the best workout for fat loss

The world of workout and training can be super confusing cos of how much choice there is out there. I mean from lifting weights alone you got bodyweight workouts, weight lifting, bodybuilding, powerlifting, cross-fit etc. From taking classes you got all shapes and sizes of yoga, pilates, body pump, dance classes. Then you got all the sports like soccer, basketball, badminton, tennis. Then there’s cardio from brisk walking, to marathons, to hiking, biking, swimming etc. So so many choices and one of the questions I get most often is:

“Which workout is best for fat loss?”

And the answer is...

... there isn’t one.

All workouts help you burn calories. Yes of course some might burn more than others depending on the intensity and volume of your workouts but overall what matters more isn’t how much calories they burn in the short term, but how much they burn in the long term. Long term in terms of months and years.

An easy example would be say you’re doing some cross-fit exercise that helps you burn 2000kcal per week (hypothetical numbers). It’s super intense, really takes it out of you but you chose to do it cos you think it burns the most calories so it must be best for fat loss. You do it for maybe 2-3 weeks and end up quitting cos it’s just too much and you actually don’t enjoy it, you only did it for the perceived fat loss benefits.

Now compare that to you doing a workout you actually love. Say you love playing badminton or taking yoga classes a couple of times a week, it’s relaxing and fun for you and it burns roughly 1000kcal per week (hypothetical numbers). Chances of you keeping up with it for 3-6 months is really high compared to the cross-fit example. In the cross-fit example you hated it, quit after 2-3 weeks which means you in total burned 6000kcal at most. This much less taxing and fun activity of badminton or yoga you can keep up for months, and over 3 months that’s easily 12000kcal burned and more as you keep going.

So what’s the best workout for fat loss?

It’s a workout that you enjoy cos something you enjoy has the highest chance of you sticking to it the longest and the longer that you stick to it, the more benefits you’ll reap from it in the long run. Losing fat is a long run game, the things that matter are the things that you are consistent with for a long period of time. Things that you do temporarily mean very little cos temporary actions yield temporary results.

Of course do remember though at the end of the day if your primary goal is fat loss, diet should still be your number one focus. Working out consistently doesn’t guarantee you’ll lose fat. Losing fat depends on your diet, depends on how much (calories) you’re consuming on a regular basis. If you’re consistently in a calorie deficit, then working out can definitely act as a supplement to help you towards your goals.

If you’re constantly eating too much, no amount of working out is gonna help you lose fat.

Fat loss is a race where the goal is just to reach the finish line. You don’t need to reach the finish line as fast as possible, you just need to reach the finish line. Take all the time you need. You gotta stay on course, go at a pace that’s comfortable to you, and keep on moving forward little by little.

Stop rushing it.

Trying to go faster in most cases is exactly what makes the journey longer than it needs to be cos you end up having to take breaks or restart.

Don’t know what workout to do? Choose something you enjoy and start with making time to do it once a week. Over 3-4 weeks, add more as you see fit.

Something is always always better than nothing.

Till the next one~

—Po

number 1 thing to focus on for fat loss

I think we’ve all been there right? Being tugged one way or another on all kinds of things in the fitness & health industry that promises you fat loss. There’s the 30, 60 or 90 day workout programs that promise a flat tummy, or things like “do this and lost 6kg in a month”, or secret recipe to lose fat and eat whatever you want, or telling you to focus on hormones or gut health or mental health.

I’ve been there, I’ve tired the majority of them, and either I wasn’t doing it right or it just flat out don’t work. I mean it’s tempting and there’s a glimmer of hope every time I run into one of these back in my 123kg days thinking that “omg I found it, this is gonna be the one that helps me lose weight forever” only it doesn’t work at all cos I give up within the first week, and the times that I do last over a week I get some some progress but that progress is also short lived after I stop following the program over time.

There’s a lot of false promises out there, at the end of the day if fat loss is your primary goal focus on your diet first.

Your diet is the main driver to your fat loss progress.

Yes absolutely no doubt hormones, gut health, mental health, workouts etc they all matter too and are part of the process, but they aren’t the main thing that dictates fat loss progress. You could have incredibly balanced hormones, superior gut health, and strong mental health but still be gaining weight. Gaining or losing weight at its core comes from your diet. Comes from the amount of food you’re eating on a regular basis.

One of the common questions I get is “to lose fat which should I focus on first, workout or diet?”

The answer is always diet.

Diet not in the sense of the exact types of food you’re eating, but in the total amounts you’re consuming on a regular basis (calories). You could eat less by eating the exact same things you eat regularly, but cut down the portions. That’s a simple way to be eating less without having to meddle with calorie counting or any of the numbers. Things like putting in 1tsp of sugar in your drinks instead of 2, switching from regular coke to diet coke, eating 2/3 your usual portion of rice or noodles, not up-sizing your fast food meals etc.

The thing is when you make these changes, they gotta be somewhat permanent. Now permanent doesn’t mean you can never go back to your old ways at all, like if you switched from regular coke to coke zero it doesn’t mean you can never ever have regular coke again. Of course you can but just probably not as regularly as you used to have it. There’s no point in making huge changes to your lifestyle to make progress, reach your goal, and then go back to your old ways.

Your old ways is what got you to your old weight in the first place.

So if you don’t know what to focus on first when it comes to fat loss, focus on your diet first.

Get your portions under control and be comfortable with it first before you start working in the other things that help with fat loss like sleep, workouts, activity levels, macros, micros etc. Focus on one thing at a time. The fastest way to your goals is trying to go at a pace where you can be as consistent as possible.

Going at a speed where you lose 2kg in 4 months is much much better than going at a speed where you lose 2kg in 2 weeks, but gain those 2kg back in the next 2 weeks.

When it comes to fat loss, diet is your number one priority. Everything else is secondary.

I hope that helps you set your compass in your journey.

Stay well, stay safe!

Till the next one~

— Po

macros for fat loss

Today we’re gonna be talking about macros for fat loss.

