So… you’re a typical Malaysian college/university student.. or perhaps a working adult with hardly the time to be bothered to think about what you’re eating and the impact it could have. Is finding something suitable to eat a dilemma to you? Ever been on a strict diet but all you can find are stuffy restaurants dishing out greasy food?
I have to admit, that it is NOT EASY to eat ‘clean’ when you don’t really have the time, or just don’t have much choice, or don’t take the extra effort to look for someplace serving something reasonably healthy to eat. Too often, are we forced to have a meal at the typical mixed-rice/mamak restaurant, where we’re pretty much limited to rice, local dishes, and fried stuff… and in todays times of fast food outlets mushrooming at every corner and the mamak food mindset, we’re often faced with the ultimate fitness enthusiasts’ dilemma – HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT ‘CLEAN’?
How often are you determined enough and have the willpower to refrain from ordering the typical Malaysian working person’s lunch, which very often is:
- fried rice, fried noodles, fried anything
*ridiculously oily (high in fat)
- chicken briyani
*oily (potentially high in fat)
- chicken rice
*oily (the rice is greasy, plus I know you’re gonna eat all that chicken skin!)
- wan tan mee
*potentially high carbs, oily (high in fat), insufficient protein
- banana leaf rice (with a mountain of white rice)
*way too many carbs for a single meal, potentially oily (high in fat), insufficient protein if you don’t add any meat dishes
- mixed rice with chicken pieces and vegetables
*though this sounds like a healthy choice, you may not realise that if you’re not careful – there could be high amounts of fat in the vege (from the cooking oil), plus when pieces of chicken are cut into smaller pieces, they have a bigger surface area and can absorb way more oil
- (insert anything else ridiculously oily that you may have eaten recently here)
Next comes the drink… where we’re almost certain to order a sugary drink (canned soft drinks, ice lemon tea, iced milo, tea, etc).
Now, I’m not saying that any of the above is wrong to eat, but it’s just that if you’re on a strict diet or are trying very hard to watch your calories, consuming a combination like the above would easily tip the scale towards the wrong direction. Worse still for the clueless… they won’t even know what they did wrong. I guess its okay to indulge in eating whatever you want every once in awhile, but the truth is, I see people eating the same thing every day at the restaurant where I go to have my lunch.
From Monday to Friday, their meals will consist of some sort of fried meal with a sugary drink. I wonder.. whatever happened to good old rice + a serving of meat and vegetables + a glass of plain water..? Isn’t this what we all grew up eating at home?
I’m not saying that I don’t eat any of the above myself, but its just that I’d probably eat it only when I really feel like doing so (in other words, no willpower.. heh heh). Anyway, even then, rarely would I indulge in it more than once a week. Always remember that the person who cooks your meal at a restaurant can’t care less on the amount of oil or salt used to prepare the food. The cook is only concerned about taste, and oily food often tastes good.
So… if you’ve got no choice but to have lunch/dinner at a restaurant that ‘doesn’t seem’ to have any obvious healthy choices.. what do you settle for then? What can you eat without doing much damage to your diet? Well, stay tuned for my next post on some tips we could all use to save ourselves from consuming some unwanted and hidden calories at our everyday lunch/dinner destination.
Click HERE to read “Eating Clean – Tips for Overcoming The Dilemma“, the continuation of this write up.
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This post was written by...
Noel Chelliah, ACE-CPT, ACE-LWMC, has been recognized as one of the Top Transformation Experts in Malaysia. No stranger to being overweight himself, Noel has gone through a life-changing transformation himself, from fat, to fit. In 2010, Noel founded the DailyMuscle Body Transformation Camp, which today helps hundreds of individuals exercise and practice healthier habits. In his spare time, Noel serves the community with various programs that promote a healthier lifestyle, and enjoys playing with his dogs.
My name is Noel Chelliah, and I’m a Transformation Specialist and founder of the 
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
hohoh Subway eat fresh will be great choice for lunch or dinner. I will go for it everytime I have the chance. :p
surfnux: Well yeah.. but eating a Subway sandwich everyday would cost you a bomb. Guess it would be okay for an occasional treat la. Also, just because it’s a sandwich.. doesnt mean it’s low in fat. In fact, if you’re not careful, there could be loads of hidden fat in the form of mayo/dressing/processed meat plus unecessary sugar in the sauces.
Well, the way to actually keep away from those unwanted calories is to pack your own lunch perhaps. Yeah you could look like a wuss, but heck, it works. Especially tuna salad’s, just fresh salad + quite a bit of tuna (get those in bryne or water, not the oily ones) and remember no thousand island or mayo dressing, those packs a punch in fat LOL.
