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I used to fit into this pair of pants just 6 months before this photo was taken. One of the biggest 'headache' of weight loss was having to buy an entire new wardrobe and I hate shopping! 
This is the story of how I accidentally lost 15kg over 6 months in 2015. I did not consciously embarked on a weight loss journey and I certainly did not go on any crash diet or special diet of any sort. I 'accidentally' lost the weight when I decided to walk the talk and practised the eating habits for health that I was 'preaching' and teaching. Here's the story. Those of you who had been following my blog would know about how my journey the last few years from a medical doctor to a full-time chef and advocate & trainer on dietary habits change to combat chronic diseases had all been accidental. In short, the story was this – in 2014, I was just a middle-aged overweight die-hard foodie doctor when I started a restaurant, I found myself having to stand in as a full-time chef in the restaurant because the chef I hired quit 2 days before the restaurant’s opening. Finding myself stuck working in the kitchen, I decided to do something more meaningful than just cooking and serving good food, I decided to dive deep into the medical research literature on the relationship between eating habits, food and diabetes and other lifestyle-related diseases. I then began to use the restaurant as a 'living classroom' to encourage and teach people to explore different foods so as to change their eating habits for health and to combat chronic diseases. I decided that I could not just ‘preach’ and teach people to eat right, but I should also walk the talk and practise what I was preaching and teaching, there I began to improve my eating habits as well. 6 months after, I ‘accidentally’ lost 15kg and found myself back to the same weight that I was when I took my wedding picture more than 20 years before. .............................................................................. Links - for info on the different things I do: (1) 10 Questions w Doc sharing sessions >> www.10Qdoc.com (2) Join My Team >> http://bit.ly/SpecialAssistantToDoc (3) My Habits Jumpstart Programmes >> HabitsJumpstart.com (4) My Clinic >> DrChanTatHon.com (5) Collection of Media/TV/Radio shows where I was privileged to be invited to share about the power of lifestyle/diet in combating diabetes and other lifestyle/diet-related diseases >> http://www.whatscookingdoc.sg/media.html ................................................................................. Many friends, especially those who had not been following my blog and my journey, on seeing my obvious weight loss, would invariably ask me for the reason why I embarked on a weight loss journey and often I would be at a loss as to how to answer them, because I actually had not consciously embarked on a weight loss effort. I was born a skinny boy and had gone through primary school with the disapproving School Health Service 'force feeding' the underweight me with free milk or some kind of protein powder. I grew up a slim young man and then quite quickly became a not so slim middle aged man. But like everyone else, with advancing middle age, I began to accumulate a 'little' more fat around the waist year after year. The reality was I had never really set out to lose weight in the first place, I had initially only embarked on a journey to improve my eating habits because I had to lead by example since I was preaching, advocating and teaching the importance of improving our eating habits to combat diseases at my restaurant and at the various Habits for Health workshops that I was conducting, the weight loss was an unexpected big bonus very early on. And once the weight, especially the belly fat, started to drop off, I was woken up enough from my complacency about my weight and I began to put in more effort to lose weight through being more mindful of what and how I ate. But now having lost the weight that I did, I'm thankful that I did. My blood pressure, my blood cholesterol and blood sugar had also all become much better than when I was overweight, my body composition analysis test, my visceral fat level are all at a much healthier range, which I am sure they were not when I was overweight. So should anyone now ask me why I had embarked on a weight loss journey, my reply would be this: 'I actually did not consciously embark on a weight loss journey at the beginning but had made the effort to change my previously bad eating habits only because I wanted to walk the talk since I was promoting healthier eating habits at my restaurant and prescribing and teaching eating habits change to combat diabetes and other lifestyle-related diseases at my clinic and the various Habits for Health workshops that I was conducting. But now that I have lost weight and regained my health, on reflection, I realised that I should not have allowed myself to become overweight in the past through complacency