Been Obese-d for Years

I am pretty sure that most of my friends, family or even relatives are curios of the reasons behind my weight-loss action taken months back but what they do not understand is that the difficulties and obstacles that one is about to face when they are over-weight, especially when the friends around him is super skeleton-skinny like body figures. I remember days were tough back to the year 2003 and 2004. I hated the period of PJ the most, where we will be required to do some sports together as a class, with some girl classmates. I weighted around 105kgs (peak was like 108kgs if not mistaken) and my waist line was around 42 inches, well at least that was the size of the shorts I have worn.

I remembered clearly there was once we were asked to run the school compound for a few rounds, or jog to be precise but due to my weight and heavy body structure, I wasn’t able to compete with those skeletons, nor those middle-sized ones. My PJ teacher used to “force” those slower ones left behind, which I was obviously one of them. The other reason that I feel hesitated to run was because I do sweat a lot when I was at that size, things tend to be tedious especially when I had to carry the sweaty shirt to continue my studies for the half day, it was a mere torture to me, mentally and physically.

So those sickly skinny skeletons will eventually smirk or even laugh at you, be it individually or in a gang. You will find some façade personnel to camouflage as angels where they will approach you and “give” you some “kind” advice or “heart-warming” greetings, for instance, “Can run or not? If cannot, I help you to tell the teacher lah…” No doubt it was heart-warming but *yuck*, who needs that kind of help? Mind your own business!

I tend to feel drowsy and sleepy all the time when I was over-weight, and when I came back from school, I had my super duper heavy lunch, just some examples to let you figure it out how heavy that is…. One portion of Chicken Chop, with extra rice economical rice OR one quarter of roasted duck with double large rice, topped with hell lot of sauce and chilies. Some even witnessed my appetite of having “Lam Pui” which the portion is believed to be sufficient to feed me now for more than 2 days.

When time goes by… I was so jealous and envious of others being able to wear some fancy outfits, mix and match to do some fashionable combinations but all I’ve got was to go into the extra large shop at Prangin Mall to get my XXL pants and shirts. No, I don’t even get to shop in Parkson or the lousy Gama/ Sunshine. It was frustrating….

When I was at Form 2, age 14, year 2004. Around 105kgs, Waist was around 42 inches.

It was during my Form 4, year 2006, quite fat, not sure how heavy I was.

I had began to watch over my weight when I was at college since then… things were getting better but the pace was rather slow and it does not on par with my expected results. As such, I have decided to “upgrade” my action… it was the end of year 2011. The year 2012 kick started with some weight-watcher menu where I rarely take oily food and reduce my intake of carbohydrates, I’ve switched from having white rice to brown rice instead. I have also prohibited myself from taking some fast-food like McD, KFC, Pizza Hut and so. Apart from that, I do eat a lot of foods full with fibers and chlorophyll, together with fruits as supplementary diet to my vitamins and glucose. Fruits help to promote weight loss and skin care after all.

This should be around 18 year old, year 2008, at Inti College Penang.

During my Hong Kong trip, January 2012.

I’d say my decision to further my studies to Australia has really changed me a lot, whether in terms of diet, thoughts or communication skills. One has to be more confident and think further in order to survive in an alien environment. So what I did was to have my rice intake controlled at a much lower level as compared to when I was in Penang. No, I wasn’t taking brown rice, instead, I had it switched to Long Grain rice- Basmati. Basmati is good since it’s a slow-release glucose kind of rice, where it releases energy much slower as compared to white rice or brown rice, but it lesser in terms of fiber values. Apart from that, a friend of mine- Shu En has also inspired me from picking up jogging. Everyone knows exercising does benefit our bodies but to my surprise, it actually helps a lot in terms of weight-loss.

Taken during Curtin's Open Day, July 2012.

Kin Yew's Graduation Ceremony, October 2012.

