Banana dieting plan

This is one of those times when I feel upset looking into the mirror. I bought this new tee-shirt on impulse – loved the graphics on it and did not care less how I looked in it. When I try it on again back home, my tummy is visibly huge under that unflattering body-hugging tee. As much as I love that tee, I am hating it now.

Hating the tee is not the best solution. I need to get rid of that tummy.

Last month when I was in Shanghai for a business trip, I get my hands on my favourite local beauty magazine, 都市丽人. There is an article about diet plan – Breakfast Banana Diet Plan – get slimmer in 3 weeks! Sounds great, isn’t it?

Here’s what can be done:

1. For breakfast: Have bananas with lukewarm water. That will help you clear your bowels. Have as many bananas as you like. 🙂 This will seemingly make you feel full and eat lesser during lunch.

2. For dinner: You can still take what you usually have for dinner (of course, you have to avoid those deep-fried stuff). Have your dinner before 8pm, because food stuff like meat needs 4 hours to be fully digested. If you feel hungry before you hit the bed, grab some fruits – typically only need 15-20 mins to digest.

3. For your body restoration: Sleep before 12 midnight. (Really tough especially on girls’ night out days). Anyway, the reason behind this is for your body to restore when you are asleep. Base on some research, your body restores during the first 5-6 hours of your sleep. However, apparently, after sunrise, the process will cease. Ok, this sounds really scientific. Let’s just do our best to hit the bed before midnight.

4. For your drinks: Drinks with artifical flavourings would deteriorate your taste bud and will result in you eating more. (This is horrifying!) So, before lunch, you should only drink plain water. After lunch till before dinner, you may have drinks with less sugar or no sugar content.

Do not seem too difficult. Hopefully I will be disciplined enough to carry out this plan for 3 weeks!

Happy food for good well-being and sleep

I do have my own list of good mood food – think all junk food. In particular, I will go for chocolates, french fries, potato chips and ice cream (and the junk food list goes on). However, does eating all these junk food really make my mood better?

I must admit that eating greasy fried food gives me an instantaneous happiness and that is because my cravings were met. But afterwards, I will feel bloated due to indigestion, and that feeling will make me feel a lot worse.

What food could make us feel good then?

On 11 November 2008, TODAY (Singapore’s local newspaper) covered a special story on Happy Food for a Lousy Mood.

Here’s the formula to get “Good Mood”:

Protein + Complex Carbs = Good Mood

Protein raise tryptophan levels in our bodies which help the body to produce serotonin, the “mood-lifting” brain chemical that makes a person feel good.

You can get protein from lean meat, seafood, eggs and tofu. Other sources of tryptophan include almonds, sesame seeds and peanuts.

In addition, you should take some complex carbs too. You can find it in food like whole grains, potatoes, pumpkin and yam. These food help the body to uptake and metabolise tryptophan into serotonin more effeciently.

Serotonin also help you sleep better, thus enhancing your overall well-being.

Now, you know what to eat to be in a good mood!