Workaholic? Stay late? So it's ok to ignore your body composition? : Tips to stay healthy and good shape that fits your time

January 1, 2018

"Ahhh he can workout because he goes back before the  sun shine away" "He is single, i can see why he has time to hit the gym"  "i hv no budget to go for healthy food" "i dont have good genetics, my exercise will be worthless afterall"

We hear this phrase often and maybe it had slipped out from our mouth. I'm not saying that those phrases are just excuses but what I can offer here, is some knowledge that can improve your overall health whether you want to loose weight, maintain your weight,  build muscle or get ripped. 

What if i say that you  would only need 15 minutes of your time to maintain your body weight, 40-45 minutes to build muscle or get ripped. Sounds possible to fit your 168 hours per week or 672 hours per month? Sound convincing right. Yes you can do it! Another reason you should start to consider on this topic is what you consume is the big chunk towards your body composition especially if you want to lose weight (lose fat actually) or maintain.

I understand some of you are restrained to workout due to various reasons, you know, Married People, people on the go (outstation to International or domestic), Working late (around 2 to 4 hours before sleeping time) but you have to find your time. Cut some of your time from being being sedentary.

"Obesity runs in the family"......but the thing is, nobody runs in the family"

Firstly, forget the BMI, it is just too basic and can be irrelevant.  The first thing that you need to know is your Basic Metabolic Rate ( BMR) whereby your body need on a daily basis according to your weight. Simply,f  you eat more than you supposed to, you will gain weight or build muscle while if you eat less than you need, you will lose weight (lose fat) or burn fat . By using calories calculator you should be able to know your calories. You may use the online calculator here . If you don't know your body fat you can just estimate as per the picture below for man or woman. For precise fat measurement,  only gym chain or some mid sized gym and some clinics will offer the machine to calculate your body mass. Simple theory for calories is you eat less than what you burn, you will lose fat aka CALORIE DEFICIT.

Carbs is important to give energy through the day. Commonly found in wheat form like rice, bread , you might want to go for low GI (Glycemix Index) wholemeal, brown rice (unbleached) or parboiled rice. However, it is important to control carbs intake as in excess of your body needs, it will turn into sugar form. Simply look for carbs that have low GI  that release glucose  slowly and steadily that doesn't cause you blood sugar spike while giving you energy longer.

Fat also is important to keep various  hormone production and also is the fuel for your energy. Protein is widely known to build your muscle. It's the most important even you are in maintaining stage. Lack of protein will cause you being in  catabolic state, whereby your body use your muscle for energy. We want to be in anabolic  state (build and maintain muscle)  at most of the time so that you keep your metabolism reasonably high. About 1 pound of muscle will give you an additional 6 to 10 calories. Not much but it add some packs to your daily body ability to operate.

Practice 0 sugar or somewhere less than 10 grams of sugar. Your body wont burn Fat if there's still sugar in your blood stream. Control your sodium(salt) intake, about 1,500mg per day aka 1.5g of sodium, the lower the better. Excess of sodium will make your body holds on water and it take about 5 to 7 days for the water to be flushed from your body. By taking an adequate potassium about 4,700mg per day will help you to flush the sodium and and maintain a balance water in your body. This is why lack of potassium will give cram to your muscle. You can get highest potassium in sweet potato, tomato, carrot and pumpkin, then follow by banana,spinach. Some recipe for your liking here.

Your body goal is made up around 70% from kitchen (meal preparation) and 30% from exercise. Once you start seeing results you must be thinking on the slogan that you heard from school "you are what you eat".Meal preparation is important to control on what you eat. I started my diet on March 2017 by monitoring the calorie intake via Myfitness Pal. After some times you may get used to it and know your intake. 

Based on my experience, you would miss target because you snack  unhealthy foods. Try not to snack biscuits, ice cream anything sugary. If you have to, make sure it's very minimum. The best  snacks is unsalted peanuts or half weight of your lunch or dinner.

How about cheatday? If you are married and tied up with family and inlaws, yes I understand you might have two day of cheat day. But if your goals hard to reach after several months, try to do cheat meal by eating whatever you want for one meal or two.

As aforementioned before, you would need 15 minutes to workout, but that is high intensity workout like sprinting ,cross training workouts. To build muscle by pumping weights, you need at least 4-5 types of exercise per muscle section with 3-4 sets. ideal time for this workout is 45 minutes to an hour the most as your acceptable energy peak is around this time. Hitting these exercise 2-3 times is enough to maintain and lose some fats.

So what are you waiting for? Start purchase your food for your meal preparation and plan your time, find a gym place to exercise. More post on healthy foods will be posted in the future

Key takeaway:

-Minimum 15 minutes workout (high intensity) via sprinting or cross training

-Know your BMR (Base Matabolic Rate)

-Your body goal is made up of 70% from kitchen (meal preparation) and 30% from exercise

-Snack with peanuts/peanut butter (no sugar) or half of your lunch/dinner

-Avoid sugar and control your carbs intake

-Control your sodium and take enough potassium

Reference:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/legionathletics.com/how-many-calories-should-i-eat/amp/

https://legionathletics.com/how-many-calories-should-i-eat/

https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/healthy-recipe-database.html

https://cilisos.my/5-possible-reasons-why-msians-are-the-fattest-people-in-asia/

https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/Appendix_B.pdf - for potassium