Having "Me" Time

Life goes on sitting and waiting for the flood. Lets talk about eggs today. A basic food staple that can give you energy during hard times are boiled eggs.  You can survive on rice and boiled eggs (as long as you do not get bored of it).  However, those with high cholesterol levels are often afraid of eating eggs for fear that it will push cholesterol levels up high. Some avoid it like it was some sort of disease. According to Alannah Dibona, eggs are not unhealthy and not a food that needs to be avoided like the plague.  Cholesterol comes from certain saturated fat and trans fat.  Eggs have very little saturated fat (1.5 grams of fat for a large egg) and no trans fat.  That means Yeah! I can eat more eggs. Eggs, in fact are quite healthy and have 13 naturally occuring vitamins and minerals.  Yes, you read it correctly, eggs are good for you.  You might ask, "Even the yolks that are supposed to have lots  of cholesterol?" ...

Yes, inner Bangkok will be flooded soon.  I say this because I believe I live in "inner" Bangkok.  I am not far from the BTS skytrain and lifestyle shopping areas.  Now, the "water" is a few kilometers away from my house.  My local supermarket where I go for monthly supplies without having to use the main road is starting to flood. It's taken so long to arrive.  I've been waiting for over two weeks. I have to admit I am not as excited as I thought I'd be. (Maybe when I actually see the water, I will start to be excited.) Now, I just want it to flood and go away as soon as possible.  Whatever will be, will be.  Tonight, let's therefore talk about Myth 6 that say that high sodium foods taste salty, and that one should avoid salty snacks. According to Andy Belatti, a nutritionist, apparently new research indicate that low-sodium diets may not necessarily be better for your heart, but they do reduce high blood pres...

Tonight, I temporarily stop listening to news regarding flooding. It's too depressing and it's making me stressed.  I know not when the water will come and at what level.  Whatever happens, happens.  Let it be.  Let's instead talk about a lighter topic today and continue on with the fourth myth.  The myth that in order to get calcium and have strong bones, you have to consume a lot of dairy products. This is a common myth.  When we think about having strong healthy bones, we immediately think of dairy.  We think of milk, cheese, and yogurt (high in calcium and vitamin D), but forget other sources of vitamins such as dark leafy greens.  Vitamin K and Magnesium are also important for healthy bones according to nuitritionist Andy Bellati.  Vitamin K can be found in dark leafy greens  such as collard greens, mustard greens, kale, and bok choy, while Magnesium can be found in almonds, cashews, oatmeal and potatoes.  It's wonderf...

I'm always looking for something healthy to eat and drink, but when you are on a weightloss program things get a lot tougher.  I love drinking Yakult.  If you don't know what it is, it is probiotic drink made by fermenting skimmed milk with a special strain of Lactobacillus.  This is supposedly a very healthy drink that is supposed to regulate your bowel movements and help you in a zillion ways. It's an awesome drink that refreshes me every time I drink it.  I love it.   The funniest thing is that it is only sold by direct sales.  It's not easily found in stores and you have to find it from one of the Yakult ladies dressed in their brown uniform with a brown cap.  Originally from Japan, this drink is now sold worldwide. However, if you are on a diet, I have to tell you this.  BEWARE.  Yakult is extremely high in sugar with roughly 17 grams of sugar in a 100g serving!!  That's already around 6% of your suggested daily intake....

Yesterday I started out writing with the intention of talking about "Dragon Fruits" but half way through I realized I was talking more about weigh scales.  Tonight I'd get straight to the point and talk about this relatively new fruit called "Dragon fruit." When I first heard the name I wondered what could a fruit look like to justify such a name?  Is it shaped like a dragon?  Is it large and full of fire with flapping wings ?  That's what I always think about when I hear the word "dragon."  I still love saying the name "dragon fruit."  It makes me feel like I am in a mystical land. Interestingly, it's a fruit that comes from a cacti plant that only blooms at night. What's more, it depends on pollination by bats and moths. Not exactly your ideal fruit that dangles from pretty looking trees, like apples that tempted Adam and Eve. However, after seeing the "dragon fruit", I can somewhat see why it's called so...

