Bread - sabotaging your diet?

Do you know that wheat and wheat products (bread, wheat flour, pasta, wheat cereals, what ever product that list wheat or flour as an ingredient) are the type of foods that can really cause a sudden increase in blood sugar?.. hence I've been avoiding them to close about 2 years now, and been taking 'whole wheat' kind of breads, and it's the best way to maintain our health?

Yes and No. 

Yes - we need to take whole-grains into our diet to increase the amount of fiber you take and the benefits of 'whole-grains' itself - from the bran-endosperm-to-the germ (as opposed to the refined white flour that is mainly starch from the endosperm). Being 'paranoia' as I am - i don't even want to take the normal whole-wheat bread on the local baked shelf because if you were to look at the ingredient (see for your self, some of popular local brands - like hi-five, gardenia, etc). Take a look at the ingredient list, and you know why. Hence, I baked my own 100% whole wheat, and has been perfecting it now.. (hmmm I can still smell the bread off the hot oven.. heavenly!)

Having said that, I've discovered recently that wheat (even whole wheat) is one of the substance that people are allergic to it - normally to the special protein inside it, known as gluten. That typically creates blemishes and acne on the skin (due to the high insulin secretion to balance off the high glucose in the body).

I've also realised that flour and flour products are still processed food (even whole wheat). We're better off eating brown rice (closer to it's original form), and obviously other fruits and vegetables.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm a fan of bread. I love whole-wheat bread (took me months to perfected my own recipe) - just love the taste of it, topped with peanut butter, and dash of raisins and sunflower seeds.. yummy!

The problem is - even if it's whole wheat - you tend to eat more than 2 slices sometimes (that is a lot - considering it's affect on your blood sugar). It will definitely sabotaging your diet. carb-overload!

If you've been dieting, and you're hitting the plateau - I suggest you look at your bread consumption. Hey - I'm not saying to never have bread again (it's life, you got to enjoy it rite?), just that I think we need to control it better - people are taking too much bread (especially the white kind - from the normal sandwich bread to naan bread to pastries to donuts to cakes). People are taking in 4-5 servings of some kind of bread type product every day that makes them gain weight. It prevents people from losing their unwanted weight, and worst, bringing about some diseases like heart diseases and type 2 diabetes.

I've been testing this on myself - it has been close to 2 months now that I've stayed away from flour and flour products (even whole-wheat)... and I tell you.. I feel lighter.. my skins getting clearer.. and the best thing is.. the scale is moving downwards consistently!!

I know, it's not easy.. believe me. Yup I've even missed my bread making session - the kneading is so therapeutic!

With no bread around - I tend to take more oats, yogurt, brown rice, and fruits for breakfast (see my typical breakfast), and of course, my new juicing adventures.

what have you discover recently???

to your good health,

Sher Khan.

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Sher's own 100% whole wheat bread recipe!

Finally, a 100% whole wheat  bread that I can proud of!

As some of you already know, I'm on a quest to a healthy, tasty, whole grain bread for a while now, baking my own whole wheat bread (i mean 100% whole wheat, no white flour watsoever). 

Have read a lot of recipe & how-to on the net, and have put into practice a couple of tries. 

Today, I’m able to make it the best so far (on the taste & softness especially – the look?, I’ll improve later). I’ve improvise here and there to my own liking based on  the original recipe that can be found here  (another good one, and another). You can also see a lot of videos on youtube.

This is how myfinal bread looks like, still to cool it off on the wire rack, but as you can see, everyone can’t wait.. (already eaten some slices.. ;)

Actually it’s a bit too brown to my liking, next shall try it at slightly lower temp, per below steps.

Well, since I’ve improvised from the original recipe, and you can’t find the below recipe anywhere, so I called it..

Sher’s Whole Wheat, Rye, Honey & Flaxseed Bread ;)

What you’ll need

1. 3 cups of whole wheat flour (from Bake With Yen - special whole wheat flour. On that note, I've even grinded my own from the wheat grain, but it turns out the final flour is not as fine as when i bought it from the store, bread turns hard!) - i guess i need to get a good grinder machine.

2. 1 cup of rye flour (from jusco/giant - organic rye flour by Radiant)

3. 1/2 cup of vital wheat gluten (also from Bake With Yen – was looking all over, finally found it here! It's important to develop that extra gluten (wheat protein) to bind the wheat together and to make the bread softer, and not a doorstop hard!)

