However, if you’re like most women (and many men), you might be wondering why this kind of training is so beneficial. The truth is that resistance training—which involves doing activities like lifting weights and squats—has a number of benefits for people of all ages and abilities. So let’s go through eight reasons why every woman should start lifting weights today!

1. Building muscle helps you burn more fat.

When you build muscle, it helps your body burn more calories. This is because muscles can be used for all sorts of things—it’s not just for lifting heavy things! In fact, building muscle can actually help you lose fat by providing a greater metabolic rate and burning more calories. That’s because fat stores are our body’s way of storing energy in case we need it later, but unlike muscle tissue which burns energy as fuel constantly as long as we’re moving around or awake (or even asleep).

Faster metabolism: Your metabolic rate refers to how quickly your body converts food into usable energy and wastes the rest via heat loss (thermogenesis). The faster this process happens, the greater number of calories burned per day. When you build lean mass through strength training—especially resistance training with weights—you increase the amount of lean tissue in your body which acts like an engine that needs fuel to run efficiently. This means that even when at rest or sleeping during “starvation mode” times such as early morning hours while fasting during Ramadan; having extra muscles means they continue using up stored glycogen (glycogen is stored glucose) instead of fatty acids!

2. You’ll look better and feel more confident.

Another great reason to start strength training is that it will make you look better.

If you’re not sure what I mean by this, think about your favourite actors and actresses. How many of them lift weights? The answer is most of them. Strength training helps increase muscle tone and definition in your body, which makes you look more toned and fit overall (not to mention how much stronger you’ll feel).

It also helps you stand up straighter and look more confident, which will make people think you’re more attractive. It’s a fact that the best way to lose weight is by increasing your muscle mass. And the sense of achievement that comes with strength training will really boost your confidence level as any task in front of you just feels a lot easier!

3. You can fight osteoporosis.

One of the biggest reasons women should strength train is because it can help prevent osteoporosis, a condition that causes bones to become weak and brittle. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (1), women are at greater risk for osteoporosis than men because they have less healthy estrogen levels and less muscle mass.

Weight-bearing exercises—like walking, jogging, hiking or dancing—are excellent ways to build bone density as well as strengthen muscles through resistance training. It’s recommended that you incorporate both types of exercise into your routine: weight-bearing exercises will improve bone health while resistance training will keep your muscles strong so they don’t break down from overuse during physical activity or everyday life activities like lifting groceries out of the car trunk or removing heavy clothing from a washer/dryer after doing laundry.

The NOF recommends strength training two days per week with 8-10 repetitions per set using eight different exercises in each session. Or better yet, get a customised personal training program for yourself where you’ll be coached with the best exercises suitable only for you.

Our personal trainer teaching a client how to foam roll before training to improve results.

4. You can reduce your stress.

Strength training can have a positive effect on your mood and stress levels. The release of endorphins during exercise, in particular strength training, can enhance your mood and reduce anxiety.

The benefits don’t stop there. A study (2) published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that women who completed a 12-week resistance training program had lower levels of cortisol (a hormone that’s released when you’re stressed) than women who did not participate in the program.

5. You can protect yourself from injuries.

Strength training can help you prevent injuries. We have helped plenty of clients to improve their sport through personal training.

Sports that require lots of running, jumping, and cutting (like tennis) increase the risk of overuse injuries. When you strength train, you are able to get stronger and better at your sport. This will also increase your bone density which helps protect against fractures that occur from falls or contact with others such as when playing badminton, tennis or even at work. Finally, a strong muscle is less likely to tear than a weak muscle because it has better endurance when placed under stress during activities (like jogging or hiking).

6. You can boost your energy levels.

Strength training can help you boost your energy levels by balancing the hormones that affect them.

The body’s endocrine system, which releases hormones into the bloodstream, controls many body functions including metabolism and mood. Strength training has been found to regulate cortisol levels, which in turn helps reduce stress and improve sleep quality. This can lead to feeling more alert during the day, as well as an increase in energy levels because of better restful sleep at night.

7. You’ll increase your mobility.

Strength training can improve your mobility, balance, and coordination. This is because the muscles you use during strength training are also the muscles that help you move more easily throughout the day. For example, if you lift weights with exercises like lunges with balancing exercises every other day for three weeks (or even two days a week for six weeks), then by the end of these two months, you’ll be able to walk faster without losing balance as much as before.

Your ability to move freely throughout life is key in preventing falls and injuries—and regular strength training makes this easier!

Getting ready for CNY soon!

8. You can improve your memory and cognitive function in later life.

As you get older, your memory and cognitive function may decline. Strength training is one of the best ways to improve your brain health, especially as you grow old. The benefits of strength training for older adults include:

• Greater mobility and flexibility in muscles
• Better coordination between body parts
• Increased bone density and reduced risk of osteoporosis
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower percentage body fat (this will help you look better too!)

A study done by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine (3) showed that after 2 years of strength training, the women in the exercise group had experienced 31% fewer falls (37% fewer falls resulting in a moderate or severe injury).

To stay healthy, fit, and active into old age, it’s important to strength train regularly at any stage of life.

As you age, maintaining a healthy body is important to help prevent disease and improve your quality of life. Strength training can improve muscular strength, endurance, and balance—all of which play an important role in staying healthy. It also helps you look and feel younger.

In addition to being beneficial for older adults, strength training is beneficial for people at any stage in life—including women who are pregnant or postpartum. Research shows that regular resistance exercise can strengthen the muscles around the pelvis, lower back and your core, making it easier for you to maintain an upright posture when carrying things around like babies and groceries. And many studies have linked physical activity with fewer back problems during pregnancy or after giving birth.

Conclusion

By following these tips and incorporating strength training into your routine, you can be on your way to a healthier body and mind. If you still have questions about strength training or any other health-related topic, feel free to drop a message here. We’d be happy to answer them!

References

1. “The National Osteoporosis Foundation’s Position Statement on Peak Bone Mass Development and Lifestyle Factors: A Systematic Review and Implementation Recommendations – PubMed.” PubMed, 1 Apr. 2016, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26856587.
2. Bell, G., Syrotuik, D., Socha, T., Maclean, I., & Quinney, H. A. (1997). Effect of strength training and concurrent strength and endurance training on strength, testosterone, and cortisol. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 11(1), 57-64.
3. Seguin, R., & Nelson, M. E. (2003). The benefits of strength training for older adults. American journal of preventive medicine, 25(3), 141-149.

