Exercise and be Slim? Possible?

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clark’s three Laws.
The truth of these statements may become apparent in this blog over the next days. Today we are going to examine two relevant problems in a totally scientific fashion.
Firstly, is it possible to exercise and be slim?
Ms MC is a very beautiful lady with a small weight problem. It shows mainly around the waist and hips and also under her armpits. She is not really overweight because her BMI is within normal range but she has 34% fat content. It is agreed that taking 3 to 5 Kg off would definitely do much to solve her problem without resorting to liposelection or related melt and drain procedures.
The biggest problem is that MC is a gourmet and refuses to diet. Is it possible to exercise those unwanted adipose kilograms into oblivion. She decided to make a determined attempt. 2 hours of gym twice a week and 3 hours of vigorous dancing once a week. She also had thermage to the abdomen every week. After 6 months there was hardly any visible gains. Oh yes, she did achieve definition of the lateral margins of her rectus abdominis muscle. Two nice curvy vertical lines down the front of her abdomen. She still had love handles, a protruding lower abdomen, ample hips and lumps of fat under her armpit bulging above her bra.
Once again, mathematics gives the answer. To lose 3 Kg she needed to exercise away 27,000 Kcal. The exercise she does will burn 600 Kcal an hour. So she probably burned 3000 Kcal a week from exercise. This amount is consumed in one single rich meal. If she was willing to diet it would take her a mere 9 weeks to burn off 3Kg. But 2 rich dinners a week would negate all her efforts and more!
So to answer the question, “Is it possible to exercise alone and be slim?” The answer is yes but very tough. Serious slimming requires both diet and exercise together of which dieting is the more important component. Ms MC’s solution?
Since she is not really overweight and her fat deposits are basically local cosmetic anomalies the best solution for her is liposelection or some “melt and drain” procedure. She will solve her problem with minimal effort and regain her youthful figure. No dieting necessary and she can go back to exercise and dancing shortly.
So, in this case a solution is possible and we have the technology.

Coming up next:
1. Surviving Halloween Parties
2. Cooking and eating Risotto without putting on weight
3. Turkish Delights

Dr. Peter Goh's Blog

In physics we have the well known Law of Conservation of Energy. Basically energy cannot be destroyed but is just converted from one form to another. Similarly in physiology we must understand the Law of Conservation of Calories.

Mr. L wanted to know how long it would take him to lose 3Kg. He was a fit middle aged engineer who was only a little overweight. The main problem was that it was mainly around the tummy which was protruding in an unsightly way. I asked him what he ate for lunch and he said that he was a creature of habit and consumed Hainanese chicken rice everyday. He really loved chicken rice.

I told him his problem could be reduced to a simple mathematical equation. Each standard portion of chicken rice is equivalent to 750 Kcal.

The mathematics is undisputable. One gram of fat is equivalent to 9 Kcal. To lose one Kilogram would require one to reduce one’s food intake by 9000 Kcal. This is equivalent to 12 plates of chicken rice. To lose 3Kg, Mr. L would have to pass up on 36 plates of chicken rice which would take him just over a month or 36 days.

Mr. L grimaced. A look of pain swept over his face. That’s quite a sacrifice. After all we live to eat here in Singapore don’t we?

I gave him another solution. A less painful one. He could have his chicken rice everyday and still lose the weight. He agreed to eat half a plate of chicken rice, all the chicken and none of the skin. This cut the calories to about 400 Kcal a plate.

Mr. L lost his tummy in just over 2 months. He still got to enjoy his favorite food.
There are two main variables in eating. What you eat and how much you eat. If you want to continue eating the food that you enjoy you can play around with the portions. I went to a wonderful Italian Restaurant last night. It was the best in town. My host was an aristocratic English gentleman who really knew his food and wine. I had roast goose and a picture is included. The portions look really small but I calculated there were at least 1200 Kcal in this dish alone. It was difficult not to eat every shred of it. The sauce alone was undescribable!

Dr Peter Goh’s Blog

Like many people in the World I love to eat but I want to stay slim. How is that possible? It would be super to literally have one’s cake and eat it wouldn’t it?
I am starting this Blog for a number of reasons.
Firstly I was crazily inspired by Julie Powell’s Blog idea in the recent movie “Julie and Julia”. If you haven’t seen it and you love food then I highly recommend that you see it at once. Don’t go on an empty stomach!
Secondly I love to cook.
Thirdly I happen to be an obesity surgeon. Yeah, believe or not! I trained in NUH, the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston and the University of Cologne in Germany. Ya ya, Ich spreche gutt Deautsch auch!
Well, I have decided to eat and be slim. Of course I am also going to use all scientific means to achieve my goal. Why let all that professional training go to waste.
So… come back and visit often as we count down 59 Days to Christmas!