healthy eating: 10 reasons to.....

Ever since I lived alone, tried cooking alone and eat alone in Dubai (not all times of course), I have been more mindful about eating healthy. I've taken brown instead of white rice if possible, wholegrain bread instead of white bread, and oats instead of the usual breakfast choices.

I do at times take a break from this routine, but I find the joy of packing my own wholemeal sandwiches (with my favorite filling of egg mayonnaise/tuna) or my refrigerated soaked oats to office. That also helps me to keep my weight in check. The times when I don't watch my diet is probably the times I eat out - it is really hard to find healthy choices for me. Salad's not totally my thing, though vegetables are!

Here are some benefits to share for the easiest 2 things you should convert to:

Brown Rice: 10 reasons why you should take brown not white.

1. Rich in Selenium 

Brown rice is rich in selenium which reduces the risk for developing common illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and arthritis. 

2. High in Manganese 

One cup of brown rice provides 80% of our daily manganese requirements. Manganese helps the body synthesize fats. Manganese also benefits our nervous and reproductive systems. 

3. Rich in Naturally-Occurring Oils 

 Naturally occurring oils are beneficial for the body as these healthful fats help normalize cholesterol levels. 

4. Promotes Weight Loss 

The fiber content of brown rice keeps bowel function at it’s peak since it makes digestion that much easier. Brown rice is the perfect addition to the daily diet for those seeking bowel regularity. In addition, brown rice also makes the tummy feel full which translates to smaller meal portions. 

5. Considered Whole Grain 

 Brown rice is considered a whole grain since it hasn’t lost its “wholeness” through the refinement process. Wholes grains are proven to reduce the buildup of arterial plaque and reduce the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol. 

6. Rich in Anti-Oxidants 

This is one of the best kept secrets regarding brown rice. We usually associate anti-oxidant rich foods with blueberries, strawberries and other fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant capacity of brown rice is right up there with these super stars. 

7. High in Fiber 

 Brown rice is high in fiber and on top of the list for foods that can help prevent colon cancer. This can be attributed to the high levels of fiber naturally contained in brown rice. These fibers attach to substances that cause cancer as well as to toxins in the body, thus eliminating them and keeping them from attaching to the colon wall. 

8. A Slow-Release Sugar 

 Brown rice helps stabilize blood sugar levels; therefore, it’s an excellent food choice for those suffering from diabetes. Studies show that those who consume one half cup of brown rice daily reduce their risks of developing diabetes by 60%. On the other hand, those who consume white rice regularly increase their chances of developing diabetes 100 fold. 

9. Perfect Baby Food 

 Brown rice cereal or brown rice itself is the perfect baby’s first food due to the dense natural nutrition and fiber it contains. This is a much better choice than refined white rice cereal products as rapidly growing babies and toddlers require nutrient rich diets to help maintain rapid growth cycles. 1

10. Candida Yeast Infections 

Brown rice is the perfect adjunct for candida yeast infection treatmentsgiven that high glycemic and otherwise sugary/starchy foods are prohibited during most candida treatment protocols. The natural digestibility of brown rice coupled with the high fiber content can help sensitive digestive systems heal from an overgrowth of candida organisms. 

Source: http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/10-reasons-why-brown-rice-is-the-healthy-choice/#2y38xgmXUsGFLlAz.99

*   *   *   * 

10 reasons to eat oats (I do it in a jar with fruits, raisins and some chocolate chunks)

1. Low calorie food; stops cravings. 

 A cup is only 130 calories! It also stays in your stomach longer, making you feel full longer. You will have less hunger and cravings.

 2. Provides high levels of fiber, low levels of fat, and high levels of protein. 

It’s on the short list for the highest protein levels of any grain.

 3. Stabilizes blood sugar and reduces risk of diabetes (type 2) 

The high fiber and complex carbohydrates slow down the conversion of this whole food to simple sugars. The high levels of magnesium nourish the body’s proper use of glucose and insulin secretion.

4. Removes your bad cholesterol (without affecting your good cholesterol).

 Many studies have shown that the unique fiber in oatmeal called beta-glucan, has beneficial effects on cholesterol levels

 5. Gluten-free safe. I am gluten sensitive and have no problem with oatmeal.

 If you are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease there is some cause for concern. Oats lack many of the prolamines (proteins) found in wheat (gluten) but oats do contain avenin. Avenin is a prolamine that is considered toxic to the intestinal mucosa of avenin-sensitive individuals. Oats can also contain gluten from nearby wheat field contamination and processing facilities. Many studies have shown that many celiacs can consume wheat free oats with no problems.