It is a great way to kickstart what may be the year that you get to see the best version of yourself!

So, in our opinion, YES you definitely should have a new years resolution but more importantly, you have to stick to it.

We will be using cat memes this time because it is the year of the Tiger! Rawwmeeooww…

It’s one more day to January 1st, and we’re sure that you’re feeling great about the new year and opportunities it might bring after a long year of pandemic and lockdowns.

But how many of us have stuck to our fitness goals for more than a week or two? (It’s okay, it was tough for us too!)

How many managed to improve our health and blood test results?

If the answer is “not me,” then this article is for you.

The new year is right around the corner so if you want to optimize your health and smash your new year’s resolutions before the new year begins, keep reading as we give you a few tips to get you through to your goals.

Exersize..geddit..? No? Okay…

#1 Plan Ahead

If you think about it, fitness (like everything else important in life) is quite predictable, there are sets of laws and rules that everyone knows will bring you success, which comes with a well-thought-out plan of action.

So before you rush into doing the things you have to do to improve physically and mentally, you have to, well, know what you’re doing!

Think about the results you want to achieve in the upcoming year and build your plan accordingly.

This would entail careful programming of physical activity and nutrition so if you are a newbie in this regard, your best bet is to hire a professional trainer/coach/nutritionist, who can help you figure out what’s best for YOU.

Please Choose A Garfield!

#2 Find Quality Food Sources

In the health and fitness world, it’s all about quality over quantity so if you plan on achieving great health and fitness goals in the next year, your nutrition should be of top priority.

You have to know what foods are going to help you get there faster while minimizing any negative effects or sacrifices along the way.

Improve your relationship with food and it will be much more enjoyable. Understand the difference between cravings and hunger.

There are a lot of opinions regarding healthy nutrition, but if we had to get it down to a couple of bullet points, here’s how it would look like:

• Derive sufficient essential nutrients (Carbs, Proteins & Fats) from quality sources (foods from well-raised animals & dark leafy greens)
• Avoid processed foods, focus on whole foods
• Drink plenty of water
• Eat mindfully

#3 Get A Training Buddy

Odds are that at least one of your closest friends has also set fitness goals, meaning that, well you have someone like-minded close to you!

Share your resolutions with friends and get yourself a training buddy!

In doing so, you can open ground for accountability and exchange information about training and nutrition.

Last but not least, sharing healthy habits with a close friend can create a strong bond that lasts a lifetime!

Hint: We can be your fitness buddy too!

#4 Monitor & Adjust

Even if you do hire a professional to create tailored training and nutrition plans, you must keep in mind that nothing works forever.

Throughout your fitness journey, you must track your progress and adjust the plan as needed.

This is the exact reason why, in working with a professional, you should be required to have regular check-ins and monthly assessments, besides the creation of specific fitness programs.

Send us a message if you want a FREE copy of our 2022 fitness planner!

#5 Start A New Activity

Fitness training, good nutrition and proper sleep should be three fundamentals for everyone’s new year’s resolutions as they are a never-ending journey.

We hope the next chapter of your fitness starts when you realize how much more you can do with your body and mind.

In the new year, choose a new, fun activity that you truly enjoy engaging in and stay consistent with!

Feel the magic of using your body for a variety of activities – training isn’t just weights and cardio!

To Wrap It Up

The time has come to make a new year’s fitness resolution. The question is, what are you going to do for your health this year?

For some people, it’s easy because they already have an idea of where their challenges lie and the changes they need to make in order to get healthier.

But if that doesn’t apply to you then don’t worry!

If you’ve never set foot into a gym before or barely know anything about any kind of exercise routine, reach out to us and we’ll get you started on your resolutions!

Get a free KD Trainer fitness planner and have a chat with us by clicking here.

Happy new year and keep moving!

KD Trainer Team

Tony Robbins – Trains every day with his personal trainer on building a capacity for sustained energy.

Barack Obama – Runs three miles a day as a young man and to this day makes time for 45 minute workouts before assuming his duties.

Gary Vaynerchuck – Hires 2 personal trainers that follow him around the world so he can train everyday.

Oprah Winfrey – Does 4-5 times of strength training and 6 times of cardiovascular training per week.

Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Tim Cook all share the same habits as well.

If you are reading this, then we bet you are probably reading this in between work. How do we know? Well, that’s because a large chunk of the clients we work with at KD Trainer are as busy as you! From business managers to C-Suite clients, we want to reveal to you what their secret is and how they find time for exercise.

Blocking out the calendar

This is a pretty good technique to annoy yourself until you do it. We all know that nobody really has “no time“, that’s just a cover up for “it is not my priority“. So make it a priority in your calendar or appointment book. Take out your calendar now and set a 30-minute slot for twice a week. We’re serious. Do it. Now. We’ll wait.

Come on, come on, do it!

Don’t forget to set the reminder. Now that you got the first step out of the way, the next step is the MOST important step. When the exercise time comes, make sure you respect it. Stop whatever you are doing and give yourself that time to do anything that is related to exercising even if it means just changing to your exercise clothes. Yup, you don’t even have to do the exercise, just change your clothes!

Don’t worry, we are not crazy. James Clear has a 2-minute rule in his book, Atomic Habits, which suggests that all you need is to build on the habit, not the results. (1)

One of his examples was a member of his community who set a rule for himself where he would only go to the gym for 5 minutes, he wasn’t even allowed to be there for 6 minutes. He was focused on building the habit of not missing workouts. After doing that for a month or two, he had established a routine of going to the gym and eventually he lost around 40kgs.

The same thing can be applied in your exercise time, start with the two times of 30-minutes a week and gradually increase the frequency, duration, intensity, you know the drill. And you will find yourself to be a whole new person in a month or two.

You can even break down your 30 minutes per day to 3 sessions of 10 minutes per day if you are REALLY short of time. Amazingly, the results you get from either format will give you similar benefits. (2). Now you really can’t use the “I have no time” excuse anymore!

So set your reminder, be prepared for it and RESPECT the sacred exercise time.

Hire A Personal Trainer

Come on, you probably would have expected this on our website. Getting a professional to help you in any field is definitely a time saver and in many cases, a cost saver! You must be thinking, isn’t a personal trainer a cost itself?

