Reminders! :)

HEY GUYS!:)


Just a reminder: Don't forget my awesome HPB DIET TRACKER  that I introduced all of you in my post on Friday, 12 August! It's wonderfully amazing! Its right on your phone! Hmmm.. so convenient! No more excuses not to check your diet any more! Hehehe:) It tells you everything! Like how much your calorie/fat etcetc intake should be! It also analyses your diet too! So calling all Android or Iphone users, please go check it out okay! :) 


Also, look out for food that has the "healthier choice" sign! It's a much better choice compared to the other foods!:) 


Have fun! Start living your healthy lifestyle today!:) 

Looking back! Reflecting....:)

Feeling particularly down today after re-reading my food intake composition from the 3 day food blog…  in a reflective mood…

I realised that I am overeating! Every single day! And to make things worse I have an extremely unhealthy diet rich in EVERYTHING and EVERY ASPECT. I need to eat healthier and in the right areas, for example the healthier aspects like fruits and vegetables; and abstain from unhealthy foods such as oils and fats. My diet thus far definitely explains why I have been steadily putting on weight. ..

I am grateful for these useful nutritional tools on the HPB website that help me analyse in detail my diet and categorize it into the different nutritional subcomponents…like the Energy and Nutrient Composition of Foods, Food pyramid and of course, the Food Intake Assessment! It tells me how much of the different food categories/nutrients I should be eating (judging from my age,height and weight) and then analyses my diet to tell me exactly in which component I am overeating/under eating/ eating just right. At least now I have a clearer picture of how unhealthy my diet is and which component I need to cut down on à currently it is every component but I will work on it! I wish I found those tools sooner! Someone should advertise it so that people can utilise these simple and convenient tools to monitor their diets and eat healthily. I'll start by sharing it with all my friends who do not know about these tools.

I hope the dish I shared in yesterday’s post will inspire you to make your own healthy dish! By substituting an unhealthy ingredient which something else, or using less salt/ less and healthier type of oil to cook it, you can make your dish healthy by decreasing the fat and sodium content. For example, you can use Extra Virgin Olive Oil compared to normal kinds of oil. It is much healthier. Use less oil too!! Pasta does not need so much oil! Remember to add in all your veggies, even to pastas! Not only will your pasta taste great, it will be much healthier too! Of course, my recommendation yesterday about using whole wheat pasta compared to normal pasta is sure to work wonders as it is much healthier, keeping the same great taste! It has much lesser calories and is also a great source of fibre, which will prevent constipation! :) 
Using whole-wheat pasta will also ensure you get your daily required carbohydrates (just enough for one meal and not too much- wheat is at the top of the food pyramid!), and thus, will the veggies, it ensures your very balanced diet one dish meal! Also, for the pasta dish, using low fat cream for your Alfredo sauce will definitely cut down your calories and definitely your fat content! Lastly, cooking pasta only requires boiling, blanching and stir-frying, which are healthy methods of cooking, compared to deep frying etc.

With 4 new tips on how to cook Alfredo sauce pasta, you will definitely have a one dish meal that is healthy and balanced!


This is a quick and healthy way to kick-start a healthy diet! You should try it too!

From now on, I will keep a record of my daily intake and make sure I get a healthy diet and live a healthy lifestyle. No more over-eating of  fatty foods for me!  

Healthy living begins today!

Have resolved to start eating healthier since I found out the shocking news that my diet, while seemingly adhering to the pyramid, is completely haywire. Seems like the food pyramid alone is not enough to analyse diets.

Thought of a way to (partially) resolve my diet problems, to prepare unhealthy food in a healthier way!

These are some tips in general to make a dish healthier : simply substitute coconut milk with cow’s milk, lard with vegetable oil, etc; the fat content is decreased while maintaining the same yummy taste!

However, today I am going to suggest a healthy one dish meal! 

Here are some tips I thought of for my favourite dish, Alfredo sauce pasta, that I'd like to share with my loyal blog readers:

Use whole-wheat pasta instead of enriched pasta:  triples the fibre and reduces the number of calories!

Whole-wheat pasta

Use fat-free cream instead of whole cream to save 66 calories and almost 8 grams of fat per cup.

Low fat cream

Last but not least:: add vegetables into your pasta! Generous portions!

It should end up looking something like this:

Doesn’t it look yummy?? J

Tried cooking this with mum just now and though mine did not look as appetising as the photo above, but it tastes just as yummy as if I did not substitute the cream and pasta. Will try to upkeep a healthy lifestyle starting with this!!

More on "Food Intake Assessment"

