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• Name: Tia Hakim
• Goal: Weight Loss
• Height: 168cm
• Achievement: Lost 18kg in 8 months (76kg – 48kg)
• Blog: tiahakim.blogspot.com
• Twitter: @tiahakim

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All my teenage life I have always been 43-44kgs. When I got married I gained a bit, I was around 46kgs. From then on I started to gain weight consistently until I reached 54kgs. Then I got pregnant and gained 22 freaking kgs which made me 76kgs :O Right after delivery I lost 10kgs (weight of baby, blood, placenta etc). I am now 48-49kgs at 168cm. So this is the journey of how I went from 66kgs to 48kgs.

Post Labor Dilemma

After I gave birth, of course I was really pressured to lose all the baby weight. I wanted to do it right since my priority is my baby and also my health. Taking pills was definitely not an option because I was (still am) nursing my daughter, Alayna, and didn’t want to risk her being affected by whatever it is that I consume. Exercising was also not an option for two reasons:

1. I hate exercising
2. I was not physically able to do so because I had a c-section and I needed to rest until the wound was healed. I wasn’t even allowed to move around that much.

Because of the c-section, I was also unable to do what most people do during the confinement period to help them get back in shape: Bengkung (where you put on a corset super tight for at least 20 hours a day). No traditional massages, bertungku, param, pilis and whatnot either. At least not for the first month.

I did not let those restrictions deter me from my goal. I knew for sure that there were other things I could do to help me shed those kilos. After doing lots of research (and by research I mean google. Damn I love google), I found a viable plan. To lose weight, I needed to: 1. Get rid of access water retention. 2. Get rid of fat in or at unwanted places.

1. So How I Got Rid Of Water Retention?

Simply put, your body needs water to survive and if you don’t drink enough water, your body would get the impression that water supply is scarce so it would retain the water that you consume for rainy days. Which is why a lot of people actually carry water weight.

The water that the body stores contributes to your overall weight and you’d be surprised if you knew how much. So if you start to drink adequate water (approx 3L a day I think), your body would think that hey, looks like water supply is actually abundant, we don’t need to store them, so your body would then get rid of those water that has been kept all this while. INSTANT WEIGHT LOSS =D

…I had to take toilet breaks every 10 minutes … the fastest and most efficient way is from peeing. Takkan la from sweating or crying kan?

I actually found out about this theory a few years ago during my PwC days. I would finish a small bottle of mineral water every hour or two for a week. I had to take toilet breaks every 10 minutes because my body was getting rid of all the excess water that it had been storing and the fastest and most efficient way is from peeing. Takkan la from sweating or crying kan? Lol. I lost 2 kgs by the end of the week.

Knowing that my baby weight was significantly due to water retention, I figured the same rule must apply to women who just gave birth. So I made sure I drank 3-4L water a day. I spread it out so that I drank evenly throughout the day.

A friend of mine wanted to lose weight so I suggested this. She was skeptical at first but then she tried it and it really worked! Although you have to bear in mind that you can only lose a certain amount of weight from doing this because once all the stored water has been discharged, thats it. You won’t lose anymore water weight because you were drinking enough hence your body sees no need to retain water. Get it?

Isn’t God great? Our brains and bodies are so smart!

2. How to Get rid of the fat?

Simple. You wanna lose weight, you gotta trim the fat. If only it’s as easy as it sounds. Well actually, it is IF YOU KNOW THE RULES. Don’t blindly go on a crash diet by skipping meals or things like that. You could be worse off.

I got the all-in-one package which is only rm60 and you get so many other e-books too like 20 Pelan Diet Malaysia examples and how to curb cravings and lots more. I also follow him on twitter @kevinzahri for daily tips. You can even tweet him if you have questions about health and fitness.

He basically compressed all the information that I found out from days of googling about calories and weight loss in that one e-book, as well as other useful information. Very well explained and detailed.

The key is CALORIE DEFICIT. A lot of people don’t realize that to lose 1 pound you need to have a calorie deficit of 3500. Calorie deficit means your calorie INPUT (from eating) has to be less than your calorie OUTPUT (from exercising or consuming less calories than you need). So first you need to know how much calories that YOU need in a day. It depends on your weight and height and a few other factors so each person’s calorie requirement is different. Kevin’s e-book has a comprehensive example on how to calculate that.