Let’s do a behind-the-envelope calculation for a training session to see why this is an investment rather than a cost.

• Accountability coach(commitment/consistency) : $50
• Motivation trainer(therapy/friend who listens) : $100
• Expertise(training correctly and nutrition) : $100
• Preventing injury(physio/chiro sessions) : $100
• Reducing medical costs(creams/painkillers) : $50
• Achieving your dream body (pain-free/disease-free/energetic/abs): Priceless

Our client Kewell who is now much stronger, free from hypertension, has better productivity and his wife loves it!

If you don’t trust our calculations, then probably we can convince you scientifically in the form of experiments to prove our point of how exercise really does save you money. Well, the money you would save comes from the long run and here are three studies that were done to prove it.

#Study 1

An American Heart Association study(3) did a study of 26,000 Americans found that even moderate exercise saved an average of $2,500 per year (and with rising costs, that number would be even higher today). That’s right, think about it, if you took all that money that a heart disease patients gave to hospitals and then take away the “cost” of personal training, you’d definitely end up saving more.

#Study 2

Next up, another study from the National Institute of Health detailed a University of Hawaii(4) in which elderly people (average age of 80) who did strength and flexibility training saved 20% a year in health costs. Well, this might not apply to you but maybe you have parents that would need strength training or you can look at strength exercise as a form of movement insurance, yup, we are coining that term!

#Study 3

And here’s our favourite study(5), this one from the Journal of Labor and Research found that men who exercise regularly make 6% more in salary than their counterparts—and women who work out regularly earn 10% more! And ladies, please don’t get us started on the benefits of exercising for women. This study isn’t really a cost-saving proof but more an income increasing proof, so in any case, it’s better! If this doesn’t convince you to exercise, we don’t know what will!

Take A Look At Your Circle

We all know the saying, “You are the average of the 5 people around you” or “Who and what we surround ourselves with is who and what we become”. This is very true especially when we take a look at what this study from Carron et. al. showed in their research where important people, family, class leaders and such has influence on someone’s exercise activity (6).

So audit your circle right now and see how many of them live a healthy lifestyle. If you are shocked by the amount of people who don’t exercise around you, here’s a few things you can do:

• Get in touch with the fittest friend you know
• Get your partner/family to be your workout buddy
• Join a health club/gym
• Play a team sport you really like
• Hire a personal trainer
• Engage with group classes
• Participate in an online health community
• Start following health experts on social media

Pick any of the above, stick to it for at least 4 weeks, and watch how things change with your actions and behaviours.

Well now that you know their secrets, you too can get out there and be the best version of yourself and live a better life.

If you want to be part of an online community that includes fitness trainers, dietitians, other health enthusiasts and more, click here to get things moving the right direction for you.

If you think that getting started during the MCO is tough, here are a few things you can do to get started during the pandemic to kick-start your journey.

Take action today and stay safe!

References

1. Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (Illustrated ed.). Avery.
2. Robert F. DeBusk, Ulf Stenestrand, Mary Sheehan, William L. Haskell, Training effects of long versus short bouts of exercise in healthy subjects, The American Journal of Cardiology, Volume 65, Issue 15, 1990.
3. Preidt, R. (2016, September 8). What’s regular exercise worth? Maybe $2500 per year. Medicine Net. https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=198108
4. Sugihara, Naomi, et al. “Cost-Benefit Estimates of an Elderly Exercise Program on Kaua ‘i.” Hawaii medical journal 70.6 (2011): 116.
5. Kosteas, V. D. (2012). The effect of exercise on earnings: Evidence from the NLSY. Journal of Labor Research, 33(2), 225-250.
6. Carron, A. V., Hausenblas, H. A., & Mack, D. (1996). Social influence and exercise: A meta-analysis. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18(1), 1-16.

(That’s total B*LLSH*T!)

“Follow this trick to lose 10kg in 2 weeks”

‘I read it on the internet so it must be true…’

Is it though?

We fitness professionals get our daily dose of laughter from reading the headlines of social media/WhatsApp health and fitness posts. It used to be from the cover of fitness magazines in the old days, how times have changed. 

But something never changes – b*llsh*t fitness tips. 

Realizing that people still fall for the same “too good to be true” advice – your run of the mill fitness influencer decides to reuse the same BS, not because they believe in recycling. 

Can’t say we’re surprised. There are people hopping on one leg back into minefields with better pattern recognition than that.

There is some fitness advice out there that you just shouldn’t follow, no matter how many people said it or where you read it (except here, obviously).

So beware when you hear claims like these:

1. “Get abs in 2 weeks with this 10 minute effortless workout!” 

“Your lazy a** will love it as we won’t be breaking a sweat, so you don’t have to worry about your makeup melting and not looking good. Sweating is for suckers.” – Fitness B*llsh*t Translator

How about getting rich in 2 weeks by working just 10 minutes a day? (You can indeed make enough money to last your whole life, provided you die next Monday)

Now do you realize how absurd these “shortcuts” are? 

You obviously didn’t gain all that weight in 2 weeks, you likely won’t be losing them in just 2 weeks either.

Too much work for you? That’s fine! Get yourself an electric stimulator – it’s like an electrocution chair for your stomach. Nothing could go wrong there, or could it?  Or these “weight loss belly wraps”. That’s right, magically, your fat will disappear into thin air. And reappear again. Just like magic!

How we all wish we could live a life of pleasure and bliss, free of pain, worry, or physical discomfort. But this is where a little bit of that “no pain, no gain” spirit would do you a whole lot of good.

2. “The number on the scale is the only measure of progress”

“I’ll still love you just the weigh you are” *wink*

In fact, take a minute to really understand this diagram below. The scale thinks that both the persons below are the same.

Same same but different?

As you can probably already tell, you can be 80kg of lean, mean machine or 80kg of blubber. And the weighing scale wouldn’t know the difference.

Let’s take an example, one of our trainers, Khor sits around 75kg bodyweight with a BMI of 26, which categorizes him as “overweight”… 

Slim chance of Mr.Khor getting into The Biggest Loser, eh?

Changes in muscle mass and body fat percentage, also known as body composition, aren’t accounted for on weight scales.

So, you might weigh more, but you may have a lower body fat percentage and be packing more muscles. On the other hand, you could lose a lot of weight in the form of muscle mass and water weight, which you don’t want! 

