Wang Yixing's weight loss tips: Avoiding starches can lead to depression; there are secrets to breaking through plateaus; and weight is not the ultimate goal.

Old classmates and friends I hadn't seen for years gathered at their wedding banquet, and the surprise of seeing them again was even greater than in the movie "20th Century Boys." How could those muscular athletes who won so many awards for the school have now become "mountains of meat"? Why have those handsome boys, once called the class heartthrobs and school heartthrobs, the versions of Chen Xiaodong and Nicholas Tse, become bloated, pot-bellied, yellow-toothed, acne-ridden, and outdatedly dressed vulgar men? Good heavens!! We're only twenty-six or twenty-seven! What will we do in a few years?

What will these people do for the next few decades of their lives?

No, I don't want to let myself die like this.

I don't want to become like them.

I don't want to be someone who looks at photos and reminisces about my youthful, lean, and fit six-pack abs. I don't want to be one of those men whose bloated bodies can't be hidden even when wearing a suit. I don't want to live with a "spare tire" all year round. And I certainly don't want to become one of those pathetic men who can't even see their own feet when they stand up.

I absolutely do not want to turn back into that chubby "Michelin Man"!

Exercising excessively is no longer effective; simply not eating or drinking will only result in slight progress followed by a rebound in weight.

Even if I earn more money and buy more beautiful, better-tailored clothes, it's a waste if they don't fit my body.

A person who cannot manage their own body well, no matter how great their achievements, is just someone who lacks determination and doesn't know how to love themselves.

A true man should simply acknowledge his weaknesses, face them squarely, abandon methods that have become ineffective, and strive to improve while there is still hope.

Who says men can't work hard for their bodies? Health and beauty have never been gender-specific.

We are nothing more than souls who yearn to become as wonderful as we envision ourselves, yet are also somewhat lazy and self-deceiving.

We all deserve better.

Does not eating starch make people more prone to depression?

-Eating starches according to the "Tang Anqi Cosmic Diet" menu

Everyone's body is different, so in addition to finding out through professional testing whether we are yin or yang type of obesity, we should also find out which type of food makes us more prone to weight gain. Some people feel bloated after eating sweets and desserts, but my nemesis is starch.

I love eating rice, as well as bread and pasta. Because I gain weight easily from starches, I used to treat them like a major enemy, avoiding them for over half a year. Although this was very effective, my health deteriorated. After more than a year of this, I finally gave in. As soon as I started eating starches again, my weight quickly and gradually returned to normal.

Teacher Anqi said that many studies show that while many starch-free weight loss methods on the market are effective in the short term, they are not a long-term solution. This is because a long-term lack of starch can affect brain memory and increase the risk of depression. Hearing her analysis, I was shocked. Good heavens, could my severe depression really have worsened because of reducing my starch intake? I had always thought it was because I was overthinking things...

There are many weight-loss meal plans on the market, one of which is a starchy diet consisting of only white rice. This involves eating a large bowl of rice for one meal and nothing else. Some people have reportedly lost a lot of weight this way. I think that's only effective for people who don't absorb starch easily. For someone like me, who easily stores starch as fat and gains weight, blindly believing in this meal plan would definitely lead to disastrous results...

The reason this weight loss was successful might be because I learned from previous failures, which made my approach more pragmatic and reduced unnecessary overthinking and blind experimentation. Weight loss is a long-term battle; short-term gains are easy, but maintaining that success long-term is the real challenge.

So, even though I know starch is terrible for me, to maintain a balanced diet and prevent the negative effects of insufficient starch intake, I'll still eat starch one day every other week, following the "Tang Anqi Cosmic Diet" meal plan designed by Professor Anqi. On days when I eat starch, I'll pair it with vegetables but not meat, and I'll eat dinner as early as possible to avoid it being undigested and turning into fat...

