Some time ago,Peggy and i discussed about diet stuff,as she was wondering how could i lose this much weight (12kg in 2months)...

For you reader's info, BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate(Also known as metabolism to many people). It is the amount of energy your body will use during rest to ensure function of the vital internal organs such as the liver, heart,lungs,brain kidneys etc.It comprises up to 60-75% of the total body output of your energy(5% from thermic effect of foods, the rest is from your physical activities).

Factors that can raise BMR
-High muscle mass- Muscle use more energy than fats, and are heavier than fats. (One notable example will be chonmun and Jimmy, they have high muscle mass)
-Larger body surface area- Taller people will have a higher BMR( e.g, possibly huiting or weiying's BMR is higher than ppl like huiyi or esther)
-Higher total body weight
-Fever (An increase of 0.5 degree celcius will increase BMR by 7%)
-Smoking(due to nicotine, but DO not smoke just to lose weight as they do more harm than good!)
-Male gender( Guys have a higher BMR than females)
-Exposure to hot or cold temperatures( Your body have to extert a lot of energy to keep the body temperature at 37 degrees)
-You are born with it,by genes (eg. Myself and my sister have a aprox 10-20% higher BMR than other person of same height and weight,as our relatives also have higher-than normal BMR,we are able to lose weight easily but i need to extert abit more effort to gain weight,but the reason why i was overweight during mid 2009-late aug 2010 i will explain later).My approx BMR stands at between 1900-2000kcal,but i still don't dare to eat alot of food and avoided soft drinks,due to fear of regaining the weight that i lost...
-High levels of tyroid activity,which can raise BMR (One notable example will be shi ting, whose BMR is even higher than myself, chon mun, joshua-sp. This explains that she was'nt able to gain any weight, despite eating a boatload of energy dense foods like sweets,biscuits, fast foods)
-Caffeine (A simulatant which can raise BMR)
-Certain medicines

Factors that decrease BMR
-Starvation/Fasting (Which i will explain why fasting/ skipping of meals/fad diets is'nt good for weight loss)
-Aging( as you grow older, you will slowly loss muscle mass, resulting in lower BMR)
-Low activity of thyroid glands
-Certain medicines


To my SP mates-When i first entered SP,i was at the overweight status.I was'nt like that prior to 2009.i became like this as i ate the same way as shi ting,spamming junk food and drinking tons of soft drinks(she hates soft drinks though),resulting in gaining of 12kg in 2years.And i lost the same amount of weight in just 2months,as i simply stopped eating junk food and soft drinks+ excerise and i could maintain my weight,despite eating brownies from time to time due to mini-projects.By then, i concluded that shi ting's metabolism is way higher than mine due to her strangely high activities of thyroid.It was heard that all of the fats,proteins and carbohyrates that is ingested in her body will be metabolized in only 3 hours,making her having to eat every 3hours. You guys may envy her high BMR,but she have side effects that no one wishes to have,like underweight status,low fat %,making her more vulernable to colds than me....

Anyway, some tips on how to lose weight
-Do not skip any meals,especially breakfast!Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as when you just woke up, your BMR is quite slow, and ingestion of food will kickstart your body's BMR.

-Try not to cut your calorie intake too much, as your body will think that it is going to face starvation and will enter starvation mode by lowering BMR by retaining fat and burning muscle mass,something that we won't want to happen.This will result in weight loss due to loss of muscle mass and as soon as you stopped that diet, it is very easy to regain the weight that you shed off.

-Reduce your fat intake by avoid usage of cream,red meats,ghee,mayonnise. Keep your fat intake of not more than 25-30% of total energy calorie intake.

-Excerise! Not only it can help to build muscle mass, exercising involves usage of fats(which only start when you exercise more than 20mins,as fats need time to be broken down to fatty acids and glycerol(which is used to make glucose),transported from the adipose cells(fat cells) to the muscles.Excerise requires alot of energy,increasing calorie deficit.Excerise for 30-60mins for 3-5times a week,along with having a balanced diet and you will see desirable results in a month.

-Count how much calories you are consuming.It is very useful in weight loss as you need to burn 3500kcal more than you consumed to lose a pound of fat (1kg= 2.2pounds)
-Have a balanced diet and not leave any essential nutrients unconsumed! Oh wait.consume more high fibre food like brown rice, vegetables, fruits, beans as they can help you feel full more easily and add bulk, avoiding consumption of junk foods.

-COnsume a small and frequent meals. Believe me, this can keep your BMR high, as your body will have to constantly use energy to digest food.But eat healthy foods like low-fat yoghurt.

-Consume more protein, but do not consume in excess! Proteins require more effort to be digested and absorbed,makes you full for an longer period of time,helps build muscle mass. But an excess can put an strain in your kidneys as they have to work harder to excrete the excess proteins.

-Cut the number of soft drinks, fast food and junk food! eliminate them if you want.Works for me as when i did that, my weight start to fall off quickly.(Wait,i shall explain why soft drinks and fast food are BAD for you later)

-Know why you want to lose weight? Is it because of constant bullying from friends that you are fat , or family history of heart diseases, disabetes, hypertension? This could motivate you to loss weight.

-Consume more fish than red meat. Fish are lower in fat and have poly-unsaturated fat, which lowers risk of conary heart disease.

-Aim for 1-2kg loss per week.Any higher than that, you will lose water mass + muscle mass along with fat mass.(Unless you have higher-than average BMR, or went for a liposuction)

-Cut your sodium intake by not having gravy,reduce usage of soy sauce, cut consumption of canned food, salt into your food, as sodium can result in water rentention

-Choose lean cuts when selecting meats.Peel off the skin as many of the fats can be found in the animal fats.

-Consume food that can raise metabolism like coffee, green tea. They contain caffeine that raise BMR, but too much of them can inhibit iron absorption and certain Vitamin B groups, leading to difficiency of them + a loss of calcium as they tend to draw calcium out of the bones.

Lastly, weight loss is not something that you can achieve in a night. COnsistancy and perservance is the key to success!