Article on Obesity in Malaysia in The Straits Times 15 Oct 2012

The Straits Times carried an article on obesity in Malaysia on 15 Oct 2012.
Some interesting facts drawn from the article:

From figures obtained from the article:
In 1996, only 5% of malaysians were obese
By 2006, 14% were obese
By 2012, 15% were obese in a country of 28 million people.

Why some people do not lose weight after doing exercise or spending time in the gym

For friends who read my earlier posts, the exercise I only performed in my first 2 months of weight loss is actually walking, starting from slow walking for only 10-15min to brisk walking for sometimes up to 1.5 – 2hrs. I am really glad I did not start with jogging or even did my work-out in the gym. This is the reason why.

Fat Burning During Exercise

To burn fat and lose weight, aerobic exercise is preferred. However, it must not be high intensity. The reason being – when you exercise too hard or become breathless during exercise, the energy, which facilitate your movement, is drawn from glycogen in your liver and muscles, not your fat stores.

In the first 20min of exercise, the body burns sugar from the glycogen stores. The next 10min it is a mixture of sugar and fats. Only after 30min does the body burns proportionately more fat (50% from fat).  Hence if your objective is fat burning, you should exercise not hard but long.

More than 90% of our population do not exercise regularly, that is why obesity is a growing concern around the world. Studies have shown that the minimal aerobic threshold to shed fat demands continuous movements of at least 30min carried out at least 3 times a week. If you intend to lose fat but ‘could not afford’ the time, or is thinking 1 day a week in the gym is enough, you must  be kidding yourself. Even if you are exercising high intensity for 1 hr but with 20min break in between, the greater fat-burning effect will not kick-in, as the process will be reverted to burning sugar rather than fats.

Time

To start exercising is tough, to start out the wrong way is even tougher. You may be overweight and have been going to aerobic classes in the gym or jogging in the park, panting like mad. It is time to try out something that is effective for many. Many instructors have a formula that advocate havimg a training heart-rate of 60-70% of the maximal heart rate (220 minus your age). However at that kind of rate, the unfit majority will reach their anaerobic threshold, and the body will burn mostly protein and sugar. The optimal intensity of exercise for fat burning is far lower at 50-60% of your maximal heart rate. It could even be a little lower if you are obese and just starting on your exercise regime after many years of sedentary lifestyle.

What exercise to do?

If the exercise I did is brisk walking for 2 months and losing more than 20% of my weight, and if many people also achieved weight and fat loss (but perhaps not as much as me) through brisk walking, it might be a good idea for you to do it. In my earlier posting, I mentioned where and when I do my walking – at my convenience. You could do it near your workplace, where you stay, a park near you, just anywhere you like. It will be no harm to you, at no cost to you and will only benefit you, not me.

Initially you can start by 10-15min, three times a week, and then build up to 45min more intense brisk walking at least 3 times a week. Once you reached that stage, I am sure with the effects on you, and the energy you actually get after exercising, automatically you will progress to daily brisk-walks at even longer period of time. Of course that is when your own time permits.  Perhaps you have started doing exercise after your work hours, but at some point in time, you may see yourself switching to early morning.  But just bear in mind, your fats do not just appear magically overnight, it is stored gradually over the weeks, months, years. Similarly, your exercise intensity and duration should be a gradual build-up. Progressing too rapidly will result in fatigue, muscle soreness, increased cardiac risk and becoming a de-motivator.

Resources: Books I Read (Apr - Jul 2012)

During the last three months, I could have easily borrowed over 60 books from our National Library. For some of them I have already put up a blog post and did a little review. Going to the library to find out things which I need is easy, and there are simply too many books out there all vying for my attention, and its free.

Where is the library?

Address: 100 Victoria Street National Library, Singapore 188064
6332 3255 (phone)

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How many books can a person borrow?

Each visit entitled me to borrow up to 12 books. That’s how I can borrow so much in three months.

What did I read?

Books on healthy living, nutrition, healthy eating, weight-loss, vitamins & minerals, making bread, healthy recipes, motivation books, social media – facebook & twitter, blogging, google & google apps.

