Friday, July 17, 2009

My Favorite Guru

My 2 favorite gurus are Tony Robbins and Mark Joyner. If you truly want to improve your life, listen to these 2 masters. Mark is coming up with a business coaching program. It must be awesome.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Why the Starvation Diet doesn’t Work

To lose weight, many of us have tried fasting or skipping meals and we know that it doesn’t work. When we fast, our bodies think we are starving. The body then tries to conserve energy by slowing down its metabolism. Slower metabolism means the body burns less energy during daily activities. This is why people on prolonged fasting will hit a plateau in their weight loss.

When we return to our normal eating patterns, it takes a while for our bodies to adjust from the slower metabolism to our regular metabolism. During the adjustment period, we will have surplus calories which our bodies store as fat.

What Works?

Experts agree that the best diet plan is to reduce calorie intake by a small amount, about 500–1000 calories, every day. Since one pound is equal to 3500 calories, you will lose 1–2 pounds a week or 4–8 pounds a month

Studies show that the people who lose weight slowly with a healthy diet are more likely to maintain their healthy weight for a long term.

What you can do to reduce your calorie intake:

• Start your meal with a clear vegetable soup as your appetizer. Add plenty of vegetables to your soup. Cabbage, carrot, celery, cauliflower and mushroom are high in fiber content and very low in calories.

• Combine your meal with brown basmati rice. Brown basmati rice is filing and it's high in fiber and resistant starch content, thus, it will keep you full for a long time.

• When making omelettes or other recipes that require eggs, replace an an egg yolk with two egg whites. An egg yolk contains more calories and high in cholesterol content while an egg white is very low in calories content, only 16 calories and no cholesterol.



About the author: Linda Yo is a certified weight consultant and the author of Asian Slim Secrets: Enjoy Food, Stay Slim Naturally! Linda gained 25 lbs in 3 months upon her arrival in the US. She failed at every method before she rediscovered the benefit of her traditional diet. Amazed by the results, she spent 18 years to research about the benefit of Asian diet and shares the secrets in her new book, Asian Slim Secrets. To read free chapters of "Asian Slim Secrets" go to http://www.AsianSlimSecrets.com

Friday, April 17, 2009

Slim Down with Asian Style Noodles

In Japan and South Korea, the obesity rate is very low, only 3%. The people there eat noodles as one of their staple foods. Noodle soup is a common breakfast and snack in Asian countries.

Why eating noodles can help you slim down?

• They are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates (good carbs). Like rice, they provide a crucial energy source for our brain and body cells. Eating noodles may alleviate our body cravings for high-calorie sweets.

• When cooked, they absorb a lot of water. The water content of noodles or pasta is 70%, about the same as steamed rice. Noodles and pasta are bulky so they fill us up.

• They are rich in B vitamins, niacin and iron.

• They contain resistant starch which increases fat metabolism in our bodies.

In Asia, noodles are comfort foods, usually eaten with soup. Another alternative is to stir-fry them with 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil, which does increase the calorie content. However, fried noodles are usually eaten with thinly sliced meats and lots of vegetables, making it overall a healthy low-calorie meal.

Noodles and pasta are good for you as long as you prepare them as the Asians do. Avoid or reduce oily and creamy sauces.

Quick & Delicious Noodle Soup

Servings: 4
Noodles and vegetables in clear chicken broth.

12 ounces Japanese udon noodles or pasta of your
choice
6 ounces skinless boneless chicken breast or imitation
crabmeat, sliced thin
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken broth powder
4 ounces mushrooms or shitake mushrooms, sliced
thin
1 cup bok choy or green leafy vegetable of your choice,
chopped
2 stalks green onions, chopped
2 tablespoon sake or white wine

Prepare noodles as directed by the package. Drain and set aside.

Heat oil in the pan, stir-fry ginger and garlic for 30
seconds. Add chicken and soy sauce, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Add water, chicken broth, mushrooms, bok choy, and green onions; simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the noodles and sake. Serve.


Linda Yo is a certified weight consultant and the author of Asian Slim Secrets. Linda gained 25 lbs in 3 months upon her arrival in the US. She failed at every method before she rediscovered the benefit of her traditional diet. Amazed by the results, she spent 18 years to research about the benefit of Asian diet and shares the secrets in her new book, Asian Slim Secrets. Her phenomenal weight loss method has received praised from medical professionals, celebrities and the media. To read free chapters of "Asian Slim Secrets" go to www.asianslimsecrets.com

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Slim Down with Resistant Starch

Some starchy foods such as white bread, crackers, donuts and pancakes can easily turn into sugar in our body, thus they can easily make us fat. However starchy grains and vegetables are not fattening, especially those that are rich in resistant starches.

