I've gained 5kgs and want to lose it ASAP :(

[kirstymelb101]

Long story short. I've gained 5 kgs since moving to rural Isaan.

I'm not fat although I just don't feel satisfied with my weight gain.

My family has noticed my weight gain and tease me about it everyday. Thais love joking about this stuff !!

My diet basically consists of rice with every meal.

Most would suggest I stop eating rice, right? But it's hard to avoid NOT eating it in this part of town.

And my monthly funds aren't enough to buy fresh produce to sustain a healthy balanced diet.

So I eat like local Thais do. I have access to a limited range of fresh fruit/veg. And the local supermarket is a good 90ks away

My question is - What proportion of rice should/can I eat everyday? What are some fitness tips/advice u can recommend me?

squats?

sit-ups?
Jogging?
How often?
How many reps?
How many times a week?

Kirsty x0x Sawasdee ka ^^,

Edited August 20, 2013 by kirstymelb101

[hanno]

Squats and sit-ups will not make you lose weight unless you crank out hundreds.

Running is the most efficient way to lose weight. How much should you run? Simple: enough to have a calorie deficit. Keep in mind that most people vastly overestimate the amounts of calories they burn; a mile is less than 100 calories (or about 50 grams of steamed rice).

[rijb]

Your total daily calorie count should be about 2000 - 2500 calories a day. Google 'online calorie calculators' to decide your target intake.

One cup of cooked Jasmine rice is about 200 calories. If you eat 3 cups of rice a day, that's 600+ calories a day.

However, rice has lots of carbs (sugar). So, you might want to cut down on sugary drinks and fruits to compensate.

Exercise is always good for you. But, what (and how much) you eat is more important, than exercise, for losing weight.

Good luck!

[Kalbo]

Your total daily calorie count should be about 2000 - 2500 calories a day. Google 'online calorie calculators' to decide your target intake.

One cup of cooked Jasmine rice is about 200 calories. If you eat 3 cups of rice a day, that's 600+ calories a day.

However, rice has lots of carbs (sugar). So, you might want to cut down on sugary drinks and fruits to compensate.

Exercise is always good for you. But, what (and how much) you eat is more important, than exercise, for losing weight.

Good luck!

As always, it depends on the individual. I'm 45, 6'2", and weigh 92kgs Weight train 3x a week, hard cardio 2-3 times and I am on a 1800-2500 food intake. Anymore and my fat increases.

[rijb]

Changing your diet is the best way to lose weight. Exercise helps you keep the weight off.

[A1Str8]

Put your body into a calorie surplus and you will gain weight.

Put it into a calorie deficit and you will lose weight..ASAP:)

Simple as that, really.

If you wanna lose weight than just eat less and exercise.

Eating less specifically means..cut back on carbs. Yes it is the rice mostly that caused your body to gain weight. You are in Thailand so you are going to eat that rice anyway so the trick is: with every meal have a smaller portion of rice.

This way you ensure that you eat and have a meal everytime you want to but you will end up consuming less carbs. As a consequence your body will store less fat therefore you are going to lose much of the weight you have gained.

Also if you reside in Isaan and on a low budget then you dont have access to fancy gyms but you dont even need that.

Walk everyday a certain distance and stick to it.

Or jump ropes..sounds funny but for this exercise all you need is a rope and some space. But its effective. Jump ropes a few times a week not longer than 15 min and you will lose weight like there is no tomorrow.

Good luck

[hanno]

Your total daily calorie count should be about 2000 - 2500 calories a day. Google 'online calorie calculators' to decide your target intake.

I train for a marathon and eat 2,500 calories a day (male, 6'2", 85 kilos). I'd be surprised if a woman, which I am assuming the OP to be, that does no sports needs anything near that amount of calories.

[Jingthing]

Exercise alone is a VERY POOR way to lose weight! Do exercise for it's overall health benefits. To lose weight, you'll need to focus mostly on your food intake.

You say you can't manage to eat more vegetables. Too bad. You should do.

Are you eating processed foods? Too much sugar, including hidden sugar in your diet? If so, that's probably more the culprit than fatty foods.

Cut out ALL sugary drinks! No fake food snacks from 7-11, those are mostly sugars.

Rice? If cooking yourself, BROWN rice is much healthier. If you can't do brown rice, you should try to replace some white rice with more veg and limited portions of fruit.

If all you think you want to lose is 5 kilos that means you aren't very big. Be careful about a starvation/crash diet. That will do more harm than good and could easily backfire on you so that you gain even MORE back quickly.

Take a moderate approach. More than anything, learn more about healthier food choices, and follow them, and moderate and slow weight loss can happen. That is my advice if you really care about your long term HEALTH. Your current weight from the sound of it is not a health problem. Don't create one!

Not the answer you want I bet. Sorry. Don't believe people who tell you to focus on exercise only. That's not an efficient tactic.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Jingthing

[cardholder]

Your total daily calorie count should be about 2000 - 2500 calories a day. Google 'online calorie calculators' to decide your target intake.