I promise I won’t go too deep and boring and all about the numbers, but instead hopefully give you a simple way to understand the fundamentals of it so you won’t ever have to stress about it.

So what are macros?

Macros is short for macronutrients, which in simple terms is the nutrients that we need in higher quantities ie. carbs, protein, and fat. Micronutrients on the other hand are nutrients that we need in much lesser quantities such as vitamins and minerals. I’ll touch on micros another day, today we figure out macros.

What does each macro do?

Simply put: protein helps build/preserve muscle, carbs provide physical and mental energy, fats help keep our hormones and health in check.

Different diets have very different macro ratios. Keto has very high ratio of fats and low in carbs while vegan is the opposite, high in carbs, lower in fat and proteins.

I’m sure you’ve seen all kinds of macro ratios thrown out there like 80/10/10, 40/30/30, 20/40/40 etc. The numbers are just percentages of macros from the total calories you’re eating so say 80/10/10 would be 80% carbs, 10% protein, 10% fats and if your daily diet is 1500kcal then that’s where you base the percentages off of.

Is there a best macro ratio for fat loss?

Nope. Not at all.

Regardless of what macro ratio you’re following, if you’re in a consistently calorie deficit you’re gonna lose fat. Doesn’t matter if you’re eating more or less carbs or fats or proteins in your diet, if you’re constantly eating less than your body expends, you’re gonna lose fat. There’s no secret macro ratio for fat loss. Fat loss primarily comes from the total amount of food you eat on a regular basis.

Of course with that said there are some general recommendations. No matter what your goals are it’s recommended that you have at least 30% protein in your diet. If you’re hitting 30% proteins, your fats and carbs ratio can really just be up to your preference (though don’t let either of them fall below 10%, they’re still essential nutrients to consume)

Why 30% protein? Cos consuming more protein regularly means whether you’re losing or gaining or maintaining weight you’d be building/preserving more muscle than you would otherwise. More muscles equals better health, higher metabolism, more strength, and just really better quality of life.

So for simple math, say you’re aiming for 1500kcal daily, 30% of 1500kcal would be 450kcal. So the aim for your daily diet would be to consume at least 450kcal worth of protein. That’s just how you work out the nitty gritty numbers. Same goes for carbs and fats.

Oh and I want to emphasize here that you absolutely DO NOT need to count calories or macros in order to lose fat. These are just one of the many many methods out there and all of them work. Find one that works for you, you don’t have to deal with numbers if you dread it. But I do hope at least from this letter you get a clearer idea of what macros mean when others are talking about it, and if someone’s trying to sell you some secret macro for fat loss you can spot immediately that it’s bullshit.

Any questions you have on more specific stuff on macros feel free to hit the reply button and ask, or head over to my IG and ask on the daily Q&As.

That’s it for now. Till the next one!

Hope you’re been well and safe!

—Po

weigh food cooked or raw?

You don’t have to weigh your food to lose weight.

Yes that’s gonna be the first sentence of today’s letter cos although we’ll be talking about weighing food to track calories more in-depth today, I don’t want you to start thinking you gotta start weighing food to make progress.

You don’t, you absolutely don’t.

There are many diet methods out there, and most of them don’t involve weighing your food on a food scale. I talk about it a lot so it may seem like I view it as the superior method compared to others but it absolutely isn’t. It’s the method I enjoy the most personally, but one hundred percent it's not the universal best method to be tracking your diet. If you love it, great! If you hate it, no problem. Try something else.

Although...

...I would recommend investing in a food scale (any food scale will do, don’t need to get a super expensive one) and just leave it in your kitchen so when you get the opportunity you can weigh the foods you’re eating just to get an idea of what portions look like. Weigh the bananas you usually get from the market, weigh 100g and 200g of cooked white rice, weigh an apple, weigh the nuts you eat, and put it into an app like myfitnesspal and see how many calories you’re consuming. Doing that with foods you eat regularly gives you a more accurate idea of what portions look like which helps you make better diet decisions in the future.

One thing I’ve found in my journey is that the more I understood about food (portions/calories) the less I was scared and anxious about eating. Like I know by heart a big mac at Mcdonalds is 565kcal. I know if today I’ve eaten nothing all day yet cos it’s been a busy day and I decide to go for a big mac that there is zero chance of the big mac making me gain weight. Makes the big mac a lot more enjoyable and of course helps immensely when I’m planning my diets for the day when especially when I'm off regular routine.

The more you understand about food, calories, and nutrition the better decisions you’ll make in the long term with your diet and all those little decisions does add up and help progress.

You don’t have to be an expert on food or anything, not saying you gotta pass some nutrition exam, but just start to get to know the foods you eat on regular basis a little better. When you start to understand that the handful of “healthy” nuts you grab when you’re craving is actually 200kcal and not very fulfilling while a half a kilo of watermelon is 175kcal and super filling, you’ll be able to make the better decision to satisfy your craving.

Wow ok that was a much longer intro than I intended, so back to the main question for the day, and this is by far one of the questions I get the most when it comes to weighing foods.

So should you weigh your foods raw or cooked?

Weighing raw foods is more accurate than weighing cooked foods, but is a lot more inconvenient (especially if you do any kind of meal prep or buy foods you didn’t cook yourself). Weighing cooked foods on the other hand while is less accurate than weighing raw, but is much more convenient, and is still reliable enough to get you results in basically all scenarios.

There’s no right or wrong way.

Pick the way you enjoy more and stick to that. Oh but do keep in mind when you’re tracking it on your app, do pick the right entry for it. As in if you’re weighing raw food, pick the raw entry and if you’re weighing cooked food pick the cooked entry. Raw rice and cooked rice are significantly different in calories per 100g. While that alone wouldn’t exactly make or break your diet, but it’s a easy mistake to catch and fix.

Personally I weigh all cooked food. None raw. I did do it raw in the very early days when I just started to weigh my food thinking I want maximum accuracy, but after a couple of weeks I just hated the process cos I’m not exactly a fan of handling raw meat too long so I switched over to only measuring cooked. Even though it may be the “less accurate” method but hey, I did lose over 50kg doing it.

