How Your Kitchen Design Can Help In Your Weight Loss Journey

We’ve talked about how foods and your lifestyle have an impact on your weight loss journey but do you know that your environment plays a significant part as well?  You may be wondering how your kitchen designs have anything to do with your weight loss journey, but truth be told, it has a great amount of potential. Have you ever walked into your kitchen with no plans of eating anything, but you suddenly find yourself walking out with a packet of chips at your hand? Your kitchen layout and organisation may have a more significant influence on your diet than you think it would.

More families are cooking and eating at home, especially now due to the global pandemic. Eating out every day is not financially sustainable and when you’re spending more time at the kitchen, naturally, there should be more consideration given to your kitchen organisation.

If your goal is to lose weight, then your kitchen design should also reflect your conscious decision to stick to healthy meals. It’s time to include your kitchen layout into your weight loss program.

Display Fruits

Since fruits are one of the important parts of weight loss, it is good you keep fruits at arm’s length so you can reach them when you crave snacks or something to munch on. Get a fruit bowl or a pie plate, lay fruits such as banana, apple, pear, oranges and mangoes on the kitchen island or the countertop where you can easily reach them. Not only are they a healthy alternative to your regular chips, but they also give your kitchen an amazing pop of colour!

Sets of Measuring Items

If you’re cooking in the kitchen often, one of the essential kitchen utensils you’ll need to always have at hand is a set of measuring items. An effective way to shed those pounds is simply portion control. The first step to making a change is being aware of what you’ve been putting in your body, and how much! With a measuring tool, it’ll be easier to maintain a healthy level of consumption that your body needs.

Rearrange Your Food Store

Make a conscious effort to arrange your pantry in such a way that healthy food stays in front while omitting those that won’t do you any good. Keep unhealthy snacks out of sight as much as possible. As the adage goes: out of sight, out of mind.

Get Your Healthy Alternatives

On that note, take this opportunity to replace your unhealthy ingredients and foods with their healthy alternatives. It’s time to say goodbye to your chocolates, candies and chips! Try your best not to include sodas and soft drinks too, as they contain nothing but empty calories and sugar.

Of course, doing so does not mean you can’t have any of these foods whilst you try to lose weight. But the fact remains, the less you have them, the better it’d be for you. Thus, limit your consumption as much as you can.

Your kitchen is only a small part of a successful weight loss journey, but the effects it has is undoubtedly significant. The bigger aspects you need to look into are the fundamental factors that we’ve talked about previously: the types of food you’re consuming, regular physical activities and a healthy sleeping schedule. Otherwise, you may want to consider opting for weight loss treatments such as TCM slimming treatment to help you get a head start and at the same time, improve your well-being.

In hopes to help curtail the spread of the coronavirus, Slim Couture has ceased all physical operations temporarily until further notice to abide by the circuit breaker measures. We hope to continue to assist you in your weight loss journey once we’re back!

4 Different Weight Loss Diets That Have Been Proven To Work

Most weight loss programs abide by the same standard: regular exercise, healthy diet and good sleep. Arguably, the hardest one out of these 3 would be to alter your diet to one that is healthier. To do so means acclimating to new tastes and retraining your palate whilst denying unhealthy foods that might’ve given you joy before. In fact, we are wired to prefer sweet-tasting foods over bitter ones, which stands to reason why vegetables aren’t the go-to options for most of us.

That said, you’re looking for diets that can help you shed a few pounds, you may want to consider any of the 4 diets below.

Low Carb Diet

The first diet is one that most would jump right in if they wish to lose weight. This popular diet requires you to limit all carb intakes to 20-150 grams per day, which roughly amounts 1-9 large potatoes respectively. Eating fewer carbs meant that your body would now need to tap onto the fats that are stored in your body as a source of energy.

What you should eat: The diet requires you to limit your carb intake, but this also means unlimited amounts of protein, food and vegetables. Remember to balance each type of foods lest your body needs to deal with other complications.

What to expect: This diet is not popular if not for their results. The low carb diet is effective if you wish to lose weight and especially if you wish to shed your belly fat. That said, whilst this diet is safe for the majority, be warn that there are side effects that you need to take note of. Such side effects include an increase in LDL cholesterol, risk of nondiabetic ketoacidosis and a significant drop in insulin and sodium.

Atkins Diet

Coming close to the low-carb diet is the Atkins diet that gets rid of carbs altogether. This helps you to cut down your calories intake whilst simultaneously reducing your appetite. The Atkins diet starts with limiting your carbs to 20 grams every single day for two weeks before reintroducing healthy carbs as you slowly get closer to your weight goal.

