Stop those yo-yo diets now!

For those peeps who wanna lose weight by eating less and skipping meals, read this! Starvation wun help u in losing weight in the long run! There is something called yo-yo diets which a lot of us adopt to battle weight problems. Here's an article on 5 reasons why you should really put an end to all those miserable cycles of weight loss and regain.

What Are Yo-Yo Diets?
Yo-yo dieting (or weight cycling) is the repeated pattern of losing body weight then gaining it back through episodes of diets. Each cycle, the weight loss or gain can be anywhere ranging from 2kg to 20kg or more.Any diet that includes bouts of starvation, missing meals, cutting out certain food groups entirely, or very low calories produces the yo-yo effect (losing weight and putting it back on).

Reason #1: Yo-yo weight loss induces muscle loss.
Very low-calorie fad diets or crash diets cause hunger to set in, triggering the body to break down lean muscle to access the nutrients the body needs. In other words, the amount of weight you have lost does not all come from body fat loss. In fact, the drop in weight is mainly due to water and muscle loss.

Reason #2: Yo-yo diets wreck your metabolism.
While the initial drastic weight loss may seem like the diet is working, yo-yo dieters will soon experience a 'plateau', meaning the rapid weight loss that was initially achieved begins to slow down or stop. This plateau is the result of the adaptation of your body: with less calories coming in and less muscle mass in the body, the body reacts by going into starvation mode and starts to conserve energy. Less energy is burnt and the metabolic rate slows down, making it much more difficult to maintain your new figure.Those struggling to maintain the diet will inevitably find their weight piling back on, sometimes more than what they started out with.

Reason #3: Yo-yo diets make you put on more weight in the long run.
Yo-yo dieters tend to regain all the weight lost, and then some. The mechanisms behind this involve complex physiological and psychological factors: changes in fatty acid synthesis, increased fat storage, and reduction in energy efficiency all contribute to the yo-yo effect. Simply put, the resulting effect is exactly the opposite of what the dieter intended to achieve. When normal eating habits resume, and the body has reduced capacity to burn the excess calories, weight is rapidly regained. What's worse, your new body profile will have a higher proportion of fat, even in cases where the weight has remained the same.

Reason #4: If you regain the lost weight, it'll be even harder to lose it.
A person who repeatedly loses weight only to put it back on can have a cumulative gain in body fat percentage - each time you diet, your body's metabolism slows down in order to store fat. Hence with each dieting episode, the body's metabolism becomes less efficient, and the severe calorie restriction further causes loss of muscle tone, which again means a slower metabolism. Together with less muscle mass and a retarded metabolic rate, each successive attempt to shed off those extra kilos becomes more difficult, if not impossible.

Reason #5: Repetitive weight loss and regain has unhealthy side effects.
Yo-yo dieters often feel lethargic, have a weak immune system and a higher percentage of body fat, and tend to be in poor health. Due to multiple unsuccessful crash diets, they may also experience frustration, loss of concentration, depression and irritability. In fact, each time you lose weight and regain it, fat in your body actually redistributes. It migrates from the thighs and butt to the belly (where studies have found a link between tummy fat and diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer and high cholesterol).To make matters worse, some studies also suggest that those who chronically lose and regain weight have increased risk for certain health problems, including heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and gallbladder disease.

Source: ShoppingLifestyle

So what shud you do to lose weight? Excercise, drinks lots of water to prevent water retention and bloated-ness, and eat healthily! (not skip meals!) Unless of coz, you are lazy like me...u will nvr succeed. Look at me... I have only lost 0.5kg so far. What an achievement. *sniggles* Boo.

In a little world of our own

This poem is specailly for my Baby. The words describes our relationship perfectly. How we are often lost in a world of our own...like there is no one else but us in our little la la land. We share a very close and strong bond, through trust, honesty and communication. There are almost no secrets betw us. Of coz we have our bad times too with our occassional squabbles and fight. But at the end of the day, our relationship becomes stronger as we talk thru' stuff and resolve our conflicts together. Each time, there is a better understanding of each other. We also learnt how to give in to each other, and how to say sorry. Making up and holding hands again is then twice the fun and double the sweetness! I love my Baby Nic Nic!

A Special World
A special world for you and me
A special bond one cannot see
It wraps us up in its cocoon
And holds us fiercely in its womb.

Its fingers spread like fine spun gold
Gently nestling us to the fold
Like silken thread it holds us fast
Bonds like this are meant to last.

And though at times a thread may break
A new one forms in its wake
To bind us closer and keep us strong
In a special world, where we belong.

- Sheelagh Lennon -

Sad World Cup Weekend

First Spain, den England, followed by Brazil. What could be worse? All my fave teams r out of the World Cup. Well, my only consolation is that my most hated team Argentina is out too! Yay! I must really applaud the Germans. Right now, there is nothing left in the World Cup for me. So, to show my gratitude to the mighty Germans who knocked Argentina out, I shall pledge my last remaining WC zest to Germany to support them to win the Cup.

My devastation first started when my dearest all-time fave team, Spain, got booted out of WC by the mean France, who finally unleashed their dragon, after a struggle in the Group Stage and making it to the next round only during the final match of the Group Stage. I must say im really astonished by their comeback and their hunger to be the champions. Spain failed to reveal their true potential. There was simply no magic in the way they played. Yet, altho Zidane had a marvelous flair in him, which I was very impressed with, i felt that Spain deserve to go into the quarter finals more.

Itz all the stoopid referee's fault. He penalized Spain for a non-existent foul! Which obviously Cafu did not even commit. Before this, it was 10 mins before full time and the score was 1-1. A draw. It was that dumb french guy who tackled him from behind and fell backwards theatrically, making it look like Puyol had fouled him. But it was not what it looked like! My poor Puyol was trapped by his tackle from his back! N the fucking referee is blind! N so, that free kick near the penalty box had led to an undeserving goal from the French. If not for that goal, my Spanish boys wun be so desperate and blinded into concentrating on scoring and attacking, leaving their defence open to the opportunistic Zidane. I was devasted. I was hoping the match wud lead to extra time or even to penalty shoot outs, where my Spain might have more chances. But from the penalty given onwards, it led to impending doom for my Spanish boys. One evil pretense, one convincing unscrupulous act was all it took to lead to Spain's exit. Or at least in my eyes, the French was truly undeserving.

Altho i was all teary-eyed at Spain's defeat, i aint gonna give up. I believed that my next fave team will avenge for Spain, to knock France out. France won 3-0 over Brazil in the 1998 WC, so isnt it time for Brazil to give them a kick back? Yet...it was not meant to be. Brazil failed to fight for themselves...they failed to avenge Spain. Ronaldo has lost his form. Ronaldinho lost his magic. Kaka was disappointing. Adriano had no value. What happened to the Golden Boyz? Zidane once again was France's instrument to victory. His beautiful cross that set the ball for Thierry Henry to volley home, cost Brazil their reigning title.

I wudnt even wanna talk about England's silly-ness and their disappointing penalty shoot-out. I dun care about Wayne Rooney that ba-looney freak. I dun care about that ya-ya banana Cristiano Ronaldo. Fuck the Man Utd players. I was juz upset that my beloved Liverpool players Gerrard and Carrager failed to score during the penalty shoot-out, and Peter Crouch seemed useless.

After all these matches that failed me, killed my hopes n excitement...i can only sit back and sob weep n cry. What can i say now? I can only whimper "Go Germany, goal!", and den...*sob weep cry*.