From there I started planning my journey. I calculated the total weight that I wanted to lose and I converted it into the amount of calorie deficit and I divided it by the number of days that I was giving myself to lose all the weight. I had to be realistic so I gave myself 60 days I think. The calculation showed that I had to make sure I had approximately 3500 calorie deficit a week, which meant 500 calorie deficit a day.

My 500kcal Per Day Deficit.

So my calorie input has to be 500 less than my calorie output.

The fact that I was nursing Alayna gave me an added advantage because breastfeeding burns around 500 calories a day guys!! Thats equivalent to like 3-4 hours of treadmill session! Say whaaaaaaaaat. My eyes almost popped out when I discovered that fact. I burn 500 calories everyday while lying down hahahahhaha.

Then I came up with my meal plan. 3 meals a day with 2 snacks. I had to make sure that they do not exceed the number of calories that I was allowed to consume.

• My breakfast usually consisted of egg whites, a slice of bread, jam and water.
• For lunch I would still have rice and lauk. But I made sure that the portion of my rice was really small. And I mean REALLY small. Like, 3-4 spoons only.
• For dinner, I pretty much ate Subway sandwiches because he always tapau food for me on the way home from work and Subway was the easiest and one of the healthiest options. You can get a brochure from Subway where they list out the subs that they have and the number of calories for each type. I always get the turkey slice, no cheese and BBQ sauce only. You can eat anything really, just make sure that it’s within the calorie budget and try not to eat fried food etc.
• For snacks, I would have yogurts or fruits or cheese and crackers.

See? There is no need to starve yourself. There’s a lot that you can actually eat on a restricted calorie diet. I was eating 5 times a day and I was okay. Before all this, I used to eat like an unrestrained pig. I eat even when I wasn’t hungry. But after 2 months of healthy eating, I got so used to eating smaller portions that I just can’t eat as much as I could before anymore.

There is no need to starve yourself. There’s a lot that you can actually eat on a restricted calorie diet. I was eating 5 times a day and I was okay.

Sure enough, by drinking lots of water and watching my calorie deficit, I started to steadily lose weight until I finally reached my target! I was so amazed. Losing weight is definitely not rocket science. IT’S JUST MATH =D

Other things worth mentioning are:

• I would drink water before I have my meals so that I wouldn’t have to eat so much to feel full
• I drink plenty of water throughout the day to curb hunger in between meals and snacks.
• Absolutely no fast food and carbonated drinks or any sugared drinks for that matter.
• I sometimes cheat a bit by having a small serving of ice cream or a chocolate bar. I mean yeah I wanted to lose weight but I was not going to totally deprive myself from little indulgences. I think once in a while its’ ok otherwise you would go cuckoo.
• I started wearing bengkung a month after delivery. Not sure if that contributed because I had started to lose weight even before that by practising healthier eating habit and even after I started wearing bengkung, I still lost weight at the same pace. I wore it mainly to support my tummy so that the wound would hurt less when I move about.
• I only had 5 or 6 sessions of traditional massage, tungku, palas, pilis etc.
• I took Nona Roguy phytonatal pills which are meant to be taken by moms during confinement period. Thats the only supplement that I took and it is not for weight loss, it is for internal health and to help bowel movement.

I think that’s all. If I remember anything else I will update this post.

I personally don’t believe in taking slimming pills. There are too many risks associated with them. I think supplements or meal replacements are ok but you still have to watch what you eat. And please don’t starve yourself. Yes you will lose weight but it will also slow down your metabolism which means that when you start eating again you’d gain weight faster. Eat smaller portions but more frequently. That way your metabolism will keep going. Don’t take short cuts, do it right. It’s not just about reaching your target weight, it’s also about staying healthy doing so.

Good luck guys! Hope this helps. If you have any questions/requests email me at tiahakim255@gmail.com or visit my blog at http://tiahakim.blogspot.com/. Someone requested that I do a tutorial on my skincare/makeup routine. It’s on the way, will keep you guys posted:)

XXX,
Tia Hakim