I've been meaning to put a post on how I lost a total of 23kg from the time I was heaviest 83kg (2018) until the best numbers I have ever seen in a long time on the scale - 60kg (2019). It started with cutting down on sugary drinks and increasing more wellness activity until the day I started keto. In the past, I have successfully lost 10kg and 7kg on two separate occasions in 20 days. You can read about it here 2014 10kg lost and 2013 7kg lost.
By now you know I have tried almost everything related to weight loss and shared most of the reviews on my blog. Of course, it always yoyos back and that's not because the program failed or the bounce backs are worst. The answer is simple, it's because I went back to my old ways.
Let's be honest, no weight loss program will help if we don't change the way we consume our food. You can't blame it on the programs when you're back to indulging yourself on carbs and sugar. It's not easy staying off that delicious path because we live in the best food region of the world Asia where food is abundance - fried, grilled, steam or bake.
Our love for sugar and carbs in this generation is the real evil.
But of course, it's hard to say no. We have been conditioned to think it's normal to consume a large amount of refined sugar and carbs in our diet. From being brainwash to eating breakfast, three meals to five meals a day to having desserts after every meal. Are those normal? According to Dr. Jason Fung from the Obesity Code and The Diabetes Code, no that's not normal.
Highly recommended reading if you want to change the way you eat.
The food conspiracy is all over the internet. From sugar to carbs to fast food and milk. Google to read. The plague these days are bubble milk or boba craze which has gotten us into a frenzy and self-denial of why shouldn't we indulge in such pleasures of life when it's widely advertised. The Ministry of Health isn't putting a stop on it, so why should we?
I know it's easy to deny yourself the path to good health, I myself am under denial most of the time. It is when I learned I could've died from the very food I eat that I started taking my weight seriously (I am still struggling with temptations).
the Keto eating guide
It was the day I quit the loves of my life - sugar, carbs, and late-night eating. Too late because my body has already suffered from it. I have been feeling less of myself in the past 2 years with health issues such as inflammation, lack of energy, weak immune system (so I get sick easily), my period was irregular (so I thought I was pre-menopausing), yeast infections, skin infections and so on.
Tired of the issues, I went to see the doctor and after a blood check, my doctor told me I could've died. I don't want to share the details because I am not ready but I want to say it woke me up and I made the decision to change.
The first step was to lose all that toxic weight. The second was to change the way I eat. The third was to increase activity even though I hated exercising so much.
I scour the internet to find how I could do that. I found Dr. Jason Fung and read his books. I learned about the benefits of intermittent fasting from him and staying on a low-carb, whole foods diet. Then I found out about Keto from Thomas DeLaure dub the Keto guru on youtube.
There are many versions of Keto on the net, but I find Thomas's the most accurate about Keto. I highly recommend watching his videos to understand what's Keto and also intermittent fasting. His videos can sometimes be too much because he doesn't want to miss the science of why. It can get boring, yes but it is helpful.
I started the Keto diet on 11th March 2019. I did not document nor take photographs to track my weight loss journey because I didn't know it would affect me that much. All I wanted is to feel better, be healthier and lose all that toxic weight.
The first month, I lost 10kg
The second month, about 5kg
The third month about another 3kg
I have a few pictures to show of my keto weight loss journey and how I have evolved from being on a low-carb diet. The first three months I was quite serious about losing a chunk of toxic weight. It was also the easiest and hardest for me to do. Easiest being I was serious because, at that time, I was really unhealthy and facing issues. Hardest was because I went cold turkey on day 1 and decided to take a risk to subject my body to an extreme change, I was weak for the first week and slept early for that period of time (by 9pm).
The second week I became keto-adapted (fat adapted) and it was easier to be on intermittent fasting which I started to experiment on 16:8 and then 18:6 and then became OMAD (one meal a day). The third month, if I remember correctly I started extended fasting (June) for 3 days straight with just water and coffee. It was then that I reach my goal weight of 60kg.
I had turned to whole foods for the first month and only allowing myself chicken breasts as a luxury at that time. I ate a lot of green leafy vegetables, cook soup and meal prep at home. I ate my dinner early (like 5 - 6pm) and then going to massage at night to help detox or improve my lymphatic flow. I drink lots of water every day. Now I have started to enjoy black coffee and ice americanos during lunchtime when I'm fasting.
It's not hard just google keto foods and look at the articles and images even recipes that you can find. Just follow. It's always leafy vegs, lean meat proteins such as chicken breasts, any kind of berries (I take strawberries and kiwi).
The trick is to just avoid refined sugar (sugary drinks, desserts, etc) and refined carbs (rice, noodles, pasta, bread, potatoes, etc). That will help you lose toxic weight fast. It will also help with water retention as carbs retain water and make you bloated and tired all the time. Sugar is addictive so cut it down (will be tough) try to drink lemon water which helps!