4. 1 teaspoon of sea salt (actually I put just about less than 1 teaspoon – don’t want to add to much salt into my diet)

5. 1 packet (11g) instant dry yeast (Saf-instant brand)

6.  1 1/2 teaspoon honey – any brand would do (I've found if I were to put lesser .. the bread overall, doesn’t taste as good) - infact a bit sour without it (the sour came from the wholewheat flour)

7. 2  cup filtered warm water – not to hot! Will kill the yeast.

8. 3 teaspoon of organic flaxseed (add more if you’re ok with the taste)

9. less than 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

 

Steps:

1. mix the dry ingredients together (1,2,3,4,5), stir them well in the mixing bowl.

2. add the 6, and gradually add the 7.. 1 cup at the time (warm water) - depending on the type of flour, you may need slightly more water.

3. start to mix all up nicely - easier to use your hand, and adding more water as you squeeze them in between your fingers.

4. once the dough starts to form like an elastic ball, start kneading, pull and push for about 10-20 mins (depending on how well you knead)

5. make sure the dough is not too dry, must be just nice to make a smooth ball, pls not too wet either (you can only judge this when you do more - too many variable effect this - water, weather, type of flour, yeast, gluten, the surface you mix/knead)

6. when you ready, drop the 9 into your palm, and smear the bowl that you want to leave the dough to rise (just enough to moisten the surface) – cover it up with a clean dry kitchen towel. Before you cover it, just turn over the ball of dough to ensure it is well covered with the smeared oil – need it to be slightly moist – you don’t want the dough to dry up.

7. leave it to rise for about an hour to 2 hours (depending on the weather), until it doubles up in its size. After about an hour, poke your finger in it, and see if the hole you make stays as it is - then it’s ready,  else, leave it to rise.

8. Once it has double its size, punched it down, and start kneading again, knead it until the dough is just nice (not to dry or wet, not too sticky). if it is, you may need to add some water or even flour as required. Not to forget, this is the time you put the 8 into it, and start kneading until you feel just right (I just don’t know how else to describe – you’ll just know ;) – well after many try.. you know when you know.. hah!

9. Then, get your loaf tin ready, again use the 9 to smear the tin slightly, all over, then with your still oiled finger, take the dough, use both of your hand to make it a smooth tight ball.. you need to ensure the top of the ball is well stretch, it’ll rise nice and high.

10. place it in the tin, cover it with a kitchen towel, and let it rise again - now for about an hour.. should rise again about 2inch up from the loaf tin.

11. When it has risen, get ready with the oven. at 200 degrees, heat it up, bottom burner only.

12. sprinkle the top of the dough with some flour or oat before putting it in the hot oven - time it for about 30min (max).

13. for the last 5-6 minutes, turn both side of the burner on (top & bottom) - to get that slightly brown top.

14. when time's up, immediately take the loaf out of the tin, and cool it down on a wire-rack (do not leave it cool in the tin!!) – or else you’ll get a soggy loaf! You’ll know it’s nicely baked if you hear a hollow sound when you tap the underside of your loaf.

15. best to leave it to cool for about 2 hours - but i bet ya - you'll want to cut it immediately to have a taste - the aroma is too good!

More readings for you:

Why you should take whole grain bread - http://www.healthcastle.com/brownbread-wholegrain.shtml (and you’ll understand why I bake my own)

Health Benefits of Flaxseed - http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=81

Also, don't miss Top Nutrition Trends in 2008

enjoy!

Sher Khan.

What's Your Typical Breakfast?

Again, famous question.

At work in the morning, people tend to ask me out for breakfast, a quick dash to the eatery to grab something for breakfast (typically around 9'ish), and I normally responded with.. 'I've mine already, you go ahead.. -their immediate response typically would be.. 'Come-on, let's just have a some capati, it's healthy!'

When we sleep at nite for 5-7 hrs, our body is in a recovery mode, the body is resting and it slows down the metabolism. We're pretty much fasting all nite long. Hence, the word 'break-fast' is to break the fast, and we should jump-start our metabolism at the earliest possible in the morning upon waking up. Yes, it's true, breakfast is the most important meal of the day - numerous studies have shown that eating breakfast can help you to loose weight.

Eat your breakfast early morning, jump-start your metabolism soonest you can. It helps you to loose weight. Meal timing is crucial is managing your weight - you need to keep your metabolism humming.. always!


Here's my typical breakfast menu - I make sure I have lots of high quality proteins, healthy fats, and good carbs!:

1. Rolled Oats with nuts and seeds - I use organic no-sugar soy milk powder, with 3-4 tablespoon of rolled oats with cashew/almonds nut, sunflower/pumpkin/sesame seeds, wheat-germ and some dash of cinnamon & chocolate powder, with ground flaxseed. sometimes i add some dried appricot/raisins/dates.

