A Pact

Three of us has made a pact today. We've formed a support group through some social chat room to monitor each others diet progresses. Everyone will be a watch dog, watching each other closely. Each must report their daily food intake to the group. Whenever someone felt that they are having some 'unclean' food cravings must immediately report it so that the rest can jump in to help.

It isn't a fail proof way to loss weight and healthier eating but I still think that this is a pretty good way to ensure that we will have less chance to succumb to our cravings and higher chance of sticking to our diet.

It will be 6 days of having clean food. 1)Clean food meaning smart carbs. That is complex carbohydrates instead of refined/simple carbohydrates. Refined carbs are easily digested by the body too fast too soon into energy. All those unused energy will then goes into storage afterwards accumulating fat while complex carbs will take a while to be digested hence the steady supply of energy without spiking the insulin level in the blood. It's helps to keep you feeling full for a longer time too. Example of refined carbs: white rice, white flour, white bread and instant noodles. Example of complex carbs: brown rice, wholegrain bread and sweet potato.

2)Protein to help the body maintain lean tissue while burning fat for fuel without the constant hunger attacks. Example : eggs , boiled or scrambled minus the yolk, skimmed milk, soy, lean meats and beans.

3)Vegetables and fruits are very important as some of them such as raw celery and grapefruit are often claimed to have negative caloric balance meaning that it
requirng more energy to digest than recovered from the food not forgetting for our daily fibre intake as well. This way we can satisfy our hunger with all those excess calories that can add up to the measurement of our waist line.

4) Dietary fat is an essential nutrient needed by the body for energy, healthy skin, vitamin absorption, and everyday bodily functions. Example: fish, nuts, flax seed, olive oil and avocado.

Lastly is a good night sleep which I know that I'm being deprived of for tonight as I'm blogging this entry now. Inadequate sleep leads to decreased leptin levels and increased ghrelin levels, contributing to increased appetite, according to a 2004 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Leptin and ghrelin are hormones that regulate appetite. Leptin signals to the brain to reduce appetite and burn more calories. Ghrelin increases hunger, slows metabolism and decreases the body's ability to burn fat.

And now I need to get my leptin level up and to have some sweet dreams before I hit the gym for my week 5 of Rip:60. Good night...