Here’s why:

FAT  LOSS

• Improved Fitness
• Reduced Stress on Heart
• Peak Performance
• Delayed Aging
• Reduced Risk for Diseases
• Fat Percentage Decreases
• Increased Metabolism

WEIGHT LOSS

• Decreased Fitness
• Decreased Strength
• Poor Performance
• Early Aging
• Dehydration
• Reduced Metabolism
• Organs Shrink

If anything, body weight is a rather unimportant metric. Just like how redundant your zodiac sign and a particular *cough* body part measurement is in a job evaluation.

3. “I don’t want to lift heavy because I’m scared I might get too big”

“I don’t want to get too big” is something you should tell your waiter.

How about I tell you I don’t drive cars because I’m afraid I might become a professional racer?

Or I don’t want to work hard because I’m afraid I will get too rich?

Also, if ladies have to avoid free weights and strength training like the COVID-19? Does this also include things like groceries, the laundry, a backpack, your children, a laptop, etc?

On second thought, just stay away from lifting anything against gravity all together – that’s just too unsophisticated for a lady anyway.

Growing muscle is sooo easy, lift something heavy and the next day you’ll be too bulky to roll out of bed? Hmm, wonder why we still have a job as personal trainers and the health and fitness industry still exists?

There’s your answer, thank you.

4. “Muscle confusion is key to getting in shape so you must always switch up your exercise”

Change your workout every five hours. This way your muscles stay confused and have no clue WTF is going on. If you can’t convince your muscles to grow, confuse them!

Uh, NO. Muscles are not people, so they don’t get bored! People are the ones that get bored and confused.

However, if you’re squatting the same weight, with the same number of reps and sets every time, for weeks and months on end, then of course your muscles and fitness level will remain the same.

Guess what, all you need to do to fix that is to lift more weight and/or increase the repetitions and sets done. To your muscles, this is challenging and exciting enough.

Your muscles are not the social media, you don’t need to do a completely new and different workout every time to shock/entertain your jaded muscles. 

If you do that, you’re the one who’s confused, not your muscles.

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”- Bruce Lee

5. “Exercising on an empty stomach burns more calories”

Yes you do burn more fats than carbs when you’re exercising on an empty stomach. 

But your body also stores more fat, while burning more carbs and less of fat after that. 

And you DON’T burn more calories. Rather, you may burn less because you’ll just tire out faster on an empty stomach.

At the end of the day, the amount of fat that is stored or burned will depend on your energy balance (fat gain if surplus of calorie; fat loss if deficit of calorie).

Don’t believe us? In a study for the Journal of the International Society of Sports Medicine, twenty females were divided into 2 group – one group (fed) was given a shake before performing cardio, while the other (fasted) would wait to consume the shake post-workout. They were prescribed the same calorie-restricted diet.

And voila, no differences in results found between the 2 groups!

In the age of the internet, people would rather act like witches from the dark ages talking about super-ultra magic fat loss and grain-melted-organic-detox mumbo jumbo than to obey the First Law of Thermodynamics.

Thermodynamics and nutrition are things everyone can learn about for free on the Internet, but sadly that stuff is a lot less fun to listen or read about than the honey-glazed nonsense from your IG booty/6pax model.

6. “No Pain, No Gain”

If pain builds muscle, does that mean getting run over by a bus would turn you into the next Mr. Olympia? That’s totally not the case isn’t it? Exactly because pain is your body’s way of telling you it’s injured. 

Excruciating, stabbing pain in muscles and/or joints? Not good at all!

Soreness in muscles after or during a workout? Perfectly normal and to be expected.

So, for the guys, I know at this point working out for you is just masochistic exhibitionism, but no girl ever cares about how much you can lift. Only other guys *wink*  

And girls, you can’t “walk it off” that knee pain with stretches, massages, or ointments. Fix the problem, not the symptom. 

7. “Sit ups and ab exercises give you visible abs”

Yes and no. But for the most part, still a NO.

Simply crank out a few sit ups while eating cakes and burgers and that stubborn belly fat would just melt away? 

Have you seen someone with rippling 6 pack abs while all the rest of them look like your average The Biggest Loser participant?

That’s how your average video game character looks anyway, and video games cause violence, so it must be true?

Other than a healthy, calorie-restricted diet combined with a proper exercise regimen, nothing short of liposuction will give you visible 6 pack abs (even that will be short lived if your habits don’t change, which has been shown to be the case with most liposuction). 

BUT WAIT! There’s more! 

Honorable Mentions

1. “Yoga gives you long, lean muscles/ Yoga makes you slim and slender”
2. “You must stay in the fat burning zone or your workout is useless”
3. “Women must train high repetitions with light weights”
4. “Cardio is the best way to lose weight”
5. “Machines are better than free weights”
6. “Squats are bad for your knees”
7. “Eating late at night makes you fat”
8. “I want to look like him/her, so I must buy their program and eat exactly what they eat”

There you have it folks, all of the worst fitness advice that’s total BS. We know it’s not easy to filter out the truth from a sea of unscrupulous snake-oil salesmen and fitness “influencers”.

To put it simply, you should do your own research and get your information from actual studies, not from IG influencers and certainly not from “Karen’s” whatsapp messages.

Everyone has an opinion on what works, but feelings and thoughts do not refute science!

Effective and correct science-based methods that fitness professionals use are ever evolving. Which is why it’s of the utmost importance to train at a facility or with a personal trainer that has valid credentials and is current with the sciences.

When you’re stressed out, the foods that you’re turning to are most likely going to be traditional ‘comfort’ foods – think big meals, tapaus , fast fatty foods, sweet foods, and “unhealthy drinks”. Let’s face it – we’ve all found some comfort in a tasty meal and your favourite drink (usually sweet and savoury or alcoholic) when we’ve been stressed out or upset about something. There’s nothing truly wrong about that but know that, this isn’t a good permanent solution.

When you’re turning to unhealthy foods you can feel better temporarily, but in the long run, you will feel worse. When your body isn’t getting the right nutrition, you can begin to feel less energetic, more lethargic, and in some cases less able to concentrate and focus. All of this can lead to even more stress.

Hormonal Response (You can skip this if it does not interest you)

So what regulates your stress in your body in the long-term are hormones known as corticosteroids. And in stretched periods of sustained stress, production of one of those hormones are called cortisols. Also usually referred to as the stress hormone, its level increases due to chronic negative experience to the body such as mental stress, physical stress or even being overweight.