2. Yogurt with fruits - 4 tablespoon of natural low-fat no-sugar yogurt, with fresh cut fruits, and dash of ground flaxseed & cinnamon, and sprinkle of pumpkin/sunflower seeds, as well some dried appricot/raisins/dates.

3. Whole grains bread with light canned tuna - i spread the bread with natural no-sugar peanut butter, and sprinkle some ground flaxseed, topped with some romaine/butterhead/iceberg salads, and raisins. some dash of black/white pepper. sometimes i spread it with home-made pesto made by my lovely wife (just love the pungent garlic, basil, with pine-nut and olive-oil).

4. same as #3, but replacing tuna with a poached omega-3 egg.

5. sometimes, i just take 2 soft-boiled eggs with some dash of black/white pepper dipped with whole-grain bread. (i normally take 1 whole egg, and the other just the white).

6. recently, i've added Quinoa to the #1 recipe - over the weekend i prepared quinoa and keep it in a tupperware for the week supply for my morning oats or dinner with brown-rice. highly nutritious grain.. i needed the complete protein!

I typically spend 5 mins to prepare, and 10-15mins to eat my breakfast! typically ends around 7:30am, and dash out of the door for work. It's quick - no excuse of no time. (so instead of having your breakfast at 9'ish, take your breakfast as early as you can - I get my metabolism kicking in earlier (it promotes weight loss), 2 hours earlier than my colleagues).

Is that all I eat for breakfast? not getting bored? well, for heart healthy diet, we need to consume a minimum of 3 servings of whole-grains everyday. I feel healthy eating those, I feel full and I know it does my body good! ... remember..i'm still trying to achieve my goals!

At around 10:30-11am, I'll take my apple/pear/guava as my snack (you have to eat something at least every 3-4 hours to ensure your blood sugar and metabolism humming at peak. I tend to have some fruits as a snack, sometimes some almonds/chickpeas or prunes), before taking my lunch at 1-2pm.

next post.. my typical lunch.


Sher Khan.

the 2 evil foods - pls avoid them!

I want to touch on a subject that I've been talking on this blog for a while now - but it seems people still just don't get it!

Let me say it again here - the 2 most evil foods in our food supply are:

1. Trans Fat - aka the ugly fat

2. High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) - aka supersugar

Try as much as you can to avoid these evil foods (I said try is because I know for a fact it is difficult - this stuff is so abundancely found in our foods these days).

So, what are these 2 stuff.. and why I called them evils?

If you're really concern about your health, and especially to reduce your ever expanding waist. Please please please do some readings on these 2 evil stuff.

Do a search on Uncle Google, and you'll get to see tons of info on them. Facts after facts, study after study has proof that it's evil. The info is a LOT, that you're better off reading them from the sites, rather than me trying to explain them here.

Then, after you've read them. You'll understand why I keep myself away as much as possible from processed food, and focusing on a more natural real whole food way of eating.

Ok ok, I know doing Uncle Google can overwhelmed you sometimes..  So here's I'm cutting and pasting a good article for your reading pleasure...

this is a note on HFCS... from Men's Health website.

--------------

Here's how this little bugger was born: About 30 years ago, food manufacturers figured out that they could make sodas, cereals, yogurts, and some 40,000 other manufactured foods taste sweeter -- for a lot less money than with simple sugar. They did it by developing HFCS (which is derived from corn).

 

Sounds fine in theory, but here's the problem: When you eat any type of carbohydrate (like bread or fruit), your body releases insulin to regulate your body weight, pushing those carb calories into your muscles to be used as energy or storing them for later. Then it suppresses your appetite. Those carbs are the signal for you to stop filling your tank.

 

But HFCS doesn't stimulate insulin, so your body doesn't register it the way it registers simple white sugar. (That's why you can drink a few Big Gulps and never really feel full.) So what are you left with? You eat the HFCS-containing foods that are high in calories, but, like a band that stops after one set, those foods leave you wanting more. So you eat more foods with HFCS, stockpiling those calories like they're savings bonds, and the cycle of eating -- and storing fat -- continues.

 

Today, you can find HFCS in things like ketchup, pasta sauce, and crackers -- it's everywhere. Now, you don't need to eliminate it completely (though that's the ideal), but you do need to treat it like a manipulative ex and find ways to kick it out of your life. 

--------------------

here's on Trans Fat...

--------------

"Trans fats" may sound like the name of a cross-dressing pool hustler, but the reality is even more bizarre. Artificially made fats, trans fats are like wigs in shower drains -- mammoth cloggers. They gunk up the works by increasing the amount of bad cholesterol in your body. (Trans fats have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.)

