Ah as one age, the metabolism slows down and it gets increasingly harder to lose those extra pounds.

You've got a good start by cutting sugar, carbs and alcohol. It's about learning to choose the "right" food to eat. Some say, don't take food that you can't see it in its original form (eg. no processed food). This is similar to taking a Paleo diet.

However, in my opinion, we are faced with food decisions at least 3x a day so choosing smartly is the best 'diet' you have. It's alright to cheat occasionally, don't go hardcore all of a sudden. Everyone have cravings - ice cream, junk food, dessert, coke etc. It is not too much to reward yourself once or twice a month when you're out with your family or colleagues.

Similarly, when I get really busy, I can only hit the gym 2-3x a week (1 hour workout each session). I'll opt to walk more in these circumstances (eg. walk further for lunch if i can spare the time). Take the stairs instead of lift. If your office has a shower facility or gym nearby, consider opting for 30minutes HIIT workout over the lunch period.

Note: Yes you can exercise at home as well. Plenty of functional workout that you can do. But... I get lazy so I'll often resort to jogging around the house taman with my dog. Sometimes I'll stop at the field (they have concrete area for badminton but no one uses it most of the time), whereby i'll do some functional workout for awhile.

Guess belly fat is so common that everyone's only focused on losing that

Well as spot reduction is myth meaning you can't choose to eliminate fats only in 1 concentrated area. When you workout, you lose overall. Suggest you practice a healthier diet/ meal plan + workout. You should see changes to your overall body and health.

quote=KitZhai,May 24 2019, 05:25 PM]
Hi guys imma trying to build a better body but I dont know what should I do aside from jogging.

unsure how to describe my body, i aint too thin yet not too muscular. But can see some fit shape at my body. I got just a little bit of tummy and i have a wish to make them 6 packs.

My daily routine is very random but I usually spend my time jogging for like min 5km per day. then do some sit up/bicycle kicks.

Any guide on how and what should I eat? People says that eating rice isn't good

[/quote]

Suggest you check your fat % and see where you're at for now. If you want 6 packs, you'll need to cut down fat % and increase muscle mass.

Cardio helps to burn/ reduce fat but it also depends on the food you have been eating throughout the day, and week. 6 packs mean eating cleaner and leaner (yes you can have cheat days haha) but discipline is a big part of it. Consistent weights and functional training to shape your body is just as important.

It's not rice but carbs in general, if you're looking at shaping your body. Imo at least rice have nutrients which bread doesn't have

Definition of 'normal' is very loose in this section while someone may deem McDonald's as a normal dinner, some members here may find that as a meal to avoid like a plague except on cheat day.

So the question is in reference to what do you normally eat for lunch and dinner. Rice? Vege? fried chicken? eggs? noodles? kuay teow? chicken chop? etc

Thus for you it's more on the health side, rather than aesthetic.

End of the day it doesn't matter - everyone have their own preference. So long as one eats responsibly and maintain a good health (with some workout/ less sedentary), it's not an issue at all. Doctors will say eat everything in moderation. Unless of course, if a person is aiming to lose fat % and shape their body - then that's calories in vs out.

Seems like you could be hitting plateau. Try changing your workout regime eg. increase your cardio or do tune it up with some HIIT workout. What are you eating for the 'half portion'?

Try to change your workout regime? Otherwise maybe share with the gp what you're eating on a daily basis.

I guess start by making plan of what you want to achieve?
ie. lose x% of fat in 3 months' time or reduce cholesterol/ blood pressure to x number by y timeframe (if yours is high).

What you can do is start by making small adjustments. Because when you drastically change your diet/ habit, it's harder to adjust you might find it 'too tough' and end up giving up halfway. By having a goal you have something to work towards.

Personally i can emphatize and relate on meal prep. Its not easy if you need to get up early and have a busy schedule at work.

So I'll say do what you can for the first 1-2 weeks and then improvise again by 3rd or 4th week. Reduce biscuit intake... bread is well, alright occasionally if it's easy and cheap to get but not to over eat. They are refined carbs afterall. You can have oats in the morning or replace bread with complex carbs like sweet potatoes (just boil the night before), or greek yoghurt with fruits like bananas. Yes, don't forget the eggs. Keeps you filled.

Subway promotes healthy eating sort of thing, but it's also bread (carbs) again and you'll be surprised to know how much calories those sauce actually contain. Know your food well in order to make smart choices.