Everybody has different relationships with stress because everyone perceives stress differently. For example, a form 5 student might find a mathematics examination stressful but a mathematics professor might find the same examination enjoyable.

Humans are always striving for a state of equilibrium, known as homeostasis and whenever a new stimulus is introduced to us, we will be stressed out. This might explain why we humans do not like change and the strongest ones usually are masters of adaptation.

So when you take a bite from your favourite snack, your body releases a gush of hormones known as dopamine. They are sometimes referred to as ‘happy hormones’ and will give you a sensation of happiness and pleasure but its effects are only temporary. This is basically the reason why some people are addicted to certain products like bubble tea or activities such as receiving a follow on social media or a message reply from someone you like.

It’s temporary.

So because of these hormonal responses in our body, do not be mistaken by “comfort foods” as stress relievers, instead continue reading to understand the foods that can actually give you a true relief from a stressful life. But just like anything sustainable, the consumption of the foods we will be sharing below needs to be taken consistently before seeing any real results in stress reduction.

Foods that Fight Stress

If you’ve been feeling more stressed out than usual lately, it’s important to know which foods are best to choose and which to avoid when it comes to combating stress and helping you to deal with feelings of stress and anxiety. The best way to fight stress is to have a healthy, balanced diet which includes a moderate amount of each of the different food groups.

Filling up on foods such as whole grains, leafy vegetables, and lean proteins as the basic staples of the diet is the best way to ensure that your body gets the optimum amounts of nutrients to fight both physical and mental health problems. When it comes to choosing the foods to eat, some have a range of great properties which help the body to combat stress. Choosing these stress-busting foods will help to heal and calm your mind permanently, rather than providing a temporary fix.

Some of the best stress-fighting foods include:

• Avocado – Although not common in the Asian diet, avocados are a creamy and versatile fruit which can be eaten in a range of different ways whether you enjoy it raw, made into sauces, dressings and dips, or in a smoothie. These nutrient-dense fruits have the properties to stress-proof your body, thanks to their high glutathione content which specifically blocks the intestinal absorption of certain fats which cause oxidative damage. Avocados also contain higher levels of vitamin E, folate, and beta-carotene than any other fruit, which boosts their stress-busting properties. However, be careful with portion control when eating avocado, as it is high in fat.

• Chamomile Tea – Of course, it’s not all about what you’re eating when it comes to managing stress; what you’re drinking can also alleviate or worsen the stress you’re feeling. Drinking liquids which are high in sugars and caffeine, such as coffee, energy drinks or soda, can actually increase your stress levels if consumed regularly. Chamomile tea has long been used as a natural bedtime soother, and it has also been used in clinical trials, which determined that chamomile tea is effective in reducing the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.

• Chocolate – Although it’s usually seen as an unhealthy treat, there is an undeniable link between chocolate and our mood. Studies have shown that eating chocolate can actually make you happier. However, that doesn’t mean that you can start munching on chocolate bars every time you’re stressed out – chocolate works best as a de-stressor when eaten in moderation and as part of a healthy and balanced diet. Dark chocolate in particular is best for you, as it contains more flavonols and polyphenols, two hugely important antioxidants which can help combat stress, more than many fruit juices.

• Beef – Grass-fed beef is not only kinder to the planet and to animals, it’s also good for people, too. Grass-fed beef has a huge range of antioxidants, including beta-carotene and Vitamins C and E, which can help your body to fight stress and anxiety. If you’re looking for more reasons to spend a little more money on organic, grass-fed beef, it’s also lower in fat than grain-fed beef whilst being higher in omega-3.

• Oatmeal – Oatmeal is great in that it can be a filling comfort food, but also has a large number of healthy properties to actually make you feel better from the inside out. A complex carbohydrate, eating oatmeal causes your brain to produce higher levels of the feel-good chemical serotonin, helping you to feel calmer and less stressed. Studies have shown that kids who choose oatmeal for breakfast tend to be much sharper throughout the morning in school compared to kids who had alternative morning meals.

• Walnuts – If you’re looking for a healthy snacking option which will help you to stay better in control of your stress levels, walnuts are a great choice. There is no denying the sweet, pleasant flavor of walnuts and they can be a tasty snack for in-between meals or as part of a desert. A versatile nut, walnuts are great for salads, or add them to a sweet treat such as coffee and walnut cake.

• Pistachios – another food which is great for snacking on and can also help to combat stress and anxiety in the long term is pistachios. Studies have found that simply eating two small, snack-size portions of pistachios per day can lower vascular constriction when you are stressed, putting less pressure on your heart by further dilating your arteries. Along with this, the rhythmic, repetitive act of shelling pistachios can actually be quite therapeutic!

• Green Leafy Vegetables – leafy, green vegetables should be a pivotal part of anyone’s diet. Along with helping to combat stress, leafy greens are full of nutrients and antioxidants which help to fight off disease and leave your body feeling healthier and more energized. Dark leafy greens, for example spinach, are especially good for you since they are rich in folate, which helps your body to produce more mood-regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which is a ‘feel-good’ chemical. Making leafy greens a part of your diet will help you to feel happier and less stressed out overall.

• Fermented foods – last but not least, eating fermented foods such as yogurt or tempeh can help to keep your gut healthy, which actually in turn will help to improve your mental health and reduce stress levels. The beneficial bacteria which are found in fermented foods such as yogurt actually have a direct effect on your brain chemistry and transmit positive mood and behavior regulating signals to your brain via the vagus nerve.

Putting Together Your Diet Plan

Planning your meals wisely is key to not only staying physically fit and healthy, but also to staying mentally strong and being able to best manage your levels of stress. Knowing which foods to avoid and which are the best to reach for to snack on when you’re feeling worried and anxious is important to helping you get control over your emotions and fears.

When you’re feeling stressed, you may be tempted to reach for classic ‘comfort foods’ – usually foods which are filled with sugar, very starchy, or greasy. However, although these foods can make you feel momentarily better, they will actually make you feel worse in the long run.

Having stress-busting snacks such as dark chocolate, yogurt, walnuts or pistachios, or even a fruit smoothie with avocado and leafy greens in it can help you to feel better in both the short and long term when it comes to stress.When it comes to combating and dealing with stress in the long run, it’s important to make sure that for the most part, you are eating a diet which is healthy and balanced.

