Nutrition Month: Are you eating healthy?

Halo everyone! This is a lengthy post. Thank you for reading and enjoy scrolling. ^ ^ 

As a future nutritionist, I would like to share the great news that March is a nutrition month whereby the purpose of this program is to spread the news about promoting healthy lifestyle. Yeah. How do you think about your life. Are you healthy? 

I bet most of you have been at least  once in your life, think that "I am FAT!" Ok, I do. Don't worry, you are not alone, I am here with you. I know most of you must be feeling like punching at me, right into the face... Ok. I got it. I am not fat in whole but I have some extra fats at places where they aren't supposed to be, which is my butt. :( This is a common problem facing by fellow ladies. Yes. I have a fatty cute butt. I am not complaining about it, but I do exercise to make sure it's in good shape and not over-sized. I think the reason to explain about my fatty butt is because I sit most of my time. We as a human, shouldn't sit most of our time. We are not supposed to be in this sitting posture in front of our laptop, this is not we are meant to be. We are meant to be spending our time finding our own food such as farming at the old days. Yes. Stand up right now, move around, no longer facing your laptop. Let's move! 

Since I am staying near to campus, I walk to campus everyday, not taking bus, which I make it a habit. I had calculated that I at least walk  around 5000 steps back and forth, which is a pretty good way of increasing physical activity. I understand that many people living in the city, go to work by car, sit in the office, go back home by car and spend time watching TV after work. Wake up, you need to MOVE! 

"I like to Move it, move it, move it. Airs in the air...." Hahaz. Hope this motivates you a little bit. 

I don't like going to gym, so I do this at home for only 10 minutes. 

Simple and easy way to stretch and exercise a bit. 

Let's forget about our weight for a second, can we just think about our diet. Do you think you are eating healthy? Let's try to recall what we have yesterday... Take your time and think about it.

I pan fired two frozen Roti Canai and had a cup of warm water for breakfast. 

I cooked myself a bowl of rice vermicelli, with a cup of fresh spinach, 1 oz of lean pork meat, 1 large egg and 1/4 cup of baby carrots. I added 1 tsp of soy sauce for taste. I also pan fried 4 frozen seafood dumplings. During tea-time, I had a piece of 100% whole wheat bread with 1 tbsp of hazelnut spread. I had 1 cup of 100% orange juice. I had home-cooked dinner too. I had  a bowl of white rice. 1 cup of stir-fried water spinach (kangkung) with some little anchovies, 1 bowl of winter melon soup with 2 small pork ribs, and 2 oz. soft tofu with Mapo Sauce. 

I know this is a really long list and it's difficult to recall every single details of what you had. So if you are concern about your food, I suggest to make a food diary and jot down food you had at each meal. Or just simply take a photo with your smartphone. Then, I encourage you to try this out https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/foodtracker.aspx. It's a food tracker where you can easily track calories you had taken and know whether you are meeting the recommendation level of each food category. The super tracker is very user-friendly and provides great report and most importantly it's free!!

Based on my 24 hour dietary recall, which I think you might have some similarities, check out some of my comments and recommendations. 

Pros:

1. Great to have home- cooked food where you can control the amount of salt and oil added. 

2. Canola oil is a good source of omega 3 which is good for our brain. 

3. Meeting the requirement of at least 3-4 servings of vegetable per day. 

4. Tofu is a good source of non- heme iron and protein, especially for vegan. 

5. Moderation of food portion. 

6. 100% Whole Wheat Bread is a great source of fiber which lowers cholesterol. 

Things to be Improved: 

1. Increase fruit serving by having real fruit instead of juices, boxed juice contains extra sugar content. 

2. Consume dairy such as soy milk/ milk that provide lots of calcium and vitamin D to support our bone. 

3. Consume brown rice instead of white rice which contains more fiber to lower cholesterol. 

4. Consume fish at least twice a week, fish has good fat.
5. Say no to processed food.

Lastly, I like this slogan: "BMV" !

Practise Balance in your daily food selection,

eat in Moderation and always choose a Variety of foods from each food groups! 

Do visit: http://nutritionmonthmalaysia.org.my/ for further great tips on diet.

Hope everyone stay healthy ! As the saying goes "Badan Sihat, Otak Cergas". 

Tataz.