I have continued with my passion in jogging ever since I came back…. With extra time spent on jogging, I was able to put off 5-10kgs more and I am very satisfied now, although losing an extra 5kgs will put me in an ideal weight (my ideal weight is around 69kgs, currently 74-ish), which should be able to reduce my waist line to 30 inches.

Shot during my graduation trip back to Perth, February 2013.

A snap shot after my birthday celebration, March 2013.

Well... I am not trying to say I am very proud or so but I do see some improvements and achievements here, although I am no where near to thin/lean, but I am still working on it.

Well, in case you are curios and keen to know more about me, this is just a lump sum of the reasons that changed my way of thinking and have opted to reduce weight:

1)      Too ugly, I don’t get to wear fancy outfits or even branded stuff, even if I do, it tends to be ugly and out of shape, completely ruin the design and cutting.

2)      Laughing stock of others, skinnies love to laugh on fatties, true story.

3)      Body feeling weaker, I tend to sweat a lot and my back will be greasy all the time. I tend to be sleepy and drowsy all day too.

4)      Lack of confidence. You tend to feel the pressure when you had an extra order, even closer friends and family smirk at you. True story.

So what do I do to reduce weight?

1)      Eat lesser, counting your calories does work, it’s better to over-estimate than to under-estimate the calories. I do drink a lot of water between meals so I won’t easily starve.

2)      Know your calories. There are hell lot of this kind of machines out there where it detects your metabolism rate/ resting metabolism rate (RMR), simply measure and count your calories, by adding extra work out so you know you won’t exceed the amount.

3)      Exercise no doubt is one of the best solutions to obesity. It burns extra calories, as well as building muscles to increase your metabolism rates.  Jogging is one of the best solutions amongst others in my opinion. You are not going for short term investment but a more far-long future investment where you can boost your metabolism rate and increase leg muscles. It makes your legs look leaner too.

4)      Reduce your intake on sugar or carbohydrates. Carbs do kill. True story. Cut down on the intake of white rice/ white bread and go for grains/ long grain/ wheat/ oats instead, they have more fiber and your body takes longer time to burn them down, hence, increasing your metabolism rate.

5)      Stand for at least 30 minutes after meal if possible is a great tip. Standing straight stretches your muscles on your legs and might aid to boost your body’s metabolism rate too.

6)      Reward yourself by getting something cool. For instance, I’d like to get myself some fitting/ slim fit outfits which fits perfectly, when it loose out, you’ll know that you have put off some weight. There was once where one of my newly bought T’s has became too tight, it instantly alerts me to be aware of my diet and take control from there.

7)      Park your car further from destination. Don’t be afraid of the distance, instead, you are giving yourself an opportunity to burn extra calories, be it 10 or 20 calories but it counts.

8)      Brain-wash yourself.  I believe there are times when you are there to savor some buffet or free flow of foods that seduce you but do bear in mind, you can eat all these later in your age. Just forget the “kiasu-ness” where us Chinese tend to think since we have paid for it, we should fully utilize it. Remember, food tasting IS NOT food feasting. The consequences of over-eating tend to be heavier and scarier than your penny.

9)      Stay away from fattening food. I know fast foods are delicious, even my dog knows it well but hey, just take for granted, do take it in a small amount from time to time. Do not ever be tempted for go for more. One regular set meal in McD consists of more than 800 calories, which might sum up to at least 50% of your daily required calories.

10)   Force yourself to love vegetables/ fruits. They are your best friends and best friends will not betray you. I can now take at least 600gms of vegetables in my daily meals and I have even made fresh green salads as my lunch and dinner before. Do not ever go for Chicken Thigh, Pork and Lamb. These contain a lot of animal fats where they take unusually longer time to burn. I’d like to go for Chicken Breast or Beef (steak but cut away the fats) but do bear in mind that Beef contributes to urine acid. Try not to take in a big amount or you will be in a big trouble.

11)  I do take some diet supplements from time to time. Some of my recommended foods are Chia Seeds, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and Green Tea. Google those alien terms out in case you have no idea on what am I talking about.