In order to stay on track, it’s a good idea to make a meal plan for your week and plan ahead to make sure that you have a good selection of these stress-busting foods in your kitchen to make meals and snacks from when you’re feeling like stress-eating. Making sure that the majority of your meals include foods such as lean proteins and leafy green vegetables will not only make you feel healthier overall, but can improve your mental health and stress levels, too.

A good example of a healthy, stress-busting menu would be:

Breakfast: Oatmeal with berries or a fruit smoothie with avocado and berries

Mid-morning snack: Natural yogurt with fruit or a handful of pistachio nuts

Lunch: Your regular economy rice filled with plenty of leafy greens

Afternoon snack: Dark chocolate

Dinner: Grass-fed beef with vegetables

Before bed: Chamomile tea

Of course, you don’t need to stick to this menu – but it gives you a good idea! Remember to exercise good portion control when eating foods such as nuts, chocolate, yogurt or avocado! If done incorrectly, having too much of these foods can actually backfire and make you gain weight, so please understand calories first if you have fat loss goals.

As the saying goes, you are what you eat – so make sure that first and foremost, you’re filling yourself up with foods which are good for your mental health.

Most people already know that to lose fat, eating sensible, balanced meals on a consistent basis is key. 

The question we get asked in return, “But how do I do that, consistently, without spending so much time cooking every day?”

“By the time I got home, cook dinner, eat it and clean up, it’s already bedtime…” – Not so fun huh?

Enter Meal Prepping!

Meal prepping is a popular meal planning method of preparing complete meals or dishes ahead of time. Often days or even weeks worth of food in advance. 

You must be thinking “Eww! No.”

Realistically speaking, you have been eating such foods your whole life; meal prepping is extensively used in the food industry everywhere!

The soup you were drinking? Prepped 2 months ago and frozen. The grilled chicken/fish? It has been sitting in the refrigerator for days.

When done properly, meal prepping is perfectly safe; nutritionally and taste-wise.  

Just think of it as organizing leftovers for instant meals. 

Here are some benefits of meal prepping:

• Healthy, well-balanced meals whenever you need it!
• Economical
• Actually saves time. Cooking in a big batch, as compared to going out, driving through traffic and queuing up to get your meals – ultimately takes less time.
• Helps with weight loss, you get to decide the ingredients and food portion.
• Variety and great taste are all in your hands!

There are many ways to go about meal prepping, this article will explore and break down this process into a few easy steps!

I’m ready! How do I start?

First, knowing what a healthy, balanced meal looks like. This is what your plate should look like every meal. 

   “Eat your greens”-mama

There’s no point in meal prepping if you’re just going to prep nutritionally-bankrupt meals.

Unpopular opinion: KFC>McD

However, if your goal is weight loss, how many calories you eat is still more important than what you eat.

Next, you will need reusable, airtight food containers that will help your meals stay fresh longer and taste better by keeping oxygen, moisture, and bacteria out.

There should be at least one person in your friend list that sells Am*ay

*BONUS TIP* ~ Because we love you. Here are 3 ways for you to meal prep:

• Batch cooking
  • • Making large batches/portions of a specific recipe, then frozen, saved up and eaten over the next few days/weeks.
• Individually portioned meals
  • • Entire dishes cooked and portioned out into individual meals to be refrigerated and eaten over the next few days.
• Ready-to-cook ingredients
  • Ingredients and components chopped, peeled, sliced or cooked and refrigerated to be used in recipes later on. This cuts down on cooking time.

Let’s get cookin’

1. Decide the meal you’d like to prep for – Breakfast, lunch or dinner. Start with the meal that you usually eat out, or tend to overeat due to lack of self-control and choice.
2. Pick a day to meal prep – Sunday and/or Wednesday are good choices. 
3. Decide how much you want to prep – You can choose to prep for 3 to 5 days worth of meal at a time. It’s up to you, but we recommend you start with 2 or 3 days and slowly increase as your familiarity and consistency with the menu improves.
4. Pick your recipe – Ideally, you should go for more healthful recipes that do not involve deep frying, processed foods and fatty cuts of meat. But you can base them around foods you generally enjoy.
5. Grocery shopping – Write down the grocery list, how much of each ingredient do you need based on how many meals you want to prep for, and do your shopping. 

The easiest foods to prep

• • Frozen vegetables – Peas, carrot, green beans, edamame, cauliflower. And contrary to popular belief that frozen vegetables have no nutrients; most are no different nutritionally compared to fresh ones.
  • Starchy veggies – Potato, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and etc.
  • Stiff fresh vegetables – celery, carrots, bell peppers, cabbage, radish
  • Prepped salads – You can find individually packed salads and bagged vegetables at most supermarkets.

• • Whole grains – Oats, quinoa, barley, buckwheat, brown rice.
  • Legumes & beans – Lentils, all beans(canned or dried), chickpeas, and etc
  • Lean protein – Frozen or canned seafood, eggs, greek yogurt, tofu, lean cuts of chicken, beef, pork, and etc.
  • Nuts and seeds – Almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, chia, flax and etc.

How to make cooking easier

1. Organize your cooking workflow. Having recipes that use different cooking appliances: the oven for baking proteins, stovetop for boiling grains or beans and frying vegetables, slow cooker for soups. This helps to avoid clashing in appliance usage and speeds up your cooking time. 
2. On meal prep day, start with foods that take the longest to cook – proteins like chicken and fish; whole grains like brown rice and quinoa; and dried beans and legumes.
3. Multi-task while your proteins and whole grains are baking and bubbling. Chop and dice up your vegetables and fruits. 
4. Divide into balanced portions and store them into your air-tight food containers. This is a crucial part if your goal is weight loss. 

Each meal should have 1 to 2 servings of protein, 2 to 3 servings of vegetables and fruits, 1 serving of carbohydrate and 1 serving of fat/oil. 

Here are some balanced serving sizes compared to common items to help you estimate your portion sizes:

• 1 serving of carbs- rice, noodle, potato (1 cup): a deck of cards.

• 1 serving of protein (100 grams lean meat): a deck of cards.

• 1 serving of fat- cheese/butter (15 gram): The size of your thumb.

• 1 serving of fresh fruit (1/2 cup): a tennis ball.