Considering the number of restaurants I have been reviewing (and I have plenty more lined up), you might wonder how can one stay in shape and prevent excessive weight gain? As my advice has always been the first step to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to be "aware" of what one is eating.  If you aren't exactly sure, write it down and take note.  If you ate a lot yesterday, eat less today.  It's simple as that.  You are what you eat. If you couldn't be bothered to note what you've been eating, then use the weigh scale.  Weigh yourself everyday.  Weigh yourself at the same time of day each.  It works wonders, and best of all, it takes less than a minute to do. (No excuse that you don't have time.) I have to admit though, that almost two years since I first started my diet, I still have a slight fear of the weigh scale.  I wonder if the needle will jump up after I've had that delicious chocolate cake, or that incredibly fattening creamy salm...

Since it was just the New Years in Thailand and New Years is not only a time for celebration but also of resolutions, I made one more this past week.  It's something I've been working on for the past month but I keep getting drawn back into this vicious cycle of sleeping late, waking up late, feeling groggy, lacking energy and so forth.  It's a horrible cycle to be in.  I feel exhausted but its so hard to get out of. I therefore have a new resolution to sleep early, latest by 22.30hrs.   It might sound a bit early to most, but to me it makes a big difference.  The past two days I've managed to get myself to bed early and the result is a much more energetic, happier and fresher me.  My brain is clearer and I find myself more focused at work.  I run better and I am not as out of breath. I work better when I've had good quality sleep. This is even though I sleep the same amount of hours as if I went to sleep at midnight or 1am, b...

My breakfast discussion this morning concerned attitudes and how most things in life depends on how you view and see things.  Definitely true.  While bicycling later on this past afternoon at the gym I read an article on how exercise is about setting goals and believing you can do it. Also very true.  I've experienced it myself and I know losing weight for me required first and foremost a change in attitudes and the way I perceived things.  You may think that achieving is mainly about reaching the goal, but in reality, how you get to the goal is really a process that involves a lot of changes in attitudes and how you think. As we all probably know,  if you want to accomplish something, you have to set a goal.  What is it you really want in the end?  What is the end result?  This is simple enough.  To achieve anything we need a good and clear goal that is, of course, measurable.  Take for example losing weight.  I wanted to lo...

Ever since I've moved house earlier this year, I've had the opportunity to see another part of life I had never previously seen.  I now live next to a military base that is also open to the public. Cars pass through in and out to get to the main road on the other side of the base.  Most mornings and evenings that's the route I'd take.  Unexpectedly though, on a quiet day you can be most certain to hear the sounds of soldiers in training.  Just half an hour ago as I lay on my bed relaxing, a beautiful sound came through the window.  It was the sound of trumpets playing a tune that reminds me of war movies. It was 9pm.  Like an alarm clock, every evening and not a minute late,  the sound of trumpets playing a tune will echo through the air and flow through all the houses in the surrounding area.  It sounds magical.  If you wake up early, you're hear the same tunes being played at the wake of dawn.  5am.  The...

Now the year has started and the holiday festivities are slowing losing momentum (at least until the Chinese New Year) let's all start the year out being fit and healthy!    A lot of people start the year with a resolution to lose some weight and be healthy.  It often works for a couple months and then somehow the goal gets lost amidst all the work and whatever life brings us and we end the year having gained weight rather than having lost weight. That was me for probably more than a decade or so. No more.  It still feels surreal having lost 15kg (32 lbs).  This time last year, I was still working on my last few kgs. Wow. This year, for the first time, my goal is to just maintain my weight and I tell you it feels WONDERFUL. It's amazingly less stress and I don't have to start the year with a guilty feeling knowing I didn't make it happen last year and so I have to do it again this year.  I can move on with my l...