Both work, one’s really not superior than the other in terms of making progress with weight loss.

At the end of the day don’t get too riled up by the exact digits or methods of weighing food and tracking calories. The progress is not in the exact digits but in the awareness of how much food you’re eating on a regular basis and being accountable and committed to it.

If you have any questions specific to calorie counting, weighing foods, or using apps like myfitnesspal feel free to reply to this email and let me know. I could go much deeper on any of those topics now that there’s no character limits here.

That’s it for now, till the next one~

Hope you’ve been well, please stay safe!

—Po.

is meal prep worth it?

You know how I used to think about meal prep? I used to imagine the perfect meal prep being those perfect boxes of food (the ones that looked so pretty) that you prepare all in one day for the week so you don’t have to worry about single meal throughout the week and be super on point with your diet. I’ve tried that multiple times. Every single time I’d run into hurdles that just wasn’t as pretty as the end product on the magazines and articles I used to read.

First of all the grocery shopping for it I absolutely dreaded. I’m the kind of grocery shopper that likes to visit the market multiple times in a week. It just felt less heavy (both physically & mentally) and if I ever forget to buy something I could just buy it the next time I go there. For meal prepping a whole week the grocery list is huge! What always tilted me was finding out that I forgot to buy certain ingredients after I’ve reached home. It felt like I completely messed up the meal prep and had to waste time making another trip to the market.

Then I would have completely underestimated the chore it is to cook 21 meals at once. The prep, the cooking, the dishes to wash. Doing meal prep this way made me feel like one whole day is gone dedicated to meal prepping. I really didn’t enjoy it one bit.

After that comes the food. In most cases the food for first 2-3 days is fine, as expected. As it gets to day 5-7 it starts to not taste that great and in some circumstances maybe borderline “maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that”.

Every time I tried that method I’d quit after week 1. I think I tried at least 5-6 times in this lifetime, each time never made it to week 2. Those pretty boxes of food just wasn’t worth the trouble and overall it caused me way more stress than make the diet process simple as it was supposed to.

For the longest time I thought that was what meal prep was. I thought that was the only way to prep for food. Dedicate one day to cook, cook for a whole week, and rinse and repeat.

It’s not. Meal prep isn’t about pretty boxes at all.

Meal prep is really just about making some preparations beforehand that can help you stick to your diet consistently. It could be as simple as buying some fruits and yogurt the night before so your next day’s breakfast is set and you don’t have to impromptu grab a donut at the nearby bakery as you’re rushing to work. It could be cutting up fruits and keeping it in boxes in the fridge so when you got some cravings or hunger to deal with you have the option to reach out for that instead of grabbing a bag of chips or a chocolate bar.

Meal prep is really just making preparations so your chances of success in your diet become higher.

Do you have to meal prep to lose weight?

Absolutely not, you could hit your goals not making any meal preps at all and living meal to meal through impromptu decisions. If that’s how you prefer to go about your diet, there’s nothing wrong with that.

But if you’re super swamped in life & work and tend to fall into the trap of making the “easy choice” for meals (such as fast food for convenience) then taking some time and prepping your meals could beneficial and help your diet. Meal prep doesn’t exactly mean you have to cook your own meals, it just means you gotta plan ahead.

Say you have KFC nearby where you work, and always end up eating it cos it’s just the closest most convenient option. You could always make plans in advance to order food or travel a bit further somewhere else to have a meal that suits your diet more. That’s meal prep. Planning ahead is meal prep.

For me, all the way up to 2020 I was doing a lot of home cooking and meal prepping. If you’ve been here for a while you’ve likely already heard about my 3 boxes meal prep plan. Basically I prep a box of protein (chicken/fish/beef), a box of carbs (rice/bread/potatoes), and a box of veggies every 2-3 days so I always have easy access to it and can eat my meal according to how my day is going.

Over 2021 I ended up cooking a lot less cos of how convenient delivery services were becoming over here. I could order the foods I wanted cooked in the exact way I wanted and have it by my doorstep within an 30min to an hour. That saves me the 1-2hrs I spend every 2-3 days in the kitchen allowing me to do dedicate to other stuff in life. So these days the only thing I prep at home is my carbs cos there are times where I just want plain rice, bread, or potatoes in smaller quantities and there still isn’t a place where I could just order those alone reliably. That’s how I prep my meals these days. Still thought of and planned in advance, but way way less time spent in the kitchen.

If you really think about it, losing weight is really no different that budgeting and saving money. The difference is the currency. Saving money you’re planning ahead in terms of your local dollar. Losing weight you’re planning ahead in terms of calories. The effort required is similar. It’s a constantly ongoing thing. It’s a lot less about one mere decision you made, and a lot more about the sum of the decisions you’re making as a whole in the long run.

Meal prep isn’t a make or break deal in terms of weight loss. It can definitely be helpful, but is not a necessity either. I hope today’s little ramble on it gives you a clearer picture and maybe sparks some ideas that you could incorporate into your life. Small things like buying a bunch of coke zeros and storing them at home so when you feel like a soda you reach out for that instead of regular coke (instant 150kcal saved) they go a long way, especially if you keep it up consistently for months and years.

Don’t look at the way someone else preps their meals and try to copy it exactly. I mean sure take inspiration from it, try to incorporate elements of it that looks interesting to you into your diet, but copying it exactly is often a recipe for failure as someone else’s prep that’s working for them works because it’s catered to their lifestyle, their goals, their preferences.

Hope this helps!

We’re living through wild times these days, wishing you and all your loved ones are well and safe!

Till the next one~

—Po.

does your body type matter?

I’m sure at some point in your journey of figuring out weight loss you’ve come across some article or quiz that discusses the different body types for weight loss. It usually comes in 3 forms, you got the big boned thick type (endomorph), you got the pencil-like skinny & small type (ectomorph), and you got the what some would consider to be “perfect” in the middle of the two previous types, medium sized type (mesomorph).

