Tag Archives: misiBMI25Minci

The simple math of walking for weight loss

Posted in Everyday Life, Good Things by

To drop 1 kg of fat, you would need to burn 7700kcal. That is 150,000 steps.

Supposedly, if I choose to be ONLY on a caloric maintenance, I will be able to lose 1 kg of fat, IF I WALK;

  • 6K steps/day – I would get there in 30 days
  • 8K steps/day – 19 days
  • 10K steps/day – 15 days
  • 15K steps/day – 10 days

Of course, I would experience faster weight loss if my MEALS are in a calorie deficit and I pick up strength training. Since I have just started to be more consistent with my brisk walking schedule, I think I should stick to that first before I swing my kettlebell. Or maybe I could get going with it over the weekends. I tried doing that before, but it got so tiring that I stopped. Furthermore, I needed the weekend to relax, do my household chores, and spend time with my family. Household chores, such as buying groceries, folding laundry, and the occasional floor-mopping, take up a big chunk of the weekend. Thankfully, I have my Roborock to help with the vacuuming.

Regarding the steps, I am not quite sure whether a focused 10K on the treadmill would be more or as effective as the 10K that includes our NEAT activities. I suppose I should go for the focused session. So far, I am able to get that in spending 100 minutes on my walking pad at a pace of 4.5 to 5. This pace keeps my heart rate at Zone 2. I try not to go too fast, as that will turn my walking into a HIT instead. Thus, burning my carbs instead of my adipose tissue for fuel.

The results are showing tremendously in my husband. To be fair, he is walking far more than myself. He walks in the morning before going to work and after work. On weekend mornings, he would spend more time doing that. He could easily get more than 20K steps with that schedule. I have yet to see a dramatic difference in myself, but I have unwavering faith in this new strategy. Let’s do this.

10K steps a day – walking the talk

Posted in All in a days work, Everyday Life by

It has been 14 days since the Sihat Itu Saya challenge started. I am in a group made up of 20 participants. On most days, I can contribute one star for the team with a minimum of 10K steps a day. Since my job is sedentary, my phone could only pick up fewer than 1K steps for the whole day. Sometimes it is as few as 500 steps. This means that I’ll need to do my own walking at home till I complete my target.

While on the walking pad, it had me thinking. Would 10K steps from physical activity be as beneficial as putting 10K on a focused brisk walking session?

Since my side quest of losing weight is ongoing, obviously, I’d want to indulge in activities that would keep my heart rate up. The plan was to ensure that I get a complete 10K on my walking pad regardless of how much I got while working. However, I realised that time is an important factor to consider. Will explain more on that later. So the plan now is just to top up my steps till 10K. The most I managed so far is up to 11K.

The top performers in my team were getting more than 20K per day. They jog, play badminton and are known to be very active physically. They are the biggest contributors to our ranks. Any steps above 10K are rewarded one star. However, it is the average step of each team that determines the ranking. Thus, getting ‘gold’ is possible, but for the top ranks, all team members need to be active. At the moment, we are still in the ranks of 130 to 150.

S.i.S

Posted in All in a days work by

The brisk walking challenge has started. I joined for two reasons.

  • To support my colleague. The ‘champion’ of this programme.
  • I thought it would be a great opportunity to start getting active again. I have been on a very long hiatus since my umrah last year. Prior to umrah, I was on a roll, walking a few thousand steps per day. After umrah, I got a bit lazy. So this would hopefully be a great adjunct to my meal plan in the hopes of (again) losing weight. minciBMI25 is still a goal.

I did not manage to get even 5K steps today. I had less than 3K, but it is OK. I will build the momentum daily and see how it ends in 3 months. On the other hand, my husband has been very enthusiastic about this challenge that he is hoarding the treadmill in the early hours of the morning and night. It’s a good excuse for me to get a walking pad and put it in my study. At least I can watch Netflix or enjoy a YouTube video on my PC while walking. I am still waiting for it to arrive. After that, I can create another piggy bank to save up for one of those fancy watches that count steps.

Exchange and substitution

Posted in Everyday Life, Good Things, Mini Project by

Heyya.. I am still in the BLS2020 programme. The 6 month agonizing but hopefully fruitful journey to lose weight.

I knew a nutritionist. My sister that is but she has forgotten almost everything she learnt during her undergraduate years because she is not practising. She is now a teacher by profession. Ha ha.

Fortunately, the internet especially my fav go to for infographics, Instagram has a lot of things I need to know about diet, exercise, weight loss. I just need to choose my hashtags properly and double check to see if the ones dispensing advice are certified trainers/nutritionists. Yup, not doctors cause the advice is superficial and very textbook. I know because I’m one. I did not even know that there’s a thing called a Food pyramid for vegans!

credit to original IG account the.rich.fam

Recently I’m learning more about food exchange and substitution. Like, if I don’t want to use sugar in my drinks – what can I safely replace it with. Or if I want a recipe for low calorie choc chip cookies – what would be the secret ingredients.

part of my food diary pictures. Trying calorie deficit but I think I am on a plateau

When it comes to exchange, it’ll be like ‘if I drink this bubble tea now, my calorie bank would shrink. Am I willing to sacrifice my fist of rice and palm of broccoli for this?” – on most days, I am proud to say I am able to walk away from those hip drinks. But I do have my bad days. Especially when my nephews and nieces come by to the house!

It is also interesting to note that food products marketed as healthy may not be as healthy you would think it is. I learn to read the labels. Still making mistakes but sis cuba.. lol. Take this for instance, a tablespoon (15g) of this St Dalfour marmalade is only 47kcal whilst a tbs of this healthy spread ranges from 84 to 96kcal.

We have 4 months to go. Indeed, I feel lighter although the scales are not showing it. I am drinking more water. I am more selective with my choices of snacks and timing of meals. I am lifting weights. My husband has this multi function home gym fitness station which has been redundant for quite a while. I have painstakingly moved it to my personal craft room for my own use. I hope to see results at the end of this 4 months.

I plan to practice belly dancing at home and just wiggle for cardio purposes since being on a treadmill can be boring. who knows I can get a figure like Shakira. HA HA HA HA.

I am still optimistic of what I hope to achieve out of this 6 months of restrain and pushing myself. This is because as one successful weight loss instagrammer puts it,

“I hate having to omit myself out of pictures which marks milestones and memorable moments in my life. I am tired of removing myself from my own life story”