Working out and dieting

Once upon a time, hearing colleagues and friends going to the gym, I was thinking, yeah.. I should exercise to keep in shape too. Tummy pun dah makin membesar. Maklumlah, as we age, our metabolism rate goes down, or another way to put it is, our bodies become more and more efficient, so it needs lesser calories/energy to work. Subhanallah.

So, pada suatu hari, with encouragement (or more like, constant pestering) from darling hubby, I pun agree, for him to bring me to the gym, to test water. Nak pegi gym, tak leh lah pakai selipar kan, so pegi lah beli satu kasut yang cantik, lagi mahal. Baju and seluar pun kena beli, tak kan nak pakai pyjamas.

Kat gym tu, I see these machines, sekarang dah canggih. You work out for how many minutes gitu, they'll show you how much calories you've burned. I tried out some of the machines. Then I went on the threadmill. After about 20-25 minutes, I was tired already, checked the 'burned calories' indicator, it showed that I've burned about 60-70 calories lah gitu. Then, teringat pulak pernah terbaca bahawa, makan satu biskut berkrim aje dah 50-65 calories. Ceh!.. da 'lari' dekat setengah jam, setengah pengsan, baru burn 60-70 calories? Hmm..sungguh tak berbaloi.

Maka dengan itu, I made up my mind, that working out is a waste of time for me. Kalau I want to exercise, baik aku sapu dan mop dan lap satu rumah, or main kejar2 dengan budak2. Itu pun burn calories jugak, and rumah pun bersih, anak2 pun happy. Tapi nak lap satu rumah, dah ada pembantu. Main kejar2 dengan budak2 pun.. macam da tak larat.. Baik, jaga diet aje.

I read pasal diet, kat HowStuffWorks.com dulu, interesting site. Basically it explains, cara kita lose/control weight is to burn more calories, then we consume in a day. E.g. kalau you consume 2000 worth of calories a day, and then you use only 1500 calories a day, of course lah, makin lama makin membesar - sideways. The unused calories turn into fat and is stored in our body. (3500 calories = 1 pound of fats)

So that's the whole idea. People exercise to burn more calories. Or another way is to consume lesser calories than you need in the day. Itu aje.

A person like me, would use about 1300 calories on a typical day (approx., ikut weight, height, and age). Tapi, the amount of food/calories we consume, ter-over selalu. E.g. One McDonald upsize meal - easily adds up to about 1300 calories - dah hit my daily limit. Add one more McFlurry 630 calories - abis ah overshot. Itu belum campur nasi lemak pagi, mee goreng malam and roti supper.

So pemakanan ni yang I feel I have to jaga.

DAN, at last, berbalik kepada Islam. Itu lah yang paling best. Ni western punya style semua, buat orang buang duit dan buang masa aje.

Islam advises us:

Eat ONLY when you're hungry. STOP before you're full.
Bila makan tu, 1/3 of ur stomach is for food, 1/3 for liquid, and 1/3 for air. (meaning not full also).

A sohih hadith states:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
A man used to eat much, but when he embraced Islam, he started eating less. That was mentioned to the Prophet who then said, "A believer eats in one intestine (is satisfied with a little food) and a Kafir eats in seven intestines (eats much). "
Volume 7, Book 65, Number 309

Allah SWT yang jadikan kita, and He is Wise. He created feelings for us, kasi kita rasa hunger, filled etc.. depending on the needs of our body. If we don't feel hungry, meaning, we're still ok.. But when we're hungry, our body is telling us to get some energy.. So, eat only when you're hungry.

And so, I practised this for quite sometime already, and now I realise that memang sebenarnya, kita ni, makan way too much than what our body REALLY needs. Bila dah start 'makan-bila-lapar-berhenti-sebelum-kenyang' ni.. i find that the amount of food I really need, makin lama makin berkurangan - until ke tahap sekarang, dah constant. Rupanya sikit jugak - sampai orang semua komen. Sekarang makan nasi 1/3 pinggan, dah cukup. I see it's true, the hadith I read:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The food for two persons is sufficient for three, and the food of three persons is sufficient for four persons."
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 65, Number 304

MasyaAllah.

So, bagi you all yang nak diet tu, ikut aje lah the Islamic diet. It's healthier insyaAllah. Kebanyakan orang yang healthy sampai dah tua2 semua, termasuk yang non-Muslim (macam Lee Kuan Yew, I heard), mengamalkan an Islamic diet, cuma some of them don't know that the diet style, is encouraged by Islam.

Islam IS a way of life, and Allah SWT knows best.