Eating is the one thing that I really look forward to, especially after a hard workout. People often tell me that I can eat whatever I want because I work out quite a bit. Well, I don’t restrict my food (I eat more chocolate and chips than I should), but I do try to cultivate some healthy eating habits.
You heard of the 80/20 rule? It’s a lifestyle habit that helps to sustain weight loss. It’s something that I follow – where you eat healthy 80% of the time and the remaining 20% you can enjoy what you like, so you don’t have to pack home–cooked meals to your family gatherings or friends’ parties. The best part? You can still have your favourite cakes and sweets on those occasions!
So, let me share with you the 5 simple rules that I follow when it comes to my diet. Hope you have fun reading it!
1) Eat real food
When you are always on the go, it’s very convenient to just reach for a burger from a fast food chain, a packet of biscuits or a bar of chocolate. Actually, you might be eating more processed food than you think.
Processed food means that it has been altered from its natural state through freezing, canning, baking, drying or pasteurising for example. Not all processed foods are unhealthy – like milk needs to be pasteurised for safety – but anything that is processed may contain added salt, sugar and fat.
For me, I try to cut down on processed food, as well as food that are high in saturated fats. In general, I avoid fried and oily food as much as I can. Ideally, I should be preparing my own meals but when there isn’t time to do so, I opt for consuming real food.
2) Drink lots of water
I used to think that drinking too much water would cause fluid retention – hence, I wasn’t drinking any water at all during the peak of my body image struggle. But, the truth is – the lack of sufficient water can actually lead to health issues.
Nowadays, in order to keep up with my fitness regime, I drink an average of 2.5 to 3 litres of water a day. This is on top of any other type of beverages (such as isotonic drinks or milk) that I drink throughout the day.
There are many benefits to drinking water. For instance, it gives you better skin, gets rid of the toxins in your body, relieves fatigue, reduces hunger, aids digestion and boosts immunity.
Let me highlight this again – water is very good for you and your body will thank you for that! So let’s make it a goal to drink at least an average of 2 litres a day?
3) Don’t skip meals
One of the biggest mistakes is to skip meals. I understand, sometimes we get stuck in between meetings and it’s hard to eat at regular times, but you can try to bring along some small snack like nuts or fruits so you can munch during work. It’s bad to leave your stomach empty for a long time, as it will lead to a long list of different health problems like gastric pain.
A lot of people think that the less calories they eat, the more weight they will lose. However, that doesn’t mean starving yourself and eating only 700 calories a day. When you skip meals too often, your body might shift into starvation mode and start storing more food than you actually need. Your metabolism slows down and that actually retards whatever diet plans you have.
Also, our blood sugar levels (sugar that is from the breakdown of carbs) drop when you skip a meal and that affects your organs.
My advice is to just eat regularly, keep the body working and please eat enough. When you eat enough of the right food and maintain a fitness regime, your body will adjust itself accordingly.
4) Make healthier choices outside
It is ok to eat out, but try your best to opt for non-fried and less oily food choices. For example, when you order chicken rice at the hawker centre, you can ask to swop to white rice and remove the skin from the chicken. I also ask to separate the gravy or sauce from my food if there are any.
5) Watch the drinks
You might be drinking more calories than you think. Soft drinks, lattes and packaged fruit juices are loaded with a lot of sugar (and hence a lot of calories), which can lead to undesired weight gain. This is made worse if you are not drinking enough water as well. What I do when I feel like having something else besides water, is to make my own fruit juice, add fruit slices to my water or prepare herbal tea. I even make my own isotonic drinks by buying the powder form so I can control the amount that goes into my drink.
Now here’s the fun part! Join me in taking part in the challenge below.
CHALLENGE:
It’s easy and fun to make your own smoothie! A favourite recipe of mine (taught by Kelly Latimer) includes banana, mixed berries, yoghurt, milk and chia seeds – just put them all into a blender and you get a yummy drink. In conjunction with #TheOasiaChallenge, I’m challenging you to share your favourite smoothie recipe, and you may just be the lucky one to win a 3D2N stay at any Oasia hotel! Also, just for my beloved readers out there, the most creative entry will walk away with a special prize, so remember to tag me @cheryltaysg in your post! T&Cs apply.
Psst, there are more challenges this December that you can participate in – check out Oasia’s Facebook or Instagram (@StayOasia) for more.
So there you go, a fun challenge for you to participate in, and some tips for your journey to healthy eating!
For more information, visit Oasia’s website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
*This is a sponsored post.