So the question becomes which one are you and how do you optimize weight loss from it?

and the answer is...

...
...
.. you don’t.

Body types for weight loss is complete bullshit.

No matter what body type you are, the things you gotta do to lose weight is exactly the same. There’s no special foods or exercises you gotta do cos you’re a certain body type. Fundamentally to lose weight you gotta consistently eat less than your body expends, that’s it. There’s no short cut or special method beyond that.

As an example from my own journey, I basically hit all 3 body types during the course of losing over 50kg. At the very beginning at 123.3kg, my body type obviously was very much like an endomorph. As I got to roughly 90-100kg, my body started to look much more like a mesomorph. And at my leanest at 72.2kg around 10% body fat I was definitely looking and feeling like a weak lil pencil, very ectomorph like.

What did I do to reach all the body types?

I was just consistent with my diet, I was consistently in a calorie deficit through calorie counting and that’s it. There wasn’t something special I changed or did differently going from an endomorph to mesomorph to ectomorph, I did the exact same things.

It’s easy to get caught up on stuff like body type or metabolism and thinking that your lack of progress is due to it. I mean I’ve done it too. I used to think things didn’t work for me cos I was some sort of special breed that required a very specific program of diet and exercises in order to lose weight. That wasn’t true at all. I’m wasn’t special in any shape or form. I wasn’t losing weight back then cos I was consistently eating too much. When I started to be in control of the amount of foods (calories) I was eating on a regular basis, then I started to see results. It really just boils down to that.

To sum it all up, body type has basically nothing to do with your weight loss journey. You can totally ignore whatever type you are just merely focus on figuring out your diet and how you can be consistent with it for a long as possible.

On another note...

... I just wanna remind you today it’s totally ok to be messing up here and there in your journey. It’s normal. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Acknowledge the mess up, respect it, and move on. There’s no such thing as a perfect run. A perfect run is one where you don’t give up and keep going even when things seem to break apart. It's not about going from zero to 100 flawlessly. A flawless journey doesn’t exist. You don’t have to keep starting over, but you do have to keep going.

Also remember that it’s totally ok to take breaks. Sometimes life just gets super overwhelming and losing weight just isn’t your current priority, that’s totally fine. Take as much time as you need to deal with life, and when the dust has settled then get back on track. The weight loss journey is always here for you to come back to.

Don’t get caught up in wanting fast results. I mean we all want that, but chasing fast results is the same as trying to chase fast money. We all know what all those “get rich quick” schemes ends you, it’s the same with diet. “Lose fat quick” ends very similarly to “get rich quick” schemes. Aim for the long game. Aim to change your habits and lifestyle in a permanent matter over a long long period of time. Nobody is expecting you to change your lifestyle to become an Olympic athlete overnight. Doing so would also be absurd if your goal isn’t to become an Olympic athlete. Be clear with your goals, and be realistic on the things you gotta do to get there, and the time frame of which you’ll likely get there. When you see the journey for what it truly comprises of, it becomes a lot easier with a lot less heartbreak.

Keep it up! Stay well & safe!

Till the next one~

—Po.

how to break a plateau?

What’s the million dollar answer to plateaus?

The most important step is identifying the plateau first. I think too many times we’re just simply not seeing the results that we’re expecting to see and call it a plateau where it’s really just a difference in progress speed. Remember at the end of the day whether you lost 0.1kg or 0.5kg it’s both considered progress and if there’s progress then there’s not much to do except to keep going.

Patience is truly key in a weight loss journey, the lack of patience is often what ends up making you fall apart and have to start over again.

So how do you identify a weight loss plateau?

I think an easier way to go about it is to identify what it’s NOT first. You’re not in a plateau if:

1) You’re losing weight slower than usual. Remember weight loss isn’t some linear journey. There are gonna be periods of time (especially the beginning of a journey) where it feels super fast and as time goes on it can start to feel a lot slower. Progress is progress regardless of speed. If you’re making any form of progress at all then you’re not in a plateau. That goes for progress beyond the scale as well. If the scale isn’t moving but you’re noticing obvious inch loss or feel you look smaller in the mirror that’s absolutely not a plateau. What do you do when it’s slower than usual? You keep going. Speed will vary throughout your journey.

2) You haven’t been consistent for a meaningful period of time. Being consistent for 2-3 days and expecting some kind of significant results is just being super unrealistic. Results in 2-3 days can occur but will also be super super minor. It’s like expecting to have a full bank account after 2-3 days of starting a new job. Unrealistic. Now if over the past 60 days you haven’t been consistent for at least 85-90% of the days (50/60), then you’re not in a plateau simply cos you haven’t put in the necessary work to achieve the results that you’re looking for. I mean it’s totally fine, it’s not a jab at your work ethic, there could be tons of reasons why you haven’t been consistent and that’s ok but you gotta be realistic and not be upset at the lack of results if say you’ve been on track for only 30 out of the past 60 days. Weight loss results requires a much higher consistency rate than that.

What to do when you’re lacking consistency?

Reflect back on why you’re not consistent. If it’s cos of life things, then acknowledge them and perhaps prioritize them first before getting back on track rather than trying to juggle both and struggling with both at the same time. If it’s cos your diet/routine is simply too hard to stick to for consistently for that long, it’s time to review and make some changes to your diet/routine. Remember the goal is to go as slow as possible for as long as possible as consistently as possible. Not the opposite. While I’m sure all of us would welcome quick results with open arms, unfortunately quick results often equals temporary results cos the actions it takes to achieve them aren’t sustainable which means the results aren’t sustainable too.

Now you could very much be super consistent for the past 60 days and really just seen no progress at all. No progress on the scale, no non-scale progresses, just truly stuck.

Now that’s a plateau.

