Kevin Zahri

Baru Bersalin? Ingin bersenam or get back in shape?

The following is a question I received through Facebook recently:

1. Q
   Bro... just wanna check with you what kinda food that are suitable for my wife which contain high calorie yet healthy seems she is breast-feeding our baby. Currently she is 47kg; 11kgs lost after giving birth. Her ideal weight should be around 50-55kgs.
   Need your experts advice bro.
   Thanx!
2. A

   Ok bro (since you call me bro, I shall do the same). First of all congrats on becoming a father...it must be life changing experience. and hey good on you for caring for your wife's wellbeing. Good man!

   Ok for post labor or baru bersalin fitness, i'll fokus on three areas: Nutrition, Exercise and Rest!

   Nutrition:

   

   For some, their goal is to get rid of the pregnancy fat to get back in shape. Bagi sesetengah orang seperti your wife, they may want to regain some weight yang hilang...well after the baby dah "keluar". Following are some general post labor nutrition tips (tips nutrisi selepas bersalin)

   • Before you start anything, check with your doctor. Every women has different needs/shortages etc post labor.
   • Maintain a nutritious diet and have 5-6 balanced meals per day
   • Avoid empty calories like cookies, soft drinks, chips etc
   • if your wife is breastfeeding, you need to be sensitive to the kinds of foods she eats. Makanan yang pedas, "berbau" etc boleh menjejaskan your babies mood to breastfeed.
   • Pastikan your wife doesn't skip meals, especially when breastfeeding...shes still eating for 2 :)
   • Bro, in terms of caloric value you need it would be helpful for you to calculate your wife's BMR and DCR. From you need to add lebih kurang 300-500 calories to 1. feed your baby and 2. hopefully have some left supaya your wife can tambahkan berat badan.
   • Supplements?Basic labor/post labor protein supplements are ok. Especially coz quality protein is hard to come by consistently but bro, make sure you run the supplements by your doctor firstl.
   • Kalau boleh, avoid: processed foods (go for whole foods), fried foods, fast foods

   Exercise:

   Obviously exercise is great to help your wife get back in shape and also to help her regain some weight untuk jangka masa panjang. Ok lets break it down

   

   • The kind of exercise your wife can or cannot do tentunya bergantung on her condition. Best person to advice on this again is your doctor. General rule of thumb: is to wait 4-6 weeks during the postpartum checkup (I researched this! hahaha).
   • Once you have been given the green light, cara yang paling baik untuk senaman post natal is to start small...like walking or brisk walking or maybe just taking your stroller out. In Malaysia you obviously need to be aware of the heat. My advice, talking the stroller in a shopping mall ok jugak.
   • Practicality. Post natal exercise in the form of weight training if obviously great to rebuild your wife's strength and endurange....a fun and practical exercise is to bermain, lifting, dukung and incorporate your baby in the exercises. Also cara yang baik for your wife to bond with the baby.
   • Try to exercise after breastfeeding, rather than before when your breasts are full and heavy.
   • Aim to exercise three or four days per week.
   • If you feel breathless or light-headed while exercising, slow down or stop.
   • Wear an appropriate bra that offers good support.
   • Elakkan senaman yang memberi tekanan kepada your wife's pelvis or hip joints....that until your doctor has given you the ok (once your pelvic muscles have recovered)
   • Cuba senaman zero/low-impact seperti walking, swimming, yoga, cycling, light weight training (i.e with weights or your baby) etc etc

   Rest:

   Can't tell you how important this one is bro. Lagi2 when you have a new born baby in your life. Pastikan your wife gets enough rest in between exercise, breastfeeding etc to allow her to recuperate and rebuild. Not getting enough rest will effect not only her mood and health, but also her ability to breast feed.

I think thats pretty much it. Even I learned a bit today..in any case, do check with your doctor. Your wife inysallah has a lot of years to get her weight and fitness back in check. At the very early stages of post-pregnancy....making sure that your wife and baby are healthy is more important.
All the best!

by Kevin Zahri

No time to bersenam? Take control of your health - life.

Soalan daripada Azizul:Q

hai mr.kevin,saya berumur 18tahun, berat badan saya 100kg dan tinggi saya 160cm…masalah utama saya ialah, saya bekerja dari pukul 8pagi sampai 7malam dan X sempat nak bersenam…lagipun, kat tempat saya nih X der kedai menjual suplement untuk menguruskan badan…jikalau disember lepas berat saya 94kg, skarang, makin naik lah pulak sampai 100kg…
harap encik kevin dapat lah tolong saya….
Ok di sini Azizul basically ada 2 masalah:

• Penambahan berat badan
• Tiada masa untuk berseman

Let answer both questions individually.

