30 days Fit and Fab

One of the pillars for healthy lifestyle is E - Exercise. Why do we need to exercise ? Exercise is one of the important pillars. It can build muscle mass and lose weight since muscles burn 3x more calories. The more we exercise the more muscles we build the higher metabolism we have to burn fats and calories. Exercise Vs Hormone Balance Exercise affects the balance of hormone very much. These are some hormones that have benefits from exercise. Dopamine -> the more we exercise, the more dopamine hormone produced and it will reduce hormone cortisol Serotonin -> the more we exercise, the more serotonin hormone produced to stimulate positive mood and good night rest Testosterone -> the more we exercise, the more testosterone hormone produced which stimulate higher libido for reproduction as well as slowing natural aging Estrogen -> the more we exercise, the more estrogen hormone produced and it will take the edge off of menopause. What type of exercise...

What is your Body Composition ? Body Composition is a method of describing what the body is made of. It includes fat, muscles mass, bone, organs, and water. It also describes weight more accurately than BMI because it show changes in fat mass, muscle mass and body fat percentage. Two people of the same sex and body weight may look completely different from each other because they have a different body composition. What is the ideal body composition for male and female ? Two things that we use as guidance for ideal body composition is Body Fat Percentage and Muscle Mass Percentage. Fat Mass refers to all fat tissues in our body including essential and storage body fat. Essential body fat is a base level of fat that is found in most parts of the body, it's necessary to maintain life and reproductive functions. Storage fat is fat that accumulates in adipose tissue, be it subcutaneous fat (deep under the dermis and wrapped around vital organs) or visceral fat ( fat lo...

What is Body Age ? Body Age is a measurement of how old you are biologically based upon your health and fitness level as opposed to what your birth certificate indicates. The basic ideas is that aging occurs as you gradually accumulate damage to various cells and tissues in the body. Ita takes into consideration a number of factors other than just the day you were born. What's the difference with Real Age (Chronological age)? Real age is the amount of time that has passed from your birth to the given date. This is the primary way people define their age. How will it effect your life ? Components involved in the body age assessment include an evaluation of your health risk factors, nutritions, strength testing, body composition and cardio respiratory fitness. Using these guidelines along with various mathematical models, medical professionals can figure out what age your body "acts" like it is. There are people whose real age is 30 years old but the bi...

What are the challenges in the common diet method ? Many diet method and programme promoting the weight loss. However after the participants achieve their weight goals and stop the programme, the body starts to fight back. Craving for the food that have been abstains for a period of time is common feedback. Metabolism is even slower, in the end it's easy to gain weight every time they eat a little bit more than usual. They are wondering what's wrong with their body, they become afraid of eat anything and feel guilty after eating something. What is the Body Set Point ? This is the concept of a genetic preset weight that everyone has. The body has a regulatory system that keeps us at a steady-state level / set point. This set point suggests that our weight may go up or down temporarily when we give external changes but ultimately will return to its normal set point. How do we know our Healthy Body Set Point ? The easiest way to find out is usi...

Recently I took Weight Management Course - Beyond Calorie Counting from Coursera. It's 5 week online courses. This course is not endorsed by any product marketers and it makes more sense to me to see the weight management in holistic point. The concept is similar with what I always believe which is using E-A-R-N principle . Our body is complex, we cannot rely with one pillar only. Those pillars are connecting with each other.  Many diet programme or products out there promoting short term Weight Management Programme. The metrics they usually use are how many kg lost, how many percentage body fats drop,  however after the participants back to normal life, everything slowly creeping up to the setting point again. This process is continue and becomes cycle. Is there any long term solution for Weight Management program ? Yes, absolutely The questions is are you ready to change your lifestyle ? If you are ready, we will first share information abou...

This is how our body clock works and it's been agreed both by TCM and western medical expertise. Our body has the clock, when it releases the hormones, which organ that works during midnight etc. Thus, I believe to have a healthy body for long term, we need to make sure that our body works properly according to manual guideline. Feed the body when it's time for the body to replenish the energy. Have a rest when body prepares to work at night. Don't skip meals, eat according to the schedule. These are simple rules that people underestimate and when the problems come, they start wondering what has gone wrong all awhile.

