This week on Glow On podcast with Grace, we meet Dr. Top, Dr. Nantapon Pongrattanaman, who promotes mindful eating and choosing a balanced lifestyle rather than following a strict diet regimen to achieve sustainable health and weight control. He emphasizes that true well-being comes from happiness. Balance doesn’t mean going to extremes, because having strong, powerful goals in life is the key to maintaining these healthy habits in the long run. Lose weight for real, no need to starve! The more you eat, the slimmer you will be!? He shares tips for happy weight loss.
Doctor, how much did you weigh in the past?
Dr. Top: 100 kg. Better to 99, not even 100 yet. At that time, I was in my first year of university. It was just gradual and accumulating. During Mathayom 4 and 5, I just kept eating without realizing it. Then, I reached a certain point, no matter what I did, I just couldn’t lose weight. Until I reached the point where I thought, “Never mind. I was born to live life to the fullest. I have to be happy. I have to go all the way.” And so it just kept going on and on. Then, when I entered my first year of university, I wasn’t at home anymore. I went out to enjoy myself. There were parties and it was late at night. Actually, eating is also a social thing. And I ate heavily. After a while, I was 90-95. When I started to get bigger, I bought bigger and bigger shirts. Shirts that were still loose were still okay. My waist was 40. At that time, I ate everything. I didn’t know what I was eating. I’d wake up in the morning and eat anything that was delicious—patongo, croissants, fried chicken with rice. I ate it all day long. In the late morning, when I went to university, playing football, going to class, and coming out, I’d have the old-fashioned coffee of that era, fruit juice. My triglycerides shot up, everything. The only luck at that time was that I didn’t have a blood test because I was young. Usually, most people get a blood test when they’re in their 30s, right? But this time, I was only 17 years old, so there was no need to check. And at that time, I was drinking alcohol.
Before reaching this point, it was the end first. So what was the turning point?
Dr. Top: Actually, while I was studying medicine, my weight had already decreased to around 75. My weight continued to decrease. When I was studying medicine, at least I had some medical knowledge. If I didn’t take care of myself, I would have died early. It started to decrease little by little. But back then, I exercised a lot, running and taking care of myself. During my 6 years of studying medicine, my weight was around 75, 76, 77. But back then, I still ate a lot. I didn’t know about it when I was studying medicine. When I was studying medicine, I was 18-23 years old, right? I’m 46 now. Back then, there was no IF, no keto. If I wanted to lose weight, it was chicken breast, boiled eggs, boiled broccoli, boiled pumpkin. But I couldn’t eat it, so I got discouraged. Never mind. I ate fried chicken instead. And then I ate everything. Especially when I was partying or hanging out, I ate snacks like fried chicken, French fries, and had to have 3-4 dipping sauces. The more stressed I was while studying medicine, the more I ate. I ate for exams. I felt happy.
If you could go back in time, is there anything you would like to tell yourself?
Dr. Top: I have to say that if I could go back in time, I would have been doing this for a long time. It would have been easy, it would have been easier. But if I couldn’t go back in time, I wouldn’t feel anything because I felt that being myself back then was what made me who I am today. I understand that even if we tried to do all the things we learned during medical school—chicken breast, boiled eggs, regular exercise, and all that—it wouldn’t lead to success. So I went to study and gain knowledge abroad. To be honest, all the things I teach in this video didn’t come from medical school. Most of what I teach in medical school is about eating and general patient care. This is good knowledge about patients, but it’s not about wanting to look good, be healthy, and live a long life. I have to say that studying to be a doctor teaches how to treat patients’ illnesses. When patients get sick, we treat them. But studying to be a doctor isn’t about teaching people to live longer. They’re different.
Now, let’s talk about eating. What kind of food do you eat now?
Dr. Top: Now I’m eating a low-carb diet, which is low in carbohydrates, and I do IF in a relaxed way. It’s called Flexible IF, which is a flexible type of IF that’s not too serious. This time, it’s separated. Some people combine the eating method and IF, but they’re not the same. The eating method is called What you eat. What do you eat? IF is When you eat. So, the two are separate. There are many methods for What you eat, such as keto, low-carb, carnivore, paleo, and many more. But IF is about time. So, do you have to do IF if you want to be healthy? I do IF already, but as for what to eat, that’s up to you. Choose what’s convenient. For example, I eat low-carb because it suits my style. I feel that protein is also good.
You can add fat, you don’t have to eat dry chicken breast, eating chicken thighs is fine. But I don’t like rice. I like to eat it with protein. It’s delicious. Plus, I lost weight unexpectedly and felt full every meal. I have to say that the more you eat, the slimmer you will be. Many people misunderstand that you have to fast or be hungry to have a good figure. I ate my fill every meal. This morning I ate a whole boiled chicken with fish sauce, with skin. I ate normally, very chill. Think about it simply. Suppose we eat a meal, for example, 3 pieces of steak or 1 whole chicken. Will we be full for a long time? Full for a long time because it’s protein. Sometimes I’m full until evening. But if we eat 3 pieces of cake, sometimes we have to continue with bubble milk tea. But with 3 pieces of cake, the body doesn’t get any protein. I have to say that when our body is hungry, it’s hungry for protein. The body needs protein to build muscle. But it needs carbohydrates and fat to make us feel satisfied and happy. So notice when we eat chicken breast, we’re full but not satisfied. But if we eat chicken thighs, we’re full and satisfied because it has both protein and fat. Or sometimes when the chicken breast isn’t satisfying, they add dipping sauce no matter what. This is the key mistake. People who eat clean but don’t lose weight are not clean with dipping sauces. Therefore, the important thing is that we have to choose wisely. And you have to eat until you’re full at every meal, because if you eat until you’re full at every meal, you won’t eat snacks.