 

You can understand why when you realize how they're made. Trans fats are created by combining vegetable oil (a liquid) with hydrogen to create partially hydrogenated oil, or trans fatty acids. Once infused with the hydrogen, the liquid vegetable oil turns into a solid at room temperature.

 

And the food industry loves trans fats, because they are cheap and seem to stick around forever. Plus, you can add trans fats to all kinds of foods in a way you can't add regular oil (for instance, normal vegetable oil in a cookie recipe would ooze out when the weather gets warm; with trans fats, the treats stay crisp and solid). So now trans fats -- like HFCS -- get added to chips, fries, muffins, and all sorts of on-the-shelf products.

 

But the real evil is what trans fat does to you on the inside. Remember, these fats are supposed to be liquid but have turned into solid. So instead of melting, like they would in their natural state, inside your body, they try to revert to their waxy, solid makeup -- inside your arteries.

 

Tips: Scan the label and eliminate. Like hotel bars on business trips, little good can come from them. Some tips for total avoidance:

• Check ingredients lists for aliases like "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated." The higher these ingredients are on the label, the more trans fats they contain.

• Pick high-protein breakfasts like eggs and Canadian bacon over waffles. If you have toast, skip the margarine. Processed bread products and margarine are two of the most common forms in which trans fats find their way into our bodies.

• At a restaurant, ask what kind of oil the chef uses. You want to hear olive oil, not shortening (another code name for the transfat).

• When eating out, stick to soup or salad and avoid the bread, which can be filled with trans fats.

--------------

You get the idea... now, I'm asking you.. are you serious in your quest to lose the fat?

Then, what's stopping you?? 

let's get healthy,

Sher Khan.

skip the fat, you'll lose the fat

----i have revised this post with more details explaination....

Skip the fat, and you'll lose the flab.. the saying goes. Hence the low-fat diet being so popular out-there. Infact, that's what the old food pyramid is telling us. Eat a lot of grains, and take fat sparingly. We know now that eating lots of grains, especially refined types is disastrous coz its spiking your insulin level too high that leads to you eat more and ended up not using the energy created, and later the body store the unused energy as a storage - and guess how our body stores it as?.. yup.. FAT! 

Well I say this based on my personal experience, and I've learnt that don't go low-fat or low-carbs, but eat the right type of fat/carb, and avoid the bad ones. (see 2 most evil food to avoid)

As I've been saying over and over again here - work with your body, not against it, and you will lose the fat!.. automatically. no kidding.

You asked - how to work with our body? well, our body was designed to process the food we eat.The process where your body uses the energy you take (the food) and combined it with the oxygen you inhaled is called your 'metabolic rate'.. i.e. the efficiency of your body metabolism. The higher the metabolism, the more efficient is uses the energy in your body (even from excess food), and it left with no excess storage. 

If you were to take 'processed food', you've left your body with nothing to process. If you were to take a LOT of refined food,it  increases the energy so fast in your system (which input is more than the output), that easily lead to excess storage..the fat!

The other problem with processed food is that - the healing nutrition (the enzymes, vitamin, minerals) is almost non-existence - that made the food manufacturer has to fortify it (with added vitamins! - that is not natural) or tend to diminish from the date it's being manufactured to the date you consume it.

ok, sorry.. enough on that...too much science you say.. 

Here's a quick tips to shave off the fat (typical malaysian diet):

• go slow with the bad and ugly fats - the saturated fat and trans-fat (avoid if you can) - that means, go slow on full cream dairy products, red meat, anything cook with refined cooking oil, fast-foods, deep fried foods - yes those fried chickens, ikan goreng, pisang goreng, popia goreng, karipap, keropok, kerepek ubi etc etc etc. 
  
• move from refined carbohydrates to complex carbohydrates - white rice to brown rice, white bread to wholegrain bread, white potatoes to sweet potatoes, white pasta to wholegrain pasta, roti canai to capati, no bihun/kuehteiow/laksa (processed).
  
• take lean protein like chicken (without skin), fish, nuts and seeds.
  
• stick with plain water only - no teh tarik, carbonated drinks, teh ais limau, kopi tarik, milo, etc
  
• last but not least ... you think i'll skip this one?.. pls do regular exercise!! (no time? see this)

see other post on more of these tips. 

also here's a good article I read recently on webmd's - good fat vs bad fat.

Well.. if you can do the above 90% of the times, I'm sure you will lose the fat... guaranteed! There you go.. sher khan's fat loss prescription!

Look at how I see food these days.

You can't?? then consider your goals again - what do you want?