No need to worry though is totally fine because you’re still in control and can make changes to break the plateau. Being consistent over a long period of time and being stuck likely means your diet is no longer putting you in a calorie deficit. It could be for a number of reasons, such as perhaps you’ve made so much progress so far that what was a deficit for you 5-10kg ago now is mere maintenance. It’s a normal scenario and nothing you can’t fix. To break the plateau it’s time to make changes to your diet and or workouts to put you back in a deficit. I’d recommend cutting roughly 100-200kcal from there and running with that for 2-3 weeks and see results, along with adding a bit more workout frequency if you’re still up for it. Not a necessity but could help.

While plateaus are a thing, and can occur during your journey, more often than not it’s really just us being impatient with the results. The thing with impatience is you end up making rash decisions that ultimately make it slower for you to reach your goals rather than make it faster. Say you’ve been consistent doing fine, but progress seems slower than usual so you decide to double the workouts you’re currently doing hoping to make progress faster. Now suddenly you’re unable to keep up with the extra workout, the extra fatigue makes it more difficult for you to battle hunger and cravings, and you start to mess up more and be less consistent in the long run all cos you wanted to go “a little faster”. If you had just accepted that the speed of weight loss can vary and as long as you’re making progress you don’t really have to change anything you may be been able to stick to the routine for longer which over the long term yielded you more sustainable results.

Sustainable weight loss is the true goal.

Seeing the number on the scale change but unable to stick to it is quite meaningless and frankly kinda a waste of time. The fastest way to your goals is to go as slow as possible, be and be as patient as possible.

On another note...

100g of kimchi is roughly 25-30kcal.

I know, super random fact tossed in here after all the plateau talk. I just wanted to add it in here cos it was a Q&A question a couple of days back and it reminded me the importance of understanding food in general. You know, while I’m super all-in with calorie counting and all I really don’t recommend it as a diet method cos I know there are many that don’t enjoy it and can really hamper their relationship with food, I still think taking some time and tracking your food and learning about portions can be so so beneficial to your journey no matter what diet method you’re on.

Kimchi is super super flavorful and super low in calories. Without looking into it I’m sure most of us (I did) assume that kimchi is super high in calories cos of how rich its looks and tastes are, but that couldn’t be further than the truth.

It’s kinda like shopping right? If you took the time to know the prices of the things you buy on a regular basis, over time you just end up naturally making better spending decisions and end up saving more money cos you have all the information at hand. You’d know when the discounts are, you’d know when it’s time to purchase something for a good deal etc. It’s the same with food. If you knew that a mini snicker bar is only 80kcal and you’re super super craving for something sweet, that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Whereas if you didn’t know that you’d think a snicker bar is the most sinful food in the world when you’re on a diet and end up avoiding it for no good reason.

Learning more helps you make better decisions, and those better decisions in the long run reaps you sustainable results.

Hope you had a great hearts & chocolate & roses day!

Till the next one~

—Po.

how to get back on track?

Getting back on track is probably easily one of the top 3 questions I get on a daily basis and you know for the longest time I didn’t really know how to answer it in a meaningful way. My answer used to basically be: “just hop back on track!” I mean you fell off track right? That’s totally fine, you don’t have to punish yourself for it or anything just go back to doing the things you were doing before falling off track.

But then over time as I keep getting asked the same question and replied to it in as many variations as I could I realized the question is a lot deeper than “I fell down, what do I do?” and me saying “um, just get back up?”

So let’s dig a little deeper today.

I think the first thing you gotta identify is why you fell off track. If it’s cos of special events or vacations, or you just had a bad day (temporary things) then it’s really no biggie and the answer to getting back on track from there simply don’t be so hard on yourself and just go back to doing the things you were doing before. The weight loss journey isn’t about perfection. There are inevitably gonna be off days and that’s totally fine. As long as there’s more “on” days then “off” days over the year you’ll be making progress no matter what.

Now if you fell off track cos your diet program is just way too hard (eating way too little, and/or exercising too much) then technically you didn’t fall off track. Your program is just way too hard to begin with and you had no chance of keeping on track in the first place. If that’s the case then it’s just an issue of making changes to your program. Remember no matter how mighty and great a program may seem, if you can’t stick to it it’s pointless. You can’t reap any of its benefits if you can’t stick to it. So in this case make your program less hard and get back on track.

Focus on the long term, not quick results. Quick results are temporary.

Then there’s also the case of say you were on a diet, you were doing well, but for whatever life reason you had to take a break for a 2-3 of months. After the long break you find it super hard to go back on track to what you were doing 2-3 months ago. It’s actually quite normal and happens to a lot of people. In 2-3 months there could be a lot of changes in your life. Changes in perception, preferences, lifestyle. What used to be easy for you in the lifestyle you had 2-3 months ago might not work for your lifestyle now. So what do you do? Make the necessary changes to your diet to make it more realistic to how you are now. Use your old diet as a template and make some tweaks and then get back on track.

A diet isn’t an IKEA instruction manual where if you follow all the steps exactly every time you are guaranteed with a finished product. A diet constantly changes along with your lifestyle.

One thing I want to highlight on getting back on track is please please please please don’t punish yourself. I know I know, I’ve been there too, but really there’s no positives that come from punishing yourself. Making yourself starve more to “make up” for being off track is really just building yourself to mess up again soon. Beating yourself up mentally is just bad vibes all around and has zero contribution towards your final goals. I know it’s a lot easier said than done, but truly be kinder to yourself. It’s normal to fall off track. I mean that’s life, since when did we do everything everyday every moment perfectly?

Never.

Our diet’s exactly the same.

Fact is if you never give up, if you keep being aware of why you fell off track, keep making the necessary changes you gotta make and keep getting back on track, reaching your goals really just becomes a matter of time. Each time you don’t give up when you fall you’re inching towards that finish line.

Yes, it will take a long time. It’s supposed to. The fastest way to reach the end of your weight loss journey is to keep getting back on track stick to it as consistently as possible.

That’s the actual shortcut.

Till the next one! Hope you're well and safe!

