dedicated to littlegeo

This was written on 14 September 2005 and I'm republishing it in this blog now. Read the original entry with comments here.

(17 April 2009: Reading this entry again after so many years, I am quite impressed by how much I know about nutrition, and disgusted by myself that I don't practise what I preach. Heh)

[14 Sep, 3:50:15 PM]
MonkeyCrab: why do u keep a food diary?

[14 Sep, 3:53:22 PM]
Littlegeo: oh... coz my frens think i eat junk, hence i'm so prone 2constipation, stomach flu, gastrics etc. so they wan 2monitor wad i eat.

[14 Sep, 3:58:37 PM]
MonkeyCrab: hmm attended a nutrition class, n also heard fr a fren on her weight mgmt class-&-experience. mebbe i shld post 1 entry specially dedicated 2 u

[14 Sep, 4:00:02 PM]Littlegeo: wow!!! my ou xiang gonna dedicate a blog entry to me!!! *in awe* YAAAAY YAAAAY YAAAY!!!!

OK now that I've committed myself, and have made littlegeo sooooo happy, I cannot disappoint him. But must 长话短说, otherwise gotta pay me consultancy fee ah!!!

Shall start with the 'Lunch-Plate Theory'.

- 50% of your plate should be proteins (BUT of cos not FRIED CHICKEN WING la!!! Try steamed fish la, steamed chicken la, yaya I know it's boring. Whoeva said eating healthy is "So D*mn Bloody interesting" is lying)

- 25% fibre (your veges + fruits)

- 12.5% carbohydrates (rice / noodles / bread / potatoes etc)

- remaining 12.5% vitamins and minerals and fats

Now on to the '3-regular-meals Regime':

Breakfast: Best to take between 7am to 9am. This is when body is at the optimum absorption rate. Approx. 70% of nutrients get absorbed.

Lunch: Best to take between 12noon to 1pm. Only approx. 15% of nutrients get absorbed. So eat too much also no use. Especially people (like YOU, yes, LITTLEGEO!!!) who sit in the office and not much energy is required except to bitch about others or to activate your fingers to type out your Blog entries, you really don't need that much food for lunch.

Dinner: Best to take between 6pm to 8pm. Only approx. 15% of nutrients get absorbed. Avoid supper or snacks after 8pm. Cos your liver needs to detox when you're sleeping and it can only start work when all the organs are shut down for the night. If you sleep with a full stomach, either you suffer from indigestion or your stomach doesn't get to rest and hence your liver doesn't get to detox. Pimples then appear! And in unexpected places!

Lastly, miscellaneous tips:

If you wanna control yourself from eating too much unnecessary rubbish, try taking lotsa fibre (can be fibre supplements or just take a huge serving of fruits) half an hour before each meal. This will fill up your stomach and prevent you from overeating and snacking in between meals. (Great for gals who wanna slim down, but healthily) However, note: MUST take LOTSA water cos fibre absorbs excess water in your body. If eat lotsa fibre but not enough water, you'll still get constipation.

One misconception alot people have is that "fruits are meant to be eaten after meals" - WRONG. Eat your fruits after a meal, and you'll find yourself very bloated, right? WORSE, whateva vitamins are in those fruits, are not taken in by your body (so waste your time eating them right?). Hence, you make yourself go through all the bloatedness and indigestion FOR NOTHING.

And Littlegeo> you take Vitamin C pills hor....body cannot absorb huge quantities of Vit C so even if you pop 2 pills of 1000mg at one go, it will just get excreted via urine. Hence, body doesn't get enough. So it's best to take small quantities of Vit C at different times of day to ensure optimum usage by body.

Aiya...........too much knowledge to impart la. Not possible to write out in one entry all that I learned in 6 days of classes. So for starters, just follow the above 'Lunch-Plate Theory' and the 3-regular-meals regime first la!!! Especially good for those who have Irritable Bowels Syndrome (IBS).