The New Natural Diet & Weight Loss

Talking about friends...

A friend and ex-colleague of mine was all of 28 when she died. News of her death sent shockwaves through out the secondary school we were both teaching at.

We were all gobsmacked because not only was she beautiful, incredibly talented, and intelligent. She was also very popular amongst students, especially the boys. She hid a tiny tattoo on her ankle well beneath tight-fitting pants, that would "unconsciously" show whenever she got onto her motorbike to ride to or away from the school campus. She was hot!

Word had it that she was taking slimming pills to a point where her liver completely shut down. And along with it, the rest of her body.

Not long after that, another familiar face, a girl I went to school with appeared on the telly. She too had acute liver failure and was awaiting an immediate liver transplant from her then boyfriend. She thankfully survived the ordeal, but I
doubt her life was ever the same again.

But what was most unsettling about these two stories is the fact that neither of them was fat by the world's standards.

I'm a woman too, and agree with you there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to look good, feel great and be slim and sexy at the same time. But there's everything wrong when you're taking pills and short cuts and hurting or killing yourself in the process, albeit unwittingly.

How about taking some simple and effective steps to cut down the excess weight, naturally, without having to fear the side effects and spend excessive money on dubious supplements or drugs?

I mean, think with me for a moment, if you're still eating the same amount of food from before you were 18, chances are you WILL surely put on the pounds. After all, fact is that our metabolism generally slows down with age. And besides, what's causing all that extra weight gain?

I'm telling you, carbs is the culprit. And you really don't need an expert to tell you that.

Look! Carbs-cutting works for me. If it can work for an ordinary person like me, it can work for you too!

So if you're not happy with the way you look - the way I was back in 2014 - and you'd like to get back to how you looked when you were younger then I'd suggest the safest, most logical thing to do - cut out the carbs, period.

You may not feel this immediately but overtime, you'll feel your energy coming back. You'll find a new spring in your step, a zest for life you never had. You'll actually turn back the clock on aging (provided you don't smoke or drink). Best part is, in the long run, you'll get to spend more quality time with your family and loved ones. So, why not?

Speaking of loved ones, maybe at first they'll notice that you're eating differently. But after a while,  they'll get used to the idea and cutting out carbs is really no big deal. If they do ask, just take it as your chance to educate them about the obvious disadvantages of carbs. Maybe you'll end up inspiring them to do the same so they'll lose weight and get healthy too!

Bottom line is, over time, your friends and family will get used to this idea that you are doing all you can to stay healthful and leave you be. In fact, most people will be too engrossed  in their own conversations and too busy filling their own tummies to notice what's on your plate.

But say you're already cutting out the carbs from your diet and you've  successfully socialised your family and friends to this new natural diet, will you still be allowed to snack when you feel the urge?

The response is a resounding, YES!!! And I'll talk more about this in my next post, watch this space!

Love,
Lynette Tan

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Food Combo & Weight Loss

Along with the struggle to maintain my ideal weight, I've always had trouble with digestion.

Even as a kid, I'd be enjoying my food one minute, chomping it down heartily, and then I'll be retching and crying my lungs out the next. It was just awful! And this went on for years!

It wasn't until I read about proper food combination in Anthony Robbins's first book Unlimited Power when I was a teenager, that I got out of this vicious cycle.

Without getting too technical, just remember that carbohydrates and proteins require different enzymes to digest. So eating them together may cause...?

Indigestion!

And that's how most people at work fall into a food coma right after a heavy lunch, because they mixed proteins with carbs!

So in order to aid digestion, foods from these two food groups ought to be eaten separately. Got it?

After knowing a little more about proper food combinations, I'd eat my steak + salad/steamed veg and then wait religiously for precisely three and a half hours later (approximate time taken for each condensed food type - carbs or protein - to be digested) to eat my baked potato + salad/steamed veg. That worked well for a start.

But after a while, not only did I find this way of eating highly restrictive, it was also very inconvenient. Plus, I noticed that the weight loss resulting from this method of eating was only effective up to a certain point. Beyond that, I'd reach a plateau. *GRRRR*

What I found even more effective and convenient was to cut out carbs altogether!