Not many people, even doctors in the US know about resistant starch yet but it is beginning to gain popularity in England and Australia. According to experts from Oxford University, in the past it was thought that all starch in food is digested and absorbed by the human body. However current research has discovered that a significant portion of starch cannot be digested by our stomach and it will be expelled from our body. That portion of starch is called resistant starch. So when we eat foods that are rich in resistant starch, we actually get a discount in calories!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

How Asians Avoid Salmonella Poisoning

I grew up in South East Asia where the risk of getting Salmonella infection is very high. In some Asian countries, there is no regulation for off-the-street food vendors and small scale food processing facilities.

However the Asian cooking technique helps prevent salmonella infection. These are a few tips that can help you avoid Salmonella poisoning and also lose weight at the same time:

• Heat it up
When Asians make peanut sauce, they add some water to ground peanuts or peanut butter and cook until it is boiling. According to the USDA, you destroy the Salmonella bacteria when you heat up your food to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit. So you can add a small amount of water to peanut butter, mix it and heat it up in the microwave until it is boiling.
The boiling point of water is 212 degrees Fahrenheit; so you can enjoy peanut butter without the fear of getting a Salmonella infection.

• Slice it
When cooking meat, slice it into thin pieces. Cut 1/8 inch thin across the grain. The thinly sliced meat will cook quickly and evenly, thus reducing the risk of getting Salmonella infection. By slicing meat into thin pieces, you can also get rid of the fat marble that is in the middle of the meat easily, thus reducing your intake of saturated fat.

• Steam or stir fry it
Asians steam or stir fry their vegetable dishes in high heat, about 200 degrees for two to five minutes. If you do this you will destroy the Salmonella bacteria and at the same time still preserve most of the vitamins because of the short cooking time. Steaming and stir frying vegetables is also healthy because you only use water or a little vegetable oil compared to high fat salad dressing.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

How to Lose Weight without Starving – part 1: The Mindset

Twenty two years ago, I was overweight. Growing up, I was a skinny girl. However when I moved from Asia to the US, I gained twenty five pounds in three months! I came in the fall, by Christmas, I was already chubby. At the time, I lived with my older brother and he made fun of my weight every single day.

For 2 years, I struggled with my weight, I tried diet tea, fat reducing crème, slim fast, diet patch and I read over a dozen diet books and nothing worked!

If you are overweight, I know how you feel. It can be frustrating. However, please understand that just because you have excess weight right now, it doesn’t mean that you are going to be fat forever. Don’t put a label on yourself. Many people are nice to other people but they are mean to themselves.

We talk to ourselves all the time and sometimes we say bad things to ourselves. When I say or do something wrong, I’d call myself “Stupid” and I will proceed to remember all the stupid things that I have done in the past 20 years!

Usually, when we fail from our expectation, we say bad things to ourselves. We even label ourselves: stupid, loser, procrastinator and that will not help us to solve our problem because we will feel more depressed and helpless. And when we are depressed we eat more because our bodies feel the need to increase the “happy hormone” in our brain which is called serotonin. Sweets increase our serotonin level so blaming ourselves rarely work when it comes to permanent weight loss.

We have to realize that nobody is perfect; everybody failed at certain things in their life. Even the people that we admired the most have to constantly work to improve themselves. Every single day is a new day and all we can do is to take a single step toward our goal.

If losing weight is part of your New Year’s resolutions, understand that the most important step toward a permanent weight loss is the right mental attitude. As a weight consultant, I found it fascinating that I can give the same directions to several people and those who have positive self images; lost weight in a short period of time while those who labeled themselves fat have a hard time losing weight.

You see people act consistent with the label that we gave to ourselves. So if you or the people around you called you fatty, this year, get a new empowering label! Label yourself beauty, healthy or sexy! Whenever you see yourself in the mirror, be nice and gentle to yourself; look for your wonderful qualities, maybe you have a wonderful set of eyes or a nice smile. You are a beauty in the making, a diamond in the rough and in 2009, you will continue to polish that diamond so the sparkle will shine thru, brighter and brighter.

Happy New Year!