to 7, it shall be the weeding week. whereby we weed out the bad bacteria, parasites, fungus and yeast through dietary changes. In order to achieve that, some major (and temporary) changes in our diet is inevitable.

During the weeding week, the following food shall be avoided where possible:

All sorts of (starchy) carbohydrates like rice, noodles, bread, pastries and potatoes.

Anything containing yeast

Anything with added sugar

Crustacean & Mollusks

(No seafood other than fish)

Deep-fried food

All dairy products

Alcohols

It's best to avoid coffee, but if you absolutely need it, limit yourself to just 1 cup a day.

My typical daily diet for the first week is as follow:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, black coffee without sugar

Lunch: Yong Tau Foo (without noodles, minimal fish cakes)

Afternoon snack: 1 large apple or 1 medium banana

Dinner: Home-cooked stirfry vegetables with lean cuts of meat or fish (pan fried, or stirfry), kimchi

Supper: 2 servings of fruit (Eg. 1 kiwi, 1 small apple)

Daily water intake: 1.8 - 2.1L

Estimated daily calorie intake: 1000 - 1100 kcals

Being a sugar-addict, I thought the total omission of added sugar will be the most painful, but it turned out the omission of carbohydrates was more harsh on me. The first day was painful, and I was hungry half of the day (as I didn't prepare for afternoon snack at work). 2nd day onwards, I learnt my lesson and pack up 1 to 2 servings of fruits as snack to work and it got slightly better. However, I did notice that the usual hot yoga and body balance routines felt slightly more strenuous than it usually would be. And also, by the 3rd day, black coffee without sugar (Kopi O Kosong) tasted perfectly all right to me. I didn't expect myself to get used to a no added sugar diet this quickly.

Weight Loss after Week 1 - 2.3kg

Day 8 to 15 shall be the seeding week, whereby we inoculate the gut with beneficial bacteria.

During the seeding week, we introduce complex (clean) carbohydrates into the diet but still avoid the following food:

No refined carbohydrates like white rice, noodles, white bread, pastries.

Anything with added sugar

Deep-fried food

All dairy products

Alcohols

Limit to 1 cup of black coffee without sugar per day, and 2 servings of seafood (other than fish) in the week.

My typical daily diet for the 2nd week is as follow:

Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg, 1 weet-bix, handful of blueberries & strawberries

Lunch: 1/2 serving (1/2 cup, cooked) red cargo rice marmite porridge, with choice of 2 stirfry vegetables and 1 stirfry lean meat.

I only cook my own porridge and buy the dishes from hawker centre.

Afternoon snack: 1 to 2 servings of fruits (usually apple and/or banana)

Dinner: Home-cooked stirfry vegetables with lean cuts of meat or fish (pan fried, or stirfry), kimchi

Supper: 1 to 2 servings of fruit (usually apple, orange, kiwi or cherries)

Daily water intake: 1.8 - 2.1L

Estimated daily calorie intake: +/- 1200 kcals

2nd week was quite a breeze as I've gotten used to the taste of red cargo rice during mid-week and having nothing sweet in my diet except for fruits felt perfectly normal.

Hot yoga and body balance sessions felt more manageable (though the burning sensation in my muscles still came quicker than usual) and I added in a session of spinning towards the end of the week and survived it.

Weight Loss after Week 2 - 0.4kg

(As I was on my period for this week, water retention could have affected my weight loss results)

Accumulated Weight Loss after 2 weeks - 2.7kg

Finally, day 16 to 21 will be the feeding week, whereby we feed the healthy bacteria and the entire body what it needs to heal itself.

During the feeding week, we introduce dairy products into the diet and also lifts the ban on deep-fried food and alcohols, but still avoid the following food:

No refined carbohydrates like white rice, noodles, white bread, pastries.

Anything with added sugar

My typical daily diet for the 3rd week is as follow:

Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg + 1 weet-bix OR 1 steamed sweet potato, handful of blueberries/grapes & strawberries

Lunch: 1/2 serving (1/2 cup, cooked) red cargo rice, with choice of 2 stirfry vegetables and 1 stirfry lean meat OR 1 soup (Eg. slice fish soup or lotus root pork ribs soup)

I only cook my own rice and buy the dishes from hawker centre.

Afternoon snack: 1 to 2 servings of fruits (usually apple and/or banana)

Dinner: Home-cooked stirfry vegetables with lean cuts of meat or seafood (pan fried, or stirfry), kimchi

Supper: 1 to 2 servings of fruit (usually apple, orange, kiwi or nectarine), 1/4 to 1/2 cup HL low fat milk.

Daily water intake: 1.8 - 2.1L

Estimated daily calorie intake: +/- 1200 - 1300+ kcals

3rd week felt like an #eatclean diet has more or less been cultivated as I hardly crave for sugary food anymore, and naturally avoided deep fried food even thought the 'ban' was lifted. I also added an additional spinning session to the week (2 sessions of spinning, 1 hot yoga and 1 body balance) and didn't feel much fatigue during my exercises.