—Po.

how to reduce hunger while dieting

You know, one of the misconceptions I had back in my 123kg days was that there was some secret diet or program out there that would solve hunger. I assumed that there was some diet out there that would make losing weight super effortless and comfortable. Every time I went on a diet and felt super hungry I would deem that the diet doesn’t work and soon quit. Now looking back I see how flawed that mentality was, but over time I also have realized I’m not alone in that thought process, it’s something many of us trying to lose weight go through.

Hunger is part of the weight loss journey.

Yes, you read that right. There is no such thing as a diet that will eliminate hunger or cravings during weight loss. Losing weight means you’re consistently eating less than your body expends, and that means there’s gonna be some hunger and cravings to deal with. Of course there are many things you could do to try to minimize the hunger and cravings, but hoping to completely eliminate it is a lost cause. As soon as you switch your mindset to minimize hunger instead of “get rid of it” you’ll start to make more progress. You’ll make more progress cos you’ll stop quitting prematurely and give yourself more time to work on it. The more time you stay on your diet, the more results you’ll end up with over time.

Any program out there claiming to get you results with zero hunger throughout the whole process is a lie. The true thing the program is slimming is your wallet. I’m telling you that from first hand experience too.

So what are some things you can do to reduce hunger while dieting?

One, eating lower calorie density foods. What does that mean? Basically leaning towards more whole foods and lean protein rather than processed foods like a big mac or cheeseburger. Nothing wrong with enjoying a big mac, nothing wrong with enjoying a cheeseburger, but for the same amount of calories you’d have a much larger volume of food eating veggies, lean meats, fruits. A big mac is typically 565kcal. Try making a meal that’s 565kcal that includes rice, chicken or fish, veggies, and fruit. I mean really try it out, either really do it or play with it on an app like myfitnesspal. You’ll see how much food you can actually fit into 565kcal. With that volume of food, it helps make you feel more fulfilled and satiated over time.

Now this isn’t trying to demonize Big Macs, it just means if you’re having 3-4 Big Macs a week and struggling with hunger while losing weight, maybe dip that down to 1-2 Big Macs a week and include more whole foods and lean protein in your meals.

Two, eat enough. I know I know, when it comes to weight loss we wanna lose as much weight as possible as quickly as possible. Trust me I know, that’s like 90% of my life experience. But the thing about that is you end up eating way too little and end up super hunger which sure you might able to keep it up for a couple of days or weeks, but eventually the struggle is so bad you give up and gain back everything you lost.

The goal of losing weight is to eat as much as possible while being in a calorie deficit, not to starve yourself and see how long you can survive. My inbox is often filled with messages from people saying they can’t keep up with a 1200kcal diet cos it makes them way too hungry. It’s unnecessary to be eating so little. 1200kcal is often the minimum number thrown out there cos below that has potential for negative health implications. It doesn’t mean that’s what you should aim for. Most people that are following a 1200kcal diet can lose weight off a 1400-1600kcal diet as well cos it would still a calorie deficit.

Trying to lose weight eating one apple a day and nothing else could give you some results for a few days, but has little to no chance to help you sustainably get to your goals. Make sure you’re eating enough.

Three, drink more water. When I first started to track my water intake back in the day I realized I was drinking way too little on a regular basis when I thought I was drinking a lot. I was averaging 800-1000cc back then when the general recommendation for water intake daily is 2000-3000cc. Studies have shown that drinking more water, or drinking water before meals can help dampen hunger. It won’t make hunger go away, but could make it easier to deal with. That along with all the other benefits of keeping hydrated.

Four, don’t eat when you’re not hungry. Most of us grew up with some kind of meal schedule that we kinda just blindly followed cos it was “time to eat” but weren’t necessarily hungry in all those meals. You could be one of those that’s not really that hungry when you wake up, but ultra hungry when it comes to dinner and supper time. If you’re not hungry in the mornings, then don’t eat. There’s no need to “waste calories” there where you could totally enjoy it later on in the evening. There’s no set rules when it comes to meal timing for weight loss. You can eat at any schedule you wish. If you’re consistently in a calorie deficit you’re gonna lose weight period.

Five, don’t drink it, eat it. If you’re struggling with hunger but drinking regular coke, orange juice, lattes, you might wanna consider eating those calories instead. Having a chocolate bar or fruits/veggies equivalent to the calories of a regular coke is much more fulfilling than drinking the coke. Eating an orange would provide more fulfillment for less calories than drinking orange juice. Again it doesn’t mean you gotta avoid all these “liquid calories” but if hunger’s becoming an issue you might wanna minimize it as you’re losing weight.
Hope these tips help, remember all these tips at best helps minimize hunger and cravings not eliminate it. Hunger is a normal part of the weight loss journey, the goal is to learn how to deal with it, not to get rid of it completely.

On another note…

Today marks day one of the year of the Tiger, so if you celebrate it—

Happy Lunar New Year!

Wishing you and all your loved ones all the health and happiness in this new year!

Enjoy all the yummy food, enjoy the festivities, enjoy the seeing loved ones you haven’t seen in a while and worry about all the diet stuff after the celebrates are over. It’s expected immediately after celebrations that there’s a higher number on the scale, but rest assured if you simply get back on track for the next couple of weeks that numbers goes back to normal and on track as your habits and actions will dictate it.

Till the next one! Stay well & safe!

— Po.

the right way to mess up your diet

I’m sure you’re familiar with messing up on your diet. I’m sure you, just like me, have felt that frustration of messing up a diet and wanting to start all over again cos it feels like we just ruined everything in life and the only way to fix it is to start over. Then you start over only to mess up again, and go through all the frustrations again and either start the cycle once more or just quit and try again sometime down the road. It's a never ending cycle.

It’s normal.

It’s normal to mess up. But messing up and keep trying to start over only to do similar things hoping for different results is the wrong way to mess up.

Let’s get this idea of perfection out of the way first. There is no such thing as a perfect diet. There is no diet program out there where every single day is just super happy-go-lucky zero frustrations, zero hunger and your weight just falls off more and more everyday till you reach your goals. That’s called Wonderland.

