Lazy Girl's Guide to Lose Weight

Ladies, let’s admit it: You are obsessed with your weight. Well, if you are not, you belong in the 5% of women who don’t really think much about their weight and i can't relate with you. 

Everyday we are bombarded with images of perfect, thin-but-with-lush-bossoms-and-bottom women in TV, Instagram and YouTube that makes us think “Why can’t I look that hot?”

The truth is, you can!

You can if you work for that dream body. Looking good doesn’t come easily (except for those lucky few who are blessed with good DNA). Those beautiful models, celebrities and Insta-famous people you see work really hard to look good.

However, let’s admit it. Not all of us have the time and willpower to religiously work out for 2 hours a day and be on a diet. i know i am not that determined. 

Through most of my adult life, i make sure i weigh no more than 55kg. But once i stopped pumping breastmilk at work last October, i weight has gradually increased. Now i'm 57kg! It feels like the end of the world.

Tapi masih malas nak workout dan diet. For me, dieting doesn't do the body good because i know i won't be able to switch to Atkins/go vegan/carb-free for good.

So what can a lazy girl like me do? A subtle change of lifestyle. Here are 10 everyday realistic things you can do to help you lose those kgs: 

1. Load Up on Protein

As Malaysians, we tend to have a bigger portion of carbohydrate (rice and noodles) on our plate. Change this! Instead of rice, load up your plate with protein. Instead of having one piece of chicken with a bowl of rice, try to have two pieces of chicken with half a bowl of rice. This simple switch will keep you full longer that you eat up to 441 fewer calories per day according to a few studies including this one. Meanwhile, according to one study from University of Missouri, high protein diet reduces obsessive thoughts about food by 60%, while cutting the desire for late night snacking in half.

Eating a high protein diet has been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day, thus helps you feel full longer.

2. Drink More Water

Drinking loads of water immediately before meals tricks your body into thinking that you are full faster because water fills the space in your tummy.

Not only before meals, drinking lots of water throughout the day helps reduce water retention (that adds extra inches on your arms and waistline).

3. Less White Carbohydrate Intake

We all know this: white carbs means calories, and lots of them.

Studies show that refined carbs like sugar which exists in cakes, cookies, chocolate bars and fruit juices, and also rice and pastas can spike blood sugar rapidly, which leads to hunger, cravings and increased food intake a few hours later.

For healthier choice, replace sugar with honey and brown sugar (in limited quantity, of course) and take brown rice instead of your usual white rice.

 4. Tea, Tea, Tea

It’s no secret that green tea helps weight loss and fat burning, thanks to the powerful antioxidants called catechins that is found in green tea.

Aside from green tea, black Chinese tea called Pu-Erh Tea also helps to aid weight loss. i learnt this during my trip to Beijing last December. Our tour guide told us that they (especially young girls) drink Pu-erh tea to lose weight and maintain the ideal weight. The best time to drink a cup of Pu-erh tea for weight loss goals is one hour after a meal so that the Pu-erh tea can remove excess grease and help your body eliminate unwanted and leftover, hard-to-digest fats.

i've never been a fan of tea (i'm more of a coffee person) but i guess i have to start now.

5. Smaller Plates for Smaller Portion

This might seems like a no-brainer but using smaller plates at meal times will lead you to eat less. This, researches has found, is caused by a simple trick of the eyes (you can read about it here). At meal time, we tend to fill our plate and do not stop eating until the plate is clean. The bigger the plate, the more fill it with food hence the more we eat. By using smaller tableware, people will put less food on their plate in the first place. A research by Cambridge academics found that simply by switching to smaller bowl or plate, we reduce food intake by 9%.

6. Spice Up Your Life

News flash: spicy foods help in weight loss! There are many ways spicy food can help you to shed those extra pounds. Firstly, spicy stuff like chilli and cayenne contain a substance called Capsaicin which boost metabolism. High metabolism enable the body to burn more calories. Secondly, Capsaicin also reduces your appetite.

This is good news for us Malaysians because we love our spicy sambals and asam pedas!

7. Stairs Instead of Lifts

This is the ultimate shortcut to working out if you are a lazy girl. Take the stairs! Your apartment is on the 6th floor? No problem. Take the stairs instead of lift and you got your 5 minutes of exercise without even trying.

8. Avoid Stocking Up Your Kitchen With Unhealthy Snacks

This includes those so-called healthy biscuits and energy bars, ice creams, cookies and white bread. Instead, stock up on fruits like banana, apples and raisins, nuts, wholemeal breads and yogurt. These are healthier options especially when you’re on the go.

9. Break Up With Your Yoga Pants

For real, ditch the yoga pants and any pants or any clothing made from jersey or stretchable materials. Yes they are so, so comfortable when you’re pregnant, when you’re bloated during your period or bloated with the all-you-can-eat buffet. But it’s easy to lose yourself in those.

Firstly, they don’t really look good (unless you have a lean, cellulite-free backside). Secondly, its stretchy material means it will still fit you comfortably even when you put on extra inches without realizing it. Your slim fit jeans, on the other hands, will never lie. When you have accidentally gained an inch, it will let you know “Nope, you can’t fit in here. Try again when you’ve lost the extra inch.”

10. Try the 7-Minutes Exercise

As lazy as we may be, in order to slim down and stay slim, you have to incorporate some exercise in your routine (that’s why this point is the last on the list). If you’re not a fitness junkie at all, try to go for a 10-minute walk around the block or the mall, at least twice a week. Over time, increase the duration and pace. Many have sworn by this 7-Minutes Exercise. Come on, 7 minutes out of 1440 minutes a day is not that much, isn’t it?

There you go. 10 simple things you can do daily to slim down. Remember, getting slim and fit won’t happen overnight or even a week. It takes a change in lifestyle.

Pray that i can adhere by these too so that i can lose these evil extra kgs.

*this article originally was written for ZCOOP My. i republish it here with some changes.