Sausage + Egg Bunny & Friend with Colourful Mixed Dhal
The how-tos' are pretty straight forward- with the eyes and mouths are from the dhals itself :)
The "friend's" eyes are from seaweed strips.The ears are made of sausages poked into the hard-boiled eggs with toothpicks!
Colourful Summer Salad
Purple Cabbage(in shreds) + Yellow Zucchini(sliced)+ Salad Leaves + Baby Tomatoes-Drizzled with Sesame Oil + Lemon Juice + Chia Seeds !
Mr Broccoli's Trip to Baby Tomato Field
Something fun for the weekend :) Broccoli for the hair(stick the cooked broccoli stalks into the rice ball) + Calrose/sushi rice for the head + Dhal for the eyes & lips(used mixed dhal) + Baby tomatoes
Everything Teddy Lunch Box
Try this!Fun way to have in your lunch box-great for kids too:)Just slice a carrot into thick strips like I did,cut cubes of fresh tofu or you can fry them if you don't like them fresh & make an omelette,then roll it then slice it.You can stick toothpicks or food picks,like what I used, into the tofu cubes.I got mine at Daiso-they're super cute!For the teddy bear in the bowl,it's just bean curd skin(boiled for about 2 minutes) layed over calrose/sushi rice.The decorations are from seaweed and button mushrooms,cut into the shapes I did in-or you could try something totally new & be all creative about it!Have fun trying & Happy Labour Day Lovely People!
Carrot Noodles + Plum Salad
Something a lil' different from the norm!Try this salad :)It's nice to have it in this heat,on a sunny afternoon or something like that!Has some cooling effect to it too.What I do is I used a peeler to make strings of carrot noodles.You can control the size of the noodles if you've got great control of your hands!I like mine not too thin nor too thick.If you like your carrots soft then you can soak the carrot noodles in hot water for amin-then drain them.But if you're like me & you like things crunchy then you don't have to do so :)Next slice a plum.Squeeze a half of lemon into a bowl of those carrot noodles & plum slices,mix them & you're done!I didn't mix mine yet because I wanted it to look pretty in the picture ;P
Honey-Roasted Ramen
Was craving for something sweet so I fixed something simple-honey-roasted ramen :)Was inspired after watching a show!It's super easy-just glaze a thin or thick layer,(depending on your preference) of honey on the noodle then roast it wala!I Got a lil' creative & decorated mine with carrot strips,bananas & coral salads.Had coffee granules for the eyes :D You can try decorating with almost anything to add more fun value to your food!
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| Goodnight Mr Ramen featuring coral salad blanket :) |
Vegan Smoothie-Coffee + Black Soy Bean
Here's a great way to start your day!Instead of the heavily caffeinated plain coffee, I opted for a coffee smoothie added with black soy bean drink:)If you're a coffee addict .like me :P you'd still want the coffee taste to it.But to keep it healthy,I added black soy drink-this adds up a "nutty" flavour to this super yummy yum yum smoothie-so you won't really realise how there's less caffeine in it -cool right?!Anyway,this' how I made mine:
-Pour 250ml of black soy bean drink(I got mine from Yeos)-into a blender
-Add half a cup of ice cubes
-Add a teaspoon of Nescafe
Then BLEND BLEND BLEND!It's super simple!The measurements can vary depending on your taste-if you're not ready to part ways with your daily dose of caffeine just yet,you could always add a lil' more than a teaspoon of Nescafe,into your smoothie :)
Simple + Yummy Extra Fat Burning Food=Leptin Sensitizing Food
I've made a discovery!Well it wasn't me that discovered it or anything scientific like that.But yesterday,while I was going through the net I came across an ad on weight loss.Normally I'd just ignore these ads,but I just didn't for this one-was surprised myself!The ad was talking about the hormone leptin.What surprised me more was the fact that the word 'leptin' felt too foreign to me,despite me being a soon-to-be 3rd year medical student.But I'd like to tell myself we've yet to learn that part of science yet(delusional :P).Ok so the ad was a long clip on leptin & how it affects our body's metabolism & all.The clip was truly inspiring!Though I tried hard not to get to carried away with the ad & told myself that all these are just too good to be true-then I ended it halfway because it got too long & started to promote some book :p But the facts on leptin & all the good thing it does to the body was too logically good to ignore!So right now,after having my brisk walk at the park-I make 'morning walk' sound sooo natural ;P yet this' the first time I've exercised after coming back for the holidays bwahax,I decided to google more on leptin & thought I should share some infos with you guys.