What to expect: Studies showed that the Atkins diet is much more effective than your regular low-fat diets, should you wish to shed a few pounds. Furthermore, it reduces the risk of heart ailments whilst simultaneously improve your health markers such as HDL cholesterol and blood sugar.

Keto Diet

Similar to the previous two diets, the Keto diet is a high-fat and low-carb diet. Likewise, you’ll have to reduce your carb consumption and replace it with fat. Your body will then look to your stored fats for fuel, where a portion will turn into ketones in the liver to supply energy to the brain.

What to expect: The Keto diet allows you to lose 2.2 times more weight compared to a low carb diet. With this diet, you’d lower your blood sugar levels, improve your insulin levels and reduce the chances of diabetes and prediabetes, among other ailments.

Paleo Diet

The Paleo diet requires you to fill your diet with ingredients that could only be attained during hunting and gathering. This means limiting foods that became common due to the advancements in farming and agriculture technology. The ideology centres around the idea that most modern diseases arose due to the consumption of grains, dairy and processed foods – foods that cropped up due to the advancement of technology. Thus, the healthier choice would be to rid these foods from your diet.

What you should eat: There’s a great emphasis on whole foods, lean meats such as skinless chicken and red meat, fish, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Flexible Paleo diets allow dairy and tubers such as potatoes and sweet potatoes but you’ll have to avoid processed foods, dairy and sugar for the most part.

What to expect: Most dieters will enjoy significant weight loss and a thinner waistline, seeing as how they’d be eating fewer carbs, calories and more protein. For healthwise, the Paleo diet is effective when reducing the risk for heart ailments such as heart attack and high blood pressure.

Conclusion

Since everybody’s body composition is different, you’ll have to figure which will suit you best. This requires multiple testings and tweakings to get a diet that you can stick throughout the entire weight loss journey. You may also want to consider signing up for weight loss treatments, such as TCM slimming treatments, to give you a boost and help you lose weight a tad faster.

Due to the current Circuit Breaker measures, we will be temporarily ceasing all physical operations until further notice. As we wait in anticipation to serve you and aid you in your journey, do remember to maintain proper hygiene and healthy lifestyle.

Why You Should Exercise Even When At The Acceptable Weight

Exercise is an important aspect of maintaining good health – even if you’ve accomplished your ideal weight and are fit. Studies have shown that even if you are in the ‘acceptable weight’ category, those who lead a sedentary lifestyle will have the same risk of suffering from heart disease and other ailments that plague an overweight individual.

Simply appearing to be healthy is not the be-all-end-all. Apart from shedding those few pounds, there are numerous benefits to having a regular workout regime. Here are just a few reasons to do so!

Combats Health Conditions and Diseases

Just as we’ve mentioned previously, exercise can help you scale down the risk of developing several ailments, including heart disease and arthritis. The relationship between physical activity and immunity is a rather tight-knit one.  Regular exercise is known to enhance vaccination response and increase the production of T-cells (a type of white blood cells). Not only does it help to flush out bacteria from your respiratory tract and lungs, but it also helps to slow down body ageing. Thus, the chances of ailments that are linked to old age such as Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis and some cancers are also significantly reduced.

It Enhances Your Mood

If you ever feel down in the dumps and are in need of an emotional booster, there’s nothing better than sweating and blowing off some steam. Exercise is not a mere physical activity but also a mood booster! It triggers feel-good hormones such as endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. Your body will then react positively and it will automatically make you feel happier and much more relaxed.

Boosts Your Energy Levels

It may seem somewhat ironic and bizarre, but expending energy during an exercise routine will actually increase your energy levels!  Whilst the study of the relationship between exercise and energy isn’t conclusive at the moment, a study done by University of Georgia researches has found that the sample group of volunteers who engaged in low-intensity workout experience a 65 percent drop in fatigue. That is not to say that the more you work out, the less exhausted you’d be as there is no correlation between the fatigue levels and the frequency of your workouts.

In fact, you can also engage in intense exercise and the results will be the same – albeit, the extent of it will be smaller. Compared to a 65 percent drop, the studies found that those who engaged in an intense workout will enjoy only 49 percent decrease – which is still a significant improvement, we’ll say!