In my previous post, we've already established that carbs are converted to sugar in our bodies. And that they bring little or no benefits but add heaps to our weight and waist, cause "inflam-aging" and feed cancer cells. Given the obvious disadvantages, why not just cut out carbs?

Now, before you conclude that I have gone completely mad, I challenge you to cut out carbs completely from your dinner (no carbs after 6pm daily) for 30 days and see if your weight comes down. If you follow this diligently, trust me, it will come down!

But what CAN we eat then? Well, simple! You can still enjoy tasty foods like:-

eggs + salad
chicken + salad
pork + salad OR pork knuckles/ribs + salad
beef + salad
lamb + salad
fish/lobster/prawns + salad

(If you love curries, go ahead and eat it to your heart's content + salad, just NO rice/bread/potato/pasta/prata and its various permutations and you'll do just fine! Winks!)

Masala Jumbo Prawns with fresh salad. [Photo Credit: Jedidiah Tan]

Notice they're all with fresh, raw salads and not cooked vegetables, because most vegetables turn to starch when cooked and you'll end up eating what you're trying to avoid in the first place. Besides, vegetables are live foods, so it's best to eat them as is, with all of their life-giving enzymes and nutrients still intact! Exposing them to heat above 47 degrees celsius would thoroughly destroy all their natural goodness.

Lemon Garlic Butter Lobster with salad, Rosemary & Thyme White Snapper with salad.

But what if I get hungry easily you say? And how can I make the switch just like that? Carbs has always been a big part of my life! How do I explain to family and friends, especially at family dinners and get-togethers?

Fret not! Answers are on their way...

Love,

Lynette Tan

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Cut Out Carbs, Lose Weight and Become Younger

I've just come back from a relaxing and rejuvenating trip to Goa, India where there're stretches and stretches of long beautiful beaches, breathtaking sunrises and sunsets just minutes away from our resort at Morjim.

House Boat along the Chapora River, Goa, India. [Photo Credit: Jedidiah Tan]

When we first got there, the locals thought that I was only 28! Can you imagine my glee...hehe (oh no it's bubbling up again, haha!)

And then, when my husband and I were out celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary on a house boat cruising down the amazingly calm Chapora River another couple on board said that we looked too young to have been married for a decade!!

Ah... what bliss! *G-R-I-N-S*

Celebrating 10 years of marital bliss. #familiesforlife #marriedforlife

Truth is, you can lose weight and reverse aging naturally when you cut out carbs. That's because carbs and sugar cause "inflam-aging" = inflammation + accelerated aging - a term coined by health experts.

Along with cutting out all manners and forms of sugary drinks from your diet, cut out carbs also because,

CARBS = SUGAR

So simply put, carbs and sugar do nothing but add to your weight and waist. Worse still, carbs are converted to sugar and they AGE our bodies like nothing else! In fact, some studies have shown that carbs and sugar feed and grow cancer cells in our bodies.

Carbs here refer to stuff like (this list is by no means exhaustive):-

bread - white, brown, wholemeal, wholegrain, multi-grain, corn, puri, bagel, baguette, pita

rice - bryani, rice cakes, glutinous, jasmine, basmati, paella, risotto, sushi-rice

noodles - all kinds, including bee hoon/vermicelli, tang hoon, yellow/laksa noodles, mee pok, kuey teow, kuay chap, mee tai mak literally translated to mean mouse or rat tail (I think you get the idea! And it doesn't matter if they're fried, steamed, baked, broiled, grilled, whatever!)

prata and its equivalent - in all its forms of cos! Thosai (dosa), tissue, chapati, naan

pasta - linguine, spagetti, angel hair, penne, fusilli, fettuccini, macaroni, lasagne, farfelle

potatoes - unless they are purple or sweet potatoes!

cereals  - (yes, you heard me right) wholemeal, cornflakes, muesli, honey stars, fruit loops, granola, oatmeal squares, oats (unless it's steel cut oatmeal)

popiah skin (doesn't matter if they're fried or steamed. Even though it's very thin, it's still carbs nonetheless)

soon kueh/peng kueh/orh kueh or yam cake/fried carrot cake (includes both black and white)

cakes - layered, nonya kueh kueh, coconut, gula melaka, cheese, coffee, carrot (carrots become carbs when cooked so I only eat them raw!)

biscuits - salted or cream crackers, jam sandwiches, vegetable-flavoured

pastries - financiers, madeleines, macaroons, macarons (and all of their fancy names)

waffles/crepes/hot cakes/pancakes

pretzels, crackers (including nachos and tacos), and chips

The list goes on and on so broadly carbs include anything and everything that's made from flour! (Might also be useful to note especially since Chinese New Year is just around the corner!)