Weight Loss after Week 3 - 0.7kg

Accumulated Weight Loss after 3 weeks - 3.4 kg

You may think that 3.4kg in 3 weeks isn't all that impressive, but the important point to note is that this diet is sustainable as long as you do not let the glutton in you go out of control. Other than the first 1 or 2 days of the weeding week whereby I felt constant hunger from the lack of starchy carbohydrates (and without fruits at hand to fill my tummy), I was well fed and didn't feel starved or deprived at any time. 

I guess this will be my wordiest post ever and without a single photograph, so you weight loss hopefuls might already be seeing stars right now, so I shall end my wall of text here. 

Stay tuned for part 2 of this #eatclean weight loss diet plan (hopefully will be up next week!) whereby I will share my progress of this diet after the 3rd week. 

Hint: Cheat day coming up! 

To know more in-depth about the Weed-Seed-Feed Detox Diet, do check out the link HERE
For added boost in your weight loss results, you can also take the Advascience 21 Day Ultimate Cleanse (available HERE) along with this diet.

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Wellness Wednesday: Five Healthy Food Cravings

Hello fellow fitness junkies, it's #wellnesswednesday again! This week, I'm going to share on the 5 snacks I usually eat, which I feel are (somewhat) healthier as compared to other chips and crisps. And this is also my first attempt blogging using the blogger app on my iPad, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed on how this post will turn out. 

Well, here goes.

1. Fresh Fruits

As our company has a 'fruit day' policy, it has slowly became my habit to grab an apple, snow pear or banana as my mid day snack in office. And in the evenings at home, my after dinner snack will usually be an orange, kiwi, strawberries, red dragonfruit (best fruit to cure constipation!) or sometimes, peach.

However, not all fruits are the best diet-friendly snack you can have with no limitations. Other than fats and calories, sugar content is also one of the most deadly diet-killer. And a cup of grapes contain about 23g of sugars while a cup of strawberries contains only a mere 7g. You can do your own maths here. :)

2. Chocolates

Yeah, I know most of you ladies will probably be going, "What? No, that's not healthy snacks!" But believe it or not, what I love is dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao and not the fattening milk or white chocolates, so I'm safe. 

No, I'm not going to listen to you telling me chocolates aren't good for me because I'm going to continue snacking on them. HA HA HA. 

And till date, scientific research has suggested of 4 main possible health benefits of dark chocolates.

1. Chocolate may help reduce LDL cholesterol levels

2. Chocolate may prevent memory decline

3. Chocolate may reduce risk of heart disease

4. Chocolate may prevent stroke

In addition, recent developments on the health benefits of chocolate has also observed that teens who eat a lot of chocolates tend to be slimmer and consuming high levels of flavonoids, which is found in chocolates, could significantly help protect against type 2 diabetes.

3. Almond Nuts

Almonds is my favourite nuts, ever. Well, actually I love hazelnuts more, but due to a serious lack of availability in my local marts, I ended up turning to my 2nd favourite most of the time. 

There's always a tub of baked, unflavoured almonds and another tub of walnuts (my brother's favourite) sitting in our kitchen and while watching TV programmes, both of us will always be hugging our respective tub of nuts and munching away. 

Okay, not a very good example here. Everything should be in moderation, yeah? A handful a day is more than enough. Heh!

Rich in healthy fats (monounsaturated fats), almonds are scientifically believed to have a handful of health benefits, such as:

1. Lowers LDL cholesterol and Reduce risk of heart disease

2. Provides double-barreled protection against diabetes and cardiovascular disease

3. Lowers risk of weight gain

4. Helps with body energy production

5. Helps prevent gallstones

But remember, for almonds to be a healthy snack, do away with the salt and sugar! 

4. Yoghurt

Once again, the issue with sugar content plays an important factor when it comes to yoghurt, so remember to check out your dietary labels! The healthiest yoghurt will undeniable be a low-fat, non-sweeten Greek yoghurt, but it's really too funky in taste and texture for me to crave for it at any time. So even though I'm 'cheating' with non-fat yoghurt instead, there's still enough health benefits packed within to make it healthier than other junk food snacks, mainly for the protein, calcium, vitamins and probiotics content. 

5. Edamame

Edamame, or soybeans, really make the best snack ever. Just by dumping a frozen bag of them into hot boiling water for a while, drain and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and viola, you got yourself the yummiest, most addictive TV programme snack ever.

Being low in fats and calories, and high in protein, fibre and almost every other essential vitamin and mineral, edamame is literally a powerhouse of nutrients, and it's said that just 1 cup serving will give us at least 6% of the recommended daily intake of all nutrients, with the exception of vitamin D. Magic or what!

So, what are the healthy snacks that you crave for most of the time? Drop me a comment and let me know of more healthy snacks to munch on!

Till then,

Mia Foo

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