By nearly 3 months, I decided to allow myself the luxury of eating hot pot because Yee Ming wanted to eat Haidilao at Sunway Pyramid. It was at that time, I started to relax and allow myself more variety and luxury of dining out. On weekdays I would maintain my salads with protein and weekends I would keto cheat with hot pot (protein with vegs) or Korean bbq (bbq protein with vegs).
These items had become my must-haves during this weight loss journey. Just click on the links to go to the shop. If you're new to iHerb do use my link bcoz I would get 10% reward to deduct my purchases. This helps me to continue buying my stuff!
By now you know I have tried almost everything related to weight loss and shared most of the reviews on my blog. Of course, it always yoyos back and that's not because the program failed or the bounce backs are worst. The answer is simple, it's because I went back to my old ways.
Let's be honest, no weight loss program will help if we don't change the way we consume our food. You can't blame it on the programs when you're back to indulging yourself on carbs and sugar. It's not easy staying off that delicious path because we live in the best food region of the world Asia where food is abundance - fried, grilled, steam or bake.
Our love for sugar and carbs in this generation is the real evil.
But of course, it's hard to say no. We have been conditioned to think it's normal to consume a large amount of refined sugar and carbs in our diet. From being brainwash to eating breakfast, three meals to five meals a day to having desserts after every meal. Are those normal? According to Dr. Jason Fung from the Obesity Code and The Diabetes Code, no that's not normal.
Highly recommended reading if you want to change the way you eat.
this pic was taken during my Sabah trip to celebrate Baby G's birthday
and while there, I met up with local beauty blogger Myra
I looked like a stuffed turkey here
I looked like a stuffed turkey here
The food conspiracy is all over the internet. From sugar to carbs to fast food and milk. Google to read. The plague these days are bubble milk or boba craze which has gotten us into a frenzy and self-denial of why shouldn't we indulge in such pleasures of life when it's widely advertised. The Ministry of Health isn't putting a stop on it, so why should we?
I know it's easy to deny yourself the path to good health, I myself am under denial most of the time. It is when I learned I could've died from the very food I eat that I started taking my weight seriously (I am still struggling with temptations).
the Keto eating guide
going wholefoods is easy and better for health
It was the day I quit the loves of my life - sugar, carbs, and late-night eating. Too late because my body has already suffered from it. I have been feeling less of myself in the past 2 years with health issues such as inflammation, lack of energy, weak immune system (so I get sick easily), my period was irregular (so I thought I was pre-menopausing), yeast infections, skin infections and so on.
Tired of the issues, I went to see the doctor and after a blood check, my doctor told me I could've died. I don't want to share the details because I am not ready but I want to say it woke me up and I made the decision to change.
The first step was to lose all that toxic weight. The second was to change the way I eat. The third was to increase activity even though I hated exercising so much.
there are many versions of Keto online
(it's healthy fats and not bad fats that u should eat)
(it's healthy fats and not bad fats that u should eat)
I scour the internet to find how I could do that. I found Dr. Jason Fung and read his books. I learned about the benefits of intermittent fasting from him and staying on a low-carb, whole foods diet. Then I found out about Keto from Thomas DeLaure dub the Keto guru on youtube.
watch this to get started on what's Keto
There are many versions of Keto on the net, but I find Thomas's the most accurate about Keto. I highly recommend watching his videos to understand what's Keto and also intermittent fasting. His videos can sometimes be too much because he doesn't want to miss the science of why. It can get boring, yes but it is helpful.
What is Keto Diet?
The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet. It lowers blood sugar and insulin levels, and shifts the body’s metabolism away from carbs and towards fat and ketones. - Healthline.com
keto food list to refer
I started the Keto diet on 11th March 2019. I did not document nor take photographs to track my weight loss journey because I didn't know it would affect me that much. All I wanted is to feel better, be healthier and lose all that toxic weight.
The first month, I lost 10kg
The second month, about 5kg
The third month about another 3kg
I have a few pictures to show of my keto weight loss journey and how I have evolved from being on a low-carb diet. The first three months I was quite serious about losing a chunk of toxic weight. It was also the easiest and hardest for me to do. Easiest being I was serious because, at that time, I was really unhealthy and facing issues. Hardest was because I went cold turkey on day 1 and decided to take a risk to subject my body to an extreme change, I was weak for the first week and slept early for that period of time (by 9pm).
The second week I became keto-adapted (fat adapted) and it was easier to be on intermittent fasting which I started to experiment on 16:8 and then 18:6 and then became OMAD (one meal a day). The third month, if I remember correctly I started extended fasting (June) for 3 days straight with just water and coffee. It was then that I reach my goal weight of 60kg.
use this guide the next time u go out grocery shopping
I had turned to whole foods for the first month and only allowing myself chicken breasts as a luxury at that time. I ate a lot of green leafy vegetables, cook soup and meal prep at home. I ate my dinner early (like 5 - 6pm) and then going to massage at night to help detox or improve my lymphatic flow. I drink lots of water every day. Now I have started to enjoy black coffee and ice americanos during lunchtime when I'm fasting.