It's either YOU DO or YOU DON'T - it's all within your control.

Let's get healthy..

Sher Khan.

Prepare early for nutritious food..

I make sure I prepare some food/snacks upfront so that I don't have to resort to a 'convenience food' (a term I use to eat whatever we take whenever we're hungry - things like un-healthy snacks/meal whenever we feel hungry). Having our food ready upfront is important to maintain ones diet. Serious to lose weight and be healthy? then no excuse for eating junk.

Sharing with you some of my typical weekend ritual of preparing my food up-front for the week.

1. I make sure I stock-up on the groceries stuff (chicken, fish, lots of vegetables and fruits) - i like to buy off the local market (or night-market) - not the hypermarkets. It's fresher and better quality (from experience).

2. preparing some tidbits or snacks for the week (dry roasted nuts/sunflower seeds/pumpkin seeds, etc)
3. prepare my breakfast ingredients (flaxseed, sesame seeds, peanut butter, etc)


below are some pic

Grinding the flaxseed to take the most benefits of it - easily digested/absorbed by our body. What is flaxseed? see old post.

Baking my own 100% whole wheat bread. I like the heavy, dense, high-fiber, all natural home bake bread. My recipe can be found here.

I've also grinded sesame seeds to a more finer paste-like. It's best to dry roasted the sesame seeds first, then grinded it. Again, for easy absorbing into my body. BTW, do you know that sesame seeds has the highest plant sterol? the natural science-proven cholesterol lowering substance. See previous post on seeds.

My typical breakfast in the mornings (takes about <8mins to prepare) --- I take 5 spoonful of rolled-oat, mixed with 2 spoonful of powdered skimmed-milk, with hot water in the bowl. Then after 5 mins, I put few dashed of cinnamon-powder, and mixed the sesame seed paste, about 2 tb grinded flaxseed, one handful of goji-berry, pinch of raisins/pumpkin seeds/sunflower seeds/wheat germ, handful of nuts (peanuts/almond/cashews). YUUMMMYY... . more breakfast ideas from my previous post.

There you go. have fun exploring.

Sher Khan.

My Grocery List

I got some of the common questions asked:

• What do I put into my shopping cart?
• Do I need to read food labels every single time?
• There’s so much things on the shopping aisle, how would I know what’s good?
• What are the guidelines?

I’ve said it, and I’ll say this again – natural real whole food diet. What the heck is that? some example? Some of my past post on this topic:
What's Natural Whole Read Food?
Celebration = Food !
Two of the Most Evil Food
Counting Calories?

Whenever you pick-up a food item, don’t be fooled of by the excellent marketing terms on the front of the packaging (it’s a multi-billion industry to create statements/branding/catchy statements that is the most appealing to people like you and me!).  These days, knowing the consumer is a bit more educated, the food manufacturer becoming even more creative with their ‘Health Food’ claims… ‘all natural’,’fat free’,’no cholesterol’,’no salt added’,’sugar free’.  Whatever it is… always…always…always… look at the back of the packaging, and read the ingredients list. That’s what really you’re getting..  the longer the list (sometimes you can’t even pronounce some of the stuff in it) the more reason for you to put it back on the shelf.

Watch this youtube video of Health Food vs. Healthy Food. Must See.

‘Ahh.. Sher, too complicated’. No, it’s easy, really. Pick the ones with the least amount of ingredient. Less is More! (more of good nutritional value that is). Example? A watermelon has 1 ingredient… watermelon. Apples?.. apple. Rice? Brown rice. Eggs?.. eggs. Broccoli?.. broccoli. Oats? ..oats. Bread? whole grain.. hah..beware.. this is a trap. See my earlier post on bread. Nuts is good right? yup, but not the honey roasted, salty types. Go for raw and dry-roasted nuts.

Even more confused? Put it this way, whenever you picked an item, do this test by asking yourself.
"Have my ancestors eat this stuff back then?" If the answer is no, put it back...


All the best.
Sher Khan.

Can I eat this.. that.. this?

I've people coming to me.. and ask.. 'Sher, can I eat this?' - holding a warm-chocolate-chip-muffin-top-with-some colorful sugary-stuff. I look at the person, with a surprise look, and have yet to open my mouth, and the person response 'This is it for my lunch... can right?'

Duh.

