Valen’s Vanity Square

I was watching this cooking program called “Licence to Grill” (I bet they borrowed it from the movie “Licence to Kill”!) on Asian Food Channel, ASTRO, last night. That reminded me to get a grill pan for my new kitchen.

I think grilling, if done properly, is quite a healthy way to prepare food. You use so much less amount of oil when grilling meat, poultry, fish or even certain kinds of vegetable. Grilled foods also look more tempting with the brown stripes.

May be I could start looking for a couple of healthy grilling recipes as well to be part of my lose-weight-get-fit plan, hehe.

Speaking of losing weight, just saw a piece of news about this anti-obesity drug called Acomplia, a product of the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. This drug was approved for use in the treatment of obesity/overweight in the European countries since 2006. But it is now being withdrawn from the European market (so far no other countries outside Europe have approved this in their market) due to the risks associated with this medicine. It has been shown that obese or overweight individuals using Acomplia experienced twice the risk of mental disorders, including depression, compared with those who took placebo (dummy pills)!

While this is not any weight loss pills that you can get anywhere over the counter, it does ring an alarm - all medications have their side effects, mild or serious. It is vital that you don’t simply buy any diet pills OTC and swallow them without doing your research first, even if you are desperate! Read more, learn more, and discuss with your weight loss expert.

To me, I still prefer losing and controlling weight and shape through natural ways - healthy diet and regular exercise. Hmm, come to think of it, I think I should open a weight loss blog to share more ideas on healthy ways to lose weight and live a healthy life. Good idea!

Will let you all know when the blog is ready! Stay tuned!

I ‘felt’ so unhealthy and so ‘fat’!

I was rushing on a writing assignment for the past 3 days, and my butt was practically glued to the chair every waking moment except during shower time and toilet breaks. I even had dinner right in front of my laptop.

I read, typed, read, typed… I looked at my laptop for such long hours until I felt that I could almost go blind.

I felt dizzy and ‘vomity’ (am stealing this expression from my friend)… I relied on coffee to keep my brain working… I didn’t jog nor do any form of exercise but the muscles of my legs felt tight… my shoulder was aching… so was my lower back… I could feel more and more fat cells stacked up on my butt and thighs… my blood circulation was sluggish…  I just feel abnormally UNHEALTHY!

I can even see my own elephant thighs in the making, I must do something to stop it! Oh man, I must make sure I get out of the house and get some work out done this weekend!

Well, at least I have got hold of a copy of the Diet Solution Program by Isabel De Los Rios!

As I said before, the book is not about ‘going on a diet’. Yes, you will do something about your diet - you eat right to lose weight and maintain your health!

I am happy to find more than 50 recipes on salad dressings, vegetable dishes, meat, poultry and fish! I know most people when they are ‘on diet’, they usually eat steamed dishes to avoid oil, sugar and other seasonings. And they eat the same food again and again.

Well, if you are one human being that enjoy eating like me, you will be glad to know the recipes included are prepared by stewing, grilling, stir-frying, roasting, etc. (Too bad there are no dessert recipes…) The point is - you don’t have to give up delicious food to achieve an ideal weight and good health!

I think I will start trying out the recipes in the Diet Solution Program soon - as soon as my new kitchen is ready. But first, I need to check out my metabolic type to know what diet is best for my body.

If you want to lose weight but keep on eating, haha, why not give the Diet Solution Program a try?

Do you think you can eat delicious food (including appetizers and desserts) and still lose weight?

Apparently, Isabel Del Los Rios think you can. That’s a piece of good news for me, because I know I won’t have to starve just for the sake of losing weight.

For that reason, I think I will giver her Diet Solution Program a try as my endeavor to lose my belly fat.

The Diet Solution Program by Isabel Del Los Rios

While her program contains the word ‘diet’, it doesn’t mean you have to ‘go on diet’ as in - you can’t eat this, do not eat that, stick to a low-carb diet, etc. As far as I know, Isabel’s program teaches the healthy way to lose weight. She wants people to learn the important principles for not only weight loss, but also for disease prevention. Topics explained in depth in the Diet Solution Program manual include:

• Getting to know exactly which type of food is causing you to gain weight
• Learn the real FACTS about FATS
• Knowing how to lose weight without having to count calories
• Choose the right foods for your diet based on your personal metabolism
• Some revealing facts about organic food and dairy products
• The BEST: Tons of delicious and quick recipes to whip up tasty meals!! Yummy!