When packing for my two week trip to Singapore I am always at a dilemma as to what to bring. I want to travel light so that I'd have space to bring my shopping and gifts back yet there are also a few essentials I think I should bring.  The list gets longer the older I'm getting.  For the first time now, I am actually now including running shoes and running clothes into my "list."  They are needed because I know that for two weeks I'd be doing a lot of eating and sitting.  Trips like these are always a danger to the waistliine.  And so, this trip I brought along all my running gear.  On Tuesday, I woke up early and got myself down to the gym by 7am.  I have to say I expected it to be empty.  We're in a hotel I thought.  Who would work out so early? Most people would be gettting ready to eat breakfast or go out to their meetings.  This was still my still chubby inner me at work. To my surprise, the little hotel gym was packed....

After a night here and a day full of activities and meeting people, I feel myself settling in and getting in pace for the next two weeks.  Being around the business district on weekends can be a bit quiet, almost isolated, but on weekdays there is a whole different energy. There are people walking around each going on their way, each with their own lives.  The energy then settles when we get to dinner time and everyone goes get something to fill their empty stomachs.   This past evening I got to reunite with a good old friend who lives here in Singapore and she introduced me to this new kind of pizza that is currently in trend in Singapore. It's called " Skinny pizza ." Now I've never heard anything about it, but it sounded delicious. Anything with "pizza" sounds good to me but I have to beware of the cheese that comes with it.  My friend tells me that its pizza made of extremely thin crust topped with vegetables and other toppings of ...

With the holiday season knocking at the door, it is always a challenge to keep fit and healthy.  To maintain one's weight during the year is not so easy for most of us, let alone maintaining one's weight during the holiday season! All that turkey and holiday parties are extremely deterimental to one's waistline. So today I want to share with you a little secret on how to stay active and burn away a little of that holiday eating.  I realized this was something I had only begun doing recently since I began my weightloss journey over a year ago.  Now it has become a part of my routine.  What do I do?  It's easy.  I eat first then I shop. Didn't I say it was easy?  Now the important part is implementing it.  Before in my much much chubbier days, which I am happy to say is now behind me,  I didn't give a slight thought as to what I'll eat and when I'll eat it.  I'll eat when I'm hungry and t...

Happy Friday! Five friends of mine were born on this day according to my FB contact list. This must be a record for a single day. :) I don't know about you, but for the past few years, my birthday month has always been the month I start getting myself on the path to being fit. I guess its something about getting old that makes me want to be fit for once in my life. Usually my goals will end up resulting in a couple months of yoga classes and a few trips to the fitness. Perhaps I'll get a few weeks where I manage to hit the fitness 3 times a week. By the time I hit Thanksgiving and Christmas, all my intentions somehow fade away. Lost in oblivion. Lost amongst all the celebrations. This year is different, I've actually reached my goal since last year and have been able to maintain my weight without fluctuation for the past half year. Let's continue to keep it going this well even a few years from now. To help those who want to be healthier and fit, today I thought I'd...

As I rushed around at work today, my stomach kept growling. I wondered how come I was so hungry. Was I thirsty? I drank a lot of water, but that didn't help. No, I was not thirsty. I went out for lunch and got myself a nice healthy salad mix and some bread. It usually fills me up quite well, but not today. I was perpetually hungry. In the afternoon, I discovered the source to my constant hunger. I had forgotten to eat breakfast. I had prepared some yogurt with honey and lemon for breakfast today, but I had completely forgotten about it and left it in my bag. On most days, I make sure I have a heavy breakfast of either brown rice with various toppings of protein and vegetables or either some scrambled eggs with ham. On days I have a big breakfast, I discover that I feel satisfied for the entire day. I eat less during lunch and dinner and don't feel an urge to snack in between. On days, like today, when I have light breakfasts or none, I am perpetually hung...