 6. Contains lignans which protect against heart disease and cancer. 

Oatmeal, like many whole grains, contains plant lignans, which are converted by intestinal flora into mammalian lignans. One lignan, called enterolactone, is thought to protect against breast and other hormone-dependent cancers as well as heart disease.

 7. Contains unique antioxidants beneficial for heart disease. 

A study at Tufts University shows that the unique antioxidants in oatmeal called called avenanthramides, help prevent free radicals from damaging LDL cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

 8. Protects against heart failure. 

A Harvard study on 21,000 participants over 19 years showed that found that men who enjoyed a daily morning bowl of whole grain (but not refined) cereal had a 29 percent lower risk of heart failure. Guess what grain is most easily found and prepared unrefined – oats.

 9. Enhances immune response to disease. 

The unique fiber in oatmeal called beta-gluten also has been shown to helps neutrophils travel to the site of an infection more quickly and it also enhances their ability to eliminate the bacteria they find there

 10. It tastes good! 

All oats whether in flakes or groats form have gone through a heat process which gives them their rich nutty flavor. This keeps them from spoiling. They have also been hulled. This process does not strip away all the bran and germ allowing them to retain a concentrated source of fiber and nutrients . This means however, that oats are not raw and will not sprout.

 Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/oatmeal-everyday-powerfood.html#ixzz2Zy9N8GRj

So people, when you complain about weight gain or feeling too "heavy" after meals, consider lighter options or portions! 

Day 2 - Bali - Raftin' and Grillin'

I'm having overnight soaked oats and muesli (otherwise known as oats in a jar) while typing this. I'm loving this stuff man, thanks to Deborah (@hellocupid) that motivated me to do OIAJ.

I will probably share my own recipe if I find a way to do a darn good one. Now it's just milk, greek yogurt, oats and fruits.

 *    *   *   *

My second day of Bali was spent rafting.
It all started at 7:40am when our driver hired by Sobek came to pick us up. Sobek Adventure was the company that did our rafting 2 years ago, and since we were happy with the service provided, there're the ones we raft with again! The 2 trainers I had were awesome - both very interactive and very concerned with safety and best of all, Sobek does provide you with a rather clean shower area and a nice buffet after your raft experience. All in all, I find them very professional and reliable.

Teddy and Brendan got convinced by JS to join and at first they were skeptical - they wanted to do para-gliding but I'm glad they were happy with their choice to join us! We booked Sobek 1.5 weeks in advance. Para-gliding apparently did not happen for the other group as the weather wasn't ideal for the activity.
We challenged Talaga Waja River this time, the better of the two rivers in Bali.

My groupie before we start the rafting experience!

Ted - Me - Brendan - JS

Choonbin, our trainer had quite a ball of a time with the boys. We were cracking all sorts of jokes and chatting while he was trying to steer us in the right direction. Since water is really rapid in this river (as compared to Ayung river which was calm and easy to paddle), we did not have to do much paddling. Most of the job done by poor Choonbin :p


We stopped by the river for a break while the boys bought drinks. Teddy was being a very naughty boy and chose to drink what made him have a huge hangover this morning - Bintang Beer! He bought one for Choobin, while this is the only 'driving' you can drink I guess?

Or we may trust that Balinese hold better liquor than Singapore Teddy.

The highlight of this rafting journey was the dip or the 5meters fall! Choonbin made sure we all compiled to the safety positions that we should adhere before steering us for the dip! He told us that this 'man-made' waterfall was used predominantly for irrigation. Have a good laugh, especially at the front row seaters. The boys had super funny expressions!!!

BAM!!! you could see my helmet was too big for me but no one told me when we did fitting lor!!! Damnit, I was acting all angsty when I saw the pictures and the boys kept laughing. I was like "WHERE ARE ME EYES!!???"

We went under the fall to take pictures, and it was really fun! Except that with so much rocks, it was really hard for me to walk to the base.

Hehe :) <3 <3

The view that we faced when we were having lunch, the pretty rice padi fields!


Glorious food!!! There's indonesian fish satay, mee goreng, curry chicken, chili fish and etc for buffet. Nasi padang rocks!

We joined the gang later for dinner later so we took another nice shower. Went up to the rooftop pool to have a look before joining the guys in the taxi.