But I hear you, those are staples! And leaving out the carbs is counterintuitive to the typical Asian diet where we usually eat a lot of rice or noodles with meats and veg. So instead of total abstinence, would it help that we just ate less carbs? And if really carbs are not good for us, what do we eat? What about the famous food pyramid, and the suggested food comb0 of  proteins and carbs and all that jazz about balanced meals that we ought to have?

Answers to these questions and more in my upcoming post, winks!

Love, 

Lynette Tan

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Weighty Issues

Believe you me, I've always had a weight issue. I'm serious.

I started dieting when I was 14.

It was Chinese New Year and one of my aunties, those you see only once a year (and for good reason cuz of their toxic tongues), said to me, "Aiyoh, girl! Why you so fat?"

Mind you, I weighed only 50kg at that time. But those words weighed a ton on my mind.

Self-consciousness took over and I was never the same.

Coke was the rage at that time but I didn't give two hoots about how I wouldn't fit in the crowd. I was on a mission. So, I first began by cutting out all sugary drinks in all their forms - sodas, fruit-flavoured juices, water chestnut, soya bean milk, chin chow, bandung, etc.

And after keeping this up for about two weeks, I actually lost 2kg! Just like that!
I haven't drunk sugary drinks since.

Then, I stuck to only three meals a day and cut out all snacks - potato chips (Jack&Jill, remember?), corn chips, including my all time fav - tapioca chips with chilli, mamee, along with biscuits, cakes, nonya kueh kueh etc. And I remember bringing my weight down to a healthy 45kg (I'm petite, so that's quite ideal for me).

Over the years, I've tried many other diets - Atkins, Paleo or Caveman, Blood-type, Macrobiotic, Liquid or Juice Cleanse, Okinawa, the all-carbs Starch Solution, Daniel's Plan and I was even a hard-core vegetarian for three years!

My weight would always hover between 45-48kg so I took it for granted that it'll always stay that way. But as age caught up, I started getting lazy. I stopped exercising, watching my weight, plus I ate to my heart's content!

I was just so fulfilled, everything was going great in my life and I was rewarding myself with good food, fine dining, great gourmet cuisine. I didn't realise that I had put on so much weight until I found a lump in my right breast - don't worry, it's benign, I got it removed and I've been given a clean bill of health!

But THAT, was my wake-up call to relook at what I'm eating and how I'm living my life!

At that time, I weighed 56kg! I totally filled up my jeans. I felt clumsy - always kicking over things or tripping over myself cuz my reflexes were somewhat slower, I felt I had little or no energy, my clothes were getting tighter, I was getting sick all the time and overall I felt really lousy about myself.

So how on earth did I get back in shape?

I'll tell you exactly how in my next few posts so stick with me! Winks!

Love, 

Lynette Tan

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The Truth about Chocolates

I have a renewed interest in chocolates mainly because of a new book that I had just picked up called Smart Fat. When I read that the authors advocated the eating of chocolates, I almost passed out! I've always loved chocolates, but I've stayed away from them on purpose because I just wasn't sure!

Chocolates was one of those grey areas for me. You know some people say chocolates are good, they contain lots of antioxidants, while others declare it a prohibited item in their kitchen.

And because I was two minds about it, it wasn't uncommon to see bars of gourmet, rum and raisin flavoured chocolates in my fridge from time to time. That is until I read the truth about chocolates.

So if you're in the same dilemma, get this straight once and for all - dark chocolates are good for you! Y-AY!!!

They do indeed contain lots of healthful antioxidants but just how dark have the chocolates got to be before they're considered healthful?

Ideally, they should contain 80% cacao. But if you're just learning how to enjoy dark chocolate, I'd say 70% is the sweet spot.

