Fat Cells

Once your fat cells get large enough, they multiple. Once they multiple, they stay in your body forever.  The only way to lose fat then is to shrink your fat cells.

Skinny Carbs

Vicious cycle of over eating carbs

Is that like an oxymoron?


A well-balanced meal suggests healthy amounts carbs, protein and fat.  However, during this fat loss transformation period, I want to remain in a catabolic state.  One major player to consider is carbohydrates.  When you eat a piece of candy, it increases your blood glucose level activating insulin release to store it as either glycogen (limited amount) or body fat.  All this to bring back down your blood glucose level and once that happens, you get a "sugar crash" causing you to crave more carbs.  


Insulin is not your enemy.  Protein also elicits a insulin spike but it does not increase blood glucose the way carb does. 


Carbs are not your enemy.  If you deprive yourself completely of carbs, your body will go into starvation mode and respond by releasing stress hormones to retain more fat.  

Some fad diets (such as Atkin's) suggests 20-30 grams of carbs during the initial phase.  I don't even know how that's possible since a pure veggie shake I make is already 30 grams of carbs.  What the f*ck do people on Atkin's eat?!


It's good to eat carbs, but only the right types - ones that have a low glycemic index, take longer to digest, and do not produce such an intense insulin spike (followed by a "sugar crash").

Good Complex Carbs	Bad Simple Carbs
Nuts Legumes Fructose (Basic sugar found in fruits) Pasta (Boiled 5 min.) Dairy ( Ice cream, skim milk, whole milk, yogurt) Fruits (fructose ONLY-plums, peaches, apples,  oranges, pears, grapes, grapefruit) Rice (polished), or brown Sweet potato Oats All-bran Most Vegetables ( carrots, corn, root vegetables)	Sugars (high to low: Maltose, Glucose, Sucrose) Puffed cereals (white rice, wheat, corn, rice cakes) Potatoes Candy Breads (esp white bread) Instant products ( instant: rice, oatmeal, wheat, grits) Flaked cereals (corn flakes, etc.) Corn chips

Unfortunately, I still do get my share of simple carbs twice a week, such as when I dine out.  I can't give up my social life completely for weight loss... haha I just make sure those days are balanced with an intense day at the gym.

One of my favorite carbs is quinoa.  I eat quinoa salads maybe 4-5 times a week.  

Boil then simmer for 15 min

1/4 cup quinoa

3/4 cup water

Dice:

1/2 diced carrot

1/2 diced cucumber

1/2 onion

1/2 avocado

1/2 celery

1/2 tomatoe

Garnish:

1-2 oz feta

parsely

olive oil

Beginner's bodybuilding for her

You will not look like this.  [Unless you want to, of course.]  Women do not gain muscle as easily as men, unfortunately, nor do they burn fat as well as men.  For a chick to look like this, she needs steroids! She must be the most disciplined person ever - many years of strict nutritional diet, inhaling supplements and full-time training.  If only America had an ounce of discipline as this woman, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic.


With that said, weight training is ever so important for fat loss - especially for a skinny fat person.  In fact, more women, and not men, tend to be skinny fat because they shy away from weights.  I am guilty of this at first.  Not because I was afraid of doing weights, but I had no idea where to even start.  At the gym, all I see are men pumping iron and benching more than their body weight.  That's intimidating.  If I want to use the same machine, how do I even remove those 200 lbs weights off the barbell? I give up. I'll just stick with cardio.  


For the first 4-5 weeks, all I did was run and inconsistently at that - sometimes 5 days a week followed by 1 day the next week.  However, when I ran, I did it in intervals.  If I stayed at the same pace, I would change the grade of incline every 2 minutes to "shock" the body.  Along with some significant changes to my nutritional intake, I lost about 9 lbs.  This seems slow, but I wanted to ensure more fat loss rather than muscle.


With cardio, I hit a wall and started to plateau weeks 5-7 with no loss of body fat percentage.  Instead of concentrating on my diet, I decided to incorporate weight training and HIIT.  For a newbie, I had no idea where to start - no, my boyfriend did not help me - so, obviously I turned to the internet.  Two websites that I used to plan my workout routine are Body Trainer and Jefit.  Body Trainer organizes exercises by muscle groups and points out the best user voted workout for that group.  Jefit is also similar, plus you can sync the App to your IPhone or Android.  The most useful tool for me was their .gif images demonstrating how each workout is done.  My boyfriend used the App to double check one of  his exercises.  Having the correct form is key!


I realistically selected which exercises to start with for each body part and divided it up into 4 weigh training days on Jefit.  The first few times, I had to walk around my gym aimlessly to match up the machine with the picture on Jefit - I know, what a n00b.  My workout routine is 4 day weights, 2-3 days cardio.  I started with lower weights, more reps and less rest.  Don't sacrifice form for heavier weights!  You can go up once you've mastered the form.  After just 2 weeks of this (week 8-9), my scale budged and I lost 2.5 more lbs and even more body fat. 


Post workout nutrition: remember to drink a protein shake within 15-30 minutes after your workout.  Some days, I wake up so sore that I drink a second one in the morning.  Protein does the body good!