List of books I read so far

Book Title	Author
The inside out diet: 4 weeks to natural weight	Cathy Wong
Family Guide to Health	Martine Podesto
What great salespeople do: the science of selling	Michael Bosworth
How to retire in 12 months: turning passion into profits	Serena Star Leonard
Doctor’s orders: 101 medically-proven tips for losing weight	Kent Sasse
The AdSense Code: a strategy	Joel Comm
Pay per click search engine marketing for dummies	Peter Kent
Twitter Power 2.0: how to dominate your market	Joel Comm
Make easy money with Google: using the Adsense	Eric Giguere
Attention! This book will make you money	Jim F Kukral
Build it big: 101 insider secrets from top direct selling experts	Direct Selling Woman Alliance
The online copywriter’s handbook	Robert Bly
Be #1 on Google: 52 fast and easy SEO tools	Jon Smith
Supereating: a revolutionary way to get more from the foods you eat	Ian Marber
The TOPS way to weight loss	Howard Rankin
365 ways to boost your metabolism	Rachel Laferriere
Superfruits	Paul M Gross
Law of attraction: the science of attracting more of what you want and less of what you don’t	Michael J Losier
Eat this not that: restaurant survival guide	David Zinczenko
Eat this not that! 2010: the no-diet weight loss solution	David Zinczenko
Eat this not that: supermarket survival guide	David Zinczenko
Weight Loss for Men: The practical guide	Ian Banks
The Facebook Era: tapping online social media	Clara Shih
Think before you engage	David Peck
The 8-day Internet Wonder	Edwin John
30 second seduction	Andrea Gardner
Improve your copywriting	Jonathan Gabay
Google Apps hacks	Philipp Lenssen
Google Docs 4 everyone	Steven Holzner
Blogging for fame and fortune	Jason Rich
Get rich with twitter	Dennis L Prince
Blogging by million, earn by million	Laura Maya
And now a few words from me	Bob Garfield
The definitive guide to Google AdWords	Bart Weller
6 steps to free publicity	Marcia Yudkin
Damn good advice	George Lois
Create your own website	Scott Mitchell
Social networking for older and wiser	Sean Mc Manus
Letting go of the words	Janice Redish
The Google+ guide	Scott Mc Nutly
Outsmarting Social Media	Evan Bailyn
Outsmarting Google	Evan Bailyn
What are you really eating?	Amanda Ursell
Vitamins and Minerals	Sara Rose
Live Young Forever	Jack Lalanne
Weight Loss for Health Gain	Joe Fitzgibbon

Note: All books listed are available in public libraries in Singapore. Those with links are also available in Amazon.

To search for the book in any library in Singapore, copy either the title or the author’s name and find which branch it is available. Or make a reserve for the book.

Exercise - A tip on how to swim effortlessly without feeling tired

To add a variety to my current exercise regime, I went for two swims this week, something which I didn’t do for more than 10 years.

In my younger days, though I learnt both the crawl and the breaststroke, almost 100% of the time when I swam, I only used breaststroke. Why? Because this is something which I can do effortlessly while doing multiple laps and without tiring myself out.

My Weight Loss Journey - Who wants to be a Fortune God?

A series of photos of me depicting my weight loss journey, before and now.

Weight loss is a journey, and if you have experienced that, you will know the process is not a straight line depreciation, it could be like falling stock prices, just that the fluctuation is not so drastic and once you reached your pre-determined weight goal, you may want to review it. For me, I am happy to hit a weight that I have never weighed since 18 years back.

Funny Picture - Do your exercise, don't make me drag you there!

Exercise can bring you many benefits. Go and do some form of exercise! Don't make me drag you there!

Other Resources - Books I Read - Google Apps Hacks

A book by Philipp Lenssen. Elaborate on the whole suite of Google Apps, inclusive of Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Gmail, iGoogle, Google Maps, Google Earth, Picasa, You Tube, Google Video, Blogger and Google Analytics. A good read, especially if you are a Blogger user looking to enhance SEO.

Funny Advert - Potato is Not Fattening

Another vintage advertisement from 1977.

  

Weight Loss Resources – Book I Read – Weight Loss For Men The Practical Guide To Healthy Living And Weight Loss

A book by Dr Ian Banks. This is a weight loss book that contains detailed explanation of how the body work, what happens if you are seriously overweight, and many tips on what to do about it. Also includes a section on how it improves your sexual life .

Funny Advert - Eat Sugar to Overcome Fat

Came across this 1970 vintage advertisement for sugar.

If there are 146 reasons why sugar is ruining yourhealth, I guess I can go without sugar or excessive sugar.