Thursday, February 21, 2013

No Rice Diet Challenge

"Six days ago, a very life changing self-realization had started. I let go of something I never imagined I can live without in my entire life"

Earlier this year, I got an email from our company clinic regarding the Annual Physical Exam result. I was informed that I am now classified as "Obese Class 1". The doctor advised me to go on a reduction diet to prevent certain illnesses caused by unhealthy eating habit. At first, I did not take it seriously. Why would I be bothered? There are plenty of people out there who were more plump than I am. So I lived in a dream that I'm still fit even if I was advised to undergo weight loss program.

Not until I tried to wear my old pants and shirts. To my surprise, most of my clothes that I bought last year were totally uncomfortable to wear. My pants were to tight that I can't even breathe unless I unbutton it. I started to believe that I really need to lose weight, not just for aesthetic purposes but because I need to stretch out my life span longer. I won't be able to achieve my goal if I won't start it out as early as possible so I grabbed my ipad and checked on blogs and pages that caters losing weight effectively.

Most of the blogs on the internet suggest to take diet pills or slimming teas, some tackle about healthy food preparation, which I think are all not suitable on my end. I realized, crashed diet is really not my cup of tea. I have to do it gradually so I just started taking rice out of my meals and replace it with other sources of carbohydrates to sustain the energy I need for my everyday living. Why did I take off rice on my daily meal diet? According to USDA National Nutrient Database, a cup of cooked white rice has 205 calories, 44.51g of carbohydrates, with 0.6g of dietary fiber and 0.1g of sugar. So that's a total of 615 calories for daily meals excluding the calorie content of our viands. I would definitely choose bread or cereals over rice which only has less than 150 calories per serving.

Last February 17, 2013, I started to eat my meals without rice and I'm enjoying it so far. I can still feel full provided that I chew my food very well and with water intake for each interval. 4 days after, I checked on my weight over the weighing scale I found on the gym. I was so glad that I've lost 4lbs of my weight. From 160lbs, I am now at 156lbs. some may find it so little to be proud of but for me, it's a big thing. Atleast I know that my simple effort is gradually paying off.

Aside from omitting rice on my daily meal, I also stop drinking carbonated beverages and limit my starbucks trip to atleast once a week only. Now that I saw the improvement on my reduction diet, I would definitely be more persistent with it. Eat healthy, exercise daily and believe in yourself, these three make me feel confident that I'll reach my goal soon!

"You can never conquer the mountain. You can only conquer yourself." – Jim Whittaker

** I do post my daily meal @ instagram.. follow me @ tasho25
Chao!