May sound a little bland but hey, it works, high in protein too. Another one you could try to swap around in your menu would be grilled chicken breast sandwich, have to be grilled tho. One chicken breast grilled to perfection, maybe mildly seasoned with some cajun seasoning, cut it up and stuck it into a sandwich with some salad, again , strictly no dressing haha.
hmm, for me what I did and notice immediate effect was when I cut off sugary drink completely. Do u know how many teaspoon of sugar is contained in a single can of coke? I got a cousin who once wanted to lose weight and skip lunch with a can of diet coke in hand and smoking away happy… DOH! Seriously now, cut off sugar as much as possible.. good for health, low-risk in becoming diabetic. I got mutual friends, my dad, my relative gettin this shit, ain’t funny. I digress. But u can see yourself becoming more energetic and slim down just coz u cut down and of course exercise la. Looking fwd to your next post :)
steveneleven: Well done! To those very used to consuming sugary drinks at almost every meal, everyday, it can be pretty difficult to quit, I must say. I’m glad that I’ve managed to kick the habit though. FYI, Diet Coke is sugar free, so it can help if you’re finding it difficult to quit.. as most of the time.. all you need to do to satisfy your ‘thirst’ for sugar is to trick your tongue with the sweetness, minus the calories.
I’ll admit, that I do occasionally sit back to have a glass of Ribena every now and then. Nothing wrong there. :)
hmm so if it ain’t sugar, and cafeinne free.. am I drinking brown water? I can get thaht in KLANG VALLEY! hahahahhaa. Anyways there are some links on it: http://joi.ito.com/archives/2002/10/26/is_diet_coke_bad_for_you.html Lots of products change the names of sugar into different more scientific names to appear.. less sugary, names like fructose, sukrose, erm, not sure if I got tyhe name right, to appear more healhty but it can’t be further from the truth. Aspartame/Nutrasweet is not very sweet in itself, that may be why Equal puts Dextrose (sugar) and maltodextrin as the first ingredients, so that it tastes sweet. Oh well what the heck.. if I want some sugar I go for TONG KEE eggtarts! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm and more links: http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read,2001,26.html Am not being paranoid la.. but surely we cannot belip everything they claimed. Too bad I dunnno how to do these test and have a lab. :)
steveneleven: I agree, that there are lots of deceiving names for sugars, but I’m 101% sure that Diet Coke is sugar-free. Thanks for the links. And perhaps its a good thing that you don’t have access to a lab. Who knows what mayhem you’ll be up to.
I see. Thank you for the advise dailymuscle. hoho Gotta watch the seasoning and the contents of the Subway next time. :p
Anyway, I have been eating Tuna in water everyday now for my breakfast with wholemeal bread. Will there be any side effects from continuous eating of canned food? I did feel the tuna bread breakfast is really helping out in my diet. I tried for two weeks and went back home, my dad and uncle told me that I am getting leaner, and has smaller tummy. So, now I am continuing it, plus some weight training at home. Still trying to go back to my cardio activities.
surfnux : Well IMHO, tuna is damn good. When i was back in england, i used to buy a box of tuna, about 40 cans in the box i think from the supermarket. It’ll probably last me about slightly less than a month as I eat about 2-3 cans a day. I remember how i caught on the bug for tuna, i was in gym one day and saw this dude, he was like 6’1″ tall and bears a strikin resemblance to young Arnie, his only 19 and coincidentally from Austria too. I asked him on what kinda food does a monster like you consume everyday, he kinda surprised me by sayin “Loads of Tu-NA”(with the Austrian accent).
Nonetheless, its hard to keep up with this kinda diets, as I enjoy drinking as much as I enjoy pumping iron haha.
i practically live on ribena! and i’ve been having my very own burger ayam special with cheese for dinner the whole week!! how cool is that? =P err..more like, how fattening is that?
Manju: I know.. I thought of you quite a few times as I wrote this one. :P. Ha ha.
But the thing is.. its not like you have any specific fitness goal right now (do you?), such as to get leaner, or to gain some weight, etc.. so I guess.. although what you’re eating isnt very ideal, I would say that at the same time, it wouldnt really have any negative impact to you. But I bet you would feel more energetic and be able to study better if you did get your diet ‘fixed’. ;)
CONFESSION
You see when im bulkin, i believe in bulkin. No “Ohh man this ones got too much fats and too little protein in it…” bullshit from me. Coz when im cuttin, ill shrivell like a… dunno what, so i might as well have a swell time enjoying my food whilst im still small.
Theres this lorong at SS15 in subang. They call it MidValley.
1litre Teh-Ais!!!! Kurang manis, kurang ais, kau-kau… kick ass man. Add to that a burger double (beef+chix combo w/out sauce and mayo).
My nights are complete.
**bliss**
Jon: I see. hoho So, I will just carry on my Tuna diet in a moderate proportion and other food. ohoho
Jay: Aiyo..true la.. i wouldnt mind pigging out on a ‘cheat day’.. but for people like me who can put on fat pretty easily.. i sometimes need to be pretty careful with what I eat. Plus, I just hope the tips can be useful to anyone out there who are paranoid with what they eat maybe.. I can’t afford the luxury you have… its unfair to compare my food and diet with your animal appetite. he he.
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Hi Padma: Thanks for the kind words. And you mentioning Cajun seasoning recipes have made me hungry.