How to Lose Weight the Cheapo Way - Part 2

So we now come to the exciting part. All ready to lose weight without spending excessive money? Read on.

1. Eliminate processed sugar from all your meal. Sugar is possibly the biggest single contributor to weight gain. Don't take any soft drinks. Not even those diet or low sugar drinks. Look at the labels on packaging. Don't take anything that in its ingredient's listing ends with a "ose" like fructose and sucrose. Don't take anything that the seller has to add sugar water like cold desserts, mixed drinks, soya drinks and bubble tea.   Be discipline about this. Go cold turkey without sugar for 3 months and I guarantee you see results. No sugar - drinks etc don't taste nice? Not true. Fruit juice, the type straight from the fruit and not in the carton taste much better. Smell the aroma of rich coffee without the sickening sweetness of sugar or condensed milk. Use natural raw honey if absolutely necessary.


2. Reduce carbohydrates from your meal. Now this one is a bit difficult seeing as in Asia, the main meal always revolves around rice or noodle. So the key word here is reduce not eliminate. Eat less rice, noodles and bread. Ask for less rice. Where possible, replace them with brown rice or wholemeal bread. Those who think they need the energy to run or sustain them throughout the week, there are alternatives that can provide energy - fruits, nuts, cheese etc.

3. Cut out snacking unhealthy one that is. That means no potato chips while watching tv, no biscuits to munch on during afternoon tea. Replace with fruits and nuts. Don't even think of those so called "healthy snacks" like brown rice rings, cereals or trans fat free biscuits. Most of them are fried and processed and have a lot of artificial ingredients added in.

Does all these sound very boring?  Not really. Nuts (the unsalted type) are great to eat and snack on. For variety, go for the mixed nuts containing almond, walnut, pistachio, brazil nut and cashew nut. Don't take peanut though. Most peanut sold are salted. For even more variations, add in seeds like chia seed, sunflower seeds and dried fruits like raisin, cranberries and blueberries. Eat all type of fruits. The great thing about Singapore is that we are at the cross road of the world and we get to eat all types of fruits. Don't just stick to apple, pear and orange. Go for the most brightly coloured fruits. Mixed and match and fruit eating will never be boring.

4. Eat frequently. Do I hear you go ??? Eat like a king at breakfast, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper? No no no. I don't believe in that. Eat small meal at frequent intervals so that the body has time to digest the smaller portion and use it up. The frequent eating will also keep you feeling full instead of overeating at a single meal. I eat at least 6 times a day and those who know me will know that I cannot be even remotely be described as fat although the belly is quivering most of the time nowadays but that is another story!

Just doing all the above should guarantee weight loss. So like promised - save money on sugar, save money from eating less carbs, save money on snacks and no need for any extreme diet plan or expensive slimming program. But how to execute it?

Next Part 3 - A sample daily meal.
Part 1 here