Healthy Eating

  So for this week, I'm going to write a bit on about healthy eating a.k.a dieting. But why do I call it healthy eating and not dieting?? Well, this is because, most Malaysians, if they were to hear the word dieting, the first thought that comes to their mind is, fasting..or eating less..this and that. So to make things a bit more clear and to help you guys out just a bit with what has worked for me, I'm going to share my practices and what has helped me in the past, and what I am currently following.
  Ok, so a typical Malaysian would wake up at say..6am, snooze the alarm for 15 minutes, wake up at 6.15am, bathe, get dressed, then rush to work.Then they would go for breakfast at about 8 or 9. A big and tasty plate of nasi lemak,roti canai, mee/mihun goreng or freshly fried currypuff's or pisang goreng. With teh tarik. And we always forget to say 'kurang manis'. Nyam nyam nyam!! Yup! We all love that! I have to agree. It is our Malaysian delicacy after all. But....do you know which just one plate of either of the above, the calorie content can go up to a whopping 500 calories! If that not high enough, look at at the source of that calories. It will have about 10 grams fat, about 50 grams carbohydrate and about 9 grams protein. Having this once a week, is acceptable, but on a daily basis, is just something that needs to be avoided. Add a fried chicken to that, and the total calorie can be about 60% of your daily total caloric contect. And this is only breakfast. What about lunch? We usually have a plate of white rice (which is basically the only type of rice most stalls sell anyways, apart from briyani or chicken rice), added with some vege and chicken/mutton/beef curry, or something along that. Added with a sweet cold drink, that easily about 600-700 calories. Then comes tea time, with another cup of tea and some 'kuih muih', which comes to about 300-400 calories. And dinner, with another 6-700 calories, and there goes your diet.

                                             The awesome but dangerous mee goreng mamak!

     Let  me share what I have researched in the past, what I have followed previously, and what I am at least, trying my best, to follow now.

Like most people, I do not wake up at 6 am, as I only start work at 4pm. So, after I wake up around 12pm, I first go to the kitchen and make some rolled oats. I fill a pot with about 250 ml water, then add 4 table spoons of rolled oats into it, and leave it to cook. While its cooking, I have my bathe, and put on my gym clothes. By then, its done, I add some raisins, some low fat milk and about half a teaspoon of sugar for taste. Waalaa! An awesome and healthy breakfast. Its about 400 calories as well, but most of it is from good carbs, as its not filled with starch, and its going to give you the energy you need while working out. If its my day off, I would typically have 3-4 scrambled egg whites and a slice of wheat bread with peanut butter.

                                              Pristine brand Rolled Oats (as pure as it gets)
     After my work out, I would typically have a protein shake, and then its lunch, around 5.30pm. I try to prepare my food for the whole week by every Sunday, and just dump it in the fridge, and heat it up when its meal time. So lunch, if I'm not trying to loose too much fat, would be a capati, with some home cooked chicken or sardin curry, with lots of vegetable. On other days, I might have a ham sandwich. A nice balance between carbs and protein, with little fats. And zero oil. But on the weeks that I really have the mood for some good and fast improvements, my lunch would typically be a palm sized grilled chicken breast, with some broccoli for fibre. I would try not to take any carbs as the carbs would come from the seasoning that I have used for marinating the chicken. Then its snack time around 8.30pm, in which I'd have some home made roasted cashew nuts with an apple. For dinner, its chicken breast again with some green vegetables. This would be at around 11.30pm. For supper, it's usually some cashew nuts again, or maybe some scrambled egg whites. I have included my healthy eating plan below for easy viewing:

Breakfast - Rolled Oats with half teaspoon sugar and raisins
Post workout - 1 scoop ON Gold Standard Whey
Lunch - Palm sized grilled chicken breast with 1 cup broccoli s
Snack - Palm sized Roasted Cashew Nuts and an apple
Dinner - Palm sized grilled chicken breast with green vege's
Supper - Cashew Nuts or 3 egg whites.

                                      Palm sized grilled chicken breast with steamed brocolli

All the above are consumed 3 hours apart, and man can you see some drastic improvements in very little time. My advise for those who would want to on the above diet, Don't do it too long, as the body does need carbohydrates. 2-3 weeks on this is just nice, and you can vary between chicken/turkey breasts or capati/sandwiches. Try it, and share with us the results! And if you guys have some form of diets that you share, feel free to add it to discussions in the comments. Never forget, discipline is the core to everything!