Healthy Lifestyle (raya edition)

Since this month we (muslims) are celebrating eid, im gonna write about a healthy lifestyle! It’s that time of the year again where we forge closer ties with family and friends with get-togethers and plenty of food. In fact, for many, the food is the highlight of the festivities and many of us are already in the ‘eat-til-I-drop’ mindset before we even get to our first open house. Although you are, of course, still allowed to enjoy yourselves, just keeping to a few ground rules will help to minimise the ‘damage’ from a slight lapse during the holidays.

1. Don’t skip breakfast!

The adage ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’ is a good one to remember. Don’t leave your house without eating some breakfast, thinking you have an open house at 11 so you will save the calories for that! Skipping breakfast can lead to weight gain as it lowers metabolism for the rest of the day. Also people who eat breakfast, often consume fewer calories throughout the day. When we skip breakfast, our blood sugar level becomes low and that’s when we start craving food, especially the sweet food. This is the last thing we want when we are going to open houses filled with all sorts of tempting foods. When we eat (after skipping breakfast), there is a sudden increase in blood sugar levels and our body reacts to this by converting the sugar to fat to bring our blood sugar level back to normal. This leads to weight gain. So remember to eat your breakfast.

2. Stay hydrated

It gets very hot when we are going from one open house to another and we can often mistake dehydration for hunger. So to avoid overeating, make sure you bring a bottle of water with you and drink in the car in between open houses to stay hydrated. It’s important that your bottle is made from glass or stainless steel as a plastic bottle can leach toxins into your water if left in the hot sun. If possible, carry your water bottle with you as many open houses would be serving sugary drinks that are not only empty calories but also bad for your health.

3. Choose healthier options

Raw foods are always the better option so look for dishes that contain raw fruits and vegetables as they would still have all their nutrients and avoid dishes that are fried (especially because caterers often use rancid refried oil which is the worst kind of oil to use). Desserts is another one we should try to refrain from eating as they are loaded with refined sugar and flour.

-       Some healthy food options to look out for: thosai with dhall or coconut chutney, lontong, rojak buah (go easy on the sauce though), asam laksa, laksa johor, roast lamb, chicken mandy rice, yong tau foo.

- Some dishes to (try) avoid: roti canai (uses the transfat, margarine), fried kuey teow, any noodle dish made using the yellow egg noodles as these often contain yellow colouring and a lot of additives, any coloured food that seem suspiciously too bright to have natural origins and hence are likely to contain food colouring (food colouring can cause cancer and behavioural problems, just to name a few), fried chicken, pisang goreng, ice kacang, cakes and cookies.

Last but not least, 

Control Your Portion!!

One of the easiest ways to control your food intake is simply by eating from a smaller plate. It helps you to put smaller portions of food on your plate and you’ll tend to eat less as a result. If you’re at a buffet dinner, take only what you can finish andresist the temptation to go for second or third helpings. :)

goodbye!