In the matter of IF, there is a problem in that some people can do it, while others are not physically able to do it.
Dr. Top: Actually, IF is divided into IF that is called eating within a 24-hour period, which is Restricted Time Eating, and longer than 24 hours, which is Prolonged Fasting. Basically, if it’s Restricted Time, it’s IF like 12/12, 14/10, to 16/8. Most people can do all of those. So if it’s IF 12/12, which is basic IF, it means eating within a certain time period, up to 16/8, which means eating at 10:00 a.m. and finishing at 6:00 p.m., 16/8. Like this, it’s all possible. You can eat whatever you want, it’s not a big deal. But if it’s okay that during that time you have your period or you feel that your body is not ready to start, stick to 12/12 or 14/10, which means eating at 8:00 AM and finishing at 8:00 PM, or eating at 8:00 AM and finishing at 6:00 PM. That’s it. It’s that easy. Everyone can do it and eat 3 meals, but the maximum is 3 meals. Healthy people eat 3 meals, very healthy people eat 2 meals, and long-lived people eat one meal. That is OMAD One Meal A Day. But you don’t have to eat one meal every day. It stimulates Autophagy. You can eat one meal a week. It’s flexible. Don’t be serious. Make it feel like today you’re not hungry, so eat one meal. Relax. We do these things to make ourselves happy. If we do IF and are not happy, we have to reconsider. But happiness must be based on knowledge as well. It’s not happiness that I like to eat potato chips, I like to eat dessert, I am happy, that is happy today, and after a while, I will be happy at the hospital.
Some people may be looking for ways to lose weight. If we take away the healthy aspect of the keto diet, some people may feel like they’re yo-yoing, or they might be cutting out carbs altogether. I’d like the doctor to explain what’s going on. What went wrong?
Dr. Top: Actually, most people who fail are also on the extreme keto diet. They go all out. I have to eat a lot of fat, a little protein, and no carbs at all. None of this is wrong, but you have to understand that once we reach a certain point, our bodies become fatigued, stressed out, and we feel like we have to do something. We feel bad and guilty if we don’t do it. Once we reach a certain point, we run out of energy. Once that’s gone, it’s like when we’re discouraged and everything goes wrong. We revert to eating like crazy, which leads to the yo-yo effect. The next thing is, the keto dieters say to eat a lot of fat. While it’s true, they’re eating the wrong fats. They recommend eating good fats, avocados, nuts, salmon, and healthy animal fats. It’s not fried crispy pork. It’s fried in hot vegetable oil, which is considered ultra-processed food, fried at high temperatures. What happens is that your face ages. It’s not forbidden from eating crispy pork. But eating crispy pork in the morning, at noon, and at night, and then saying you want to be slim like this, won’t do. If I were to recommend, keto can help you lose weight the fastest. If you want to do it quickly, keto and Carnivore, 2 of them, in 1-3 months you will definitely lose 10-20 kg. But is it suitable for everyone? It depends on the individual. Whether you want to eat keto or Carnivore, study carefully first. Be patient and read thoroughly. Therefore, if you want to eat, you must study and understand the subject first.
People don’t realize that cutting carbs is something that, once you cut it to a certain point, your body won’t lose weight?
Dr. Top: The principle is this: Our body can actually create its own carbohydrates through the liver, through the process of gluconeogenesis. But at that time, our liver had to be in good condition and our body had to be in good condition. So, if I were to give advice to the general public, I’d say that if we want to lose weight easily and comfortably, eating low-carb is very easy. It means low-carbohydrate. If we normally eat rice, we’ll just eat half a cup, a ladle, and a portion. Then we just eat everything else. So we’ll eat meat, vegetables, and that’s it. But we have to be careful of vegetables that are high in carbohydrates, like taro or sweet potatoes. If we eat them, we have to count them as rice. Some people actually eat them but just sit around scrolling through social media and they still don’t lose weight. The key is to ask ourselves if we’re hungry or if we have nothing to do. Sometimes, if we’re near the refrigerator, we’ll walk over and grab something in the refrigerator, and it’ll just make us wonder, “Wow, what’s in your refrigerator? That’s how your life is.” That principle is the key. If you want to have a good figure and be healthy for the rest of your life, open the refrigerator and check. Go organize it. What’s in your house? Pull out the drawer and see only snacks. When will you lose weight? When will you have a good figure?
Natural aids for weight loss?
Dr. Top: You don’t need any help. Just do this. If you can only choose one thing, eat everything the same. The only thing you can do is reduce your sugary drinks by one glass a day. For example, if you drink three glasses, reduce it by just one glass. But if you only drink one glass, don’t drink any at all because one glass is about 700 calories. Bubble milk tea, however, is a simple comparison. A large glass, whether slightly sweet or very sweet, is the same. Because one glass is about 500-700 calories. Multiply that by 30 days, that equals 20,000 calories. Just by abstaining from one sugary drink a day, you will lose 20,000 calories. You don’t even have to do anything else. You will lose at least 3 kg. What you should do is cut out sugar. Eat everything else the same, but with less sugar. Don’t go crazy. Then go out and get some sunlight for 15 minutes in the morning. This exposure to the morning sun will stimulate various hormones in your body, including your metabolism and muscle system. It will cause melatonin to be released around 8:00 PM, helping you sleep better. When we sleep well, the hormones ghrelin and leptin, the satiety hormones, the hunger hormones, will not come out and cause chaos, making us not hungry. A good figure, looking good, a good life, youth also starts with the first step. It depends on which way we take. If you want to have a good life, design your life well.
