Happy Birthday, Lilian!

I want to specially dedicate this post to my friend, Lilian!

We were not in contact for around 4 years since our poly internship, and this girl just randomly came to chat with me on Facebook recently, and little did I know that we clicked really well! I am so thankful that she initiated the Facebook chat. 🙂

It is amazing what a short period of internship can leave you with in life, in this case, a best friend. I always think that both of us are destined to meet, because although I mentioned that we met during internship, we were not from the same course. She studied Biotechnology while I was an Optometry Student. Our paths should not cross at all because 99% of the optometry students had their internships either in an optical shop or an eye clinic, but I was lucky that my supervisor decided to place me in NUS DSO (Defence Science Organisation), where I met her coincidentally.

This friend of mine is more health-conscious than me (haha yes, it is hard to believe). While I ALWAYS choose chocolaty, milky flavours for ice creams, she will choose flavours that taste like an essential oil, for instance Lavender haha. She will boil chinese tonics for herself and she jogs 10km for few times a week! When someone offers her a donut, she only eats 1/4 of it, whilst for me I will probably gobble down everything haha.

One thing that I really admire her for is despite her schedule being packed with appointments, she never fails to meet me at least once a month. She will even take leave just so that she can meet me. It is when I step into working life that I realised how this seemingly easy thing to do can be so difficult to accomplish for some, with the shifting of priorities and hectic work schedules.

One more reason that made me love going out with Lilian is not having to worry about being judged for opting healthier choice, because she is in tune with me and would do the same too!

To celebrate her 25th birthday this year, I brought her to this vegan restaurant called Real Food, which caters to the health-conscious, as they only use organic produce in their vegan dishes.

 

I very much prefer the Killiney branch to the one at Clark Quay, as it is very spacious and the ambience is cozy, definitely an apt choice for friends gathering. The dimmed lightings, which made the whole place extra comforting and romantic, makes it a perfect place for dates with your loved one as well. The spacious restaurant is neatly segmented into a grocer, cafe and a bookstore. The food is also reasonably priced, considering the fact that they are using fresh organic produce. There is also no GST and service charge, although the food is served to you by the friendly waiters and waitresses.

We ordered fried brown rice, fried noodles and their best selling dish, dumplings. All three dishes were superb! It was hard to believe these were healthy plates of wholesome goodness. These would definitely make it much easier to convince any carnivores to become occasional vegetarians. I would really want to get my hands on these recipes and try to remake them on my own. 🙂

Happy Lilian with her present from me 🙂

 

Once again, Happy Birthday Lilian!

 

I’m in a dilemma

I don’t wish to bombard people with healthy dishes on Facebook (I’m aware that some people may be annoyed by it) but on the other hand I want to show people that true healthy eating, especially raw foodism in particular, can be interesting and taste good at the same time. It does not limit to just fruits and salads.

I want to re-educate people, wanting them to know that those food that the food companies market and label as healthy and essential (for instance milk, cheese, meat and even yogurt) may not be necessary so. Do you know that majority of the researches conducted on food is funded by food companies? What findings do you think they want the public to know? The propaganda is so aggressive that most people think that processed food diet, the SAD (Standard American Diet), loaded with chemicals, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, additives, artificial plastic fats that are depleted of nutrients is perfectly fine. Consuming fresh fruits and vegetables every meal is being too extreme and aberrant. That’s how distorted our culture has become.

I want to influence (note it’s influence, not coerce) more people because I truly believe this is the way to live, the surest path to health, vitality, longevity and lucidity. I don’t want to keep any of these information to myself because I want everyone around me to live to a ripe old age, and stay as functional as possible, and needless to say you can only achieve that by having a body of good health. Admit it or not, you are really what you eat.

Sorry for the ranting because there is just so much in my mind that I want to voice out and want people to know.

I will just let nature take it’s course and help one starfish at a time for now. I will continue to post pictures of healthy food, in Instagram, hoping to influence people to make even the smallest change to their diet.

Here’s a link to an article regarding food propaganda:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_746.cfm

(Please read with an open mind)

Maybe some of you will question how do I know these articles regarding veganism, raw foodism are not just another propaganda. Well frankly speaking I really don’t. I only know what food makes me feel good and what don’t. I don’t feel at my best after noshing on chips, after a fast food meal, but I feel energized and happy after eating healthy food.

Nothing resonates the truth like personal experience.

“99% of the people are eating incorrectly. The numbers are against you, and it’s very hard for those 99% to look at you in the 1% and say, “yes, he’s right, we are all wrong.””

-T. Colin Campbell, The China Study

Green Smoothies!

My boyfriend told me his family went to Sheng Siong this morning to buy vegetables for smoothies. I’m so happy for them as I know they are making the best choice for their health. These are some of the things that make me truly happy. 

I understand that it is hard for non-veggie lovers to consume large amount of vegetables, especially uncooked ones, in one sitting. That’s where green smoothies come in, because although it looks disgustingly green for some, they are often surprised by the taste of it, depending on the combination of course. I would often encourage people to include green smoothies in their diet as the first step to healthy eating.

Raw vegetables contain lots of living enzymes, which are responsible for repairing or preventing wrinkles, help to even our skin tone and contribute to glowy, youthful skin. Enzymes also help to speed up weight loss and detoxification. They are heat sensitive entities, so ingesting in their raw form is the best way for the body to assimilate the vitamins and minerals, and of course preserve the enzymes.

From my personal experience, I notice my lips are not as dry and chapped, my bowel movements are much better and my eyes look brighter ever since I drink green smoothie (largely of greens). Weight loss is also one of the tangible benefits as well, though I don’t think I want to lose any more weight. I’m very happy with my current weight.

Having said all these, I do wish to state that as much as I want the people around me to be health conscious, I don’t coerce them to follow the way I eat. I believe all of us should make our own choices and the most I can do is to lead by example. 🙂

In case anyone is interested, here is one good guide for beginners to start making their green smoothies:

Note: the fats, boost and protein are entirely optional!

If you are up for challenge, try it for a month as breakfast and see what benefits it can bring!

Cheers! 🙂

“You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.” – Deepak Chopra

Hello!

After having a good laugh reading through my livejournal entries (Warning: my old blog layout is so screwed up which I have no idea why, people with OCD please refrain from clicking!) written during my poly days, I’m very inspired to start blogging my milestones, thoughts, raves and rants, ups and downs of my life again. I have a beautiful personal diary which I’m updating on a daily basis, but sometimes I feel it’s laborious to handwrite a long entry and I cannot insert pictures as well.

I can foresee a preponderance of nutrition, veganism as well as raw veganism information and recipes in my blog as I hope this is also the platform for me to share my knowledge from books and videos  in these areas, however limited, to others. I always love to discuss about nutrition with my loved ones, friends and colleagues because I feel that it is something that everyone should be conscious of. I believe this is also an excellent way for me to continue to grow too. 🙂

I let myself have a little treat today because my Green Smoothie was too bitter for my liking! Lesson learnt: Never ever add grapefruit into smoothies, or counterbalance it with very very sweet fruits. I walked past a durian stall this morning and the smell of the durians was so overwhelming that I could not resist the temptation to get some. That’s my little treat for the day.

Contrary to popular belief, durians will not cause you to have a big spike in your cholesterol level. In fact, this king of fruits has zero cholesterol, but has a good amount of monounsaturated fats that can actually lower your harmful cholesterol levels and moderate your high blood pressure.

On a happy note, I’ve successfully transplanted my baby celery! It had been sitting on a shallow pool of water for 1 week plus, saw some roots growing out so I reckon it’s time for it to get some nutrients from the soil. 🙂