First of,I've got my own definition of weight loss-infact the term 'weight loss' is OUT.I'd prefer to call it 'lose the extra weight' plus besides that,instead of 'lose body fat'-I 'd say 'lose extra body fat' ;)You've got to be specific-because the main aim is to lose the 'extras' off the body.And leptin can help to do just that!So what really is a leptin?I was curious myself so I googled (hee)about it!
Leptin is a hormone found in our body.It's a hormone produced by the fat cells in our body-amongst one of the good things fat cells do!Since hormones main function is to regulate bodily functions - leptin's main function is to send signals to the brain.By doing that,it tells the brain that you are full & should stop eating-sounds good already!Besides that,it also signals the brain to turn on the body's metabolism.So you know what this means right?!More 'extras' burnt!Women are said to have higher levels of leptin in the body than man.Despite of that,we are less sensitive to leptin than men boohoo-explains the higher rate of metabolism men have!Not fair!These facts are something right?It just blew my mind away!So it got me to relax a little because now I know my not having a not so high metabolism is just genetics' cruel trick on me :pWell we can't blame everything only on genetics,as our lifestyle is also to blame.
But there's a downside to this!When levels of leptin in the body get too high,it'll lead to leptin resistance.In other words,your brain will become less sensitive to the the hormone's "existence" -hence won't get as much "I'm full" or "turn on my metabolism" signals from the leptin-even though there is an excess of leptin in the body,leading to increased food cravings & appetite & decreased metabolic functions haisshh.
So now that we've known the basics,our MAIN aim should now be to eat food that increases the brain's sensitivity to leptin. & try to avoid food that does the opposite :D There're some claims that by eating food that are high in leptin can help increase leptin levels & decrease leptin resistance.But this is not true because when taken orally,leptin cannot be processed through the intestine ,so it cannot reach the bloodstream & hence,to the brain.Instead,there are foods that can increase leptin sensitivity.Amongst them are;
-Food containing omega-3-fatty acids(salmon,mackerel,chia seeds,grass fed meat etc.)
-Leafy greens,especially spinach,kale,broccoli
-Fibers-rich food -oats,lentils,raspberries,peas etc.
-Food high in zinc-spinach,seafood,nuts,cocoa,mushroom
-Good carbs-brown rice,whole wheat pasta
Foods that promote leptin resistance & should be avoided!:
-Processed food
-Simple carbs-white rice,white bread
-Sweeteners & snacks
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| Credits to wellnessmama.com |
A good thing to know is that when you have a highly restricted diet with very minimal food intake,it sends your body "I'm starving" signals then your body will start to shut down & your hormones get all hay wired,causing you to crave for more food -gets you thinking there's really no point in dieting the hardcore way.So instead of the hardcore dieting,might as well try out a smarter approach in this.By filling ourselves with good yet yummy yum yum,leptin sensitizing foods :DNow I kind of have a new intake on my eating habits.Don't really like using the word diet-pressures me :P I'm gonna start respecting my body more by taking more good food,besides the occasional not so good ones wee.Gotta start little by litte or not I'll just lose my drive to continue,because it'll be too much to handle too soon.Hopefully I'll stick to this new lifestyle!Hopefully you'll jump in the 'leptin sensitizing food load up' bandwagon too!Thanks for reading!See ya :)
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Love My Salad-Bean Sprouts + Fried Anchovies + Tofu
Felt like experimenting this morning with my food:)Came up with this.The basics include bean sprouts which I just bought this morning after making four rounds at the park :)I'm proud of myself!I love fresh bean sprouts,big juicy ones so just make sure when you want to cook or eat bean sprouts raw,buy them on the day you want to cook them .Don't keep them in the fridge too long.I suddenly thought of bean sprouts because I thought of the day my Biochemistry lecturer talked about how he ate them raw with chopped onions only.But I did the opposite today,I stir fried the whole thing because I was too lazy to peel the onions to eat them raw haha.I stir fried them with oyster sauce which is a must-have in any asian kitchen!Whenever I do add in oyster sauce I'd try not to add in any more flavourings or salt because oyster sauce has all that already so I get to cut down on salt:)It's a very simple salad you can try if you're in a hurry or something.Next time I'm planning to just eat them raw,the tofu too(love my tofu raw!)-mix them and then sprinkle fried anchovies on top.That'll be something!
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