Health For Life

1. What weight are you looking to lose?

To put things in perspective, it is not how much you weigh that matters, but rather how much of the weight you are carrying is fat. Many people have come to me saying that they need to lose weight because their weighing scales says that they are too heavy or that they fall outside the range of weight charts they have seen.

I am 1.75m tall and according to the weight charts, should be weighing in at 65kg. Being big and broad, my current weight is close to 81kg which, according to the charts, indicate that I am slightly obese. At 14.5% of body fat, I would hardly consider myself obese.

The interesting thing is that many people disregard the fact that what they really want is to lose the extra fat running around their bodies while maintaining muscles mass.

2. What is the best way to lose weight?

Through exercising and proper eating. Forget the dieting fads like teas, skin patches, creams and etc. If you are seriously looking to lose weight permanently then it is a lifestyle we are trying to achieve and not a quick fix.

3. Why is EXERCISE important in losing weight?

The key to losing weight (fat) is in increasing one's metabolic rate! The only way to achieve this is through increasing muscle mass and regular aerobic activity. It is for this reason alone that fad diets do not work!

Many people who lose weight through starvation and low-carbohydrate diets, tend to give up after some time. This is mainly due to the fact that it is tough on the body when hunger pangs and food cravings exist. Plus, once off these diets, the dieter will experience rapid weight gain which could potentially be more than when before the diet started.

With adequate protein, carbohydrate, fat ratios in your meals, a fulfilling and healthy diet can be achieved. This diet, combined with proper exercise will boost your bodily functions while making healthier and stronger over time.

4. What is proper eating defined as?

This is defined as having an adequate amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat in your meals which would add up to the total daily caloric requirements in the proportion of 40% - 55% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 15% - 30% fat.

5. How to determine how much to eat?

Good question! How many times have you heard people say they have eaten too much or too little at a given time? Well, the bottomline is unless you know how much you need to consume on any given day, it is difficult to determine whether or not enough, too much or too little food has passed through your system.

Follow this link to determine your nutritional requirements: Calculating Nutritional Requirements