The Protein Challenge

June 22, 2008 at 3:55 pm · Filed under Daily Diet ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,


The Great Singapore Sale is in full swing

It’s the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) this month. Overheard on the radio that Singaporeans take this opportunity to stock up on bulk items and also on Christmas gifts. (I did try that gift trick last year but came Christmas, I still went holiday shopping and the “cheap” gifts are still in the closet. What a waste!) This year’s GSS though, supplements are on the top of my list. This week in particular was mostly about protein.

Probably the lesser known protein source is Spirulina and this is one of my protein supplement choices.
GNC is selling at buy 1 take 1 @ S$42.95 (1 bottle = 90 caps, 500 mg per cap)
while Guardian is selling the Red Sun (Japan) brand @ S$99.00 (1400 tabs, 200 mg per tab)
so Red Sun is cheaper by more than 50%! That’s quite a deal and it should last me 1 month @ 7,500 mg per day [20 cal per day, 4g protein]


Soy is another protein supplement choice. I need variety so I don’t get bored.
Guardian is selling both types of Shaklee Soy Protein @ S$73.30 – 20% discount = S$58.64
36 servings @ 3 Tbsp. per serving [110 cal per serve, 14g protein]
Compared to Spirulina, Shaklee is 550 cal per day, 70g protein. But in terms of price instead of calories, Shaklee is still cheaper (S$0.12 per protein gm) compared to the already discounted Spirulina @ Guardian (S$0.66 per protein gm).

I guess I’ll be switching to soy protein (from Spirulina) as I’m starting a high protein diet (BFFM) @ 112 protein gm per day. For those of you who know about BFFM, that explains why I’m “counting calories”. BTW, if anyone out there has tried a vegan version of BFFM, I would appreciate protein tips and other vegan tips. I haven’t seen any rice protein products yet which is another option. ‘Will keep on shopping!

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1st Month, Vegan vs. Vegetarian

June 17, 2008 at 2:39 pm · Filed under Daily Diet ·Tagged ,

So today marks my 1st month-sary going vegan? Yeah, I admit I have fallen sideways and have succumbed to cheese (on my vegetarian pizza), cream on my mushroom spaghetti and just yesterday, little bits of egg on my noodles. But I am proud to say, I haven’t touched red meat at all and I can’t remember when I had seafood or chicken. I had a wonderful time exploring the many ways you can cook and eat without any meat: from substituting meat with thick mushrooms in paella, using yeast flakes for cheese in mac&cheese, asking for soymilk instead of cow’s milk in my hot chocolate. I survived 2 parties where the hosts didn’t know that I’ve become vegan: by eating rice flavored with the dipping sauce (soy sauce) and pasta without the meat sauce. Lately though, due to time constraints, I haven’t been able to prepare a decent vegan meal. I’ve been having instant noodles for dinner for the past 1 week or so. Previously, I loved preparing this rice salad made of brown rice and whatever vegetables are available in my chiller. Usually, I throw in asparagus, celery, different colored bell peppers, garbanzos, raisins and some soy sauce, garlic and onions together with the brown rice. Yum. I should make that again soon. Breakfast is usually celery/carrot/apple juice with spirulina powder sometimes.
Anyway, I have a few doubts in my mind about what vegan-ism is. The Fast Guide for Vegetarians and Vegans defines vegan as:
“Vegan is the strictest sub-category of vegetarians. Vegans do not consume any animal products or by-products. Some go as far as not even consuming honey and yeast. Others do not wear any clothing made from animal products.”
If I go by that definition, that means I can’t take bread, pasta or noodles as these have eggs in them, right? And what about yeast flakes? I’m living on bread, pasta and noodles right now and if that makes me non-vegan, I guess it’s ok as long as I’m not eating meat.
So I guess, it’s “Happy 1st Vegetarian (not Vegan) Month-sary to me!”

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Going Vegan – Day 4, Back to Work

May 22, 2008 at 4:46 am · Filed under Daily Diet ·Tagged ,

Yesterday was Day 4 of going Vegan and I was back to work after a long weekend. I prepared my “lunch box” the night before and it was filled with leftovers basically. I haven’t tried the raw food stall near my office as it’s a bit pricey. I’m saving that for when I can’t bring lunch.

Dinner was quite late, around 11 pm (after a long weekend, my Inbox was full and over its size limit… or so it says). So I hungrily wolfed down pasta and gelly practically in the same mouthful. I guess I overstuffed myself. Although I was sleepy, I tried to keep myself awake until 1 am to give my stomach some time to do its thang.

