REFLECTIONS...

One thing I realized about my diet is that eating whatever I feel like at that point of time is horrible for my health. If I kept eating at that rate, I can almost see my heart attack coming! I usually tend to eat whatever that I find in the kitchen or wherever, though if it's not that healthy I would try to eat less of it. However, I didn't really have a choice on Day 3, I guess rushing around isn't good at all. I also thought that I had a sufficient calcium intake, but I actually don't and thus I switched from drinking Milo to milk in the mornings before school, and I can switch to eating cheese sandwiches, which contain less fats and more calcium then peanut butter and nutella.

That is why I feel that the Food Intake Assessment is useful, because it shows me what I need to cut down on and what I need to eat more (eg. calcium, less sodium) in terms of my general diet. Also, it reminded me that I need to balance my meals better, by eating more vegetables and less meats. The Food Pyramid is also useful because it shows me what I need to eat in moderation, etc and I can compare my diet to it. The Energy and Nutrient Composition tool was very helpful especially in planning my one dish meal, and I will never think of claypot rice the same way for a long time...

I guess my diet isn't very healthy, because it isn't very balanced and I tend to eat whatever I feel like if I can find it, although I'll stop myself from eating too much. I don't eat enough vegetables and I eat too much meat, and sometimes too much sugar or sweet things, especially when I'm out because it's very easy to just buy a snack. This is one habit that I should break, for the sake of my health and my wallet!
However, I think that the food that I eat at home is usually quite healthy. My grandma mixes white and brown rice, which is more healthy and with more dietary fibre and vitamins. She also cooks soup most days, usually clear vegetarian soups or chicken/pork rib soups. My grandma also doesn't let us take too much of one dish, so that we will get a more balanced diet. After each meal most of the time we have fruits, such as apples, oranges, grapes, etc. I think eating fruits before each meal would be healthier, because by the end of the meal we are fuller and would eat less fruits, but this idea may not be very practical.

Claypot rice makes a good one dish meal because it is very well balanced, consisting of meat (protein), rice (carbohydrates) and veggies (dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals), especially if you cut down on the oil, fats and sodium. Another thing I like about this dish is that you can add in almost any ingredients, such as vegetables, other meats, etc.