It's not hard just google keto foods and look at the articles and images even recipes that you can find. Just follow. It's always leafy vegs, lean meat proteins such as chicken breasts, any kind of berries (I take strawberries and kiwi).
The trick is to just avoid refined sugar (sugary drinks, desserts, etc) and refined carbs (rice, noodles, pasta, bread, potatoes, etc). That will help you lose toxic weight fast. It will also help with water retention as carbs retain water and make you bloated and tired all the time. Sugar is addictive so cut it down (will be tough) try to drink lemon water which helps!
By nearly 3 months, I decided to allow myself the luxury of eating hot pot because Yee Ming wanted to eat Haidilao at Sunway Pyramid. It was at that time, I started to relax and allow myself more variety and luxury of dining out. On weekdays I would maintain my salads with protein and weekends I would keto cheat with hot pot (protein with vegs) or Korean bbq (bbq protein with vegs).
These items had become my must-haves during this weight loss journey. Just click on the links to go to the shop. If you're new to iHerb do use my link bcoz I would get 10% reward to deduct my purchases. This helps me to continue buying my stuff!
- Carb Blockers
Which I order from iHerb (US website) which gives really good pricing on supplements, health products etc. I buy Irwin's Natural Carb Blocker. They're made from white kidney beans which helps to stop the enzymes that break down complex carb into simple carbs for the body to absorb and turn into glucose. - Atkins Chocolate (Keto friendly)
I also buy my Atkins chocolate from here (low carb, zero - low sugar). I would recommend the peanut butter cups, caramel chew nut, and caramel chocolate nut bar. - Zero Calorie Rice/Noodle/Kuey teow)
Shirataki or "Miracle Noodles" that's made of glucomannan fiber (konjac plant root). Go shopee to buy. These help to supplement your craving for carbs because they're soluble fiber and helps make you feel and satisfy your craving for noodles or rice. Because it's 97% water, it's best eaten wet/soup which gives u a near likeness of what you're missing out in real carbs.
The kuey teow is definitely a pho-substitute if you're ordering Super Saigon just opt out for noodles and use konjac kuew teow instead.
For the konjac rice, they are beautiful with soups instead of fry as rice. They can't beat real rice because they don't have that starchy body. They're more like rubbery Japanese rice. - Probiotics
Helps to improve your gut health and digestion. We don't think much of it but it does help because if your stomach good bacteria is good, it helps to break down food and clear rubbish out. - Biotin
If you're going low carb/keto, I would advise you to start taking biotin so you don't lose your hair in the process. - Vitamin B / Supplements
Make sure you're getting your minerals and vitamins for your body. Extreme changes in diet or a cut down from usual dietary habits may affect your body. You'll lack certain nutrients normally found so vitamins help. Get multi-vits from anywhere. - Milk Thistle
If you've a fatty liver or a prone to it after a blood work check. You can get Milk Thistle to help. Just read about it, it's recommended by doctors to start taking milk thistles and probiotics for health. - Fish Oil
For better heart health, lowering triglycerides level (bad fat/cholesterol). - Braggs Amino Acids (soy sauce replacement)
Soy sauce is high in sodium, swapping it for amino acids or coconut amino acids can help lower the sodium intake greatly. It makes a great marinade as well. If you love coriander, garlic, chili and soy sauce like me, make your own sauce at home to eat with your keto meals. iHerb has coconut amino acids in original, teriyaki and garlic. - Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
There are many sources on ACV being a powerful support for lowering blood sugar level, aiding in weight loss and etc. Google to read. I dislike the smell but many keto gurus swear by it. I try not to take this while on fasting because it makes me hungry instead of helping me to be full.
There are many keto supplements that you can take. I would recommend doing some reading on what you need and don't need as it's also depending on what you're eating e.g if you don't like salmon, avocados, do take fish oil. Magnesium? It's from our leafy greens, nuts, avocados. These help as well to counter keto flu. Read five keto supplements or google to find out about keto supplements here.
What's Keto Flu? It's carb flu. This happens when you start keto somewhat like a carb withdrawal symptom. It's flu-like symptoms. I experience this after a week on keto. I had flu, cough, etc. I counter with an increase of fluids (water) and taking magnesium and potassium-rich food/supplements. It will soon pass don't worry!
it's all about research and preparation. If you don't understand what's keto, you will be confused about what to eat.
