So… I got a unique request from a unique patient - help me to lose weight and have a flat tummy - FAST😵💫
Sighing (secretly of course) I then have to take time to explain that losing weight fast is no drama, but maintaining it is another story. You can take shortcut with peptides, mesotherapy (does it really work?), non-invasive treatment, diet catering, and so on… but let’s be honest, how long will the weight loss stay after you stop those?
Obesity and overweight are caused by multiple causes, each of them must be addressed to lose weight and stay that way.
I am an integrative healthcare practitioner. I strongly believe that to achieve any health goal, you must utilise multiple pathways in your bodily system. Start with your DNA. I remember when I tried ketogenic diet using only clean fat, my weight was up FAST. Turned out I am among those who burn carbs more (no wonder I was always on a skinny part in my younger years despite being hypothyroid - because I like rice and veggies more than meat). This is what I called “Weight Sensor”.
Then you must be nutritionally sound, meaning that you can’t be dieting and restricting calories and by doing so neglecting your body needs of vitamins and minerals. If you are malnourished (and you can be malnourished despite being an overweight or obese), then weight that you lost will find you again FAST! Maybe even faster than you lost it. WHY? Because your body will think that you are stress and your brain will send messages to the stress gland to release the stress hormones, and your stress hormones would keep the fat especially around the belly and release sugar for energy. This is the same with different stress you encountered like pollution, or too much exercise. if you don’t have enough vitamins and minerals within you, you can’t get rid the pollution you inhaled, or the free radical you made during exercise, and again, your body will think you are stress.
You also have to move – no bargain on this one. You want to lose weight and stay slim; you MUST have the need and the will to exercise… This can also be backed up with your DNA knowledge, to know what kind of minimal exercise that will help you lose weight and maintain it. This is called Sportsgenomic. You may only need 15 minutes or less a day doing specific exercise that fits your gene to lose weight and stay slim. If you are peri or post-menopausal, or you always have hormonal issue such as heavy period, bad acne, menstrual cramps, migraine within period cycle, then this must be addressed too. It will be difficult to stay slim if you have hormonal issue, you’d likely to be yo-yo-ing and it will hurt your thyroid then you’d be fat again. Like nutritional status, you also need to be hormonally sound.
Then the work – choose your food. I believe in eating everything in consideration, it works well for me. To me, thinking what to eat to lose weight is one unnecessary stress.
Let’s start with a case, my case:
1. Genetically, I am a carb burner, bad in metabolising fat, protein is a neutral thing, this means I should eat more carbs (lucky me), limit saturated fat and my protein intake will be beneficial as general rule for protein (we will talk more about this later).
2. I make sure I am nutritionally sound by eating right (most of the time) and supplementing with multivitamins and minerals from good clean sources (I only use 2 brands for myself and my patients). I
3. I move everyday… the first 45 mins of my day (after my morning prayer) is for 5km brisk walking. Whenever I can during the day, I do some rowing or wall Pilates.
4. My first breakfast is coffee, second is high protein smoothie, no milk, just water and fruit and a 30-gram unflavoured Whey Protein Isolate. Increasing the amount of protein you eat may help support weight loss by regulating certain hormones and helping you feel fuller longer. It is literally the single most important nutrient for weight loss and a better-looking body. My lunch is not a special one, I eat everything, but I make sure I have carbs, fibre, high protein, and minimum fat on every meal.
5. I am (I think) hormonally sound, I have been on hormone therapy since I was 39 (despite of hormonally related cancer history in my family and a yell from my dearest mom). And my annual screen is quite good. I am officially menopausal, passing my 12-month period free.
6. Bio-hack…bio-hack…bio-hack… just can’t get enough of this (to the point my youngest son sometimes embarrassed of me). I always have mixed seeds – pumpkin, chia, sesame, hemp and sunflower (and sometime salad) in my bag, just in case I have to have lunch where protein and veggies are not available.
7. I tried Semaglutide, this popular peptide does not do anything to me. No side effect, no effect altogether. But when I stacked (combined) it with other peptides, it worked better.
For those who know me, they can swear I don’t do specific dieting and am slim and have been for the last 5 decades and so. In the last 26 years, with three pregnancies and being menopausal, I gained 4 kgs and my BMI is always around 19 to 20. I can speak based on personal experience and knowledge. So, if you want to lose weight and keep it off forever, do what I do… as Sheila Majid once sang… “Tiru macam saya" :-)
Call me and we can talk about how to make you lose weight and stay slim too…
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