D.I.E.T. (Determination, Insanity, Enthusiasm, Trust) Part 2: Little Changes, Substantial Wonders!

Good afternoon everyone! For your information, my holidays are just ten hours left and I am blogging from my campus now-for the SECOND time.

Well, In case if you have not read my previous post, D.I.E.T. (Part 1), that post is about dieting as a vegetarian, that means, no meat in your plates. In fact, here are the types of vegetarians:

Semi-vegetarian: A semi-vegetarian is not officially classified as a vegetarian because he/she avoids only red meat. 

Pesca-vegetarian: A pesca-vegetarian abstains from animal meat but still consumes fish and seafood. 

Lacto-ovo vegetarian: A lacto-ovo vegetarian refrains from eating animal meat (red meat, white meat, fish, seafood) but still consumes milk and dairy. 

Lacto-vegetarian: A lacto-vegetarian avoids animal meat and eggs in his/her diet but still consumes dairy products. 

Ovo-vegetarian: An ovo-vegetarian avoids animal meat and dairy in his/her diet but still consumes eggs. 

Vegan: A vegan consumes only plant-based products, which excludes animal-based foods such as animal meat, dairy and eggs. Some vegans do not consume honey. 

Fruitarian: A fruitarian consumes only fruits and legumes.

I am currently a lacto-ovo vegetarian for practical reasons. Having to cater food outside the campus is a bane for me and it is impractical. Fingers-crossed, I will go vegan when I begin working because I can prepare my own food.

Now that you know the types of vegetarians (at a glance, at least), I shall tell you some easy little tips that you can sneak into your hectic lifestyle. Being on a diet does not mean that you have to starve yourself with Minnie-mouse portions and exercise twenty hours a day. Doing that is a sure way to drive you to Crazy Town, I WARN YOU!

Diet is a life-long change to a healthier lifestyle, thus it MUST be practical.

PART 1: Tweak your Working/Studying Conditions

Remember this mantra: "Don't sit when you can stand; don't stand when you can walk". At a time-frame of an hour, sitting burns around 68 calories at most (depending on your lifestyle and physical conditions); standing consumes around 100 calories, while walking can burn you a whooping 200-400 calories per hour! Of course, I don't think you can walk at ALL times, right? At least, stand while working or studying, if possible.

Stepper-and-work!

I like to change positions while working. At home, I will place a stepper beside my desk so that I can actually tone my legs with the stepper and write or read at the same time. In the hostel, I will squat while typing. 

I choose not to sit because sitting for long hours causes me bad butt-aches and bores me. By standing, I will have to use more energy to focus on my work and stand (or squatting and stepper-ing), thus I will think less about food and all sorts of unrelated issues. However, I sit down after an hour or two of standing. Standing for long hours is detrimental for health, so alternate sitting and standing while working.

Of course, NEVER force yourself to stand at work if you are physically unwell. For beginners, you may want to stand for just 30 minutes and increase the time for standing at work gradually.

I recommend buying a sitting-standing desk for those working or studying at home. You can even fit a treadmill below your desk so that you "walk" while you work, if your budget or space allows you to do so. Besides, you may use an exercise ball to replace your conventional chair for sitting. Just be sure not to fall off the ball!

PART 2: The BEST gift for Mum and Dad: Helping Hands

Why bother loitering for no apparent reason when you can actually help your parents at home? Your parents will be REALLY happy and grateful if you volunteer to spare some time and help them in the household chores.Firstly, you will relieve their gargantuan burden for having to tend to us children, taking care of the house and working at the same time. That is being filial. Secondly, your parents will not have to empty their wallets for having to look for a maid, apart from curtailing unnecessary maid-related problems. Thirdly, you will burn calories. Now, this is the ULTIMATE WIN-WIN SOLUTION!

Sweeping and mopping the floor requires you to lunge and stretch. Hand-washing and ironing the clothes needs the strength of your arms. The list is literally endless. While these chores may seem a tad too easy, they will keep us off the couch and over-snacking, since working around relieves food cravings.

Part 3: Trick or Treat?

You probably have coffee breaks during work or class. Me too! For me as a college student, having to focus on lectures for long hours is tiring, and lectures are sedentary since I HAVE TO sit down most of the time. I always anticipated for the clock to tick at ten o’clock in the morning after using up my mental energy with two hours of lectures. Yay! Refreshments!

Wait. The time for refreshment can be a disaster if you are not careful. In my case, my course-mates often brought along nice and tasty treats such as butter cookies, cakes and flavoured peanuts. They are calorie-dense and not filling, so I usually stick to one piece of cookie and a few nuts or even none at all. I go for fruits such as apples and oranges as mid-morning snacks because it is filling, low in calories and fun to munch as well. 

Besides that, I use break-time to do some light stretching and walk along the corridor. This rejuvenates me better than any high-calorie snacks which only provide a temporary energy burst. Walking around allows me to have a peace of mind and is another little exercise which I can sneak into lecture-breaks.

Part 4: Chances don't Come Often!

It does not matter whether your friends are looking at you as though as you are a lunatic whenever you are grooving to the beat during the aerobics session or walking many rounds during a relay. The key is to have fun and shed some unwanted calories off. 

What I am saying here is that when there are chances to work out, work your body out! Now I definitely do NOT mean that you can dance around in the supermarkets or shopping malls unless if you are filming a music video which requires you to do so. Work out at appropriate situations. For instance, during health campaigns, charity drives, etc., why not dance in the aerobics or take a stroll along the stalls instead of pigging out by buying and eating LOTS of food there? It costs you money and your waistline. On the other hand, the aerobics activities in fairs and campaigns (if any) are usually open to the public and free-of-charge.

You can easily overeat during fairs by visiting stall to stall, so be careful and take not of the food that you are eating. In that way, you can save big bucks while saving your waistline.

During events such as Relay for Life (which I took part in recently... I will tell you guys about it later in this month in my diary blog.), instead of sitting down watching the performances at night, I opted to walk in the Relay and stand while watching the dances, rather than sitting down and doing nothing. Mind you, sitting down for two hours is a sheer waste of time and opportunities!

Part 5: Get up, Get up!

Have you ever encountered situations where you have to get stuffs from the other side of your office, home, etc.? Instead of asking the people around you to help pass the stuffs to you, you can actually walk to the location and grab your stuffs. This simple action will burn you bits of calories and prevents your coworkers from having to put their work aside to help you.

Besides, you can tidy your desks or clean the house instead of being a couch potato.

When you feel tired, just do some workout. According to www.skinnymom.com , a continuous ten-minute stationary cardio expends 100 calories. That is way better to relieve study/work stress instead of munching into sweet treats!

Part 6: One Good Turn Deserves Another

When your friend needs help in moving stuffs, just help them. It will save your friend a great deal of time and sneak some exercise for you too! Is that not great?

Part 7: Be Grateful

Learn to love yourself and your body. God gave you your body to be used and taken care of, so avoid comparing yourselves to the others (My challenge!), and laugh those freaks who mock at you off. Pray everyday, relax and view life positively. Having less stress makes you less prone to overeating, so live life to the fullest!

Of course, ANYONE, vegetarian or not, can practise these tips. Just tweak your living habits and integrate dieting as a part of life. Have fun and good luck!

#Good luck to me too... I just reached 70 kilograms and I hope I can maintain my weight or, better still, keep it down to my desired 60 kg.