Manages Your Weight

The glaring benefits to exercise is ultimately better management of your weight. Exercise burns calories, fats and ultimately increases your body metabolism. This spells two good news – not only will you burn calories during your workout, but you’d do so even a few hours post-exercise! This, amongst many other reasons, is why exercise has been included in many weight loss programs in Singapore!

Conclusion

Regular exercise is a practice that should be implemented on a weekly basis, even if it’s 10 minutes for twice a week. However, if you wish to speed things up a little faster, you may want to consider trying Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) slimming treatments.

TCM slimming treatments gives you the benefits of good health by managing the body’s energy flow and the balancing of the Yin and Yang. Rooted in practice that has lasted for centuries, the foods and treatments will promote weight loss, improvements in both health and mood! For those who are looking for a non-invasive procedure to supplement your exercise regime, TCM treatments may just be the one for you.

Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 situation and the circuit breaker measures, we are temporarily ceasing our operations. That said, we look forward to helping you with TCM slimming treatments again soon! As we patiently wait for this challenging time to pass, do stay safe, maintain good hygiene and keep up the weekly exercise workouts at home!

Could Life Be As Sweet Without Added Sugar In Our Diet?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the world was Cadbury? Maybe, but health-wise? Probably not. For most of us, having an aversion to sweet treats are practically ingrained in our nature. Sure, sugar provides us with energy, hence the term ‘sugar rush’. Despite being high in calories, it does not contain any nutritional value when consumed.

An abundance of sugar intake is not recommended for our health. In fact, the over-consumption of sugar has been linked to cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and even obesity. This brings about the no-added-sugar diet. In general, the no-added-sugar cuts out added sugar but allows for natural sugar. When we lower our sugar intake, we’re also reducing the risk of these health conditions. For those considering to embark on this diet, we might hesitate as we think about the amount of food we have to give up in the process. However, nothing worth having comes easy. In the pursuit of weight loss, we have to put in the effort as well!

How can I start?

Change your diet gradually. It may help if you refrain eating sugary treats and baked goods like cakes and brownies. Eliminate sweets and sugary beverages as well! In a day, try limiting your sugar intake to 10% of your total energy intake. To give you a gist of it: if you’re on a 1,500-calorie diet, then 150 calories could be attributed to sugar which is about 6 to 12 teaspoons. Avoid simple carbohydrates like white rice and flour also.

Focus on whole foods

Eat whole foods that are nutritious and filling, as processed foods tend to contain refined ingredients or added sugar. Aim for a balanced meal containing protein, healthy fat and complex carbs. Here are some meal examples:

– Whole wheat pasta with animal-based or plant-based protein of your
– Almond milk oatmeal with fruit
– Brown rice with fresh greens, carrots and protein of your choice

As you settle into a new meal regime, slowly remove foods high in natural sugar to reduce your sugar cravings.

Be critical of product labels

There are hidden sugars that can be found in most products on supermarket shelves. Condiments like oyster or tomato sauce are notorious for being high in sugar! The simplest method to reduce our consumption of sugar is by reading nutritional information and ingredient list that can usually be found on food labels. There are many ways to refer to sugar. One trick is to look out for ingredients that end with “ose” such as glucose and maltose. Some food like fruits don’t come with a label, so you can look up the nutritional information online!

Get active

As we work towards a healthier diet, let’s not neglect our body’s need to get moving. Avoid having a sedentary lifestyle. Keep active by dedicating at least 20 minutes a day to exercising! Staying at home shouldn’t be an excuse to relax all day. If you need that push, sign yourself up for a weight loss program you can commit to.

You reap what you sow

Embarking on this diet brings about many health benefits, and one of them is weight loss! When you cut out sugar, you’re cutting out non-nutritious calories as well. Another physical benefit is better skin as excess sugar is the cause of oily skin. On top of reducing the health risks, you also lower the risk of dental decay.

Conclusion

If your goal of cutting out sugar is to lose weight or improve your health, then this is a good start. However, don’t forget to factor in exercise, stress management and other lifestyle factors as well. You can consider TCM slimming too, which is a natural slimming treatment which also focuses on enhancing your overall health through many benefits aside from losing weight. Ultimately, we should always strive to live a comfortable life of moderation, with a clear boundary that indulgences remain as indulgences.

Due to current Circuit Breaker measures, Slim Couture is temporarily ceasing our physical operations and stores. We look forward to serving you again, but for any urgent enquiries, feel free to email us at askexperts@slim-couture.com. As we stay at home, continue aspiring towards a healthier lifestyle for a happier you.