If Weight Loss is one of your goals, this article is for you.
Are you planning for a same old new year resolution only to realize you've wasted another year getting the same old results at the end of 2019?
It's time for a Change.
Do away with writing vague goals. Start writing goals that are SPECIFIC and STRAIGHT TO THE POINT. If you want to achieve something, it has to have a measurable end point that you can justify if you've met it by the time frame that you've set. Take for example on the first point in the image above, "Improve Self." How do you even know that you have improve yourself by the end of 2019? By what measures and what actions have you "improved" to justify that you've met your goal above? Dive deeper into the details, specificity matters. It is a good start to know that you're looking to improve yourself but it encircles a broad aspect that needs to be broken down into plans. Ask yourself why, why does this goal matters? If being kind to people is how you would like improve yourself, than write it straight to the point. It all voices down to being 100% honest to what you really want and just how committed you are to accomplish it.
If you want a different result, your thinking and your approach has to change. It has to transform. It's 2019, how long more do you want to be trapped and stay the same?
It's time to shift your focus to understand the key culprit and solution to your million dollar question. If weight loss is your goal, lets break it down on how are you going to get there. First and foremost, acknowledge that the main factor that contributes to weight gain in your nutrition (in general) is SUGAR.
We have been unconsciously consuming sugar that are hidden in our daily food choices that had led us in taking in more than we should. Here's an example of how much sugar we are consuming on average and the side effects it causes.
The info-graphic on the left depicts what an average person eats in a day. Without the amount of sugar stated by the side, you might think that this dietary for the day is generally ‘quite’ healthy, right? Judging at the açai bowl for breakfast that is highly marketed as a 'healthy’ food in the market, the question we need to ask ourselves is, “is it really that healthy?” We can argue that a bowl of fruits topped with coconut juices are good for you, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing after all. Not to mention that a average açai bowl consists of 18g of sugar that equivalents to 4 teaspoon of sugar in total.
Point to note: Fructose (fruit sugar) from fruits should be consume in moderation as well.
The recommended total daily sugar intake by health promotion board aims to be no more than 8-11 tsp/day, approximately a maximum of 40-55g of sugar in total.
A cup of frappe from a coffee place can cost you 20g of sugar and a slice of cake after dinner can cost you 25g of sugar, do I need to say more?
Moving forward, have you ever wondered what happens inside your body after your perfect indulgence? The info-graphic on the right above says it all.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to tell you not to eat sugar AT ALL. In the right amount, sugar provides us with a form of energy. However, if sugar is chronically consumed in excess, it will be stored as fat.
Have you notice how do you feel after a heavy lunch? Do you find yourself feeling really good while enjoying your lunch but yet feeling really lethargic and sleepy right after you’re back to work? Why is this so?
Here’s the answer.
You have become one of many victims to world famous villain, Sugar. You have successfully allowed sugar to take control of your emotions instead of you being in charge. Allow me to explain further.
Let’s take a lunch scenario above for an example. If you have chose a plate of curry chicken rice, which we all know that it is not the best choice to nourish our body with what it requires. It is low in fiber and it digests quickly that enters the blood stream at a rapid rate. This causes a sudden spike in your energy level that doesn’t last as long as you want them to. Once the energy is used up, you will experience a crash in energy that leads you to feel real sluggish and tired. This sense of tiredness has become a real common conversation ongoing daily with among you and your colleagues. So, what do we usually do next? We reach out for what our body crave for, foods like chocolates, cookies or a cup of coffee. Your brain has been accustomed to reach out for foods that are high in sugar in order to obtain energy in the shortest and laziest method. But, do this energy last for long? No, they don’t.
You’ll find yourself craving for sugar, experiencing crash, craving for sugar again, experiencing crash again, and this endless roller coaster emotional turmoil cycle repeats.
If being emotionally and physically healthy is your aim, it's time to own your health and rise above this race with sugar.
Be in control of sugar and never allow sugar to take control of you.
Excess consumption of sugar can cause complications to our health such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular problems and other health issues. What our body wants are all the convenient, sugary and processed foods like cakes, cookies, chocolates and chips. But what our body truly need are foods that nourishes our body, food that encompasses all macro and micro nutrients that facilitates our body to function at its optimal. These essential macro and micro nutrients can be found in non processed foods in forms of carbohydrates, proteins and fats or in whole foods such as fruits and vegetables.
If you’re interested in knowing how nutrition can lead us to live our best life, look out and sign up for our upcoming workshops as we share more tips on health and wellness issues, Nutrition E-books that we will be publishing starting in Jan 2019 or DM me for our personalized nutrition online coaching. Alternatively, continue to stay tune for more articles upcoming as we strive to share health tips to the best capability that we can.
All the love,
Ashley Isabel Tay