Since starting on my Smart Fat diet about two weeks ago, I've progressed from 84% to 92% and now to 99% organic dark chocolate! It's crazy I know but you know what?

Snacking on a piece dark chocolate never felt better!

I didn't feel hungry for a long, long time. It was as if the bitter taste of the dark chocolate quelled all the hunger pangs that I had, if any at all (I really don't remember having any food cravings, zilch, nada!).

So if you're looking for something to munch on at the office, minus the guilt, then I'd say snack on a piece of dark dark chocolate! Winks!

Love, 

Lynette Tan

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See the Good in Green Tea

I remember it was about four in the morning and I was lying in bed wide awake and staring at the ceiling of my rented apartment in St. Lucia.

It was my second year of uni and I had already finished my assignment but I just couldn't get to sleep!

Nope, I wasn't troubled. In fact, I didn't have anything on my mind that night so what in the world was keeping me awake?

Then I recalled having made and drunk bottles of hot green tea. I had just discovered it, and brought it home from Woolies. I was so gung ho I'd even add two teabags in a 1 litre bottle at any one time and let it steep for forever just for that extra oomph!

And that, in a nutshell, was my first experience with green tea. And that's how I'll never forget that green tea contains caffeine. Yup, the stuff that kept me awake that fateful night. LOL!

Over the years, I've learnt how to make green tea work for me instead of against me. I've progressed from teabags to loose tea leaves from Twinings to TWG cutting out all the sugar and the cream and here's why I still think it's important to incorporate at least four cups of green tea into your your diet daily.

Green tea:-

1. Ups your metabolism; helps you lose weight
2. Contains powerful antioxidants that delay aging
3. Improves brain function so you become smarter
4. Helps you live longer by lowering your risks of heart disease, and cancer

Personally, I'm not against coffee drinkers (I married one, although he lied about that...BIG TIME... when we were dating...haha! Anyway that's a story for another day) I don't drink coffee because that one time I did when I was a kid left a horrible stench in my mouth. I didn't like it. So, I was thrilled to find out that green tea contains natural antibodies that fight off bacteria in the mouth that causes bad breath. Plus, it may not be such a bad idea to have your coffee fix first and then wash it down with some green tea. In any case, green tea seems like a great drink to reach out for at the office especially if you interact with people, a lot!

Speaking of which, the best way to enjoy a cuppa green tea is to let it steep for three minutes, no more cuz that's the perfect amount of time taken for the flavours to be thoroughly infused and to brew the most delicious, healthful drink.

But if you're like me, worried that it'll keep you awake, drink your four cups of green tea well before 6pm and you'll be just fine! Winks!

Love, 

Lynette Tan

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Fuss-free Blended Meals

I have this theory… that as we grow older, things are supposed to get easier. Some would call that “an anointing of ease”.

Like can you imagine doing the same things over and over again but each time you do it, it gets progressively more effortless PLUS you do it quicker as you discover new ways of doing it and you get better and better at it!

Discovering how to pack all the nutrients and natural goodness, of all that earth has to offer, into a glass of smoothie feels just like that!

And I’m so eager to share this with you because eating or drinking this #smartfat shake for lunch is the quickest way to fill you up and keep you full for longer minus the hassle of having to thoroughly chew through your food.

The best part is, there won’t be embarrassingly loud farts that would normally result from having consumed incorrectly combined foods. And you don’t have to worry about falling into a food coma like you usually do after a heavy meal. In fact, you’ll feel more energised and ready to go!

This au naturel almond milkshake is especially great for when you have no time for lunch or when you don’t really feel like eating but you know you have to. So try this out when you have the chance to, it could be a real game changer!

Ingredients:-

1/4 cup Almonds (sprouted)
1 cup Distilled water
1 handful Kale (frozen)
1 cup Berries (strawberries, blueberries, boysenberries, raspberries all frozen)
1 tsp Chia seeds
1 tsp Flaxseeds
1 tsp Cacao powder (cold pressed)
1 tbsp MCT oil (this can be substituted with coconut oil or almond oil)

Here’s my favourite part, cuz it’s so darn easy…

Method:-

Blend all ingredients until smooth (this shouldn’t take more than a minute), and drink up right away!

Love, 

Lynette Tan

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