Date	Meal	Food Item	Serving Size	Energy (Kcal)	Carbohydrate (g)	Protein (g)	Total Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Calcium (mg)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
13/08/2011	Meal 1 7am	1. Beehoon, soto, Malay style	1	359	30.9	19.8	17.3	6.8	62.4	77.6	3.5	1,537.4
		2. Juice, papaya, fresh	1	81	18.1	1.5	0.2	0.0	0.0	27.0	2.7	42.4
	Subtotal			440	49.0	21.3	17.5	6.8	62.4	104.5	6.2	1,579.7
	Meal 2 1pm	1. Chicken rice	1	607	74.6	25.2	22.9	8.7	47.1	30.3	2.0	1,287.5
		2. Hor fun, beef	1	697	94.8	19.7	26.5	11.5	38.5	77.0	6.3	1,717.2
		3. Juice, guava, fresh	1	64	12.5	2.6	0.3	0.1	0.0	5.8	1.2	64.0
	Subtotal			1,369	181.9	47.6	49.6	20.4	85.5	113.0	9.4	3,068.7
	Meal 3 3pm	1. MANGO, HONEY, RAW	1	131	30.3	1.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	3.8	5.0	1.9
		2. Fish and chips	1	850	76.9	28.7	47.4	20.1	120.6	69.7	4.6	624.4
	Subtotal			981	107.2	30.4	47.8	20.2	120.6	73.5	9.5	626.3
	Meal 4 7pm	1. Chicken rice	1	607	74.6	25.2	22.9	8.7	47.1	30.3	2.0	1,287.5
		2. Tea, bubble, with milk+pearl cube	1	334	52.6	0.6	13.5	12.5	0.9	42.4	1.9	34.9
	Subtotal			942	127.2	25.8	36.4	21.2	48.0	72.6	3.9	1,322.3
	Meal 5 9pm	1. Dragonfruit, raw	1	134	29.1	3.6	0.3	0.1	0.0	16.5	7.4	32.9
		2. Jackfruit, raw	1	32	7.6	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.0	6.2	0.8	6.6
	Subtotal			166	36.7	3.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	22.6	8.2	39.5
Subtotal for 13/08/2011				3,897	502.1	128.7	151.6	68.7	316.5	386.3	37.3	6,636.6
11/08/2011	Meal 1 5.30am	1. Cultured milk drink	1	89	21.1	0.8	0.3	0.2	0.0	51.1	0.0	18.3
		2. Bun, cheese, baked	1	168	23.5	6.4	5.3	3.1	7.8	61.6	0.9	214.5
	Subtotal			257	44.6	7.2	5.6	3.3	7.8	112.7	0.9	232.8
	Meal 2 9am	1. PINEAPPLE, HONEY, RAW	1	275	65.7	2.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	59.3	10.8	10.8
	Subtotal			275	65.7	2.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	59.3	10.8	10.8
	Meal 3 2pm	1. Lor mee	1	383	55.1	14.6	11.3	4.9	140.4	81.0	6.5	2,538.0
		2. Barley water	1	55	14.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	23.7	0.0	2.4
	Subtotal			438	69.1	14.6	11.3	4.9	140.4	104.7	6.5	2,540.4
	Meal 4 5.30pm	1. MAMEE, CHICKEN FLAVOUR, SNACK	1	143	20.6	2.9	5.4	2.6	0.0	3.4	0.9	785.9
	Subtotal			143	20.6	2.9	5.4	2.6	0.0	3.4	0.9	785.9
	Meal 5 7pm	1. Porridge, pork	1	364	37.5	19.1	15.3	5.7	63.6	57.2	0.0	1,501.0
		2. Juice, carrot, fresh	1	91	20.0	1.2	0.6	0.1	0.0	26.5	2.1	194.0
	Subtotal			455	57.5	20.3	15.9	5.9	63.6	83.7	2.1	1,695.0
	Meal 6 9pm	1. Mango pudding	1	47	8.9	1.3	0.7	0.4	2.4	42.0	2.4	25.0
		2. Longan, canned, drained	1	220	52.0	1.5	0.5	0.2	0.0	128.0	3.1	35.8
	Subtotal			267	60.9	2.8	1.2	0.6	2.4	170.0	5.5	60.8
Subtotal for 11/08/2011				1,834	318.3	50.5	39.4	17.2	214.2	533.8	26.7	5,325.6
12/08/2011	Meal 1 5.30am	1. Cultured milk drink	1	89	21.1	0.8	0.3	0.2	0.0	51.1	0.0	18.3
	Subtotal			89	21.1	0.8	0.3	0.2	0.0	51.1	0.0	18.3
	Meal 2 9.40am	1. Cake, banana	1	146	16.3	2.5	7.8	3.2	32.4	13.7	0.6	64.2
		2. Grass jelly, chin chou	1	55	13.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	18.5	1.2	53.1
	Subtotal			201	30.2	2.5	7.8	3.2	32.4	32.2	1.7	117.3
	Meal 3 2pm	1. Lor mai kai	1	322	55.1	8.9	7.3	2.7	32.8	29.8	6.7	594.5
		2. Juice, watermelon, fresh	1	95	23.4	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	30.4	0.4	99.8
	Subtotal			417	78.6	8.9	7.5	2.7	32.8	60.2	7.1	694.3
	Meal 4 6.30pm	1. Digestive biscuit	1	49	6.9	0.6	2.1	1.0	0.2	4.3	0.4	61.1
	Subtotal			49	6.9	0.6	2.1	1.0	0.2	4.3	0.4	61.1
	Meal 5 7.15pm	1. Spaghetti, with tuna meat sauce	1	268	34.7	13.8	8.2	3.9	23.3	54.1	2.6	147.5
	Subtotal			268	34.7	13.8	8.2	3.9	23.3	54.1	2.6	147.5
	Meal 6 10pm	1. Mango, dried	1	456	111.5	0.8	0.8	0.2	0.0	168.9	6.9	196.9
		2. MANGO, HONEY, RAW	1	131	30.3	1.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	3.8	5.0	1.9
	Subtotal			587	141.8	2.5	1.1	0.3	0.0	172.7	11.8	198.8
Subtotal for 12/08/2011				1,612	313.2	29.2	27.0	11.3	88.6	374.6	23.7	1,237.3
Grand total for 11/08/2011 - 13/08/2011				7,344	1,133.6	208.4	218.0	97.2	619.3	1,294.7	87.6	13,199.5
Average Intake per day				2,448	377.9	69.5	72.7	32.4	206.4	431.6	29.2	4,399.8

This makes everything so clear!

But shock horror, I have been severely overeating in every aspect of the food pyramid except calcium. Surely this means I need to get more milk and other calcium-rich foods into my diet. It is appalling that I am actually eating up to 3 times of my RDA in terms of sodium. I better watch my sodium intake if I want to keep my kidneys functioning for a long time coming!