in the first place, however moderately or even just a heavy in the middle, So now, I shall continue to strive to keep to a healthy lifestyle to try to keep the excess weight and waist away always because: (i) I love my wife and I want to keep in health for her (ii) I love my kids and I want to keep in health for them (iii) I want to walk the talk and be able to speak with authority and be able to teach, encourage and coach others about the power of the right lifestyle, especially eating habits change on the prevention and control of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and lifestyle-related conditions. But most of all, I want to keep a healthy weight and waist and keep in health because I want to honour my God, my God who had given me this body, by treasuring my physical health as best as I could, starting with practising a healthy lifestyle to keep my weight and waist at an ideal level as best as I could.' So to all men out there who are, like what I used to do, complacently 'laughing' off a slowly but surely expanding waistlines as 'love handles' or 'beer bellies', hope you do not mind my unsolicited 5 cents worth of advice and encouragement: - the fat at the waist are the worst kind of fat anyone could have in terms of its adverse health implications, people may jokingly call it a 'love handle', but waist & visceral fat are really no joking matter nor is it a sign of 'love', it is anything BUT. In fact, if you love your wife, love your kids, love God, lose that fat around the waist. It would not be easy, but it has to be done and it can be done. Go for it! Work closely with your own doctor or your dietician. Start today! .......................................................................... Links - for info on the different things I do: (1) 10 Questions w Doc sharing sessions >> www.10Qdoc.com (2) Join My Team >> http://bit.ly/SpecialAssistantToDoc (3) My Habits Jumpstart Programmes >> HabitsJumpstart.com (4) My Clinic >> DrChanTatHon.com (5) Collection of Media/TV/Radio shows where I was privileged to be invited to share about the power of lifestyle/diet in combating diabetes and other lifestyle/diet-related diseases >> http://www.whatscookingdoc.sg/media.html ........................................................................... Important Note: Everyone's weight journey is different and personal. No one has the right to judge another based on body weight. I shared this post because it is clear, from medical research, that there is a strong relationship between excess weight, waist and incidence of many chronic diseases. Our focus should therefore be on our own weight, waist and our own health and whether our current weight puts us at higher risks of the common chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. And if necessary, seek advice and support from doctors or other healthcare professionals in your journey towards a healthier weight and waist. About Me I am known to many as 'What's Cooking Doc?' because my journey and stint as a medical doctor turned full-time chef running my own restaurant from 2014 to 2019. I am a medical doctor/Chef/Trainer/Coach passionate about and focused on helping and training people to modify their lifestyle & especially their eating habits to prevent (if they do not yet have) or control/reverse (if they already have) the common lifestyle/diet-related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases. I currently have a number of different roles and am involved in a number of different kinds of work, including running my own medical practice, being the Medical Director and Chief Trainer of my training & consultancy company, all seemingly very different kinds of work but yet all sharing the same goal - which is to provide medical science evidence-based programmes to help and train people to modify their lifestyle & especially their eating habits to combat chronic lifestyle/diet-related diseases. For info on the different things I do: (1) 10 Questions w Doc sharing sessions >> www.10Qdoc.com (2) Join My Team >> http://bit.ly/SpecialAssistantToDoc (3) My Habits Jumpstart Programmes >> HabitsJumpstart.com (4) My Clinic >> DrChanTatHon.com (5) Collection of Media/TV/Radio shows where I was privileged to be invited to share about the power of lifestyle/diet in combating diabetes and other lifestyle/diet-related diseases >> http://www.whatscookingdoc.sg/media.html ................................................................................. 10 Questions with What's Cooking Doc? '10 Questions with What's Cooking Doc' >> www.10Qdoc.com is an informal sharing session where I tackle the Top 10 most common questions I get asked about the impact and relationship between dietary habits and diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, stroke, heart attack and other modifiable lifestyle/diet-related diseases. Registration is free but pre-registration is strictly required >> www.10Qdoc.com 
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