Lose Fats by Dancing

Have you ever wondered why after many exercises and workouts, you may have lost weight and lost fats but you may not be enjoying it?

Dancing is a great way to lose weight, but more importantly, it is really a great way to have fun and let yourself loose. I have always idolized the late Michael Jackson. I must say each time I look at him dance; he seems to be having the time of his life. Through dancing on the stage, he is able to generate a lot of stage presence and charisma that can move audiences to dance and shed tears. I used to dislike dancing because I thought that I was not a good dancer. But after watching Michael Jackson’s passionate dances, I became inspired to dance and also found out that it was a great way to lose weight.

Here are 10 benefits why you should dance:

1. To de-stress and let loose
2. Lose weight fast
3. Strengthens bones
4. Improve muscle tone & coordination
5. Increase energy
6. Improves cardiovascular system
7. Lowers risk of heart disease
8. Reduce blood pressure & cholesterol levels
9. Improves blood circulation
10. Increase flexibility and balance

I have a friend who shared with me the importance of stretching before dancing. This friend of mine, who is a professional dancer, mentioned to me that dancing is all about tempo. In order to gain the tempo, your muscles must be loose and relaxed. Stretching makes a great difference to loosening the muscles. In fact, that is the main reason why dancing is a common exercise where people get injured; lack of stretching. When it comes to stretching, always start slow and steady. I try to slowly stretch more and more and hold on for 45-50 seconds each time I stretch a particular area.

Dancing also provides a great channel for self-expression. Sometimes when I feel creative, I would just dance wildly in my own room. Now, that may sound silly but it helps! It makes me feel happier and joyful. It also allows me to express how I feel. All of us will have our artistic moments. If you are not sure on how to express it, dancing will do it for you.

Finally, dancing is very personal. Some people prefer tango, some prefer ballroom dancing, some prefer hip hop. The styles are endless. It is not like jogging where you stick to putting one foot in front of the other. The, of course, dancing can also be used to build good relationships with your partner as well as friends.

The next time you want something fun and exciting, look no further than dancing.

Recipe - Hearrty Mushroom Ragout (another pasta variation)

This recipe serves 4 people. But you can experiment and adjust:

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb cremini mushroom, quartered (baby portobellas or you may use some button mushrooms too)
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 fresh bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano (or marjoram)
black pepper
1 medium carrot, peeled, grated (or finely chopped)
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cubanelle pepper, seeded, chopped (or try anaheim or even green bell pepper)
1 roasted red pepper, seeded, chopped (can use from a jar)
salt
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup red wine
2 cups vegetable stock (or mushroom stock)
2 (15 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 lb whole wheat penne (or pasta of choice)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaf, shredded (about 10 leaves)
1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated (also, get some to pass at the table)

Directions
1 Boil a large pot of water for the pasta
2 While waiting, using a high sided skillet, heat oil over medium heat. When the oil ripples, add the mushrooms, allspice, bay leaf, oregano, and black pepper and cook until the mushrooms darken and become tender, 6-7 minutes.
3 Add carrots, celery, onions, garlic, cubanelle, bell peppers. Season with salt. Cook for 6-7 minutes more, stir in the tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add wine and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 minute to reduce the wine, then stir in the stock and tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Season with Worcestershire and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes more, then discard the bay leaf.
4 While the ragout is cooking, salt the boiling water and cook the penne to al dente. When the pasta is done, drain it and return it to the hot pot. Toss with half the sauce, the basil, and the 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Top bowlfuls of pasta with the remaining sauce and pass more grated cheese at the table.

Enjoy!

Lose Fats by Cycling

In our quest to lose fats and gain that slimmer body, we know we must exercise. We will be exploring several interesting activities that will help you burn the fats away without being too boring or painful.

In order to lose weight, we have to burn more calories than we consume. Thus one of my favourite exercises is cycling. Whenever I drop by East Coast Park, I make it a point to cycle for at least 2 hours. It is an efficient form of exercise as I can go on for 2 hours without feeling very tired and it burns a great deal of calories. Active cycling at a moderate speed burns around 600 calories per hour.

Our goal in cycling is not to win a race but simply to be able to cycle for a couple of hours at a time and a couple of times weekly. The key is consistency. I used to cycle only twice a week but now after keeping to this habit, I am now able to comfortably cycle much longer distances and for a longer time. Each week I try to extend my route a little longer and I actually managed to increase it up to 10 km within a month.

Here are 3 reasons why I love to cycle:

1. To De-Stress

As a fellow Singaporean, I understand that life can be really stressful due to the fast pace of life and sometimes we simply do not have the motivation or the drive to workout. However, cycling is actually a very good way to de-stress. Each time I cycle, I can feel the fresh breeze blowing at me while I zoom by at high speed. And the faster I go, the more enjoyable it becomes. It is very therapeutic and it keeps my body and mind rejuvenated. I can let loose my thoughts and worries and it makes me smile.