You know what, occasionally giving yourself a break, allowing yourself to catch your breath, seems to have made you feel much better. You're less depressed, and you don't feel like you're enduring a battle anymore. Because once you start enduring, there will eventually come a day when you can't take it anymore; you have to seize every moment. However, occasionally eating carbohydrates provides a buffer. Although you might not lose weight all at once, you can lose weight more sustainably. All things considered, the latter is more effective and better.

Seizing every minute is for young people. As we get older, we realize that some things can't be rushed; taking it slow is faster. Losing weight isn't a bet or a competition, and you're not a celebrity rushing out to prove it to everyone. What's the rush?

I know the key to weight loss is the result. However, if the process is too difficult, you'll want to finish it quickly. No one can eat diet meals every day for their entire life. The common goal for everyone pursuing healthy weight loss is finding breathing room during the entire marathon, continuing the journey, and ultimately reaching the finish line.

Let's encourage each other.

Breaking Through the Plateau – Teacher Tang Anqi's Secret to Overcoming Weight Loss Plateaus

Losing weight is not difficult at first; losing ten or eight pounds is not difficult. The difficulty lies in breaking through the plateau and continuing to lose weight.

My several weight loss experiences have taught me that plateaus are the most dangerous period for rebound and stagnation. Many people stop at this plateau, unable to progress, or even revert to their original weight. For example, even with the same amount of food, or even eating less, after about a month of steadily losing about one pound a week-a seemingly ideal pace-I suddenly stopped losing weight for over two weeks after losing about nine pounds. The weight kept fluctuating, and sometimes I even gained back a pound or two for no apparent reason, which terrified me...

Without professional guidance, the average person wouldn't know that there's such a thing as a weight loss plateau. Many people, seeing their weight loss suddenly stall, haphazardly increase the dosage of diet pills, increase exercise, or eat less. However, these methods are not only ineffective, but can sometimes backfire and do more harm than good.

I've tried deliberately eating less during plateaus, hoping to break through quickly, but sometimes eating less actually increases my weight, which is very strange. For some people, their plateaus mean their weight stays the same regardless of how much they eat, but for me, my plateaus only increase, not decrease. I remember hitting my first plateau when I was dropping from 80 kg to around 76 kg. Back then, no matter how much I exercised, how little I ate, or how careful I was, I still couldn't break through 76 kg. Sometimes I'd even suddenly gain 1 kg the next day. Even though I was experienced, I still couldn't help but worry.

However, plateaus are like life's plateaus; no matter how hard you try, you're still not losing weight. You can only maintain a relaxed, vacation-like mindset. The more anxious you are, the worse it will be. I remember during one plateau I deliberately ate less, hoping to break through quickly, but this was not only bad for my health, but insufficient food intake also meant my body lacked enough energy for metabolism. A slower metabolism means slower weight loss, thus prolonging the plateau...

So, when you encounter a plateau, don't panic or get anxious. Just relax and let it pass as usual, and everything will return to normal and things will get better.

Later, I heard from Teacher Anqi that she had a little secret about plateaus: during a plateau, try to eat more raw foods, such as sashimi and raw beef, and combine them with detoxifying enzymes to increase the body's enzymes, which makes the body's detoxification more effective and helps to break through the plateau.

However, if you're like me and want to lose more than just ten or eight pounds, after breaking through one plateau and losing another ten or eight pounds, you'll soon encounter another plateau. But no experience is superfluous. Once we've overcome one plateau, even if the next one is long, we can still face it with confidence, maintain our own rhythm and pace, overcome it, and not let ourselves be easily tripped up by the hurdle.

Plateaus are nothing to fear; they are merely a buffer, allowing us to re-examine ourselves. This applies to plateaus in both weight loss and life. By making good use of plateaus, we can go further and better understand how to overcome challenges and difficulties.

In comparison, I think that plateaus in love are much more dangerous than plateaus in life or weight loss.

Weight is not everything

Before this weight loss program, my weight was 79.6 kg. Not long after I started, it suddenly rose to 81.5 kg. Later, I worked hard, readjusted my lifestyle, and after several plateaus, I finally reached my ideal weight.

