Many people want to find the quickest possible way to lose weight. However, these methods are often not effective in the long run. Weight loss is not merely about shedding pounds. It's also about achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Here are simple things you can do every day that can help you achieve your ideal weight.
1. Balance Your Food Choices
You do not have to give up your favourite foods just because they are high in calories.
To balance your calorie intake you can try one of the following:
Smaller serving sizes
Reducing your portion size can help you lower your calorie intake so that you do not consume more calories than you burn. Some things you can try are using a smaller serving plate, sharing desserts and packing home leftovers if you can’t finish your food.
Budget your calories
If you choose to have a high-calorie meal, choose a lower-calorie option for your next meal so that your total energy intake does not exceed the amount of calories you need in one day.
2. Watch What You Eat
Be mindful of the food choices you make and select healthier options whenever you can. Here are a few simple rules to bear in mind:
Choose and prepare food with less fat
Cutting down on high-fat foods will reduce your intake of daily calories and promote weight loss. Did you know that 1g of fat contains 9 calories while the same amount of protein or carbohydrate only contains 4 calories?
When you cook:
- Choose low-fat oils like sunflower, soya bean, corn, canola and olive oil.
- Cool soups, stews and curries to remove solidified fat.
- Choose lean meat and poultry and remove any fat or skin.
When you’re eating out:
- Choose plain rice over flavoured rice (e.g. chicken rice, nasi lemak, nasi briyani). Better still, choose brown rice.
- Avoid dishes with coconut cream or coconut milk as these dishes are high in calories (e.g. curry chicken, laksa).
- Order soup-based dishes (e.g. yong tau foo, sliced fish soup).
- Remove fat and skin from meats (e.g. fried chicken).
Choose food and beverages with less sugar
Sugar supplies calories with no nutritional value. These empty calories can spoil your appetite and increase calorie intake.
Here are some tips to reduce your sugar intake:
- Choose plain water, not sweetened drinks. Drinking plain water also helps to fill up your stomach and reduce the amount of food you eat.
- Avoid adding too much sugar to tea or coffee.
- Ask for less sugar or syrup in desserts.
- Choose food products labelled as unsweetened, less sugar, reduced sugar or low in sugar.
3. Get Your 150 Minutes of Physical Activity
Physical activity is an essential part of any effective weight-loss programme.
To prevent weight gain, you should accumulate between 150-250 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity per week without increasing the number of calories you consume. You should start slow and gradually increase the intensity and frequency of your workouts.
You should adjust the amount of aerobic activity you do to a point that is effective for you to achieve a healthy body weight.
For some people, this means accumulating more than 250 minutes of aerobic activity in a week.
- Moderate-intensity aerobic activity causes a slight increase in breathing and heart rate.
- Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity causes a large increase in breathing and heart rate.
As a rule of thumb, 1 minute of vigorous-intensity physical activity = 2 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity. You can try a combination of moderate and vigorous intensity aerobic activity to get the necessary amount of physical activity each week.
Some examples of moderate-intensity aerobic activity are badminton, brisk walking, leisure cycling and tennis.
Some examples of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity are basketball, running, soccer and swimming laps.
Daily activities can also be a form of exercise. Here are some things to try:
- Taking the stairs instead of the lift or escalators.
- Getting off the bus one or two stops before your destination and walking.
- Parking the car further away from your destination and walking.
- Doing household chores.
4. Building Strength
Strength-building activities provide additional health benefits. They can help you to lose total body fat while also improving bone and muscle strength.
It is recommended that you do muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week and involve all major muscle groups including the legs, hips, abdomen, back, chest, shoulder and arms.
To build muscle, you need to repeat an action. A repetition is one complete movement of an activity, like an arm curl or sit-up. During weight lifting, you should do at least 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise.
Some examples of muscle and bone strengthening activities are hand-held weights, resistance bands, callisthenics, strength training equipment, and rock climbing walls.
5. Have Regular Meals
Some diet plans suggest you skip meals in order to cut calories but it is actually unhealthy to do so. Skipping meals can cause you to snack more often or binge eat which can lead you to consume even more calories. Some tips to remember are:
- Eating breakfast to fill your stomach first thing in the morning.
- Avoid eating foods high in sugar as they may make you full at mealtimes.
- Do not leave snacks lying around. They may tempt you to spoil your appetite.
So Remember
- Balance your food choices by reducing your portion size and budgeting calories.
- Choose and prepare food and beverages with less fat and sugar.
- Do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each week.
- Do strength-building exercises at least twice a week.
- Have regular meals so you're not tempted to snack or overeat.
This article was originally published on the website of the Health Promotion Board. Reproduced with some modifications wtih permission from HPB. 