Just yesterday, I had a colleague asked me, 'eh Sher, I wanted to ask you la, I've been on a diet for a while now, trying to lose weight,  have not been eating much, but it doesn't seem to work la, how ah?'. On her desk, I saw some candies, and a mug of a 'diet' tea. I asked, 'what do you have for breakfast?', she said, 'just this tea now, and 2 slices of the leftover pizza in the office pantry earlier at 10am'. I asked again, 'what about lunch?', she responded, 'not yet' (it was already 3pm), she still haven't do lunch, and saying she's so hungry, extremely hungry, that later she went to the pantry and made a herself two-pieces of white bread spread with some margarine.

Double Duh!

I even got people SMS me, asking 'sher, chicken tandoori ok ah?', 'what about corn-in-cup?','should I go for latte or mocha?', 'coke light?', 'chocolate can riteee?','gardenia break-thru?', 'there's a healthy cake sold at SecretRecipe, it should be ok right?'

duh. duh. duuuuhhhhhhh. duuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..

If you've been following this blog, you'd know what I'd recommend.

Quick tips:

1. focus on whole real natural food - closest to it's natural form the better

2. no processed or junk food. period.

3. eat your breakfast as early as possible

4. eat 5 mini-meals, instead the normal 3 big meals a day

5. go low on sugar and salt - better yet, no table sugar, use rock-salt only

6. drink plain water (lots of them) and no sugar green tea your only type of drinks. forget fruit juices, even if it's 100%.

7. most important - stay away from the 2 most evil man-made food - the transfat and high-fructose-corn syrup

8. regular exercise - a mix of strength and cardio routines

9. aim for at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day

10. do not eat 3 hours before bed

11. target to have protein at each of your meal

12. add varieties to your menu daily - covering all food colors (red, green, yellow, white..etc)

13. go organic if possible

14. take fish oil supplements

15. don't burn the midnite oil - aim for at least 6 hrs of sleep a day

16. treat fiber! - as your best friend

17. interval training!

18. switch from butter to peanut butter (careful with brands loaded with HFCS & hydrogenated oils)

19. go nuts with nuts and seeds!

20. avoid the white menace (white flour, white rice, white sugar, white bread, white pasta)

21. focus on complex carbs (like brown rice, oats), no refined carbs

22. for carbs, focus on high phytonutrient index with low glycemix load.

hmm.. what else... I'll add more when they comes to mind.. if you want me to elaborate the points in more detail, pls drop me a note.

Try to add more of the good stuff into your daily diet and avoid the bad stuff, and I'm sure and can guarantee that you will lose weight (without depending on any magic pills or powders out there). The key is to work with your body as the nature intended it, not against it. Eat and drink stuff your body needs, and it will automatically burns the fat away..

ok.. i need to get my sleep now.

let's be healthy..

Sher Khan.

let's have breakfast

"Let's go for breakfast".

I get this invitation everytime when I reached office or any place if it's early morning... well, 9am is way too late for me for breakfast, my breakfast is about max 30-45mins after I woke-up in the morning. (i typically wake up around 6-6:30am daily)

So what's my typical breakfast? I've posted that a while ago here, and if you've not seen it. Here it is again. (My typical breakfast).

We need to take our breakfast as early as possible because our body really needs it. When we wake up in the morning, our body 'nutrition' level is at a very low level (6-7 hours without food/water).. it's craving for nutrition (our cells screaming for it!!), and if you're still running without, the brain will tell your body that you will not getting any (bcoz the brain doesn't know when would be your next meal), and the brain will start to instruct the rest of your bodily functions (especially your metabolism) to switch into survival mode... to start conserving energy, and lower down everything. Result? metabolism slows down, the body starts to store everything.... and guess what it stores as?... yup.. fat! (instead of burning it).

So, take your breakfast early - as the saying goes, eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.

Today for breakfast (at 7am) I had some natural low-fat yogurt, topped with ground flaxseed + handful of goji berries + raw almonds + raw pumpkin seeds + a pinch of raisins, and later a whole cut mango fruit. I'm full.

On the days I go for morning exercises - I will still take some breakfast - a quick one like some fruits and nuts, before pounding on the pavement. Then, I'll have a full breakfast.

What's for breakfast?

See my other options for breakfast:

Let's Juicing !

Bread - sabotaging your diet?

Away on the road, at the beach

Can I eat this.. that.. this?

Sugar Level

Treating/Indulging yourselves?

some questions, and tips..

Sher Khan.

To Lose Weight, You Don't Have To Starve..!

Today I visited my ex-colleagues (have not seen them for at least 5 months), and all of them are pretty much shocked to see me - most of them said they won't recognise me in the 1st look, and said I've lost too much weight***... infact some of them were really concern on my health!.. saying that I should eat more! (they keep reminded me that.. 'sher, please eat ok..')