Food court is pretty generic choices, so choose your economy rice well. Cut down your carbs a little. For example if you always take 2 big scoop of rice in your economy rice, i wouldn't ask you to cut them off totally. But perhaps start by reducing half the portion of rice - from 2 big scoop to say, 1 scoop for lunch. Take more protein like chicken (breast if you can, it's the part with lesser fat content), tofu, eggs, plenty of vege etc. Cut down on fried/ oily items, reduce sauce intake (a little is fine), reduce your carbs. Start with these small changes.

Btw only 1 fruit a day is not sufficient for your fiber intake. Consume more fruits. Pack some apples/ pears etc as snack in case you feel hungry between meals.


Vitamins & supps - they're good to have but you'll need to know what your body is lacking. If your body already has sufficient nutrient and you additionally take them, it will only be discharged out as it won't be absorbed by the body.

Reconsider meal replacement. They helps and i think it's fine to take but have the awareness that when you stop, it's likely your weight will increase.

On exercise, you don't have to think too much. Like i said, slow progression. First off you may want to incorporate morning/ evening walk or brisk walking around your taman for an hour or so during the weekend. This is already a good start. Later on you can introduce functional training or weights training into your exercise regime.

It'll cost a lot to always have Subway too. So optionally you can make your own salad and if no time, buy the pre-packed ones (although not cheap, but still cheaper than subway) and add on some boiled eggs, fruits etc of your own choice.

With slightly higher than average uric acid, you'll want to watch your protein and consume in moderation. You don't have to totally cut them off, just portion it carefully. You'll need to check with your doctor what would be the recommended protein intake for your case.

Have some chicken/ fish i.e. protein for dinner. Don't forget your fiber intake as well.

Like the sifu adviced you, i concur. You're feeling weak because lacking proper dietary care and nutrients. Once you eat right, you'll start to see improvement.

Your meal looks fine. Next try weight lifting after mco (if possible/ safe to hit the gym). In terms of your HIIT workout, perhaps you'll want to try variety of different combination of workout from body weight workout to HIIT (then again we don't know what sort of HIIT regime you're doing?). Make sure there's time for your body to recover. Overworking your body (i.e. daily workout) without enough rest won't help with your progress. Also remember to drink more water!

See you guys talk about IF really motivates me to pick it up again. Started with 16:8, today Day 3. Body still trying to adapt, getting hunger pangs on and off.

My style... eating window:
- Lunch - i'll eat what i want
- Dinner - healthy food (vege and protein, with minimal to no carbs)

Wish to make it more sustainable so i'll leave lunch as having a main meal consisting of what i'd like from the food court (average meal, not over eating).

Only doing 2x workout in a week these days due to busy work schedule.

Indeed. And $ saved from breakfast gives leeway to pay for a better dinner the only thing is managing without food in the morning. Will adjust in time, but till then, maybe consider black coffee.

On that part i'm fine. Other than coffee, the occasional ocha or tea (no sugar), me no take sweet drinks. The occasional treat will be Coke Zero, Wine or cocktails when i drink socially.

Pretty good routine. Healthy! Even i slack off
Just 2 cents worth of thought.

Diet
- Lose the biscuits for breakfast. They offer little nutritional value and satiety. Replace with boiled eggs/ greek yoghurt + some fruits/ oats etc.
- Dinner should include vegetable. Be careful with fruits because over eating them is calories. Grapes for example, has high sugar content. If you can cook chicken + vege for dinner, that's the most ideal. The smoothie can be consumed in the morning imo.

Workout
- Plateau could be due to routine. Your body adapted to the things you're currently doing.
- Maybe instead of running, temporarily replace it with the HIIT that you do occasionally for 2 weeks
- Not sure what you do for weights but maybe consider increasing your weightlifting sessions

Lastly, if nothing helps, try doing IF.

Try saying that to people who are trying to gain weight

Moderation is key. Imagine if you drink 1 can of coke daily, and have a bag of chips twice a week - when you cut them down to half, you would have cut down half the calories.

Learn how to eat 'just enough' or 70-80% full, and portion out your chips/ snacks. Also, example - instead of eating fried stuffs almost daily, reduce your intake or frequency.

