Wellness #001 - I am not thin I am lean.

This is about my journey of my personal transformation. It is not the whole story but the glimpse of it. I will share more in my future article. This is me now and I have shrunk by choice.

When it comes to losing weight, it is difficult to do since years of not caring about what goes into my mouth and with low physical activity. It is true you can tell a person habits by the outlook of his body shape.

For years, I have live a carefree life, eat what I want and when I want. Because the thought of controllling my food seems like a taking the fun out of living. We live to eat was my philosophy. Then I don't consider myself as oversize but rather a man with bigger love handle. Nevertheless one fine day, upon stepping on a biometric scale , I soon discovered the reality, all was not too well. Standing at 169cm, I was 79Kg and that puts me under the category of overweight, an excess of 9Kg from the standard BMI (Body Mass Index) table. Then I was briefed on my visceral fat of 17 which was a potentially a threat to my well being. That could lead to heart disease, diabetic and more. That was my reality check. The moment of truth smack in my face. What am I going to do? I started doing research on the many painless ways of losing weight. Is there a magical pill that I can just pop into my mouth and dissolve all my fat. However I have never believe in quick fix, there is no such thing as instant result because it was not sustainable. I did not believe in short cut nor miracle pills. I began to go through online learning and also talking to people who have successful in getting weight down. Learning as much as I can about nutrition and how the body works and later applied them in my life.

From my new learning, it became a passion that I never knew existed. When I was in my upper secondary school, biology has always been my favourite subject and this could be the reason why I am passionate about it. It is truly fascinating to know how the body is like an universe on its own with so many system functioning simultaneously with a single heart beat.

This are my learning insights and lessons in relation to weight management.

1.) The world is full of toxicity and many farmers use synthetic fertiliser to expediate growth cycle which meant there are some missing important minerals that should be there if it is grown organically. Vegetables is also heavily coated with pesticide to minimise loss which made it even more toxic.

2.) Processed food contain all kind of preservatives and sugar. Sugar is what makes us store fat in our body. Did you know there are 60 over names describing the various type of sugar especially contain in procesessed food.

3.)Obesity is a hormonal issue not food. Once I understood what triggers my various hormon in my body, I was able to manage hunger and also my energy level.

It took me 3 months to lose my first 4 kilos and another three months to lose further 7kg. Total weigh loss 10Kg. The weight loss is not that meaningful if you do not know what you actually loss. Your body weight consist of body fat, muscle mass, bone mass and water. By stepping on to the biometric scale, you will be able to know the breakdown of your body composition.

My journey now is to build more lean muscle so I do not appear sickly. Increase muscle mass and drop down body fat further to below 15%. That is my 2018 goal. To be stronger, fitter and fill with vibrant energy.