Breakfast:
- Celery/Carrot/Apple + Spirulina
- BB Burger
Lunch:
- Aglio Olio (Red Wine version + mushrooms)
- BB Burger
- Fruit Gelly Babies
Mid-Afternoon Snack:
- Dried cranberries (soaked overnight in water)
Dinner:
- Aglio Olio
- 4 servings Fruit Gelly Babies
Before Bedtime
- Soymilk

Challenge:
My body was actually asking for food around 7pm. But being deeply engrossed in ticking off items on my long to-do list as quickly as possible and having finished all the food in my lunch box, my hunger pangs went unheard and uncomforted. Which warranted the overstuffing later. I better make sure this doesn’t happen again today.

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Going Vegan – Day 3

May 20, 2008 at 11:47 pm · Filed under Daily Diet ·Tagged , , , ,

Black Bean Burgers
Black Bean Burgers, yum!

This is the best recipe yet. Yesterday, I was scouring Susan’s site (Fat Free Vegan) for some kid-friendly recipes. To me, kid-friendly meant 1. “comfort food” (I could really use something to soothe my old cravings) and 2. easy-to-cook (quick, fast). The Black Bean Burger turned out to be a happy mess when I was trying to form the patties in my hand. So it was fun to make, too. The result was absolutely yummy, I was absolutely blown away that it was so tasty. In addition, the black beans are just what I need to up my protein intake.

I tried to down 4 meals yesterday to increase my calorie intake.
Yesterday:
Breakfast:
- Celery/Carrot/Apple Juice (250ml)
- Aglio Olio (from the other day)
Lunch:
- Aglio Olio
Mid-afternoon Snack:
- 3 pcs. seaweed sushi
Dinner:
- Black Bean Burger
- Leafy Green Salad w/ Cherry Tomatoes, Vinaigrette dressing
Before Bed-time:
- Soymilk

I also made Fruit Gelly Babies which are a hit with my kid S. There are still quite a few Kid-Friendly recipes that I want to try in the next few days mostly to satisfy me & S’ sweet tooth. :-) Hopefully, I can re-train my kid’s tastebuds to like vegan food (S only took a bite of the BB burger and no more).

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Going Vegan – Day 2, At the Movies

May 19, 2008 at 2:55 pm · Filed under Daily Diet ·Tagged , , ,


Mac & Cheese?

This was my mid-afternoon snack – Mac & Cheese. Well, the recipe for mock cheese sauce that I got didn’t turn out well (Susan did put a disclaimer) so instead I played around with the turmeric which I’ve never cooked with before. It turned the macaroni into yellow. Then I tried to get a cheese-y texture by using some cornstarch. Some garlic, onions, salt and pepper later, I had a palatable snack which of course, doesn’t taste anything like mac & cheese. The only saving glory is that it somewhat looks like Mac & Cheese and it actually tastes ok. So I’m calling this “Mac & Turmeric”.

Today
Breakfast – Celery/Cucumber/Carrot (325ml)
Lunch
- Quinoa Vegetable Paella (from yesterday)
- Banana/Cocoa ice cream (after yesterday’s less than inspiring experience with carob powder “cocoa”, I decided to use real cocoa for this)
Mid-afternoon Snack – Mac & Turmeric
Dinner – Aglio Olio (my version: white wine, garlic, chillies and the left-over macaroni from the failed Mac & Cheese attempt)
Post-dinner – black grape juice + spirulina (to up my protein intake)
Total = 981 calories (still a little over 50% of my required calories for the day. Need to keep improving else my system will go in starvation mode and store all the fats that I want to lose in the first place.)

Challenge
So we went to the movies tonight to see IronMan. It had me thinking of hotdogs and nachos and cheese dips and how I could not have those anymore to complete my movie-going experience. Oh well, thank God there was popcorn (I’m guessing the yellow tinge is margarine since these places are on a budget. But if it’s butter, I’d say better than eating plastic.)

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Going Vegan – Day 1, Nutrition Data

May 19, 2008 at 2:35 am · Filed under Daily Diet ·Tagged , , , ,

As with all weight-loss projects, I am going to note down my “before” stats.
My current weight = 132lb which, combined with a height of 157cm gives me a BMI of 24.3. I’m in the normal BMI range (18.5 – 24.9) according to NutritionData. But personally, I could stand to lose a few pounds. Isn’t that always the case? :-)

Aside from giving your BMI, the site can also estimate your daily energy requirements and the macronutrient distribution thereof.
Daily Energy Needs = 1859 kcal / 7783 kj
Macronutrient Distribution:
Carbohydrate: 45 to 65% of total Calories (743.6 to 1208.35 kcal)
Fat: 20 to 35% of total Calories (371.8 to 650.65 kcal)
Protein: 10 to 35% of total Calories (185.9 to 650.65 kcal)

I find that at the beginning, it’s useful to keep track of these numbers until you’ve achieved a “rhythm”. The NutritionData site is a great help esp. the Pantry tool where you can enter the ingredients of your meals and get the calorie count and other nice-to-have info like Glycemic Index, Inflammation Factor (what’s that?), Nutrient Balance, Protein Quality, etc.

