People often ask me, "how do you eat so much and still stay so slim?"
The answer is simple: I try to eat my meals at home!
You don't have to be a genius to know how unhealthy food you order outside can be. All that unnecessary salt, oil, sugar, blah, blah, and blah transforms ANY dish into an unhealthy one, no matter how healthy it may have started out. And all these extra equates to excessive calories. YES, THE SINISTER CALORIE. If only calories didn't exist......... Ah well, such is life. So tonight, which is the eve of Chinese New Year, Dawn the food lover is here to help you begin the dragon year with an ultimate guide to eating well AT HOME!
BREAKFAST
I do not EVER skip breakfast. If I don't eat breakfast, I get cranky and irritable and I will give death stares at people for the nothing. In other words, my tolerance for any nonsense without breakfast is about zero. We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But do you truly understand WHY it's important?
It's because breakfast
1. keeps you feeling energized for the rest of your day
2. prevents you from overeating later
3. resurrects your metabolism after a night of fasting (sleeping)
Therefore it's paramount to enjoy breakfast thoroughly! Every morning I'll wake up to prepare a simple breakfast and ensure it's a balanced one.
^ Yogurt, egg, ham and mushrooms.
^ Berries, ham and (hidden) cheese toast, and some strawberry jam.
^ Blackberry jam, egg in a nest, kiwi.
Put in a little effort to make your food look pretty! I assure you, you'd have so much more fun eating.
LUNCH
^ Freak Spaghetti! It's perfect for boring days. I didn't take pictures of the end results but they look like this:
(pix from here)
It's really simple to make. Just pierce your uncooked spaghetti into hotdogs and boil them after! Add splashes of olive oil or drench your spaghetti in tomato sauce to compliment.
^ This was made one afternoon when I reached home STARVING. I needed food that could be prepared under 5 minutes and so here it is! A gigantic sandwich consisting of ham and egg scramble. It's great for breakfast too!
^ On days I feel a little more 'Asian' I cook noodles! It's an advantage that I prefer soupy noodles instead of dried noodles because dried noodles are an evil source of extra calories! Last school semester I was doing a project based on my daily nutrients intake and I came across a local website that allowed me to see what I was actually eating.....
Noodles, chicken mushroom, dry : 439kcal
Noodles, chicken mushroom, soup : 349kcal
Chicken mushroom noodles is one of my favourite dishes to have when I eat out and I'm so glad I always pick the soup version of it! It's 90 calories lesser! I can eat 1.5 more apples with 90 calories.
^ But of course, I can't be healthy all the time even though I'm home. There are days I submit to junk food and chuck a frozen pizza into the oven to enjoy the luscious cheese and ham and pineapples and the pizza dough.......
TEATIME
I have tea almost everyday about 4pm when I'm home. It's really just an optional meal that I choose to have.
^ As you might have noticed, I eat tons of strawberries. I do! I like blueberries more but somehow my fridge is always stocked with the reds instead of the blues.
DINNER
I cook dinner on my own sometimes. On other days I eat grandma's cooking or my maid's.
Go light during dinner if you're not going to be very active in the night. That way you avoid feeling bloated the next morning.
^ All my favourite veggies!!!
^ Grandma's typical cooking. We've got stir fried prawns, roasted chicken, chye sim and shiitake mushrooms.
So now you've seen examples of what I cook and eat at home, do you feel inspired to do the same? HAHAHA. You may find it troublesome at first, but like me, you'll soon appreciate the beauty of 'eating clean'. Cooking at home has definitely made a huge impact in my life. It balances out my "unhealthiness" I takeaway from eating out. That way I've got the "healthy" and the "unhealthy", sort of like the yin yang.
If you have time, incorporate exercise into your daily life! Exercising makes a hell lot of difference, I kid you not. I've experienced the magic of exercise but unfortunately I'm no magician, I can't perform it on you. So put on your running shoes and get out there! Or in there, if you're heading to the gym.
Alright, I hope I've shared enough! If there's anything you want to know, feel free to leave me a comment on formspring or tweet me!
Remember, the key is balance.
Oh, and HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR! Have a fiery dragon year ahead (in a good way)!
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