2. Non-Repetitive

Unlike other static exercises like sit-ups, you get to choose your own cycling route. Thus when I get on my bike, I always cycle around parks and other scenic routes. Sometimes to make it more enjoyable, I also encourage my friends to join me in cycling. It not only gives me a good workout, but it also gives me a good reason to ask my friends out and we can have an enjoyable time together. Cycling with friends simply makes your routine exercise more enjoyable.

3. Fast Results

The best part of cycling is that the results are pretty quick. I was very surprised to note that I lost 5 kg while cycling consistently for a month while maintaining my usual diet. I can also feel that my leg muscles are being worked on. Actually the best way to burn off fats is to gain more muscles. Most women are afraid of gaining muscles for obvious reasons. But strengthening your legs would only serve you better aesthetic-wise. I mean guys will always admire nice trim legs.

Hope that you can see the many benefits of cycling. When combined with natural supplements to help control your fat and sugar absorption, this is a fun way to lose fats.

Why some employers rather not hire fat people?

Recently, we have been talking about fat people being discriminated against, rather than just talking about losing fats.

I am not trying to be morbid or to stir up anything. But as I work with people trying to lose fats, a lot of these issues keep coming up and I feel we should talk about it rather than avoid it.

The latest topic is about employers who are biased against fat people. I recall one of the stories my friend, who is a Personal Trainer at a popular gym, told me. He was telling me that recently, he noticed quite a few “executive types” coming and signing up for packages at the gym. One of them signed him, and when asked, told my friend the reason he signed up.

Apparently, his boss told him to “shape up or ship out”. Not quite in those curt terms, but the message was clear. It seems that the boss felt his personal grooming carried a negative image for the company. He was to lose his tummy and get fit.

Really, I have nothing against getting fit. But the idea that it becomes an ultimatum for keeping your job? That is sad.

I wonder how many others have had similar experiences?

For myself, I practice brisk walking on a regular basis and take some fat blockers. I admit to not being a very physical person, and I would take all the help I can get.

Of course, we have to hear both sides of the story and I did ask a few employers and managers. Their response, as expected, was denial. But they do concede that they can empathize with those employers. Imagine if your sales people went out to see clients looking sloppy, what message would that convey to them? Now, if you were in some kind of health care, or one of those “look good-feel good” industry, and your sales or any of your staff looked clearly over-weight, what does that do for your corporate image? Even if they dressed well and presented themselves well, the message would be a direct opposite from the products/services that the company is trying to promote.

Now, I agree that in some cases, some level of discrimination is needed. Not necessarily approved, but being commercially driven, not much choices for the company.

We live with all kinds of social discrimination. Discriminating against fat people is not the worse, but it is prevalent. When you want to discriminate, then think about this – when YOU get pass forty years, and your metabolism starts to slow, and before you realize it enough to make adjustments to your lifestyle and diet, you stand a very high chance of being fat.

Next week onwards, I will start talking about some fun exercises that I have enjoyed over the years.

Does being fat affect mortality rates?

Every time when you hear talk about losing weight, losing fats and getting slim, you will almost always hear about the association to a “healthier” life.

So many studies seem to indicate that “being fat” has an impact on mortality. But is this really true and can it be scientifically proven?
There is an article written in the International Journal of Obesity that attempts to get to the bottom of this. “Does obesity shorten life? The importance of well-defined interventions to answer causal questions” is the title of the piece.

It is interesting because the article challenges some of the assumptions behind these conclusions. Comparing BMI levels and then coming to a conclusion that fat people have a higher mortality rate is not really an accurate and scientific way to do a study.

There are many other factors besides the BMI that determines a person’s mortality. More importantly, it might very well be that the fact that a person is trying to lower his BMI that causes his mortality.

Undeniably, being over-weight does have clear health consequences. But the paper was trying to illustrate that many of these studies do not meet the strict requirements to make such a statement.

The good news of course, is that being over-weight does not mean that you are guaranteed to die earlier. Basic principles of good health, exercise, healthy diet and so on play an important role in your life.

When you are going to do something about losing fats, make sure you have a sensible diet plan and it would also be good to include some exercise programs. Consult an expert if you are not sure what to do. Over exerting yourself is just as bad as not doing any exercise.

Lose Fats by Brisk Walking

Sometimes, when we try to lose fats, we think of the most challenging and painful ways to do so.

I guess it is because many people think that if it is too easy, it must not be very effective. That is so not true. Here, I would like to share with you one exercise that I do and have found to be not only effective, but gives be great joy and pleasure.

Every week, twice a week, I go to the nearby park and do Brisk Walking. Sometimes, I go down to the Botanic Gardens. Other times, I am at East Coast Park. Where ever it may be, without fail, I go for my weekly walks.

How is Brisk Walking different from normal walking?

You have heard that after meals, it is good to take a leisurely stroll to help digest the food, that is a good habit, but that is not Brisk Walking.