It doesn’t exist.

Messing up in your diet is normal. Super normal. It’s suppose to happen just like school, just like work, just like life. No one ever went to school and had a good day every single day. No one went to work having everyday perfect days leading to promotion after promotion year after year. No one’s happy every single day in life. Same with your diet. It’s not gonna go perfect every single day and that’s normal.

What do you do if you mess up your diet?

You keep going. You acknowledge you messed up and you keep going. You don’t start over, you don’t beat yourself up for it, you just stand back up after fallen down and keep moving forward towards your destination.

I mean yeah of course you can analyze why you messed up. Did you mess up cos of a lack of planning? If so, get back up make some plans and keep going. Did you mess up although you did everything according to plan? If so, make some adjustments to your plan. You don’t have to abandon your plan completely, just make adjustments around the area that made you mess up in the first place. Did you mess up cos of something completely non-diet related? If so, just stick to the plan and keep going when you are able to. Life happens, sometimes it hits us like truck and we need a moment to get back on our feet. Take all the time you need when that happens and just get back on track afterwards.

A weight loss journey is a series of mess ups. It’s a journey of constant adjustments. The mess ups are golden. They tell you what may or may not need some tweaking, and once you’ve made those tweaks the chances of messing up the exact same way again lessens. The more of these little tweaks you make over time, the more you’re adjusting your habits to be realistically sustainable for the long term.

Messing up isn’t a reflection of your self worth. You’re not better or worse for messing up. You’re better or worse for how you deal with messing up. Own up to your faults, fix what needs fixing, and keep going. There’s no secret to losing weight, a big part of it is to truly just not give up. As long as you don’t give up you’re gonna keep finding ways to move forward towards your goals. Sure it’s gonna take a lot longer than you think, but that’s the reality of this journey. Changing your habits and creating new ones is supposed to take a long time.

I hope this helps!

In other news, there was a recent meta-analysis that came out last week that looked the relationship between daily step count and all-cause mortality. I’m not gonna go through all the nerdy number here, but I’ll link the study here along with an article here on it with all the details.

Long story short the researchers found that rates of all-cause mortality were around 12% lower per 1000 steps per day, and walking for 20-30min (2400-3600 steps for most people) daily for a year led to decreases in blood pressure, resting heart rate, body fat percentage, BMI, total cholesterol, and depression scores, while increasing VO2max. In other words walking more could equal to living longer.

I’m sharing this with you cos it’s something I realized recently that I needed to change in my life. 2021 for me has a been a year where I’ve successfully embedded workouts into my lifestyle. Though I was working out regularly, my daily steps took a huge hit cos of the pandemic. I didn’t think of it much as I was still pushing iron regularly, but the release of this study made me re-evaluate my lifestyle.

At the end of the day I’m chasing for health. I’m really not fussed about having bulging abs, or looking absolutely thicc like a tank. Health is my ultimate goal, and all that other stuff that comes along with it is a really nice bonus but not my personal endgame. I wanna have the freedom of mobility in my 80s-90s. I wanna see the kiddos grow up and settle into their lives without having to worry about my health. I wanna have the ability to chase whatever dreams and goals I have at any moments notice without ever being hindered by health.

And so couple of days ago I got a small home treadmill. You probably would have seen me babble about it on my IG stories if you’ve been following along there. It’s only been a couple of days but so far feels like my best investment in 2022 so far. Getting an extra 3000steps (30min casual walk) has never felt so easy. It’s been great as a warmup before my workouts, also whatever extra calories I burned from that is definitely a plus too (remember though if you’re on a weight loss journey don’t count burned calories into your diet, leave burned calories out of your calculations). I may have hit my weight goals a while back, but this whole figuring out how to live a healthy lifestyle while balancing enjoyment of life has been a super fun and challenging journey in itself.

Anyways sorry for rambling on, thought I'd give you a little update on my journey as well.

Till the next one! Stay well, stay safe!

—Po.

how often should you work out?

I think one of the biggest mindset shifts I went through after I had hit my weight goals was understanding that losing weight is mainly about the diet and not exercise. I gotta admit wrapping my head around that was kinda mindblowing. I mean my whole life growing up as the overweight fat kid everyone around me (friends, family, magazines, TV etc) all pointed to workout and exercises as the main solution to losing weight.

It was the obvious answer everyone knew, but somehow only a very small percentage succeeded and out of that small percentage that succeeded, an even smaller percentage of them kept it off permanently.

I remember super vividly during one of my routine health checkups I had to do for work (I was around 123kg at that time) and the doctor told me, “Y’know? At this weight you’re medically classified as morbidly obese.” I nodded, I mean it wasn’t like that was news to me. “You should really do something about it,” he continued, “like do some sports or go running.”

Yep. From a medical professional the advice for weight loss was the same as everyone else around me back then, workouts and exercise. But...

... that’s simply not true.

Yes, working out can help you lose weight as it’s an activity that burns and spends calories, but if your diet isn’t in check you could be working your ass off at the gym but still continue to gain weight. Gaining or losing weight comes primarily from your diet. The fact is you could do zero workouts and lose weight, and you could workouts like an Olympic athlete and still gain weight. How your weight moves is based primarily on your diet, not your workouts.

So the question becomes then why bother to workout?

Well, working out has a ton of health benefits. It also is an activity that burns calories so if your diet is in check and you add working out on top of that you would technically progress a tad faster than losing weight through diet alone. Working out also means likely there’s some form of muscle being gained in you over time, the more muscles you have the higher your metabolism is which means your TDEE(maintenance calories)is higher which means the more you can eat while still being in a calorie deficit. Not to mention how working out shapes your body into more curves and lines over time if you have any aesthetic goals.

So then... how often should you work out?