Yesterday
Breakfast – Green Juice (350ml) = 238 calories
Lunch
- Quinoa Vegetable Paella (recipe from Susan of Fat Free Vegan, I didn’t have the other ingredients like saffron, peas, artichoke and cayenne but it turned out ok. I also added Shiitake mushrooms to have something with a meat-y texture in there and it turned out great) = 169 calories
- 5 Prunes = 114 calories
Mid-afternoon Snack
- Carob Cocoa using Almond Milk (recipe from Angela of Raw Reform) = 70 calories
- Crackers = 141 calories
Dinner
- rehash the Paella from lunch = 169 calories
- handful grapes = 62 calories
Total = 963 calories (which is only about 50% of my daily calorie requirement. No wonder I felt so weak yesterday… I was in front of the tube the whole afternoon and evening watching Lost S1, wondering if I would ever run again on this diet). I seriously need to up the calories today.

Back to NutritionData, the macro analysis (pardon the oxymoron) of yesterday’s meals shows that I’m not taking in enough protein. I guess this is the challenge for most beginning vegans. But here is where NutritionData is useful yet again. You can look-up the foods with the highest protein content under any of the food categories (in this case, I’m looking under vegetables). No. 1 on the list is spirulina and luckily, I have that in the fridge from 1 year ago when I was at my most fit (I was training to climb Mt. Ophir in Malaysia).

Challenge
I was constantly craving something sweet yesterday. Being somewhat of a chocolate connoisseur, the carob cocoa didn’t satisfy. The prunes did a better job at tending to my sweet tooth. The grapes helped with my peckishness after dinner. Angela of RawReform says not to eat anything after 8pm when digestion slows down so I had to settle for fruits.
Also, it’s quite a temptation being surrounded by the sights and smells of Kentucky Fried Chicken. I am going vegan solo here and if successful, I might sway my family or at least get them more health conscious in terms of food.
BTW, I had a lot of gas yesterday. Not sure if it was the prunes that upset my tummy.

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Breaking Into Juice Feasting

May 18, 2008 at 2:34 am · Filed under Daily Diet ·Tagged , , , ,

Yesterday, I was contemplating going on a Juice Feast. But it seemed too drastic a move for me at my current eating habits which are “less than optimal”. I felt I should go slowly and be gentle with myself. So I decided to do the Feast Breaking steps recommended by Angela Stokes in her “A Juice Feaster’s Handbook” but only in reverse i.e., I would eat prunes, juicy fruits then leafy green salads but start with the salads and work my way to the prunes before undertaking the Juice Feast. So I am practically breaking into Juice Feasting rather than breaking out of Juice Feasting. Armed with this plan, I went to the grocery to get supplies.

On the way to the grocery though, I felt anxious and unsettled. So I asked myself, what it was that I feared. That alone helped to lift my mood but not completely. The answer came soon enough – I feared “deprivation”. Such a mind state was obviously not a good place to embark on a life-long journey of healthier eating habits. But I honoured my feelings. At the same time, I would take baby steps – try going vegan for a few days say, 3 and see how it goes.

So my shopping cart included the basics. There were too many recipes and ingredients to remember so I picked up whatever seemed essential from the various articles that I read earlier in the day and would look for a recipe later. As much as possible, I got organic and these were available: celery, carrots, apples, cucumber, mushrooms, leafy greens, prunes, cherry tomatoes, quinoa.
non-organic: grapes, honeydew melon, carob powder, walnuts, almonds

If you want to know how much it cost me: I bought 1 week’s worth of groceries which is about S$75. This includes daily: 1 glass of juice, 1 leafy green salad, 1 dessert (for when I crave something sweet, using carob powder), 1 carb meal (using quinoa). This doesn’t include lunch @ work though. I’ll post prices for that, too. Unit prices below are in Singapore dollars @ Carrefour hypermart.
celery (2 heads) – S$5.10, S$6.65
carrots (3 packs, 2 pcs each) – S$3.85, S$3.70, S$3.70
apples (10 pcs) – S$5.99
cucumber (1 pc) – S$1.85
shitake mushrooms (1 pack) – S$2.30
leafy greens (500 g) – S$9.95
prunes (500 g) – S$8.15
cherry tomatoes (1 pack) – S$2.80
carob powder (510 g) – S$8.50
quinoa (500 g)- S$5.60
walnuts (100g) – S$2.60
almonds (100g) – S$4.00

Yesterday
I was easing myself into the process so it was about 30% vegan?? :-)
Breakfast – 3 slices leftover pizza [I was hungry, nothing healthy in the fridge]
Lunch: 1 tin 240g Peeled plum tomatoes (in tomato sauce) w/ 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp. pesto [attempt to eat healthy]
Dinner: 10 pcs. sushi [not exactly vegan but no red meat, picked up at the grocery]
1 pc. Cadbury mini [I have a sweet tooth]

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