When you do Brisk Walking, you actually walk faster than normal. Hold your body upright, clench your fist, lift up your fore arms to your elbow level parallel to the floor. When you walk, make sure you heels land first and then roll rapidly forward.

Your steps are brisk and sure. Do not bounce, this is not jogging. There is no need to strain to go as fast as you can. Just walk quickly and with confidence. As a gauge, it will take you anywhere from 15 to 25 mins to finish 2.4km walk at a comfortable pace.

Make sure you have sensible walking shoes (jogging shoes are fine) and wear loose, comfortable clothing. Breathing is important, so tight and restrictive clothes are not ideal.

Hopefully, this simple suggestion will give you many hours and days of pleasure and a healthy lifestyle.

Fat Kids are stigmatized too

Last week, we talked about women being more discriminated against than men. I received several notes from readers, that there is another group that suffers a lot of discrimination – fat kids.

Children can sometimes be the most cruel. Simply because of their innocence, they usually say what is on their mind, no subtlety, no holds barred. And of course, what gets in their minds, is put there by what they hear, see and experience around them.

Sadly, the discrimination did not originate from children. Teachers and parents usually lead the charge when it comes to discrimination.

"The stigmatization directed at obese children by their peers, parents, educators and others is pervasive and often unrelenting," researchers with Yale University and the University of Hawaii at Manatoa wrote in the July 2007 issue of Psychological Bulletin

The lifestyle that we lead and the environment that we are in today is no longer the same as in the past. Where children used to have to walk or pedal their bikes to school, now, transportation is so convenient and affordable, no one does that any more. When bored, children in the 70’s and 80’s used to run around, kicking a ball, chasing each other or catching spiders. Today, TV and the Internet, not to mention console games, dominate a child’s life.

Compounding this already much more sedentary lifestyle is the fact that we eat much better today than before. Thanks to rising affluence, we stuff ourselves and our children with rich, delicious food.

It will be difficult to change eating habits over-night. For adults, taking fat blockers can help fight the fat build up. But for children, it is much more advisable to encourage them to lead a healthier, more active lifestyle. Controlling their snack in-take and regulating their diet is something that most parents can and should do.

Discrimination is not a nice thing. It hurts and leave psychological scars. Instead, let us move to help those in need to lose their fats and lead a happier, healthier life.

Is Liposuction a safe way to lose fats?

Sometimes, when we are trying our best to lose fats, we are prepared to try anything. Then you learn about this fantastic technique that simply sucks all the fats out of your body – liposuction.

Before we go on further, let us be very clear on one thing: liposuction is a form of minor operation. Yes, it is a medical procedure. In fact, the very flippant way liposuction has been introduced to the world has actually resulted in some horrifying stories.

The Singapore Government has a proposed legislation to control the use of liposuction (Proposed Liposuction Regime). This proposal has been widely debated by people in the industry and by observers.

But our point here is this, liposuction is a medical procedure, albeit a minor one. While it is not a major surgery, it does entail elements of medicinal health-care. Indiscriminate use of liposuction is not advisable.

Is liposuction safe?

The simple answer is yes, in the hands of a qualified practitioner. Is it a safe way to lose fats? Well, there are many other non-surgical, non-invasive way of losing fats. Unless you are very much over weight, there is really no need to step into such drastic measures.

Even for those whose BMI is beyond 35, liposuction is not the first option you should consider. With all the talk on losing fats using liposuction, many have disregarded the other side effects. Loose skin is one of the most common. With a proper diet and exercise program, you lose fat gradually and your skin remains toned and taunt. An artificial removal, suddenly losing inches, gives your skin no time to adjust.

There are cases where liposuction makes sense, and there are times when the alternatives are not only cheaper, but much more desirable. Think it through carefully.

Is it true that fat bias is worse for women?

Since we are on the topic of the social rejection of fat people, here is another hot discussion point – women get discriminated against far more than men.

Apparently, this report on weight discrimination released in a 2008 report by the International Journal of Obesity (Perceptions of weight discrimination: prevalence and comparison to race and gender discrimination in America) cited the discrimination to be almost three times as bad against women as against men.

The definition of being over weight was put at a weight level where the Body Mass Index (BMI is greater than 35. Interestingly, women even get discriminated at a BMI of between 30 – 35. They are discriminated against more than their male counter-parts in similar weight/height categories.

In society, many discriminations are found: weight, height, sex, age, race, religion and so on. Fortunately, for weight discrimination, there are ways to overcome them.

For women, dressing sensibly is a great start. By not accentuating the fat look, it will help keep some discrimination at bay. Having a bright, sunny disposition also helps. But the most effective way to end the discrimination is to lose fats.

Whether it is going on a diet, starting an exercise regime or using some natural fat reducing aids like herbs and fat blockers, it is a start.

For those who discriminate against fat people, understand that being over weight is just a state of the body at a point in time. It in no way reflects on who the person is. After all, just because you are skinny does not mean you are automatically regarded as a “nice person”, right?