Myth: I have to do extreme diets and starve myself to lose weight.

As a young girl I was active and always had a very hearty appetite.  And even if my eyes were bigger than my stomach I ate what was on my plate. I remember my mom telling me that if I kept eating as much as my Dad it would eventually catch up with me. Well, I had no problem in high school as I played on the badminton team, joined my first fitness club and joined the high school swim team among walking to school in all kinds of Canadian weather.

 Then it was off to University and somehow the active lifestyle gets a little harder. I was busing all the way there, sitting in lectures and enjoying my newly found free time. Even though I decided to study food and nutrition the lessons in biology, chemistry, physiology and lots of other difficult subjects did not have me thinking about my diet.  So I kept eating as much as I wanted of mostly nutritious food and drinks. But as I now know, you can even overdo portions of proper nutritious food and drinks. 

In 2002, Brian and I had joined a fitness club opening near our home and as I started to get fitter I kept eating the same portions I always had and kept my body looking pretty much the same.  Then one day, after having a body fat assessment I was shocked at my result and realized that if I really wanted to see results from the exercise I also had to make a LIFESTYLE change in my diet.  I essentially decided that the time was right to make a change as I did not think it would get any easier after having children.  By eating consciously and lowering my portions so that I felt content instead of “stuffed” the results started to come.  I have always had a good balance of protein, carbohydrate and healthy fat and a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. I dropped approximately 24 pounds before becoming pregnant with my first child and knew that I added muscle mass as I was getting stronger. I participated in 10 and 21 k runs, did my first sprint and Olympic distance triathlons and did resistance training with free weights and machines.  I stayed active through all my pregnancies right until the end and actually ended up losing an additional 10 pounds between the last 2 pregnancies.

I found such a passion with fitness and nutrition I started my own bootcamp and nutrition business in 2010. I was very motivated to share my passion in order to help others achieve their goals.  Only 1 year into the business we had a fantastic opportunity to live in Malaysia.  So as life throws curve balls, the lifestyle I had for the last 7 years had to make a big readjustment.  You cannot go for a run any time of day as it HOT here.  And everywhere there is white rice, isn’t that a big no,no in healthy eating.  You don’t walk many places and it is an effort to drive somewhere to cycle etc.  You do have it made if you like swimming though! I did meet some runners that went out around 6 am so started running with them and went to the traditional gym.  Somehow, my body decided to put on 4 kg the first year here even though I did not think too much had changed.  I have to admit it bothered me at first but my mentality with the number on the scale has since changed completely.

Last year I experimented with the paleo diet for athletes which unlike the strict paleo diet includes sweet potatoes, pumpkin and other starchy vegetables for added carbohydrate.  I was already used to a diet high in fruits, vegetables and lean protein but did feel that I did not have enough available carbohydrate sources.  I was used to having in rice and other grains so I did not continue that very long as I often felt hungry and that options were limited, especially in rice happy Asia.  I have recently adopted a program called eat to perform which focuses on carbohydrate intake before and after workouts as well as later in the day, especially if you have a workout the next morning. The rest of the time the diet is focused on lean protein, healthy fats and vegetables and this is working very well for me and keeps me very satiated.

In 2012 I trained up to 12 hours per week for a duathlon event called Powerman and gained an incredible amount of endurance but definitely lost some strength (especially upper body).  Even with a 2^nd place result in my age group and my body weight dropping to “Pre Malaysia” standards I did not like that I lost strength as my belief is that fitness encompasses so much more than just endurance.  In 2013 the second Crossfit “Box” in Malaysia opened right across the street from my house and I knew I had to try it.  Crossfit combines, strength, flexibility, endurance, agility, gymnastics, Olympic lifting and everything under the fitness umbrella.  During my first 3 months I tried going 3 days a week. I thought these 10 to 25 minute WOD’s (Workouts of the Day) are killing the “fit” me. The more I went the better I got and the faster my strength went up.  My mentality about how I looked and what my weight was did not matter if my performance was improving.  I started to focus my mind and energy to what my body could achieve and as I added muscle mass and ate more to increase the amount of muscle I had, my weight has actually shifted down 2 kilos. But even if I was up 6 more kg and I could lift more or perform better, I do not care!   I am at a healthy and stable 147 pounds and certainly do not wish to drop any body weight from this as that would likely include lean mass.

I believe a consistent diet with emphasis on portion control and healthy foods over time will lead someone to the lifestyle which they can sustain for their entire life.

It has been quite the journey so far but I am by no means ready to stop living the lifestyle that keeps my physically and mentally ready to meet any life challenges that are thrown my way.  When you decide that you want to change your lifestyle YOU will know how and when the time is right J