Nutrition
Singapore is a food haven. Affordable, yummy food can be easily found and now with several food delivery services, it's a huge challenge to maintain a healthy weight for some of us.
Health isn't just about weight though. It may be an indicator of health, when measured relative to a person's height to form the Body Mass Index, but we also need to consider other factors like percentage body fat, blood sugar level, cholesterol etc.
So don't be too obsessed with weight; focus on nutrition levels in your food and how your entire diet comes together to nourish your body.
Diet fads
Keto-diet, Atkins diet, intermittent fasting, eating according to your blood type... diet fads have come and gone in waves. Each one has its claims of being evidence-based. Supporters of each diet plan will vouch for its effectiveness.
But each kind of diet will either limit what you can eat or the times that you can eat, making it somewhat inconvenient and difficult to sustain over a long period. Unless you have all your meals alone and have easy access to all the necessary ingredients in your diet plan.
Healthy eating should be convenient, tasty and sustainable, otherwise it would simply be a phase and not helping with your overall health goals.
Striking a balance
It is awfully hard to sustain eating only healthy foods. Allow yourself to indulge once in a while (ok that can be easily used as an excuse, oh I only eat junk food once in a while) or perhaps keep a food diary to track how often you are giving in to indulgences.
Similar to the idea of a wellness account, think about balancing your "nutrition account" so that you eat healthy foods (deposits to your account) more often and unhealthy foods (withdrawals from your account) less often.
Mindful eating
Be aware of what you are buying, make conscious choices on what to eat. Ask yourself, how is this going to nourish my body?
When you eat, do so mindfully:
- appreciate how the ingredients were grown by farmers, harvested and transported to the shops
- think of how the food was prepared before being served to you
- notice the colours, smells, textures and taste of the food as you eat, even the sound as you chew on various ingredients in your dish
- notice the sensation of food travelling down your food pipe, visualise how your body is processing the food and absorbing the nutrients
Eating this way will slow you down, allowing you to fully experience the tastes and increase satisfaction without having to eat a large portion of the food.
Useful links
Common nutrition myths and facts everyone should know.
Here are some tools that can help you find out the nutrition information of common food items.
Articles and recipes for healthy eating.
Wellness Retreat
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