Chinese New Year feasting?

The Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations typically last for a full 15 days. Just as you think you survived the first few days of CNY holidays and your stomach is taking a break from the endless flow of pastries, nuts and soft drinks, the weekend is here and the same house visit ritual begins again!

Not to mention, your colleagues have brought some of the goodies to the work place and the temptation cycle begins. So how do you keep your holiday spirit high but your waistline low? It is not too late to follow the below tips:

Nutritional Content of Popular Goodies

• Bak Kwa (1 piece, 57g)- contains 229kcal, 8g fat, 24g sugar with 15g protein
• Pineapple tarts (2 pieces, 40g) - 163kcal, 7g fat & 12g sugar
• Love Letter (4 rolls, 52g) - 224kcal , 6g fat & 19g sugar
• Shrimp Roll (10 pieces, 15g) - 46kcal ,4g fat & 0g sugar
• Kueh bangkit (6 pieces, 36g) - 137kcal,4 fat & 8g sugar
• Beehive cookie/ kueh ros - 149kcal, 7g fat & 8g sugar
• Nian gao (1/4 portion, 106g) - 245kcal, 0.5g fat & 37g sugar

Thus, let's have a look at the accumulative intake of a typical variety of goodies that may happen during each house visit!

2 pineapple tarts + 10 shrimp rolls + 1 Bak Kwa + 6 Kueh bangkit + 4 love letters
= 799kcal, 29g fat & 63g sugar

This is actually comparable to a plate of chicken rice that contains 700kcal & 26g fat!

Tips

• Avoid making a visit on an empty stomach, instead, fill yourself up on the healthier and lower calorie containing foods/drinks

When you are hungry, you may tend to eat without self-control and the festive goodies, such as those above, and are typically calorie-dense made with lots of oils/cream/butter/sugar. You can try to avoid this lack of self-control by first filling up on healthy fiber-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole-grains or healthy calcium-rich low fat milk before making a house visit or hitting off to the goodies-filled table.

• Know your trigger food, ration them out or avoid them totally

Some crave sugar while others crave salty foods. There must be some or at least 1 specific food(s) that you crave and once you start, you just cannot seem to stop. You might want to try out rationing first. By eating small portions, you are less likely to overeat.

However, if you really find your trigger foods too hard to resist, it is then advisable to avoid them because they can potentially spark overeating. If you know that you will have difficulty eating just 3-4 pineapple tarts for example, you may want to choose to eliminate them altogether to avoid overeating.

• Practice eating and drinking consciously, slowly and wisely

It is the unconscious nibbling and sipping that can really add up to your calorie intake. It is easy to lose track of how many goodies and glasses of alcohol/soft drink/sweet beverage/cordial you are consuming at a house visit. It is always helpful to stay aware of what, when and why you are eating/drinking. Before you reach for another goodie on the table, ask yourself, "Am I hungry or am I eating because the food is just in front of me?"

Chewing your food and eating slowly allows you to savour your food. It also allows your stomach the time it needs to digest and for you to feel full, hence preventing overeating.

Too much alcohol can also give you a burning headache the next morning. Do you also know that alcohol only provides empty calories that can contribute significantly to your calorie intake? Soft drinks, sweet beverages and cordials also provide empty calories. You can wisely reduce the calorie damage by choosing water (zero calories; filling up on water also fills up your stomach and prevents overeating), "light" beers, diet soft drinks and "no sugar added" or "less sugar" beverages or add extra ice to limit volume intake whilst diluting them down.

This article is originally published in Yahoo Singapore Fit To Post Health Blog.

Smart Ways to Snack at the Office

Singaporeans tend to put in long hours at work, and come mid-afternoon, many also tend to have a snack attack.

When it comes to snacks, the number one thing you must know is that you can have just about any snack, as long as you control the portions.

“It is what you eat daily that really matters; the occasional treat is usually acceptable,” says Magdalin Cheong, Chief Dietitian and Senior Manager, Dietetic & Food Services at Changi General Hospital.

Scientists, such as American food psychologist Brian Wansink, have extensively studied how easy it is to overeat. A big problem is mindless eating, and the simplest habits can have a huge impact in terms of weight management.

Keep your snacks at a distance

People eat up to 50 per cent more candy when the candy jar is less than six feet (1.8 m) away from their workstation. It’s not just a matter of temptation. If the jar is filled with a healthy food such as carrots, people will also eat about a third more than if the bowl isn’t within such easy-reaching distance.
Pick snacks that come in small packages

In another study by Wansink, people ate half of the popcorn they were given, no matter if it was a medium- or a jumbo-sized tub. And they ate significantly more M&M’s from a 2-pound (1 kg) bag than from a 1-pound (500 g) bag.

Basically, people will mindlessly eat most of the food or snack that is put in front of them. Even when subjects were given stale, 10-day old popcorn, they still ate 44 per cent more from large buckets than from smaller ones.

Trick your mind

According to a recent study from Yale University, the feeling of satiety can depend on how “indulgent” you assume your snack to be, regardless of the actual calorie content.

Right after having a 600-calorie “indulgent” milkshake, participants’ ghrelin levels (the hormone that drives hunger) dropped significantly, indicating they felt content. Their ghrelin levels stayed flat after drinking a “sensible”, low-calorie milkshake.

Actually, both milkshakes were the same. Mindset meaningfully affects physiological responses to food, say the study authors.

If you can eat healthy food while retaining the feeling that you’re indulging, you’re golden. So, next time you have a sensible snack, try to dream up a sexy name for it, to build that contented feeling.

Top 10 healthy food snacks recommendations

• Vegetable sticks (with hummus, or a tuna or yoghurt dip)
• Nuts and trail mixes
• Low-fat string cheese
• Yoghurt
• Whole-wheat crackers
• Mixed fresh fruits
• Steamed vegetable pau
• Mantou (steamed bun)
• Pita bread sandwiches
• Instant oats

Other snack suggestions – do mind the quantities

• Seaweed snacks. Go for the less salty brands.
• Granola and cereal bars. While usually healthier than chocolates or very sweet biscuits, these snacks do tend to be high in sugars and calories, warns CGH’s Chief Dietitian, Magdalin Cheong.
• Popcorn (popped in the microwave)
• Rice cakes
• Cream crackers
• Baked chips
• Soy nuts and soy crisps
• Dark chocolate
• Dried fruits. Favour those which are naturally dehydrated. “Most imported dried fruits are preserved with glucose syrup; anything deep fried is not advisable as the calories add up”, says Ms. Cheong.

Originally published at healthxchange.com.sg