Motivation for beautification

Putting on your sneakers is the hardest part.

If you don't have a gym membership, get one. If you already have one, use it. You can join a gym with classes for peer motivation. I joined an inexpensive but nice local gym (Blink Fitness) for only $15/month.  I had the membership for a year before using it regularly - basically paying $180 for denial.  I recommend joining a gym like I recommend studying in a library rather than on the couch in front of your TV.  People working out around you will motivate you!

One lame excuse I've heard is, "You have to look fit to go the gym." No you don't. There are many people at the gym that were once overweight and embarrassed.  They look fit now due to hard work, consistency and the will power to come back day after day.

Get some nice workout gear.  This may sound superficial, but it's not! Just because you will sweat and smell at the gym, does not mean you should go in your grungiest throw away clothes.  Remember, if you look good, you will feel good and in turn, enjoy exercising. Don't psychologically condition yourself to associate the gym with where you look and feel subpar.  Exercising is serious business; when you do it, you need to bring your best - mentally and physically - they go hand in hand. 

If being around weights intimidate you, start with simple cardio (treadmill, elliptical, etc.).  I'm not an athletic person - the kind that can't even run quarter mile without stopping to pant.  I chose running to start with and didn't change it up for about 1.5 months.  At first, I was only able to run/walk 3 miles within an hour, but eventually picked up pace. By the end of one month, I was running non-stop for 4 miles every session.   One important recommendation for burning fat cardio is to do it in intervals. If you are uber out of shape, walk at a 6 degree incline for a minute, then come back down to 0 degree, and repeat for 40 minutes.  Or you can run at 6 mph and then walk at 3 mph.

One way to keep you motivated (or distracted) while doing cardio is to have entertainment - like music or TV.  I find it helpful when I'm distracted from my activity (and the pain).   Put together a playlist of songs with 170+ BPM to motivate yourself.  Trick yourself into having energy!  Try a simple search online for a list.

Ready, set, go!

Things I did to kick off my weight loss routine:

1.)  Clean house. Discard or give away every unhealthy food item in your living space. You know what you shouldn't be eating! Bring all the candy and chocolates to work and chuck those sugary popsicles.  This wasn't an overnight process. It took about a week for my fridge to look like this..

2.)  You will not lose weight unless you cut calories! For me this is the "fastest" method to see results, which is the biggest motivator of all.  Once you see yourself shrinking, you will want to switch over to other methods of not just weight, but fat, loss to be skinny fit.        a. Determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). This tells you how many calories you burn per day by just being alive and also with your level of activity.  For example, I am 5'4 at started at 136 lbs. My BMR is 1415 and my daily calorie need is 1698 with sedentary activity.  

      b. Generally, one pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. If you burn 3500 calories, you will lose one pound.  I wanted to lose at minimum one pound (or 3500 kcal) every week.  3500 kcal / 7 days = cutting 500 kcal per day.  Therefore, TDEE - calories to cut = daily calorie limit. (For me,1698-500=1198) However, along with exercise, some weeks, I lost more than one pound.  

      c. Record everything with My Fitness Pal or a similar application or just use paper.  (See Progress section for more details.)

      d. Start eating healthy and cut your cravings for unhealthy foods. Try eliminating, from your diet, one "bad" food you absolutely love every 2 weeks.  Tell yourself, "I do not eat ______."  Like, if you eat a muffin for breakfast everyday, replace it with oatmeal for 2 weeks. If you have a bottle of beer for dinner everyday, replace it with water. 

3.)  Exercise. Do not just cut calories! I started with only cardio (running) because I shied away from weights.  When counting calories, do not subtract the calories you burned at the gym from your daily intake.  If you consumed 2000 calories and worked off 400 calories at the gym, it does not mean you can record only 1600 calories for that day.  Instead, drink a protein shake and eat a banana (about 250 kcal) after your workout to replenish your muscles.

4.)  Let everyone know you are losing weight and get a support system.  People close to you will keep you in check.  They will constantly ask you, "How is the diet going?" Or even better, go on the weight loss journey with someone.  My roommates are also on diets and extremely supportive - otherwise, our current fridge contents would not fly. 

     

What is "skinny fit"?

There is the obvious answer but what does it really mean?

Have you ever heard of someone being described as "skinny fat"? To the untrained eye, this person may have a thin physique, but in actuality lack lean muscle.  This term is commonly used to describe Asians (especially 40+ Asian women) and as a 28 year old Asian woman myself, I have become extra careful when it comes to dieting and exercise.

	Skinny Fat	Skinny Fit
Weight	Same/-	Same/+
Measurements	Same	Same
Metabolism	Lower	Higher
Body fat %	Higher	Lower
General health		Better

Even differences in supermodels...

"Skinny fat" Karolina Kurkova

"Skinny fit" Gisele Bündchen

Okay I know, the pictures are a little excessive, but you get the point. How can a skinny fit person weigh more than a skinny fat person but still wear the same size jeans?  As many of you already know, muscle weighs more than fat:

http://pfitpfun.com/

That's like a whole butt cheek of fat right there!

So, be "skinny fit" not "skinny fat"!