We took a 40 minutes taxi ride to Rock Bar, but was refused entry because we were unsure of the dress code (they refuse singlet, graphic tees with alcohol logos and berms - dont ask me why).Went straight to our dinner place instead.
Jimbaran Bay is renown for its BBQ seafood in Bali and having seafood on the beach itself is pretty cool! It's our second time here for me and JS so we called the shots when it comes to the menu. We dined at Menaga Cafe here.

Heh, love my boyfriend, so does Alice below.


Having vintage bottled soft drinks!!!

We had the popular spicy corns, a good appetiser since the food does take 20 minutes thereabout. They are BBQ-ed on the spot by the vendors who placed booths near the seaside.

We ordered 4 sets of each seen below!

Lobsters (one per pax) and Kangkong

Clams, sotong skewers and fish (one pc each pax). Favorites are clams cos they are marinated with delicious barbecue sauce.

and extra ala carte King Prawns!!! This is DAMN GOOD! :)

The only setback is this place is really crowded so it gets a little smoky, and with the influx of orders, the waiters are a little blurrrr. So have a copy of the menu and tell them what you're missing. We had to nag them for some missing dishes (cos we had like 4 sets!) but all in all, we love the food there!!! :) Will return for more if I come back to Bali :-)

Bali rocksss!!

Food Only.

Decided to post some piccas before I head to sleep, just finished unpacking my work clothes.

My pile of clothes = mess, so I doubt I will be buying any clothes from now on... I badly need tops!!!! I realised I only buy bottoms and wonder how I'm gonna survive my work week. What do people wear to work, really!? I find difficulty in reconnecting with my work clothes from almost 2 years ago, so I guess a new pile has to come in soon..... AFTER I unpack.

So let's backtrack...

Went to Switch with my Uni' mates before I scoot off to Bali last Friday;

I have never been there before, and JS described it as a "aircon Timbre" so I guess it's not al-fresco? Turned out that it's a really big space that had a stage in a corner - and I think it's pretty cool! It has that aged feeling like all Timbres do.

I think what made Switch special is they perform both Mandarin and English songs, so it's much preferred by expired Chinese Ah-Beng like JS (okay, that's what Teddy said, if you're reading). I do like the fact that they are local performing artists and the female lead sings A-mei & Ding-Dang songs really well.

BAHAHAHA. Yap, potato naaaaaa.
If they could sing that, I'll buy them a beer. It's the trendiest song now, no more father-mother-gentleman.
I've linked the video HERE so you can watch it, in case you don't already know - I'm trying to learn the lyrics to amaze JS because I'm a cartoon jukebox :p

We had quite a few rounds of pizza among the 5 of us, and this is the second - a half half pizza - consisting of the Seafood pizza and the all-time-favorite duck pizza.

Fries + Buffalo Wings
Damn, nasty food but miraculously they are happy food!


Pam's boyfriend then joined us later, but here's a complete picture of us. We're quite a big group usually, but some of my friends had work commitments. Well, a smaller group makes it all easy to catch up and update each other with progressions and what-nots.


*  *  *  *

I spent yesterday evening with my gossipgirls! ;) I knew them since 3 years from the forum, cozycot and we've been hanging out ever since! I think we knew each other from the clothing review thread, and made friends from there. That's how I knew Joyce & Yina too from 4 years ago.

TCC is having one-for-one specials for mains and pastas for their members and it's a good time to try their new menu additions! I haven't been to TCC for a year long, so everything looked pretty new to me.

I was late so when I arrived, I was hungry and the girls were eating so we ordered another 2 main courses to feed me + share. LOL.
I TRY not to be late the next time!!!!

Snapshots of us;
They are not very well-taken but that marks another fulfilling meet-up together!!

I was holding the G12 so that we can do selfies so I looked kinda funny. Haha, Yina had to push my head down so that she could fit in. Awesome selfies 'cos we look superbly happy.

*  *  *  *

My OOTD!
'
If you have followed me on instagram, you know that I've gotten a beautiful Daniel Wellington timepiece from JustTangy. I won't go into too much detail now and will review once I wear it out for 5 days. It's a very classic piece, but I want to test its wearability and versatility with outfits before I make a conclusive review.
Professional, eh? So I tagged it on #5dayswatchchallenge on Instagram so that the pictures could be grouped, and also I've got friends saying that I seem to switch watches too frequently.

For tea-time, I met my mom after her annual body checkup for a session of Tim Ho Wan. I've been to the MongKok branch in Hong Kong, which was the first and original outlet they had in HKG. Check out the first and second time reviews! They are all linked for your convenience.
 
