How was your weekend?
Last weekend, I did an experiment documenting everything I consumed because I want to eat more intentionally. One of the problems of my life is that I used to want to achieve perfection & always set unrealistic standards with the food that I consumed. As much as I tried learning about nutrition, there’s one person who inspired me not to be too strict when trying to eat healthier. She’s pretty famous on tiktok & instagram and one that sticks to me is that the idea of adding instead of subtracting.
Finding the balance & being realistic
I was one of those people who think eating healthy isn’t quite achievable and expensive. At the same time, I am quite picky with what I am eating and not everything fits my palate. Depending on which personality I was having, my food varied too. But I decided to just stick to the idea that I can eat anything and not make my life miserable by removing food that I like. I just have to add something to make them healthier and be ok when there’s family/friends dinner. I rarely like that kind of thing because it would mess up my perfect schedule but these days, I’d be fine with it and enjoy that type of dinner with my family.
Being a lot more realistic is something I am doing currently too. In the past, I was that kind of person who eats oatmeal & peanut butter for breakfast and complex 3 meals a day. But that kind of life isn’t suitable for me. These days I just eat one meal a day or twice if I am extremely hungry. I am also a lot more realistic about the food I consume. Rather than following some fad trends and health, I just eat whatever I like and I have a much healthier relationship with food and less likely going on a binge.
Still eating baked desserts!
Eating well is a must and while I can’t eat a plain meal, according to my mom, my food isn’t so umami because I always use 0 msg and low salt and sugar. I am not too fond of sweets but occasionally, I would bake my own cookies and dessert. Here’s something I made the other day, crispy brownie. It’s super simple to make and has low cost ingredients. I made this based on the recipe from this Indonesian Masterchef, so all credit to him!
- 100 gr dcc - 40 gr ( 2sdm) margarine - 50 gr terigu (3.5 sdm) - 40gr gula - 30 gr almond
Here’s the translation
- 100 gr (dark chocolate) but I was using dark milky chocolate
- 40 gr/ 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
- 50gr/ 3.5 tbsp low protein flour
- 40 gr sugar/ 2 tbsp sugar
- Optional ingredient (almond or shredded cheese)
That recipe yields about one cookie jar. For me, I finished them in a few days but certainly not in one go. The amount of sugar it has isn’t scary either. I think that by making our own baked goods, we can adjust the amount of sugar that goes into our food.
Sometimes, I also have these frozen fruits because that’s just how I like consuming some of them. But throughout the week, my mom would also buy fruits like oranges, peaches or any season one from the market. I would have them once in a while and instead of forcing them into my life, these days I would just grab and eat fruit a lot more naturally than before.
Stir fried noodles!
Throughout the week, I’ve been mostly eating all sorts of noodle shapes. They are my favorite kind of carbs to eat and I would rather eat them than rice. But also once in a while, I would opt for rice because they are simple and readily available at home.
For a lot of people, noodles are associated with something unhealthy and msg packed. But if you’re buying unseasoned noodles and not the instant ones, you can get super creative with it. For me, this is where the “ add but not subtract” mindset comes in handy. I like to add garlic, lemon grass, and a whole lot of cabbage into the noodle. For the protein, sometimes I am pairing them with an egg or just shredded leftover chicken.
I also recently love eating eggs drizzled in soy sauce. They are a great source of protein and spicing up the way I eat them. Sometimes, I pair them with fried eggplant as a snack. Typically, if I have rice, that is the only meal I am eating on that day.
Family dinner becomes a lot less scary!
Since it’s holiday season here, I got invited to family dinner at least once a week. In the past, I would tempted to order a whole lots of things and would want to eat a lot. But these days, not anymore. I ordered one shaved ices and homemade fried chicken style. I used to avoid a lot of family occasions during the holiday especially when I am kick starting my healthy lifestyle once more. Oh, obviously just like you see above, I was still ordering coffee and safe to say, that’s the kind of meal that I most likely have than any type of meal or beverages haha.
I think eating with the right kind of mindset makes it a lot less scary. We are influenced a lot by our surroundings that this x,y,z causes problems but when we’re not doing it in moderation, I think it becomes a problem. It took a while for me to finally reach the point in life where I eat to my heart’s content rather than following some fad trends or because if you eat in a certain way you’re that girl. It isn’t healthy in the long run and trust me, despite so many people have told me this or that, nothing ever sticks until I find what works for me. This is why, I advocate that when it comes to healthy eating, just find what works for you.
I remember when I used to write the food individually but after writing this out, I just realized how fun it is to document this once a week and share recipes that I was trying in one go. Who knows, you’ll love them because I am all about cheap but bougie meals. I can’t eat boring food and that’s why, I am always trying to find something good to eat and make! See you again next week :)
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
It's a good idea what you're doing, because just the act of documenting and writing about what you eat will make you more aware. I believe that in life, all extremes are bad. We shouldn't stop eating what we like, just recognize that if it's not very healthy, we can't be eating that all the time at the risk of getting sick.
I also don't like this idea of eating all day long, it seems like life is just about that. That's why, a long time ago, I stopped having that many meals and only focus on one or two a day, and other very light foods. Especially when I'm the one cooking. Time flies in the kitchen, between cooking and washing dishes.
That! often we're told to completely cut out a certain food but truth it, not a lot of people can do that. It's really all about moderation. For me, one of the thing I managed to have sparsely is definitely alcohol. I am down a lot from a couple times a day to nothing for almost a year :D
There's seemingly shift in nutrition and practitioner telling us how many times we should eat. In the past, it was always about frequent smaller meals but these days, one meal a day or intermittent fasting are a lot more advertised. But just like you, I like having one or two meal/day.
Thank you for checking this one out & sharing your thoughts!
you are welcome. it's a pleasure.
This post is very good @macchiata, because you make a sincere reflection on what food should be. It seems good to me that you find your own path and do not follow the standards and fashions that are often imposed. It is also very positive that you do not exclude some foods from your diet, just because some study or trend says so. I think that the emotional and mental areas also greatly influence the link of diet on human health, so being calm, without pressure and at your own pace, is great and very beneficial for you.
By the way, those brownies are delicious, very good recipe.
I used to follow the trends and the fad until I learned, not everything is good for me. I think it's something that you have to cultivate and understand after long trials and error. For me, these days I just eat what is healthier for me. For example, I learned from my doctor that I should avoid eating any soy-based product and it was something I had a lot in the past because I was semi plant-based at one point.
Thank you for checking out and do try the crispy brownies recipe, they are really delicious!
I think I should join you on this by being intentional about what I consume. I've been seeing lots of posts about eating healthy on TikTok but scrolled past them because most of the time, they wanted me to consume more of vegetables than things like noodles, etc.
I love this method. I think it's the same way Koreans cook theirs because their noodles when home made doesn't look so regular.
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
You should! let's make this as a trend. I am not too strict about documenting them but whenever I can, I always take pictures of it.
Also, you should try the brownie recipe, it's cheap to make and easy too. tag me when you made it!
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I was actually one of those people who always think or didn't pay careful attention to what to eat as been healthy not quite long but I am recently paying attention to it. It is important to take in healthy food