Ho Chi Minh City Thanks to the clean eating regimen, limiting salty spices, and using only a maximum of two teaspoons of salt in each meal, Thanh Vy, 25 years old, lost 30 kg.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Vy, currently an office worker, said she has reduced her weight from 90 kg to 60 kg, thanks to a bland diet, combining unprocessed foods such as boiled vegetables, cereals with yogurt (eat clean). In addition, she completely eliminates spices such as seasoning powder, oyster sauce, soy sauce, only using salt or pink salt, and diet sugar. In each meal, Vy uses a maximum of two to four teaspoons of salt, depending on the specific amount of food.
"Thanks to that, I lost nearly 30 kg, my waist from 100 cm to 60 cm, my hips from 130 cm also reduced to more than 100 cm," said the 1.56 m tall girl, adding that she is very confident with her current appearance.
Vy was chubby and plump since childhood. She started gaining weight rapidly when she entered university, due to stress and an irregular diet. She gained 15 kg in three months, causing many stretch marks to appear on her body and her old clothes no longer fit.
By chance, when she went for a health check, the doctor concluded that she was obese, had calcified liver stem that could not detoxify, had irregular menstrual cycles, and poor hormones. She often had sleep apnea, was short of breath, and was out of breath. The doctor asked the patient to lose weight to improve her current health condition. At this time, also during the outbreak, Vy decided to set up a weight loss plan to "fix" her appearance.
Vy's journey to lose nearly 30 kg. Video: Character provided
The first rule in Vy's weight loss plan is a bland diet, but not a complete cut-out, but a limited one. First of all, she does not add salt, seasoning powder, oyster sauce, soy sauce, or soy sauce to make the meal bland, which means reducing the amount of sodium in the diet, not just reducing salt. In the kitchen, Vy only keeps two jars of pink salt and refined salt, the rest of the spices are discarded. When cooking, she adds 1/3 or 1/4 teaspoon of spices to each dish, mainly using boiling and steaming methods.
Foods like cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce are best eaten raw or in salads. Carrots and cauliflower are also sweeter when steamed or boiled when using MSG. "Make sure you have two main meals and two snacks every day so your body has enough energy to function," Vy said.
When shopping, Vy carefully reads the labels on the packaging to choose low-sodium, low-fat foods. If eating out, she also prioritizes boiled, steamed dishes or requests light cooking, limiting the use of sauces. Vy eats lots of green vegetables and fruits to limit cravings. In addition, she adds nuts to add good fats, drinks more omega 3, and uses olive oil instead of regular cooking oil. In the first month, Vy lost more than 5 kg.
To effectively regain her figure, the girl cut down on sugar, minimizing her consumption of sweets or snacks. Previously, she was addicted to milk tea, then gradually reduced the sugar and milk in her tea, and now Vy only drinks water or green tea. The woman also practices going to bed on time so that her body can rest and burn fat effectively.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that each person should consume no more than 5g of salt per day to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, according to survey data, Vietnamese people currently consume an average of 9.4g of salt per day, double the recommended amount. Of which, 81% of daily salt consumption comes from salt and spices during processing, cooking and eating; 11% of salt comes from processed foods, while natural foods only account for 7%.
This is an alarming number, because a diet with too much salt over a long period of time has the potential to lead to many dangerous diseases, not only cardiovascular diseases, but also diseases of the stomach, kidneys, osteoporosis, obesity, etc. In our country, one in five adults has high blood pressure; one in three deaths is due to cardiovascular disease.
Worldwide, about 1.89 million people die each year from eating too much salt. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 90% of Americans aged two and older consume too much salt. More than 40% of American adults have high blood pressure. Research from Tulane University in the US shows that eating too much salt can reduce life expectancy by two years in men and 1.5 years in women.
However, nutritionists advise that eating too little salt is also dangerous. Not eating enough salt leads to electrolyte deficiency, sodium deficiency, and swelling of the hands and feet. Each age group needs to supplement a certain amount of salt. According to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, the group after 11 years old, equivalent to adults, should only consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium (less than 5 g of salt) per day.
In addition to nutrition, Vy combines exercise to tighten muscles and reduce fat faster. Photo: Character provided
In addition to following the clean eating and low-salt diet, Vy alternates cardio and weight training. She exercises 5 times a week, including three ta and two cardio sessions. The highest weight Vy lifts is 70 kg. In addition, she practices boxing and jumps rope an average of 1,000 times at a time.
"Many people think that weight training will make their biceps bigger, but women's bodies are inherently more modest than men's, with less muscle mass and more fat, and hormonal differences, so they cannot develop muscles like men," Vy said.
In addition, after each workout, she adds salt from electrolyte drinks and salted lemon to both replenish energy and not cause weight gain.
Vy now weighs 60 kg, her blood fat and visceral fat levels have improved. She no longer has sleep apnea, instead she sleeps deeply and her skin is smoother. Vy created a personal page to share her weight loss journey and received many positive responses.
Vy's goal is to lose another 4-5 kg to slim down and improve her health, as well as inspire many of her peers who are struggling with obesity.
Image of Thanh Vy after losing weight. Photo: Character provided
Minh An
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