The answer to that depends on your goals. If your goal is primarily just weight loss, I’d say as often as you can to the degree where you can still comfortably live life and stick to your diet. As often as you can doesn’t mean you hit the gym 5x a week and become a walking zombie cos you’re physically stressed all the time, and mentally stressed from life and work while being on a diet. No no, that’s not the goal. As often as you can to your lifestyle and diet goals means maybe it’s doing 15min workouts at home 3x a week. Maybe it’s taking yoga/pilate classes 2x a week. The goal of workouts when losing weight is the finish line is to do it as often as possible for as long as possible cos that ultimately means you realistically burn as much calories as possible during the course of your journey.

Now if you have muscle gaining goals, or health goals as well then the answer will be different. You’d need a more structured program and how often depends highly on the type of goals you have. A marathon runner’s muscle gaining goals will be very different to a body builder’s. Someone that just cares about overall health wouldn’t have the same program as a powerlifter getting ready for their first meet. How often you should workout for goals outside of weight loss depends on the specific goals itself.

Ahh man, it feels so good to be able to write down everything on my mind and not have to hit the delete button. I know a lot of these topics I’m writing about you’ve likely heard me talk about it in my IGTV videos or on one of my post captions previously but I think this is the first time I really felt I got to go into more details without restraint. Feels so free! I hope you’re enjoying this format as much as I am!

I got a lot of replies from the last email I sent out (which I wasn’t expecting) it was truly super heartwarming. I tried to reply to as many as I could, but I know I missed out some and I apologize but do know that I definitely read every single one. It really meant a lot. Thank you! Remember if there’s anything unclear to you in these emails, my posts or Q&A feel free to reach out! Reply here, drop a question on my daily Q&As or slide in my DMs. I’d be more than happy to help!

I hope this mail helps you get a better view on how to set your workout goals and stop feeling guilty that you’re not running miles & miles & miles everyday to lose weight. I know I did. I used to feel super guilty for not doing cardio back in the day. I guess maybe for some the true takeaway from all this is: cardio is not a necessity to lose weight.

And that my friend I’m not afraid to admit...

...is music to my ears.

Till the next one! Hope you have been well, stay safe!

—Po.

is sugar actually bad for your diet?

Happy New Year! We’re well into 2 two of 2022 & I hope all has been going well for you so far.

I know I know, my emails have been way too “periodically” as of late and part of my 2022 resolutions is to fix that. Expect more emails from me regularly from here on out! It feels like I have way more freedom here to express my thoughts and explain nutrition/weight loss concepts cos there’s no character limit.

On IG every post it actually limits me to around 2200 characters, and so what ends up happening is I’ll type everything I want to say up on a word file, then check character count and end up having to trim whole chunks of it down just to hit the 2200 limit. Over here, no such limit which means I can write as much as I want! (which I guess the downside is if I end up rambling you’re gonna end up with a wall of text, which I apologize in advance)

So week 2 into the new year, I hope all your resolutions and plans are still going as planned! If they aren’t, if there’s some hiccups here and there no worries, it happens. Make some adjustments and get back on track there’s no need to start over, there’s no need to be overly upset about it, the weight loss/health/muscle journey is a ongoing journey. Hiccups are gonna happen. It’s not gonna be perfect. As long as you get back on track and keep going, it’s all progress from here.

Kinda like riding a bike. Ride a bike for 15-20 hit a rock and fall? First thing you do is check if you’re ok, then check if you’re bike’s ok, if both are ok then just hop back on your bike and continue down your journey. There’s no need to walk all the way back to your starting point to start again, or just quit right there and there and decide to start again another day cos you tripped on a rock. Falls happen, keep going!

So back to the topic on the subject line: Sugar. Is sugar actually that bad for fat loss?

The answer is a big fat: No.

Now don’t get me wrong, that doesn't mean you should go to your kitchen now and start scooping spoons of sugar in your mouth, or start filling up on your favorite chocolates and candies. All it simply means sugar solely isn’t responsible for your progress in your fat loss journey.

Can you include sugary foods in your diet and lose weight? Absolutely.

Can you end up overeating on sugary foods and gain weight? Sure can too.

Now why is it important to understand that? Cos then you won’t have to fear sugar like it’s some demonic thing that the moment your tongue touches it you gain 2 inches on your waist. That’s just not how sugar works.

Studies have shown that there is no link between sugar & weight gain in diets where calories are controlled. There’s also no link between sugar and health when calories are controlled and the diet is made up of mostly unprocessed healthy foods.

Of course this doesn’t mean sugar is good either. It’s just neither good or bad.

Sugar is fine. (in moderation)

So how should you deal with sugar in your life? If you’re eating mostly nutrient rich whole foods, hitting your proteins and still have some calories left in your budget it’s totally fine to enjoy whatever sugary foods you want within that budget. But on the flip side if you’re eating so much sugary foods like chocolates and cakes that it makes sticking to your calories hard then perhaps you’ll want it tone it down a little bit and eat less. Tone it down, not avoid. It’s all about tweaking your portions.

I hope that helps your mindset in your diet. Demonizing a particular food or ingredient is a unnecessary evil that makes the journey harder than it should be. We’re fed a lot of information in the fitness world to make us lean towards thinking there’s “good” and “bad” foods where really it’s all just a game of portions and moderation. When you understand there essentially isn’t a “bad” food you stop feeling so guilty over having a bit of it and go on with your day rather than trying to run 5km at midnight cos you had an extra snicker bar.

Anyway I hope this mail reaches you well. This is gonna be a regular thing I promise. This is part of my 2022 resolutions as I make a shift in the way I create content. My IG will still be active, the daily Q&As in my stories is something I still look forward to answering every night. If you have any questions or concerns do feel free to reply to me here as well. I’m always try my best to answer to everyone but it’s not always possible. I can promise you that I definitely read them all, and will try to answer your question in some shape or form whether it’s in future emails, Q&A questions, IG posts or a direct reply to you.

If you signed up for my fat loss guide and ended up here on the email list but don’t wanna be receiving these emails it’s totally cool to unsubscribe too! No hard feelings, I don’t want to be spamming your inbox if this isn’t the type of content you’re looking for.

Till the next one! Stay well, stay safe!

—Po.