Healthy Eating 2022

It's the start of a new year and Inez is excited to see what your new year resolutions are! For me, I want to focus on having a healthier diet. I believe that there is a misconception of what a healthy diet is now. To some people, a healthy diet might mean eating only vegetables and fruits, eating only high fat foods with no carbs or maybe only eating one meal a day. Therefore, I understand that there is no correct answer to this question. However, what I can do is share what a healthy diet means to Inez (A.K.A what works for me), so read on to find out!

1. Less Oil

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Inez grew up in a very simple family. We had simple meals and by simple trust me, it's REALLY simple. I remember having rice with fermented soybean paste for dinner after tuition classes. All this changed when I grew up and made friends in college, I started having heavy lunches and dinners and that's when I felt I put on dem pounds. I'm not saying that oil is bad, but when you are in Malaysia, specifically in Penang, it's impossible to get "Oh so healthy olive oil" or "100% cold pressed avocado oil". Hawker food in Penang are mostly cooked with recycled oil, which is technically oil used several times.

Solution: Inez will TRY to limit hawker food and instead, try to make more healthy food at home.

2. If you have to eat meat, eat lean meat

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So I naturally am not really a fan of meat, but I will take it, it's just that it's not a necessity for me. If you take a look at Chinese cuisine, especially Hakka, there's loads of pork belly and meat cuts with extra fat. Honestly, the more fat the better. That explains why I don't enjoy Hakka food. I know that to some people, chicken breasts are considered the worst kind of meat because they are often too lean, hard to chew on and not too flavourful compared to the other parts. But if you have to take meat, try baby steps, maybe limit your pork belly dishes to 2 times a week, and replace the rest with pork shoulder or loin. They are just as juicy and tender.

3. Have fruits before every meal

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What's your favourite fruit? Inez's favourites are guavas, cherries (not the candied ones on cakes, yucks), grapes (red and seedless to be specific), satsumas and durians (Yeah, the one which smells like socks/fish/dung whatever you wanna call it). I know restaurants normally serve fruits as a dessert, hence they come last, but I believe that the correct way to take fruits would be before your meal. Before you get all defensive, hear me out! When fruits get digested together with carbohydrates and proteins (your RM5 economy rice), this results in fermentation. It often doesn't get digested properly, causing the nutrients to not be fully absorbed by your body. This in turn causes bloating and makes you gassy.

Solution: Inez will eat fruits slowly and before a meal (Think of it as an appetiser!)

4. Don't take heavy breakfasts

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

You see this photo? Honestly, this is too much for me. I used to have fruits every morning for breakfast before school and I felt like that helped me focus more. I tried having hearty and filling meals in the morning like an onigiri, sometimes a bowl of noodles or maybe even a full blown English breakfast. I ended up feeling so sluggish and sleepy that I couldn't focus during work. I felt like my body was putting all my energy towards my stomach to try and digest those roasted potatoes and Japanese sticky rice.

Solution: Inez will try to limit her breakfast to just fruits, but if someone invites her for DimSum, she'll TRY to take less starch and more lean meat (Refer to rule no.2).

In conclusion, this is just what Inez will do for 2022 to have a healthier diet, but of course, exercising plays an important role in maintaining a healthy lifestyle as well. Feel free to ask me anything regarding anything relating to diets and meals, I'm no doctor but I practically grew up under the care of a nutritionist!