I'm 176 cm tall, and my ideal weight is 70 kg. I started losing weight from 81.5 kg to around 76 kg, then it plateaued for a week or two, then dropped to around 74 kg, and then another plateau occurred. After that, I stagnated around 72 kg for a while before finally reaching my ideal weight. The day before the book fair, I weighed 69 kg, 1 kg lighter than I had planned. At that moment, I gently clenched my fist and told myself, "I did it! I finally did it!"

What you lose and then regain is more precious than success without experiencing setbacks and failures. I know the real challenge has only just begun, but thinking back to how hard I exercised and tried various diet plans over the past year after regaining weight, only to fail, and finally finding a professional team to help me regain my success, the feeling is indeed very complex and difficult to describe to outsiders.

I remember when I reached around 73 kg, just 3 kg short of my goal, I was stuck in a rut. I really wanted to meet readers at the book fair in top form, but with only a little over two weeks left, I couldn't help but worry that this plateau might last for a long time. Around that time, I had to leave Hong Kong for work, and jet lag and air travel can easily disrupt one's biological clock, causing water retention. Plus, working abroad often meant eating and drinking with large groups of people, making it difficult to maintain a consistent diet. I could only try to stick to the "Tang Anqi Cosmic Diet" and drink detoxifying enzymes at night. So, upon returning, I couldn't help but worry about whether I could succeed in the remaining two weeks.

My body seemed to be giving out; I'd run two-thirds of the way but still hadn't reached the finish line. At that moment, I was feeling discouraged, but a few words from Teacher Anqi reminded me. That night, I had dinner with her, and she asked why I was eating so little. I said it wasn't just because I was afraid of gaining weight; lately, my mood and lack of sleep had caused my weight to fluctuate wildly. One day I weighed 73.1 kg, and the next day it could suddenly be 74.3 kg, even though I'd only eaten a normal amount of food, without doing anything reckless or breaking any rules. Then it might drop back to 73.2 kg, and then maybe 73.9 kg...

Teacher Anqi says that a weight difference of 1 to 2 pounds within a day is not unusual due to bowel movements and various physiological factors. It's not necessarily because you ate something wrong at night. If you didn't eat anything unusual and still experienced this, there's even less reason to blame yourself or feel confused. Once you've lost a certain amount of fat, weight is no longer the focus, because your body is constantly adjusting, and these fluctuations are normal. If you're still obsessively watching your weight, feeling frustrated when the number goes up and excited when it goes down, it will negatively impact your mood, which in turn will have a greater effect on your health.

For someone like me who has already lost nearly 20 pounds, stop worrying about those fluctuating kilograms and focus on your overall physique. For example, after losing so much weight, has your skin and muscles become loose? Look in the mirror naked; has the weight loss been even across different parts of your body? Are those areas where you used to have more fat doing well? How much have your waist and thigh circumference improved? These are the kinds of things you should be focusing on at this stage.

Too many people trying to lose weight blindly focus on their weight, neglecting the bigger picture and the importance of maintaining and consolidating their health. As a result, they may lose weight, but they look haggard, with bulging eyes, loose skin, and appear to have aged ten years in an instant. Some women have even lost over ten pounds by taking unhealthy diet pills, but their skin becomes dull and dry, to the point that they can't even apply makeup. This unhealthy method of weight loss only harms their bodies; what's the point of losing weight then?

After listening to Ms. Anqi's words, I immediately discussed with my weight loss consultant, Ling, about arranging to do more of those firming treatments. In the past, I only liked using saunas and fat-dissolving machines because they were easier to use for weight loss, but after listening to Ms. Anqi's professional advice, my understanding of weight loss has deepened.

Weight is just a number that dieters use to intimidate and show off. But numbers are nothing more than a numbers game, a mere formality. Weight isn't everything; being thin and attractive, thin and healthy and confident, is what truly matters.

When you reach a certain level of wealth, money is no longer something you need to worry about; when you've lost weight to a certain extent, weight is no longer something you need to be anxious about. At this point, what we need to pay attention to is body shape and tones.