• 1 serving of green leafy vegetables (1/2 cup): a tennis ball

• 1 serving of vegetables (1 cup): the size of your palm.

• 1 teaspoon of oil (10gram): 1 fingertip.

Storage and Reheating

Food storage and reheating is the most important part of meal prepping, to prevent food poisoning and to preserve flavour, texture, and nutrients.

• Refrigeration temperature – Keep your refrigerator below 5°C and freezer at -18°C or below.
• Recommended maximum refrigeration time:
  • • 1-2 days: Cooked ground meat
    • 3-4 days: Cooked whole meats, soups and stews
    • 5 days: Cooked beans, legumes
    • 1 week: Hard boiled eggs, chopped vegetables if stored in air-tight containers
• Recommended maximum freezing time:
  • 2-3 months: Soups and stews, cooked beans
  • 3-6 months: Cooked meat
  • 6-8 months: Berries and chopped fruit 
  • 8-12 months: Vegetables
• Defrosting and Reheating: 
  • Frozen foods should be defrosted in the refrigerator overnight, instead of leaving it in a room-temperature environment.
  • All foods should be reheated to at least 75°C before eating.
  • You may want to label or date your food containers so you will be reminded to consume them within the recommended time period.

The Bottom Line

Meal prepping is amazing in so many ways, not only does it save you time in the kitchen and money, but also improving your health with a more nutritionally balanced diet.

Trying to change your eating and lifestyle habits in order to get fit can seem impossible to sustain.

Which is why we have a team of certified health and fitness professionals (certified personal trainers and registered dietitians) to help our personal training clients.

Want to learn easy meal prep recipes, exercise and more?

Now you too have access to our team of life changers! In our Fit-From-Home program!

What if you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, isn’t it? If so, why bother dieting you ask?

If the word “diet” sends shivers down your spine; it’s normal and we understand.

Most “diets” feel like a punishment.

Most diet/ fitness “gurus” promote fear-mongering and severe food restrictions, instead of actually teaching nutrition, energy balance, exercise, and how human physiology/metabolism really works.

Gluten, sugar, high-glycemic carb, processed food, nasi lemak, char kuey teow… just kiss goodbye to everything you like eating, they say.

This got you thinking, maybe you’re just not doing enough. Maybe you’re not mentally tough enough. Maybe abs aren’t worth it after all.

On the other hand, maybe you can survive on chicken breast, rice, and broccoli? That this is nothing compared to starving children in Africa…

Stop! Stop beating yourself up and read this.

What if we told you that you could transform your body and still get to eat foods you actually like?

What if all you need to do to lose fat and gain muscle is to follow a set of flexible dietary tips…not starve and punish yourself.

What if we promise you that you could be free from the restrictions and fear most people relate with dieting and learn to love it instead?

Sounds too good to be true?

We are here to tell you it’s true and it works. Well, only if you don’t abuse the freedom.

Let’s go!

So, what is flexible dieting?

Flexible dieting is a popular and effective weight loss program/methodology that’s founded in the knowledge that no food in isolation is inherently good or bad.

How much(calorie) you eat is more important than what you eat.

This statement alone would have the “clean foods” zealots all bent out of shape. But you cannot escape from the fact that the laws of energy balance apply to everyone. 

Energy balance is the fundamental law governing fat loss, to lose fat one must eat fewer calories than what the body needs/burns. 

Every single diet in existence works to reduce your calorie intake(by restricting certain food groups or even macronutrient) so as to induce a negative energy balance (eating less calorie than what your body needs), which leads to fat loss. 

In other words, eat too much of the “cleanest” foods in the world and you will gain weight still. 

Yet, maintain a calorie deficit while eating a “teenager diet” of junk food and empty calorie crap and you will lose weight still.

Just look at Professor Mark Haub who lost 12 kilos on a diet of protein shakes, Twinkies, Doritos, Oreos, and Little Debbie snacks. He merely ate fewer calories than what his body needed, albeit all empty calories from sugary junk food. Yet, as the first law of thermodynamics dictates, this leads to a reduction in body fat mass.

1 calorie from whole foods and 1 calorie from processed food is the same. As a calorie is a measurement of energy. A calorie is a quantity, not quality.

Yes, you get to eat whatever food you like…but that does not mean you get to stuff yourself silly.

Getting Started With Flexible Dieting

Calculating Your Energy Needs

As you have now come to understand, the key to losing fat/weight is to be in a calorie deficit over a long period of time. Hence, you first need to determine your calorie and macronutrient needs. 

You can calculate your total daily energy expenditure(TDEE) as follows:

• Men: (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age) + 5
• Women: (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age) – 161

This number is then multiplied by an activity factor to estimate your total calorie needs:

• Sedentary (little or no exercise): x 1.2
• Lightly active (1–3 days per week): x 1.375
• Moderately active (6–7 days per week): x 1.55
• Very active (every day): x 1.725
• Extra active (twice or more per day, elite athletes): x 1.9

To lose weight, you then subtract a percentage of the calorie from your calculated total daily energy expenditure to create a calorie deficit. A safe and sustainable amount would be a 20% deficit.

For example, a person who has a calculated TDEE of 2,000 calories would subtract 400 calories; eating 1,600 calories daily to lose weight.

Or you can use an online calculator, just key in your numbers and they will do all the calculations for you!

Calculating Your Macronutrient Needs

After determining a calorie goal, you then calculate your macronutrient or “macro” needs.

Macronutrients are:

• carbohydrates
• proteins
• fats

They are nutrients that your body needs in the largest amounts, for good reason. 

They provide calories and have numerous important functions in the body, which is why it’s never a good idea to cut one of them out of your diet.

Carbohydrates: 4 calories per gram, typically 45–65% of total daily calories

Proteins: 4 calories per gram, typically 15–35% of total daily calories

Fats: 9 calories per gram, typically 20–35% of total daily calories

Tailor your food choices to your personal preferences, fitness goals, and lifestyle.

If you’re someone who loves starchy foods such as rice, noodles, potato, and bread, you may want to go for a higher carb range while keeping fat intake in the lower end. 

If you’re always craving greasy foods such as fried chicken, pizza, nasi kandar, definitely go for higher fat intake while reducing carb intake.

Isn’t it fun and easy? No complicated recipes, food plans or endless lists of forbidden foods.

