New Year, New Me in 2015

Namaste beautiful readers!

It has been a while I know. Part of my new year's Resolution this year is to post at least 2 write ups a week and it starts this week hahaha.

Ok it is a new year and many people has written down their New Year's Resolutions on paper or pasted pictures on a board ( for those of you who are visual ). I have written mine on my awesome planner which I received last year. Wrote my resolutions early this year. That was waaaaaay before Christmas. Want to know why? Because I want to have an early start. With the holidays and all, I tend to get distracted so having them written down earlier helps me to hit the ground running so to speak.

This year, I have decided, it will be a healthy year for me. Last year I had complications with my health and I lost a lot of weight. Towards the end of last year,  I gained some of what I lost (haha isn't that typical???).... not good because now I can feel my steps are lighter without the pounds that I have regained upon getting my health issues sorted out.

While I didn't make a resolution to lose weight this year, I aim to make that a result of my change in eating habit and lifestyle. What do I mean? Here are PART of my resolution this year ;

1.  Drink more water ( 3 liters )- by water I mean plain water. In the past years I have always drank more sugared water ( be it Teh 'O' Limau suam ) than plain water. Whenever I am out eating, there I go again with my Teh 'O' Limau Suam ;D. So, this year ... Air Suam please.

 2. Eat smaller portion - who said we always have to eat full portion? I take smaller portions now. I find that I am ok with eating smaller portion. A general rule I start to follow is stop eating before I am full. I realised that I don't get that blotty feeling since practising this. I eat my rice twice a day sometimes 3 times a day if I have a glorious Nasi Lemak for breakfast. I just stop eating before I feel full. 

3. Be vegetarian twice a week - Yes you heard me right. I am not a big fan of vegetables when I was growing up but I am beginning to have an acquired taste to vegetables these days. So I make it a point to be vegetarian twice a week to cleanse my body of the acidity from eating meat. 

4. Choose healthier option from menu when eating out - I always have a choice. It is up to me to decide what I put in my mouth. So yes I choose the less fatty meal when I eat out. After all it is the company that I must enjoy fully, right? Right!

5. Practice Yoga 5 times a week - I have started a 30 day yoga programme online. My body is sore right now because I have not hit the mat for a quite some time now. It is a 30-minute practice for 30 days and so far I am loving it (despite my soreness ). The key to enjoying your workout is to love the workout that you are doing I was told. Yoga I love ... gym and running? ... not so. Therefore Yoga it is!

So there you have it, My Health Goal! Not so much of losing weight but to a more healthier me.

I hope you too will make positive changes in your life so that you can feel good about yourself. The key here is to not want to look like those beach bunnies or Victoria's Secret Angels ... no .. no. Never ever do that to yourself. 

Deciding to choose health is the very act of self love. So, Love Yourself!

xoxo

Diane

Think Low Fat or Reduced Fat food Is Better? Think Again!

Hello ladies,

Recently, I have been mindful of what I put in my body .. or stomach to be precise :D. Had a chat with my sister and she told me that processed food that claimed to be low fat or reduced fat are actually more harmful to the body than the original ones. 

That fact horrified me. To be fair, we were never properly been 'food educated'. We have no clue as to how food are processed or what stuff they put in these marvellously, conveniently packed food we find in the grocery food aisle ... right? Right!

Thanks to documentary and food channels or even YouTube, we now know a bit more. Well Jamie Oliver did say in his Food Revolution series that we have to read the labels on the food packaging. If we don't understand what is written on the labels, don't buy.

Anyways, so horrified I was that I had to see it for myself. So I went to my favourite local grocer and shop a little bit more informed then I was before being on the look out for any confirmation to the everything I have heard or seen on TV. 

This is what I found ... Low fat or reduced fat processed food has more ingredients than the original ones. Simply put, the list is longer and less understandable. The more natural the product the less ingredients they have. Not to mention that they are more expensive than the normal or low fat ones.

Here are some pictures ( I enjoyed this part of my so called research )!

Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter 

The label.

The reduced fat option for weight watchers

The label. Longer list no?

So there you have it. The truth is on the labels ladies. There is more to this. I will let the video elaborate on this as I am not the expert. I do suggest that you take some time to watch this video and watch it many times if you have to.

Ok ok ..  I know that's an hour long video so if you prefer an abridged version, here it is. I find this very useful to understand. Glucose? Fructose? I do need to stress here that when he says fructose, he is not referring to the ones naturally found in fruits. When we consume fruits yes we take in fructose but we are also taking in natural fibre and vitamins along with it, so that is totally different than the artificially made fructose or isolated fructose. Just keep that in mind. Don't go cutting off eating bananas or apples and all ya. 

As for my peanut butter .. I decided to buy the natural one. It cost me more but I like the list on the label better and it comforts me to know that I have taken steps to be responsible towards my own body. It is still processed food but to me, at least it is better than the reduced fat one. 

The natural version of Skippy peanut butter spread.

And I love that I can count the ingredients used with one hand :D

The choice is yours. Do your own research and choose. Stay healthy beautiful. Let me know what you find out!

Daily nuggets:

• When I opened my natural peanut butter, there is a layer of oil that covers the butter. I think it acts as a natural preservative just like how salt is sprinkled on top of ground chili paste in Malaysia
• I have been doing yoga for the past 2 weeks and I felt 'lighter' (for lack of better word). I actually felt better and more connected with myself. Perhaps i will talk about this in length in a separate post :D
• I find it sad that people don't send out physical cards anymore. There is something special about receiving something in the mailbox instead of the daily over flooding mails in our inbox.