-> noodles are also carbs; lesser carbs, more protein & greens is key
-> may want to consider adding HIIT workout or functional training into your workout regime
-> drink more water
-> it's okay to snack on some nuts, fruits, yoghurt etc

-> beer you can have it for your cheat day but the key is not to overdo it
-> even if you're having it only over the weekend, make sure to control your quantity
-> moderation is key

it's a change of lifestyle and not temporarily. Adjustments are hard but you'll get around it with consistency and persistency.

One step at a time change/ fine tune 1 thing at a time.

Oh yes, of course. If you get into weights training, it'll help you to build muscles.

A combination of HIIT (high intensity interval training) and weights training throughout the week is ideal. But if you enjoy running, just continue with it and add-on weights routine.

1. Consider incorporating 1-2 cardio sesh in your workout, even if it's 30min HIIT.

2. Ini... morning b'fast can't change or won't change? there's a difference.

3. Meal within 7 hours? Never heard of it except for people who are doing IF, they are confined to certain window for food intake. Simple philosophy: calories in vs calories out - regardless of the time you eat.

70kg is alright but still depends on your body fat %.

Generally you're taking quite alot of oily food. You're likely to have exceeded the necessary calories intake per day, thus contributing to the extra weight.

First you need to understand Calories in vs Calories out.

Simple layman example: you only need 2,000 calories maintenance in a day and you have been eating 3,000 calories; that's 1,000 excess in calories per day. So say, you do light jogging and burns off 300 calories. You're still in excess of 700 calories. What about the days you don't do your cardio/ exercise? You don't even burn that 300 calories off.

Cumulative of these excess calories results in the extra pounds that we don't need.

So if you understood the above concept, then you'll know wherein lies the main issue - food. We eat 3 meals a day, and honestly we don't need to eat a lot to maintain our body functioning and doing the usual sedentary work/ lifestyle.

Need a lot of determination and discipline to go cold turkey and it could result in the crash of diet. So make adjustments bit by bit because you're moving towards a healthier lifestyle.

For breakfast - if you're not able or unwilling (yet) to remove roti canai from your meal, i'll suggest as a start, at least cut down half and complement with something and reduce frequency of intake.

Example, lets say
You eat roti canai x 2pcs as breakfast, 3x a week

What you can change in this case:

1pc of roti canai (with less curry/ dhal as it's also calories) @ 1x a week ---> this may not be enough; so you can add on 2 boiled eggs to your breakfast (mamak usually have them)

From 2pcs of bread + jam ---> you can change to 1pc of bread/ toast with 2 eggs, or 1pc of bread + greek yoghurt, or 1pc of bread + muesli with milk etc

So the intention here is to:
- reduce intake of oily/ unhealthy food
- replace partially with healthier options

Lunch
Your lunch is OK - less rice, more vege, protein (chicken, fish etc - try non fried ones, or lightly grilled, pan friend etc), reduce sambal (try to limit within say, a teaspoon if you must take)

Dinner
Try to eat cleaner. If you can, cut down on your mee. Rice, meehoon, mee, kuay teow etc are all carbs... reduce the intake of these refined carbs. Like i said, if you "can't" change, then make small adjustments by eating only 1/2 portion of carbs with lots of vege and some protein.

Some healthier options of carbs & protein
- Oats
- Sweet potatoes
- Banana
- Quinoa
- Beans & legumes
- Dairy like eggs, milk
- Nuts
- Greek yogurt
- Soy (like soy bean, tofu etc)
- Fish, chicken (lean cut)
and of course, your leafy greens

Drinks
Lastly, if you're taking sweet drinks (syrup, barley, coke, milo or whatever) with your meal, you need to cut them off. Replace with teh 'o or just plain water. If you must have your coffee with sugar every morning - go for less sweet/ reduced sugar.

Basically it's all about making adjustment and it's painfully hard to choose, say, boiled chicken over fried chicken. But there's no saying that you can't have your fried chicken though - just take them once or max twice a week as cheat meal. We eat ... 3 meals x 7 days = 21 meals a week. So 1-2 cheat meal is fine.

Exercise
The exercise you're doing is okay. To add on, you can try doing more brisk walking + body weight training (ie. lunges, push ups, dips etc) to help tone your body.

For faster and higher calorie burn, HIIT workout is ideal. You can Google/ YouTube it. Another one can lookout for "Tabata training".