One cup of cooked Jasmine rice is about 200 calories. If you eat 3 cups of rice a day, that's 600+ calories a day.

However, rice has lots of carbs (sugar). So, you might want to cut down on sugary drinks and fruits to compensate.

Exercise is always good for you. But, what (and how much) you eat is more important, than exercise, for losing weight.

Good luck!

I think she's female ??

[chiang mai]

The food that you eat has two choices, either it gets burned as energy or it gets stored as fat, you need to burn it before it can get stored.

If you can't cut down or get rid of the rice, eat less of it and do some form of moderate to hard exersise for half an hour, starting about 30 minutes after you START to eat, that way you'll burn off the calories rather than letting them be stored as fat. I'm diabetic and I use that trick to burn off my meals when I eat something that has more carbs in it than I should eat and it works every time, I test my blood glucose levels to check that it has worked and it's a very simple remedy.

[Jingthing]

It's not that simple.

Based on the OP, it's very obvious the primary issue is FOOD choices.

If eating cheap Thai food, like fish balls, meat balls, etc, those of course are highly processed and have lots of sugars.

I would bet sugars, including the white rice converting to sugars, are the main culprit here.

Thailand like the west now is an obesongenic environment for the masses. The OP isn't nearly obese. So right now this is a cosmetic issue, not a health issue. But to deal with the underlying causes now of the cosmetic health issue is a good idea for lifetime health and of course can gradually address the cosmetic issue.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Jingthing

[poanoi]

If you can stand it, grass and other veggies has very little nutrition in it,

so feed on the green stuff and you will go into a deficit / lose weight

[Sheryl]

I'm not sure I understand the part about funds insufficient since the foods you need to be eating more of -- fresh fruits and vegetables -- are very inexpensive. And there are small fresh markets pretty much everywhere in Thaialnd (usually late afternoons/evenings), no need to go to a supermarket.

A switch from white to brown rice will be helpful as will eating less rice -- strictly regulate yourself and measure out the portion, make up for it with salads, veggies etc. But if you are eating with others this will be hard.

Get/borrow a bicycle if you can and try to ride each day, its good exercise.

[Jingthing]

I agree exercise is helpful and health promoting, but in the case of the OP, just exercise won't be enough to deal with even the minor problem here. If there is a choice of better food choices vs. exercise, better food choices would be the much more efficient tactic. Not saying don't exercise. Of course exercise too but more for its HEALTH benefits rather than a weight loss tool.

I also think the no money for vegetables is a lame excuse in Thailand.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Jingthing

[tominbkk]

Substitute the rice with cabbage or other green veg. Avoid sugar and grains, and alcohol. Get out and move around at least an hour a day. That should do the trick!

[chiang mai]

It's not that simple.

Based on the OP, it's very obvious the primary issue is FOOD choices.

If eating cheap Thai food, like fish balls, meat balls, etc, those of course are highly processed and have lots of sugars.

I would bet sugars, including the white rice converting to sugars, are the main culprit here.

Thailand like the west now is an obesongenic environment for the masses. The OP isn't nearly obese. So right now this is a cosmetic issue, not a health issue. But to deal with the underlying causes now of the cosmetic health issue is a good idea for lifetime health and of course can gradually address the cosmetic issue.

Actually it is that simple but folks like to make a complex deal out of the subject, the fact is that if you understand it and time it right you can avoid taking on even a single gram of body fat by simply burning it before it has a chance to be stored as fat.

Now clearly the amount of exersise is relative to the volume and type of food consumed hence the more carb dense (carbs convert to sugar and store as fat) the meal the more exersise is required. Timing is everything though. some food type begin absorption into the blood stream within minutes of being consumed, others take a couple of hours, the problem food types are the former and you would need to self test your blood glucose levels after evey meal at one and two hour post prandial to see that - I have done that consistently for the past eight months and recorded the results.

So, I normally eat a very low glycemic diet that is balanced and high in protein but from time to time I like to eat something sinful like a pizza, only about once a month however. After I've eaten a pizza or similar I will run for thrity minutes and then check my blood sugar at two hours post prandial and the levels are as at fasting, circa 95/105, my weight never moves by more than one kilo before reverting to the baseline weight.

[poanoi]

I know a bodybuilder who would walk at a fast pace for over an hour

when he wanted to define before a competition, still think grass diet is 1st priority for @kirsty tho

[Jingthing]

Write a diet book. You'll be rich.

Sent from my GT-S5360B using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[chiang mai]

Write a diet book. You'll be rich.

Sent from my GT-S5360B using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The thing is JT that the process I described is the basic metabolic process that's common to everyone, most people get hung up on the calories in/energy used formula and all the associated fad/trendy things to eat or not eat that they can't see the basics any more. The bottom line for everyone is that whatever (carbs/sugars/protein) foodstuffs you put in your mouth has two choices, either get burnt as energy or stored as fat, what could be more simpler to understand.