1. Penambahan Berat Badan:Satu perkara Azizul harus memahami is that your body weight tidak akan menurun selagi Azizul tiada kawalan. Right now you have no control. Satu2 cara untuk mengawal berat badan adalah ilmu pengetahuan dan mengamalakn ilmu itu untuk jangka masa berpanjangan....bukan sahaja untuk 12 minggu. Secara ringkas, weight loss is easy sekiranya Azizul memahami fundamental asas dan keperluan (makanan) anda. its all about calories in (daripada makanan) berbanding calorie out (aktiviti seharian). Selagi kalori in melebihi kalori out, you will gain weight. How fast? 3500 calorie bersamaan 1lb lemak.
2. Tiada masa untuk berseman!Yang ini tricky a bit because it all comes down to your kepentingan dalam kehidupan Azizul. Does work control your life and health?...atau do you control your life? Right now, pekerjaan Azizul yang mengawal your life. if you don't exercise, losing weight lagi la susah because kurang senaman means kurang kalories going out. So in this scenario, watching your food becomes more important. Tetapi saay tidak syorkan kehidupan yang dikawal oleh pekerjaan kerana it is not a healthy balance, both physcially and mentally. Azizul, you need to take control of your life....don't let work control you life. Kita hanya diberikan satu nyawa....lets make it the most it can be. Life is not just about work....its about a balance that makes us happy. So you should ask yourself this question:
   • Are you happy dengan keseimbangan kehidupan anda?
   • Is work controlling my life?

   Apa2 pun, its your life and you only have one.....lets make the most of it. Tiada masa untuk bersenam all comes back to you and its all about pilihan.....tetapi dengan pilihan yang Azizul ambil...adalah anda sanggup menghadapi the consequences?

Take control of your life

Hope this helps Azizul. Weight loss is easy....but what is most important is that you are happy with your life. Wanna lose weight? You need to take control.

Weight loss is easy....but what is most important is that you are happy with your life.

by Kevin Zahri

Q/A: Joint Pain, Home Gym dan Sit Ups.

Question: Joint Pain (Sakit Sendi2), Home Gym dan Sit Ups.

Dear Kevin,
I just bought yr book 24/7 yesterday and I must say that for the first time i'm reading a health and diet book that is suitable for malaysians. it's really great plus how to calculate calories etc - very useful.

...I am trying to find the right kind of exercises as I hv problems with my joints - both small and large joints and neck and shoulder problem...

I'm 42 yrs old - weight 5.26 kg / 160cm . My question is - I am trying to find the right kind of exercises as I hv problems with my joints - both small and large joints and neck and shoulder problem but i would like to lose about 2kgs of weight and tone my body.....and at the same time I'm not a member of any gym......pls suggest some form of cardio and weight training that I may do at the comfort of my home to aid my weight loss. I find that doing sit-ups is very uncomfortable for my neck/shoulder.

Answer

The good news it - no matter how old you are, its never too late to start exercising. Exercise/senaman should be something kita amalkan sepanjang hayat. Ok lets break it down:

1. 1.
   Joint Problems: here its important to listen to your body dan pastikan that you are not making the pain worse. Also you need to be able to bezakan sakit joints (sendi-sendi) dan sakit otot. (muscle pain). Supplements like glucosamine or joint supplements do help in aiding the recovery process. Lagi2 apa bentuk senaman sekalipun akan promote your joints to become stronger. Important thing to remember is:
   • to start slow and slow build from your progress (important)
   • build your strength
   • listen to your body
   • rest periodically
   • Consult your doctor, jika perlu
2. 2.
   Training at home: As illustrated and explained in my book...yeah no problem in training at home for both cardio and weight training. For cardio, you'd probably need a treadmill or bike. A bike is probably better for your joints as it is low/none impact. For weight training, you'd need dumbbells that you can grow with. Grow with? Means that as you get stronger, you would need to increase the poundages to continually build strength.
3. 3.
   What about sit ups? Sit ups when performed wrongly will cause excess stess to your neck and lower back. Its all about form and don't have to be performed daily. Sekali seminggu pun dah ok...yang penting is quality senaman bukan quantiti. You can refer to the book for proper sit up (crunches) form. BTW, your hands should not pull your neck. You can place them across your chest.

Hope this helps and all the best.

by Kevin Zahri

Cara untuk betulkan postur badan

kevin cmne nak betulkan postur badan? ramai kata saya bongkok..?

Ini soalan daripada salah seorang yang email saya baru2 ini. Jawapannya partially lies in weight training (with proper posture). Why?Latihan weight training untuk bahagian belakang forces you to strengthen the back muscles, bringing your shoulders back and secara tidak langsung, helps you to look more confident and berdiri lebih tegak.

But lets look at some asas-asas postur:

Apakah ayng menyebabkan postur yang tidak betul

• Poor habits (slouching etc)
• Obese
• Otot yang lemak (tidak dapat menakung your weight)
• Mengandung
• Kasut timut tinggi (yes for you girls out there)
• Otot tegang (lack of flexbility)
• Banyak duduk depan PC

Keperluan untuk mendapatkan postur yang baik?

Jadi what do you need for good body posture?

• Kekuatan asas otot
• Flexiblity in your muscles
• Core balance (not just strong abs but strong lower back also)
• Kesedaran..supaya you have the awareness to make changes, jika perlu

What exercise?

Well sudah tentu, semua otot besar memainkan peranan yang postur (daripada kaki hinggi ke leher) but yang penting adalah your core muscles. Kekuatan otot "core" adalah bahagian depan (iaitu abs) dan bahagian bawah belakang (your lower back). So my advice is generally:

• Latihan abs
• Latihan untuk bahagian bawah belakang seperti (hyperextensions)
• Overall back exercise seperti lat pulldown to promote an erect upper body

by Kevin Zahri