What's Keto Flu? It's carb flu. This happens when you start keto somewhat like a carb withdrawal symptom. It's flu-like symptoms. I experience this after a week on keto. I had flu, cough, etc. I counter with an increase of fluids (water) and taking magnesium and potassium-rich food/supplements. It will soon pass don't worry!
it's all about research and preparation. If you don't understand what's keto, you will be confused about what to eat.
My Keto Weight Loss Journey
(I only started to notice the changes after a month)
(I only started to notice the changes after a month)
the first time I realize I looked different
I started feeling better and more energy
a dress that I couldn't fit in suddenly I could wear it!
(10 years I kept this dress hoping one day I could wear it)
(10 years I kept this dress hoping one day I could wear it)
people started noticing I was getting better
the time I could fit into UK8 size jeans! OMG
started enjoying life again but still monitoring my food
finally, reach my goal weight 60kg after 3 months
(but I look too haggard & have loose skin)
(but I look too haggard & have loose skin)
started exercising more by walking a lot
went to Penang to celebrate & cheated for 5 days
(fell ill on the last day so I have become carb-sensitive)
hair loss affecting me at this point
started gaining 3kg-5kg to look better
(also bcoz hair loss is scary)
(also bcoz hair loss is scary)
28th Sept at Butterfly Coachella party tagbooth
maintaining my weight between 63kg - 65kg right now
Soon I was receiving messages from friends and family about my weight loss. My auntie was a particular concern as she texted me that I was already at a good weight and shouldn't lose anymore. She cautions me against looking haggard which I will not hide, yes I did look haggard at one point now from losing 18kg in 3 months.
I also started losing my hair because I did not take biotin or Vitamin B supplements which those on Ketogenic diet would need. So this is one lesson I learned and I lost a lot of hair at this point for 2 months. It scared me. I would run my hair with my fingers and hair would just come off.
My doctor advised me to start taking in more protein and supplements such as Biotin so I did. Now my hair loss is under control after a month on Biotin and antioxidant supplements.
I also started losing my hair because I did not take biotin or Vitamin B supplements which those on Ketogenic diet would need. So this is one lesson I learned and I lost a lot of hair at this point for 2 months. It scared me. I would run my hair with my fingers and hair would just come off.
My doctor advised me to start taking in more protein and supplements such as Biotin so I did. Now my hair loss is under control after a month on Biotin and antioxidant supplements.
going healthy is expensive
Now going Keto for the first 3 months is good or every now and then. Maintaining it would be even better if you can. Not everyone can be on Keto long because you'll soon get bored of the limitation in variety unless you're creative and innovative on your meal preps. Going Keto or any kind of healthy diet is also expensive so here's a Keto budget food guide you can refer to. If you can make your own salads at home, grill, bake, steam your proteins, buy whole foods, cook soups or broths, stay away from delicious but unhealthy hawker food, fast food and processed food (which is cheap yes.. but seriously not good for your health) is the best.
I could go on and on but I would recommend if you're interested in starting Keto, you need to:
1. Have the right mindset so you can reach your goal easily.
2. Go wholefoods (means more natural clean food like vegetables, fruits, nuts).
3. Avoid carbs - rice, noodles, pasta, bread, pizza, kuey teow
4. Drink lots of water
5. Drink lemon water, coffee and green tea
6. Take vitamin supplements and biotin
7. Take probiotics
8. Take carb blockers if you're keto-cheating
9. Dark chocolate to satisfy your cravings
10. Walk every day if possible whenever, wherever.
I hope my basic tips help, please watch Thomas Delauer and read Dr. Jason Fung's Obesity Code (Can buy from shopee for RM1 e-book).
P.S: I am still struggling to lose weight. It's not easy to stay away from yummy food in Malaysia. I wish everyone the best in losing toxic weight and feeling better and becoming healthier. Looking better after losing weight is a bonus from all this! GAMBATE!
I could go on and on but I would recommend if you're interested in starting Keto, you need to:
1. Have the right mindset so you can reach your goal easily.
2. Go wholefoods (means more natural clean food like vegetables, fruits, nuts).
3. Avoid carbs - rice, noodles, pasta, bread, pizza, kuey teow
4. Drink lots of water
5. Drink lemon water, coffee and green tea
6. Take vitamin supplements and biotin
7. Take probiotics
8. Take carb blockers if you're keto-cheating
9. Dark chocolate to satisfy your cravings
10. Walk every day if possible whenever, wherever.
I hope my basic tips help, please watch Thomas Delauer and read Dr. Jason Fung's Obesity Code (Can buy from shopee for RM1 e-book).
P.S: I am still struggling to lose weight. It's not easy to stay away from yummy food in Malaysia. I wish everyone the best in losing toxic weight and feeling better and becoming healthier. Looking better after losing weight is a bonus from all this! GAMBATE!
Follow me on Instagram @hellotammylim as I share about my weight loss & keto journey. There are highlights on my bio to refer to my Keto tips!
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