You get to choose the foods you would like to eat, but staying within your set macronutrient range and calorie limit.

Now that you know how much calories you need, let’s get started!

TIP #1

TRACKING YOUR CALORIES

Just like how you would track your finances to avoid overspending, you too should track your calories if you want to see serious and consistent results.

One systematic review found that weight loss programs that employed calorie counting led to an average of 3.3 kg more weight loss than those that didn’t.

There are plenty of ways to track your calories, from an endless list of mobile apps to a good ol’ excel spreadsheet. And it doesn’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes a day. 

There really isn’t an excuse for not tracking your calories.

MyFitnessPal is the most popular calorie counter app right now. It saves your favourite meals and foods for convenient logging. 

If you’re a fan of the ol’ reliable excel spreadsheet, you can create a list of your favourite foods on it, complete with the calorie and macronutrient count.

Here’s an example of how it would look like:

Meal Plan #1

Having a meal bank of calorie friendly foods that you find enjoyable is key to a healthy and sustainable long term fat loss plan.

Piece them together to create your meals and keep your daily calorie intake within 50 calories of your target.

TIP #2

Know your portions

Portion sizes have consistently increased, in some restaurants, a single meal can provide way more than what the average person needs in a well-balanced meal.

Termed “portion distortion”, a well known and well-studied condition where you might view large servings of food as normal.

Here are some balanced serving sizes compared to common items to help you estimate your portion sizes:

1 serving of rice or noodles (1 cup): a computer mouse or your fist.

1 serving of lean meat (100 grams): a deck of cards.

1 serving of cheese/butter (20 gram): The size of your thumb.

1 serving of fresh fruit (1/2 cup): a tennis ball.

1 serving of green leafy vegetables (1/2 cup): a tennis ball

1 serving of vegetables (1 cup): the size of your palm.

1 teaspoon of oil: 1 fingertip.

Calorie counting often relies on rough estimation(eyeballing/agak-agak), it isn’t an exact science, unless you weigh and measure your foods.

But it’s not of life-or-death importance to be spot on with your estimations, just try to be as accurate and unbiased as you can when recording your intake. 

As time goes by, your experience will bring higher accuracy.

TIP #3

Quality still matters

Just because you can eat a bunch of junk food while staying under your calorie needs and lose weight, doesn’t mean you should. 

Know that your body needs adequate fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals to live a strong and healthy life. Unfortunately ice cream, cookies, and fried food alone won’t get you there.

Also, the effects that whole foods and processed foods have on your hunger, appetite hormones, and the number of calories burned for digestion can vary significantly.

The difference being that whole, non-processed foods will keep you full for longer and require more energy for digestion.

This can make all the difference in eating fewer calories and sustaining it in the long term.

Here’s a simple list of enjoyable and nutritious foods that we at KD Trainer eat regularly:

• Fruits
• Leafy green vegetables
• Mushrooms
• Sweet potatoes
• Berries
• Whole grains like wheat, barley, oats, brown rice
• Yoghurt
• Eggs
• Seeds & Nuts
• Beans 
• Lentils, peas
• Salmon, white fish, shrimp, tuna
• Lean beef, lean pork
• Grilled/baked skinless chicken

The list goes on, and of course, yours may look different. 

The idea is to understand what foods are unprocessed(and nutritious) and what aren’t. And consume the majority (70 to 80%) of your daily calories from relatively unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods.

TIP #4

Planning for success

Failure to plan is planning to fail.

If you know you’re going out for a big dinner, then eat less throughout the day and save up your calorie quota so you can enjoy the dinner without guilt!

And when you know you’ll be eating out somewhere unfamiliar, look up the menu beforehand, find out the calories from your calorie tracker app, then structure the rest of your day’s calorie intake around it!

Have you ever experienced telling yourself you’ll have just a few potato chips or just a spoonful of ice cream, but the next thing you know you’re licking up the crumbs or the bottom of the ice-cream tub?

That is why you should set up your environment for success. Remove temptations: Reduce the amount of junk food in your house and replace them with calorie-friendly alternatives.

TIP #5

Eat More Protein

Protein is the single most important macronutrient for losing weight.

Eating a high-protein diet has been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day, while on average reducing your daily intake by 441 calories. 

This is due to protein being the most satiating macronutrient and its appetite-suppressant effect.

In other words, eating more protein in your diet is the easiest and most effective way to help you eat fewer calories and lose fat/weight.

Aim for a daily protein intake of around 25% of your daily calorie goal.

For example, a person with an intake of 2,000 daily calories would need 500 calories from protein alone. Since one gram of protein has 4 calories, this equates to 120 grams of protein(400 grams of cooked chicken or 3 large chicken breasts). 

Conclusion

You can eat the foods you like and have the body you want.

Calorie counting may not be necessary for weight/fat loss, but at the end of the day, calories still count.

There is no need to further elaborate on the tips above, do it and see the results for yourself.

There’s a lot more we could teach you about optimizing flexible dieting (and we do in our exclusive Fit-From-Home group – CLICK on the link to be a VIP for free today), but this article should give you everything you need to get started and see results.

One of the possibility of this happening is because of something called CALORIC DENSITY which means that different food will have different density. To put simply, density is the amount of mass over volume which means that for a food which has an equal amount of weight, the more space that food takes, the lower its density.

This diagram below will give you a better understanding of what caloric density means.

When trying to lose weight, it is advised to eat food that are low in calorie density. Foods that will keep you fuller but also low in calorie, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, potato and lean meats should make most of your diet.

Meats may not seem to fill your tummy as much, but they are the type of food that requires the most energy and time to digest, which will keep you full for longer. This is because protein requires up to 35% of its calorie to digest it.

Potatoes when baked, steamed or boiled, has the highest satiety(feeling of fullness) rating. They are also rather low in calorie, 100 calories per 100 gram. And as you can see above, oily food or foods cooked with a lot of oil will only take up very little space in your stomach but still has high amounts of calories which does not make you feel full.

So if you are trying to lose weight, choose your food wisely as it will help you in your journey!

REFERENCES
Food Satiety Study:
http://www.ernaehrungsdenkwerkstatt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/EDWText/TextElemente/Ernaehrungswissenschaft/Naehrstoffe/Saettigung_Lebensmittel_Satiety_Index.pdf

Thermic Effect of Food:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC524030/