I guess people still have this believe that to loose weight, you have to starve. You have to restrict your food intake as much as possible, to skips meals, etc. Well, if you read the books I recommended earlier, they called this 'a starvation diet' - it's one of the biggest myth or misperception ever in your quest of losing weight.

If you think skipping meals makes you lose weight, I tell you this - stop thinking. The fact says, if you do that, you'll teach the body to keep all the weights with you!!!

You see, our body has been designed for survival, it's designed to ensure that you will survive in the worst condition. If you're not eating, the body tells itself that it needs to survive (coz it doesn't know when would your next meal would be), so it conserve energy by slowing down your metabolism and the rest of bodily functions - less calories burned, metabolic rate slows down - and it tends to stores everything you eat as.. you guess.. fat.

...then you wonder why you always skip breakfast, or lunch, but still ended up... fat.

The trick is... to work with your body, not against it.

Always feed the body with good food to nourish the cells, and let your metabolism runs at it's peak... all the time. (read this article - Fire Up Your Metabolism) - that's one of the key incredient of losing the fat!

You need to eat to lose the weight..... How?

Never ever skip your meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Infact, you should add 2 more mini-meals in between - so total of 5 meals per day! - breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner - always have something 3-4 hours ensuring your blood sugar level and metabolism at it's optimum level.

I've always have good meals... see this picture of my typical lunch at work. Tell me if I'd still feel hungry by eating this!


That's a LOT of food.

Since there's no brown rice at the eatery (read my other post on this point), I replaced it with another veggie dish. The fish is my dose of protein and good omega-3 fats, and the rest is my carbs (for carbs, always aim for high PI, low GL)**.

That brown sauce is my sambal just to add a little bit of spicyness and most importantly that added dose of capsaicin phytonutrient that is high in antioxidant.

**People always thought that carbohydrates are either rice, bread, pasta, potato, cereals - but do you know that besides the known protein and fat in our foods, the rest are just carbohydrates? typically it's the largest component in most of the food we eat, and it's the most important nutrition for our body - you get the energy from the carbs you eat (carbs are converted to glucose that absorbs into our brains and muscles).

Ahhh.. so you're wondering.. Dr. Atkin was right.. low-carbs diet works?
Well kinda...it's the types of carbs that makes the difference, and my rule for carbs is High Phytonutrients Index, and Low Glycemic Load. (check Mr. Google for more - needs lots of reading there)

***my goals are to be within the normal BMI (18.5-24.9), I'm close to it, but not yet. When I started, I used to be at BMI rating of 40++ (when the Doctor tries to calculate my BMI, she turns her little 'BMI wheel' (just like when the doctor checks for women ovulation cycle), and mine is off the wheels totally. The doctor tried to act cool, and just assumed 40++. I was totally devastated!).

My BMI status as of 25-Jul-2008:

Check your BMI using the BMI Calculator

Be Healthy!
Sher Khan.

my other recent post:
What's my typical lunch/dinner?
What's Your Typical Breakfast?
Now I know your secret.. you don't eat rice..!
Stay Good at 90% of the Time

some questions, and tips..

hi.. had an email chat with some colleagues, and I thought, to share with you all..

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Bros.. to start.. don’t do drastically.. would be difficult.. then you’ll turn-off, at the end.. failed miserably... do something you can stay for long-term.. it’s a lifestyle change really… focus on leading a healthier life (by eating healthily and do regular exercise).. the losing of weight/tummy shall come naturally…

 To stop the intake of rice just like that can be tough, and by replacing it with whole meal bread won’t help as much (if you take more than 2)– still glycemic load is way too high – need to regulate your insulin level much better.

 I suggest, to start, you still take the rice, but.. small portion. As a rule, always divide  your plate into 4 quarters – rice, veggie, chicken/fish, fruit/veggie.

No second helping pls… portion control is a must.. best if you can change the white rice into brown rice (refined into complex)..  so you shall feel full longer… it helps with that hunger pangs. Do eat 5 mini meals a day, not the typical 3 big meals (it shall rev up your metabolism – the key to weight loss!) 

Having said that - the most important is to make progress – in yr case, instead of everyday and every meal you take rice, try this - today no rice for dinner, but esok like usual, then.. slowly move into selang sehari.. today rice, tomorrow no rice, etc.. this week 5 times, next week 4 times, so on.. adding new food into your menu that is high in its nutritional value, and dropping the bad ones…  The key is progress… if you’re really serious, please have a log of what you’re eating daily (no cheating here – be honest). After a few days, you can revisit what you’ve eaten (and what you should have avoided).. then make that progress..  it’s a lifestyle change.. (share with me your log, I can assist you to improve what you’re eating).

