7 Eating Habits to Lose Weight

I had wanted to lose weight since as long as I can remember. But living in Malaysia where nasi lemak, roti canai and char kuey teow are in abundance has made it an almost impossible task.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not some bum who don't exercise and laze around all day. I go to the gym regularly and do cardio workouts on the treadmile. Apart from that I am active and walk almost everywhere as I don't have a car. However all efforts were futile - my weight remained the same because I have stubborn body fat.

There were times my weight went down a bit but then up it went again as I was on a yo-yo diet.

Moreover I put on weight easily. If I eat rice for lunch and dinner consistently for 1 week, I can put on something like 2kgs. So I have to really watch what I eat.

The turning point came a couple of months back when I was at Pavilion and saw a promotion by a certain slimming company. What attracted me to the booth was the free body fat analysis.

When the lady explained my readings, I was horrified as I didn't know my body had so much stubborn fat - almost double the percentage of a normal person.

I realised I must do something to address this problem. I figured that since I had been exercising all these while with no change in weight, it had to be the diet. After all, I had not taken my diet seriously all these while.

After 1 month of following these 7 tips diligently, I lost 2.5 kgs permanently. You might think it's a small figure, but it's a huge accomplishment for me since I have stubborn body fat and I put on weight easily.

Here are the 7 tips:

1) Stop eating when you're full. But please don't waste food by ordering only the minimum portion or share it with somebody else.

My ex-boss kept her slim figure by not finishing her food everytime she ate. I felt bad seeing her throw food away when there are millions in this world who go to bed hungry every night.

2) Always be a little bit hungry. This is difficult to do if you like to gorge yourelf at each meal and only be satisfied if you're full to the brim.

If the hunger pangs get worst, eat fruits. You don't want to end up having a gastric problem.

3) Avoid carbohydrates and fatty foods - eat whole meal bread instead. I found this the most difficult tip to follow. During the 1 month diet, I got up early to prepare lunch which consists of steamed carrots and long beans with oyster sauce and sesame oil. Sometimes I would add a hardboiled egg.

But if I'm too lazy I would buy 2 dishes from the vegetarian stall in my office foodcourt.

4) Eat a light meal for dinner - Soup and fruits are the best.

A light meal is important for dinner because you'll be hitting the sack soon and you don't want fat cells growing in your body as you sleep.

5) Keep a daily calorie quota. If I had eaten a nasi lemak for lunch, then I'll eat a salad for dinner because the nasi lemak would have taken a bulk of my calorie quota for the day. So if you want to have a nice meal all the time, you've got to ensure that all your meals have an equal low calorie count.

6) Weight yourself daily. By doing this you can gauge if your diet is working and learn more about your weight. If you see the scales tipping to the heavier side then you know your diet is not working and it's time to change it.

I used to weight myself in the morning and in the evening. I learned that I am lightest when I had just get up from sleep and I can weight up to 1kg heavier after a heavy meal.

7) Indulge yourself in a gorging escapade, once in a blue moon. You must do this to keep your sanity. Otherwise you would curse yourself for putting your body through so much torture.

Losing weight is never easy and I struggled in the first few days. But determination and will power did it.

Now my body feels light and I feel comfortable slipping into anything I wish to wear. The feeling is tremendous!