You may ask: can you trust her? I don’t know, but judging from these photos… what do you think?

From this ….                  to ……                 THIS!

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My sister’s wedding was certainly a happy occasion. One sad thing though - there were some hush-hush going on behind my back.

The topic was – AM I PREGNANT?

Well, my mom helped me to answer the queries of my aunts this way, “Nope, she’s not pregnant. She is just growing fat because her butt sticks to the chair every hour, everyday.”

*Cry*

Okay, I can blame no one else but myself for this. I had been so obsessed with taking care of my face in the past 2 years and sort of neglected my body. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I have gained 5 or 10 kgs! It’s just some extra 1-2 kg of fat around my waist, okay??

*Sigh* Perhaps it’s time for me to join the I-want-to-lose-weight troop? Or start taking some high-performance fat burner formula such as Fenphedra??

Nah, don’t think I need that. I AM NOT FAT. I’m just getting a bit ‘meatier’ than I was 2 years ago. All I need is to trim off some fat around my belly and thighs, then shape up my waist by reducing 1 inch (that’s pretty enough for me). I will look very good after that.

So, my plan – go back to my weekly exercise schedule (have not been doing any form of exercise since I came back to KL!), and watch what I eat (it’s difficult to be selective when you’re staying with others, you need to be part of them and join their diet).

I will also be following one of the best fat loss products (those listed at the side bar) in my attempt to shape up. Hey, I want to get ready for next year’s island vacation, you know, being able to show off my nice figure in a nice swim suit, haha!

My sister finally managed to get a lavender-colored dress and a beige-colored blouse to be worn during my youngest sister’s wedding banquets. And she does look good in both.

This just tells one thing - even if you are carrying slightly extra pounds, you can still look good as long as you know how to dress up yourself, cover the flaws, accentuate the beautiful part of your body, and BE CONFIDENT!

Come to think of it, as long as you are healthy and every year you pass your health exam with flying colors, there is no need to lose that extra 2-4 kg, is there? But of course, if that little extra weight is causing you some health problems or making you uncomfortable in whatever you do, then perhaps it is a good idea to lose weight.

As you know, diet pills have flooded the weight loss market ferociously. So, before you decided to pop in any diet pills, remember to do a thorough research. You might want to find out answers to these few questions:

• How to choose the ‘right’ diet pills that are safe and effective?
• What are the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ diet pills around, and what makes them so?
• Are there any warnings given out on certain types or brands of diet pills (because you certainly want to avoid using them)?
• What are people saying about the diet pills they used?
• Are the diet pills worth the money that you are paying for?

However, you need to know that besides diet pills, there are other ways to lose weight healthily, such as following a well-balanced diet plan and regular exercise routine. If you want to learn more, feel free to check out the weight loss resources I’ve listed in the sidebar.

My youngest sister’s wedding will be held next week. My other younger sister, who started her weight loss program months ago in hope to slim down in time to slip in a dazzling evening dress, has not been able to achieve her ideal weight and shape. She is quite frustrated now as she has not managed to buy a dress for that occasion!

I won’t say that her weight loss program failed. She has actually lost quite a few kilograms, such that even a friend who sees her almost every day noticed the changes.

May be there is still something that she needs to add into her weight loss program to enhance the effect, perhaps to exercise more frequently and more intensively. That’s why we will go hiking in a reserved forest park tomorrow morning!

So, is losing weight so difficult, especially if you have a lot to lose and want to lose it fast? Definitely YES, if you don’t have:

• A proper and proven weight loss program to follow
• The perseverance and self-control ability to stick to the program

You may have tried more than one weight loss program, be it diet pills, meal-replacement nutritional drinks or body slimming treatment, you may find still find yourself overweight few months down the road if you continue to eat the wrong foods and at the wrong time, or forget to do your exercise.

And, very important, you don’t want to get into another weight loss scam. In fact, there is a website that talks about how to avoid weight loss scams (like some quick weight loss Hollywood diets), as well as reviews several fat loss products that have been well received with good testimonials. Probably my sister should take a look at it and then revise her own weight loss program.

You can read more about weight loss programs at this website.