 Also, keep note on your weight every other week (have a log also) – timbang at the same place, same time (lepas subuh before breakfast – in your birthday suit). The timbang log and the food log are the records that motivates you to improves yourself as you go along.. the challenge is all within yourself. Bak kata Sir Edmund Hillary -  "It's not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."

Don’t starve yourself. It shall slow down your metabolism – eat something every 3-4 hours (hence you keep seeing me eating fruits or nuts.. right?), and drink LOTS of plain water. 

Btw, go slow on the fruits.. too much fruits is not good also.. too high in fructose.. leads to weight gain (fructose doesn’t metabolise as efficient as glucose for energy). Need to avoid certain fruits for now.. very sweet ones like watermelon .. need to normalise your insulin level first… so it won’t hit you with that binge, that increases your appetite level.. 

Whatever it is.. the key is moderation.. and like nabi said.. stop eating before kenyang.. it’s all true.

Exercise? It’s important, but to me, you need to start by improving your eating habit first – then we talk about exercise.

Ok bros.. all the best..!! 

Ps: I use online BMI calculator to check mine.. normal bmi is between 18.5 to 24.9. But then again, sometime people can be within the ‘normal’ bmi, but other vital health signs, like the lipid profile is all borderline cases or even high-risk level.. so kena jaga la… so that you’re free from health risk (heart attack, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, etc) – the most common diseases and killer!

Eh.. panjang pulak tulis..  sorry.. a bit passionate on this subject these days.. let’s do lunch.. can talk further.

Sher Khan.

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From: DIN 

Hmm.. Ahmad is damn serious.

 Aku pun dah tak makan nasi since “that day”. Aku tak lah rasa lapar, but instead rasa energy quite low lah..

 My current status:

Weight = 73kg
Waist = 34”
BMI = 23.8

In 4 mths, to reduce to:

Weight = 65kg
Waist = 31”
BMI = 21.2

Aku rasa the most ideal BMI shd be around 20-21. Betul ka Sher?

Tqvm.

------------------------------------ 

From: AHMAD

Sher,

Rosli made a challenge to me, Din and Wan to get in better shape. Alhamdulillah, we have started our ‘diet’ Monday 2 march lepas. Anyway, need tips....

Current status: 1 March 2008
Weight : 74 kg
Waist: 34’
BMI: 26.2

Goal – in 4 months
Weight : 65 kg
Waist: 32’
BMI: 23

Anyway, aku dah stop eating rice and hopefully boleh istiqamah le.... I am supplementing it with roti wholemeal and lots of fruits.... Damn... Right now, aku rasa lapar gila!!! Ni baru 2 hari ni.... Exercise, I take 30 mins power walk after subuh.... At least 3 times a week. Okay, let me know what else I need to do....

Mmm aku rasa aku nak add to my blog ni...... Hahaha, golf blog aku pun silence aje...

Ahmad

My 2008 blog posts

Just would like to summarise the articles that I've posted here since June 2008 till December 2008.

I've no secret, and revealing it all for the world... If you think it's useful, pls do comment and share it out.

Thanks for stopping by, and read all my scribbles.

Here it goes:

▼  2008 (34)

• ▼  December (3)
  • My Before After - Dec2008
  • Selected as a Success Story Winner
  • Results Don't Lie

• ▼  November (1)
  • Rejuvenated!

• ▼  October (3)
  • My BMI is finally NORMAL!
  • Sher's own 100% whole wheat bread recipe!
  • Celebration = Food !

• ▼  September (6)
  • Supplements...
  • You are what you eat!
  • My exercise routine during Ramadhan month
  • What the World Eats
  • How do I eat during the Fasting Month
  • My August 2008 Photo

• ▼  August (9)
  • Some Health related links to share..
  • My Exercises..
  • Exercise? Part V - why Interval training is better...
  • Exercise? - Part IV - Interval and Strength traini...
  • What's my typical lunch/dinner?
  • Counting Calories..
  • Exercise? - Part III
  • Fruit Juice is Way Over Hyped
  • Exercise? - Part II - LSD, Cardio, Walking

• ▼  July (11)
  • Exercise? - Part I
  • To Loose Weight, You Don't Have To Starve..!
  • Stay Good at 90% of the Time
  • What do you drink?
  • What's Natural Real Whole Food?
  • What Kind of Diet are You On?
  • What's Your Typical Breakfast?
  • Now I know your secret.. you don't eat rice..!
  • My Turning Point
  • 1st release of - My Before, and After Photo
  • the journey continues..

• ▼  June (1)
  • I Survived Raya!
  
  
  Sher Khan.