For those who are thinking to start healthy lifestyle or lose weight but don't know where or what to start. This may give us a head start by doing Food Swap Diet.

Good news for tea lover including myself. I can vouch that drinking tea regularly helps us to calm down and provide lots of benefits for our overall health. Japanese loves green tea and indeed it's the healthiest drink on the planet. It's loaded with antioxidants such as polyphenols to help fighting the cancer. Catechins inside the green tea also boost metabolism rate and increase fat burning. It's between green and black tea and partially oxidized. It is also rich in catechins to boost metabolism and improve fat burning. The combination of caffeine and polyphenols help to increase the amount of calories and fat burned each day. It's aged fermented tea from China and has antibacterial properties to protect us from harmful bacteria. It also enhances digestion and soothes bloating due to imbalance bacteria in our digestion system. Camomile, peppermint and ginger tea are the common herbal tea. They are free from caffeine, sugar and c...

I love Japanese Food both the taste and appearance. It's appetising and yet filling even though the portion is small compare with western meals. As I dig into it, I am able to correlate why most of Japanese people are active, healthy and long life expectancy. By starting the meal with non-cream based soup, we already filled 20% of our stomach. Despite preventing us from over-eating, it's also keep us hydrated. Thus it's lower our overall calories intakes.    The average Japanese person is said to consume 154 pounds of fish a year, which averages out at 1/2 pound of fish a day. Fish is a great lean protein source that is low in saturated fat and also packed with vitamins and anti-inflammatory substances like omega-3 fatty acids.     Japanese relies on plant-based protein which is soy with no fat content. It helps to reduce heart disease, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure and it will help on weight loss too. Japanese loves...

When we don't like fish, eating fish oil supplements are recommended. Here's tips to choose Fish Oil Supplements 1. Dosage EPA and DHA dosage recommendation are vary depending on individual health and age. The recommended daily intake by WHO is 200-500mg of combined EPA and DHA. Choose fish oil supplement that provides at least 300mg of EPA and DHA per serving. 2. Form There are many forms of fish oil supplements including ethyl esters (EE), triglycerides (TG), free fatty acids (FFA) and phospholipids (PL).  In fish, omega-3 fatty acids present as TG, FFA and PL. Our body doesn't absorb EE well so we try to choose other form than EE. The best form is triglycerides which is the closest thing we can get to real fish. 3. Purity Processed fish oils are purified and/or concentrated. They are more vulnerable to oxidation and less easily absorbed by the body, unless they're converted back into triglycerides via a synthetic process. ...

What is Fish Oil ? Fish oil the fat extracted from fish tissue. It comes from oily fish (tuna, anchovies, mackerel, salmon) and sometimes produced from the liver of the fish such as cod liver oil. What are inside Fish Oil ? Around 30% of fish oil is made up of omega-3s, 70% is made up of other fats. It also contains some vitamin A and D. The main Omega-3 in fish are DHA and EPA The main omega-3 in plants are ALA DHA and EPA are having more health beneficial than ALA. What are the Benefits of Fish Oil ? 1. Lower the risk of heart disease Increase HDL (Good cholesterol level), lower triglycerides, reduce blood pressure 2. Treat certain mental disorder Our brain is made up of nearly 60% fat, and much of this fat is omega-3 fatty acids. Thus omega-3s are essential for normal brain function. 3. May support eye health Our eyes rely on omega-3 fats. Evidence shows that people who don't get enough omega-3s have a greater risk of eye diseases. 4. ...

What is Plant Protein ? Plant based protein source is from the plants like oats, nuts, beans, soya. It's little to no processing. Since it's plant based source, it delivers all our protein needs while packing further nutritional goodness such as fibre and enzymes which actively aid digestion. Most plants are tolerated well by most people. Plant protein sources build muscles and aid recovery as well, they can also improve our health and deliver a broader range of beneficial nutrients and much better for the environment. What is Whey Protein ? Whey is the liquid part of the milk that separates during the production of cheese. For many years, this by product was considered waste and fed to pig until body builders and dairy marketers realise it's high in protein and very cheap. Once it's separated, it's heated, microfiltered, pasteurized and dried. Then, s weeteners and preservatives are added to produce as protein powder. It contains all 9 ess...