I know that the Mongkok branch have since been abolished and now they have moved to Central (I've heard?) but I've never visited Tim Ho Wan ever since because my work trips last year to HKG was rather short. That didn't allow me to queue up in lines during peak timings.

'Nuff of the HKG talking, and now to SG branch.

ETA: 4:10PM, Friday (non peak)
Queue time: 15 minutes
Outlet: Plaza Singapura (one and only outlet for now)

We were given a menu while waiting and there were chairs so it was comfortable, just that there were glares of "Got so nice meh??!" and "Singaporeans really know how to queue" or "So much time".... I'm sensitive to eyes that judge.

To be honest my wait wasn't so long that I am grouchy but I heard that queues can go up to 3 hours, and that's normal I think. Mongkok queues are like 2 hours and we have to take a queue number, go gai-gai then come back to see if we are still in line.

The fabulous and renown baked Char Siew Bao which THW prides themselves to have as the signature dish!

Served hot, I think it meets the standards of the ones I had in HKG (only HKG's slightly crispier), so it's worth the go! :)
I need to stop comparing......... :\

Ma La Gao (Steam Cake), also the one of the "5 heavenly dishes"of THW.

Asked Mom how she felt tasting THW's version for the first time and she said it was mediocre. I thought the same... perhaps it was not as moist as the ones served in Mongkok.

OK I know I'm slightly biased but for $5.00 each dish I can be. I want to be as honest as I can be!

Cheong Fun with Shrimps (Rice rolls)

I find that they are pretty generous with the portion of prawns so that's a plus and commendable, but it taste no different from the ones served in most dim-sum restaurants.

The good stuff is in this!! Glutinous Rice Dumpling.
Rice is fragrant, and the braised meat is well-seasoned and cooked. I like this dish the best.


I didn't have a try at the Siew Mai and Har Gow  (pork and prawn dumplings) because the Mala Gao kinda disappointed me (I'm a fan of the steam cake if you know me - I can finish 2 of those if it's really good). I will perhaps return when the queue dies down a little....

Finished off with the Osmanthus cakes which tasted refreshing as a after-meal choice! No more porky aftertaste with this dessert!


Worth the queue of 3 hours? Maybe... if you haven't had THW before, it's worth the queue. For those who had it, well, you know what I'll say :-)

Met JS after his work to have dinner. I saw a queue outside Sushi Express and have always seen it that way, so I decided to have a go at it!

Asked JS why there's always a queue, and he said it's for the cheap sushi! Apparently, each sushi plate costs $1.50++ that puts Sakae to shame.

The downside is for good and cheap deals, you have to queue. I reckon we spend half our lives waiting in queues.
It was 8pm and we waited around 20 minutes for our seats.

Most of your sushi will come from the conveyor belt and you could order if you want a particular dish. The menu is situated outside the store display panels while you are waiting, I don't seem to see a menu in store.


The concept is pretty cool.
Wasabi, Ginger, Green Tea FOC. If I'm not mistaken, even your wet tissue is complimentary.

If you don't see your wasabi packs on the table, it's likely to be on the conveyor belt.

The mini sushi-don with corn, seaweed and salmon slices.
It looks big here when pictured, but you can finish within 2-3 mouthfuls. It's $1.50 worth! :)

The normal sushis go:

Ever since I had a very-good wakame tapas in Madrid, I've sworn my life to Wakame!!! Seaweed is the dope. I had times 2 of these.

Tak-Glam ( Not Glam)

The Scallops are pretty good too, not the tiny ones you see! Fresh and cheap.

The grilled salmon is the bomb! The sous chef saw me grinning intently at his platter of grilled salmon while (I think) the head chef wants to keep it for another counter. The sous kindly told the head that I wanted some, so they prepared 10 plates of it to be on the conveyer belt and I got passed 2!!! :-)

Good service, will definitely return!

JS gave me an allowance of 15 plates and we did eat that many :-D

Will return for good and reasonably priced sushi! They are really much fresher than other 1.99 sushi stores and if you could live eating from the conveyor, you should go for this!! :)

Last but not least, for entertainment's sake...

my watch is skinnier than yours!!!! It's half a green tea bag..
I think the width kinda amused JS for the face of the watch is relatively big.
When I communicated with Sarah, the owner of JustTangy regarding the watch, I think either of us mentioned that our neighbors could now have a good peek at the time :p Shout out to Sarah, thanks for bringing DW to Singapore when I couldn't get my hands on Reebonz! :-)

Will continue my Bali bloggin' tomorrow... I think JS' waiting for the entry, he doesn't usually read my entries daily unless there're holiday updates :((((