[poanoi]

Obviously metabolism plays a tremendous role in this equation,

and there are meds for boosting metabolism, but the OP cant afford it, alas its grass diet time

Edited August 20, 2013 by poanoi

[Jingthing]

Yeah its so simple and the world gets fatter and fatter ...

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[chiang mai]

The trouble is that the one page instruction of how to loose weight and stay healthy simply wouldn't sell because it's not sexy or fad like, can you imagine a one page book! The other thing is that people like complex solutions and don't trust the simplest answer, there's something wrong with that they'll say, it can't be right. It's a bit like writing a book called how to be a millionaire where the easiest answer is to start saving 50 bucks a week at age 16, people know that's true but hardly anyone is interested in doing it, they'd rather have sexy solutions involving equities, bonds, PIBS, FIBS farts and the rest of it.

Well I tell you what, as more and more people get Diabetes they quickly learn the lesson about metabolism and absorption et al, may be in that respect diabetes is not entirely bad. From where I sit the best single investment a person can make in their health these days is to buy a glucometer and to test the blood glucose levels on a regular basis to understand the impact of their diet on their body, it's a real eye opener.

[poanoi]

On the diabetes thing, at least I am not into measuring and monitoring my health every day,

and i'm sure i'm not alone, so i will present @tropos suggestion, which i did have spare energy to do.

Make 1 blood test at a carecenter in morning before breakfast,

make another blood test exactly 2 hour after a standard meal,

this will be more accurate and need no further fiddling,

its gonna be a couple of years before i think of it again,

since i had no issues

Edited August 20, 2013 by poanoi

[robblok]

Yeah its so simple and the world gets fatter and fatter ...

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Because we are eating more and more calories there is data on that. Its simple.

Calorie Trends

The amount of food available and calories consumed by Americans has increased from 1970 to 2003. According to the USDA, the average American daily calorie intake was 2,234 in 1970 and 2,757 in 2003. This is an increase of 523 calories per day. Eating 500 extra calories each day leads to a significant weight gain if the excess calories are not burned through physical activity

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/347737-the-average-american-daily-caloric-intake/#ixzz2cW5ar4bS

[robblok]

Now an awnser to the OP, you are eating too much you just have to eat less. If you can substitute rice with vegetables you will win a lot.

Its not feasible to expect to burn it off it should be a two pronged approach eat less and get active. Its real hard to burn off a big amount of calories so your biggest win will come from controlling your food intake. The exercise will help however.

[Kalbo]

Now an awnser to the OP, you are eating too much you just have to eat less. If you can substitute rice with vegetables you will win a lot.

Its not feasible to expect to burn it off it should be a two pronged approach eat less and get active. Its real hard to burn off a big amount of calories so your biggest win will come from controlling your food intake. The exercise will help however.

One 'trick' I found, (I read it somewhere,can't remember where), is to substitute mash potatoes and rice with mashed cauliflower. I'm a cauliflower fan anyways, so this was a very easy switch.

[kirstymelb101]

Very useful information guys/girls. I'll definitely take every ones advice into consideration.

Obviously I know it's essential to eat healthy/exercise frequently in order to achieve my goal.

But I just wanted other peoples perspectives on how to go about it.

The fresh fruit/veg market is only open once a week & has little variety to choose from.

ie. Snake beans. Spring onions. Lemon grass. Basically Ingredients I can't use to make a healthy salad.

I guess I'll just have to make do with what I have

[chiang mai]

Very useful information guys/girls. I'll definitely take every ones advice into consideration.

Obviously I know it's essential to eat healthy/exercise frequently in order to achieve my goal.

But I just wanted other peoples perspectives on how to go about it.

The fresh fruit/veg market is only open once a week & has little variety to choose from.

ie. Snake beans. Spring onions. Lemon grass. Basically Ingredients I can't use to make a healthy salad.

I guess I'll just have to make do with what I have

Be careful how much fruit and what types of fruit you eat, people who go on diets like to eat lots of fruit because they think it's super healthy but some fruit contains so much sugar that it's hard not to gain weight.

[robblok]

Very useful information guys/girls. I'll definitely take every ones advice into consideration.

Obviously I know it's essential to eat healthy/exercise frequently in order to achieve my goal.

But I just wanted other peoples perspectives on how to go about it.

The fresh fruit/veg market is only open once a week & has little variety to choose from.

ie. Snake beans. Spring onions. Lemon grass. Basically Ingredients I can't use to make a healthy salad.

I guess I'll just have to make do with what I have

Just try to eat less of what your eating. Also do you drink stuff like cola cola and that.. try to cut it out if you do.

[kirstymelb101]

I heard fruits contain 'natural' sugar, which is different from processed sugar. I'm guessing this is false?