Losing 10kg - 3 Easiest Things: Number 1

I previously wrote about how we lost 35kg between The Husband and I.

I lost about 10kg and to be honest, looking back, some things were hard, others not.

Let me start with the easiest things first.

Number 1: Stop drinking sweet drinks

I like my food and my desserts. But to stop drinking my calories wasn't too hard.

(Note: I don't drink alcohol much, except a drink whenever I am at social events, which thankfully isn't that often.. I continued these since they are very occasional. Usually, I opt for a wine.)

What I did was cut out sweet drinks:

1. No soft drinks, not even diet or "zero" versions

Soft drinks belong to the "must stop" items.

Coke has 35g per 330ml can. 1 teaspoon of sugar equals 4g. So that means a 330ml can of coke has almost 9 teaspoon of sugar, and that spikes your insulin, which makes you fat.

Hence, coke (and all other soft drinks) is a big no. Run away as far as you can.

Diet sodas are a no for me too.

These contain artificial sweeteners but there is research that artificial sweeteners are not linked to weight loss and may be associated with obesity. Some still generate an insulin response, which make them no different from sugared ones.

So no "cheating" with diet sodas.

2. No fruit juices and other sweet "healthy" drinks.

Fruit juices, to my horror, are sometimes worse than soft drinks.

As an example -
Marigold 100% Pure Apple Juice with no sugar added has 10.4g sugar per 100ml. That's almost 35g per 330ml - which makes it almost the same as Coke!

Some may say it's all natural and with no added sugar. But it's still sugar, with minimal fiber (a paltry 0.8g per 100ml).

So, no fruit juices or yogurt drinks (these have really high sugar content) and no smoothies.

Even freshly squeezed ones are a no - they have natural fructose in them and your body process them in the same way as sugar (which is part glucose and part fructose). When you blend or squeeze the juice, you take out most of the fiber too.. which makes the juice bad.

So the fruit is okay (because of the fibre which slows down the insulin response process) but juice is not.

Sweetened "healthy" drinks are equally bad.

As an example -
Yeo's Chrysanthemum tea - what our parents will "allow" us to drink when we were young when they deny us of soft drinks - has 23.1g of sugar per 330ml (I change everything to 330ml to compare with coke. That's still a whooping almost 6 teaspoon full of sugar.

The "light" version is just slightly better at 19g per 330. If you choose this, you'd get "only" under 5 teaspoon instead of 6 for the regular version. (Is it just me or is there almost no difference?)

So all sweetened "healthy" drinks are out. They are not healthy at all with all that sugar in them.

3. No sugar in my coffee or tea
I used to drink my coffee or tea with a little sugar. I cut that out. It didn't taste so nice in the beginning. But I continued drinking it with milk and now, I think that even with milk, it's pretty sweet.

So yes, I didn't cut my lattes, kopi-c and teh-c (local coffee/ tea). I just cut off the sugar in these drinks.

And if I'm out and really want to order a cold drink, I'd order sparkling water or unsweetened tea. There are only 2 unsweetened tea choices mostly in Singapore - Oolong Tea from Pokka or Green Tea from Ayataka.

Interestingly, when we travel to Japan, there is usually a lot of options for unsweetened cold tea. I'm waiting for these options to be available in Singapore too.

Honestly - the "less sweet" drinks are just another unhealthy version of the same drinks. They are not healthy at all!

How we lost 35kgs

Today is Little N's 7th birthday and as always, Facebook memories reminds me how she has grown. But also, it showed how much weight The Husband and I have lost.

A photo on her 2nd birthday reminded me that we are now 35kg heavier - I have lost 10kg and The Husband a whooping 25kg. We both now have a BMI of less than 22.

I started this weight loss journey first so her third and fourth birthday photos shows a thinner me. The husband started in 2016 and her fifth and sixth birthday photos shows a trimmer dad.

2 books that have really influenced me on this journey - Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It and Fat Chance: Beating The Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food and Disease.

There are lots of other books and online videos of course, but the first book was what got me started and the second what kept the weight off for me.

I'd share more about what we do but 3 things to highlight..

1. We did no additional exercise so this was pure diet

2. We have both kept the weight off for a number of years now (4 for me and 2 for The Husband)

3. A few things are really easy to do 

I’d share more about my journey in future posts.

I love desserts and never gave them up 

(They are the reason why I only lost 10kg and not more, haha)

In transit

We moved out of our home for the last almost 6 years on 13 Aug.

It was the first house that Little N remembers moving out from because although she was born in another house, we moved before she turned two and she only has vague memories of that place.

She was very reluctant to move.

“When I grow up, I will move back into this house.”

This move was Step 1 of a 2-step move.

We had sold our place even before we bought our new house. Our original thought process was, it’d take a long time for us to sell, and maybe even longer to look. So we put our house up for sale and planned to move to an interim place for maybe about a year whilst we hunt for a new house. But as it turns out, our house was sold pretty quickly. And then we started our house hunt and found a new place pretty quickly too.

So that meant our interim stay would be just a 3 month transit... and we’d move house twice in 2019.

After we moved, Little N missed the old house and asked to visit the place. So we decided to visit during her September school holidays.

Until we reached the place, she did not understand that she would not get to go into the house anymore. But she was contented to visit and play at the nearby park - a place she played at often.

The movers came when she went to school. 

After school, I brought her back to the empty home to say her goodbye.