#fitnessfriday - Mia's sustainable #eatclean diet plan for weight loss

Hello fellow fitness junkies! Since I missed my rare #wellnesswednesday moment, I shall turn this into a #fitnessfriday post instead. Do let me know which hashtag you prefer, yeah?

If you don't know me, then you must know that I've started gymming frequently (I usually do spinning, hot yoga and body balance, which is a mixture of taichi, yoga and pilates) more than 1 year (almost 2?) back and along the way I've also tried out various weight management programme, out of which my biggest failure being AgeLoc TR90 (my final post on it HERE).

Despite being physically active, I've never really managed to bring my weight down significantly as I couldn't keep my diet in check.

With a change in job, my gym days decreased significantly and I was eventually shocked out of my wits when I saw a number on the weighing scale which I've never seen before for my entire life.

That's it! I'm going on a diet!

After a few google searches on a certain 21 days detox diet programme that revolves around weeding, seeding and feeding, I decided to give it a shot.

The diet plan is a peculiar one, with specific can-eats and cannot-eats that changes each week, or rather with the can-eats adding on each week, spanning through 21 days. The first week was seemingly the most harsh, with the diet gradually easing up week by week.

So for day 1 to 7, it shall be the weeding week. whereby we weed out the bad bacteria, parasites, fungus and yeast through dietary changes. In order to achieve that, some major (and temporary) changes in our diet is inevitable.

During the weeding week, the following food shall be avoided where possible:

All sorts of (starchy) carbohydrates like rice, noodles, bread, pastries and potatoes.

Anything containing yeast

Anything with added sugar

Crustacean & Mollusks

(No seafood other than fish)

Deep-fried food

All dairy products

Alcohols

It's best to avoid coffee, but if you absolutely need it, limit yourself to just 1 cup a day.

My typical daily diet for the first week is as follow:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, black coffee without sugar

Lunch: Yong Tau Foo (without noodles, minimal fish cakes)

Afternoon snack: 1 large apple or 1 medium banana

Dinner: Home-cooked stirfry vegetables with lean cuts of meat or fish (pan fried, or stirfry), kimchi

Supper: 2 servings of fruit (Eg. 1 kiwi, 1 small apple)

Daily water intake: 1.8 - 2.1L

Estimated daily calorie intake: 1000 - 1100 kcals

Being a sugar-addict, I thought the total omission of added sugar will be the most painful, but it turned out the omission of carbohydrates was more harsh on me. The first day was painful, and I was hungry half of the day (as I didn't prepare for afternoon snack at work). 2nd day onwards, I learnt my lesson and pack up 1 to 2 servings of fruits as snack to work and it got slightly better. However, I did notice that the usual hot yoga and body balance routines felt slightly more strenuous than it usually would be. And also, by the 3rd day, black coffee without sugar (Kopi O Kosong) tasted perfectly all right to me. I didn't expect myself to get used to a no added sugar diet this quickly.

Weight Loss after Week 1 - 2.3kg

Day 8 to 15 shall be the seeding week, whereby we inoculate the gut with beneficial bacteria.

During the seeding week, we introduce complex (clean) carbohydrates into the diet but still avoid the following food:

No refined carbohydrates like white rice, noodles, white bread, pastries.

Anything with added sugar

Deep-fried food

All dairy products

Alcohols

Limit to 1 cup of black coffee without sugar per day, and 2 servings of seafood (other than fish) in the week.

My typical daily diet for the 2nd week is as follow:

Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg, 1 weet-bix, handful of blueberries & strawberries

Lunch: 1/2 serving (1/2 cup, cooked) red cargo rice marmite porridge, with choice of 2 stirfry vegetables and 1 stirfry lean meat.

I only cook my own porridge and buy the dishes from hawker centre.

Afternoon snack: 1 to 2 servings of fruits (usually apple and/or banana)

Dinner: Home-cooked stirfry vegetables with lean cuts of meat or fish (pan fried, or stirfry), kimchi

Supper: 1 to 2 servings of fruit (usually apple, orange, kiwi or cherries)

Daily water intake: 1.8 - 2.1L

Estimated daily calorie intake: +/- 1200 kcals

2nd week was quite a breeze as I've gotten used to the taste of red cargo rice during mid-week and having nothing sweet in my diet except for fruits felt perfectly normal.

Hot yoga and body balance sessions felt more manageable (though the burning sensation in my muscles still came quicker than usual) and I added in a session of spinning towards the end of the week and survived it.

Weight Loss after Week 2 - 0.4kg

(As I was on my period for this week, water retention could have affected my weight loss results)

Accumulated Weight Loss after 2 weeks - 2.7kg

Finally, day 16 to 21 will be the feeding week, whereby we feed the healthy bacteria and the entire body what it needs to heal itself.

During the feeding week, we introduce dairy products into the diet and also lifts the ban on deep-fried food and alcohols, but still avoid the following food:

No refined carbohydrates like white rice, noodles, white bread, pastries.

Anything with added sugar

My typical daily diet for the 3rd week is as follow:

Breakfast: 1 hard boiled egg + 1 weet-bix OR 1 steamed sweet potato, handful of blueberries/grapes & strawberries

Lunch: 1/2 serving (1/2 cup, cooked) red cargo rice, with choice of 2 stirfry vegetables and 1 stirfry lean meat OR 1 soup (Eg. slice fish soup or lotus root pork ribs soup)

I only cook my own rice and buy the dishes from hawker centre.

Afternoon snack: 1 to 2 servings of fruits (usually apple and/or banana)

Dinner: Home-cooked stirfry vegetables with lean cuts of meat or seafood (pan fried, or stirfry), kimchi

Supper: 1 to 2 servings of fruit (usually apple, orange, kiwi or nectarine), 1/4 to 1/2 cup HL low fat milk.

Daily water intake: 1.8 - 2.1L

Estimated daily calorie intake: +/- 1200 - 1300+ kcals

3rd week felt like an #eatclean diet has more or less been cultivated as I hardly crave for sugary food anymore, and naturally avoided deep fried food even thought the 'ban' was lifted. I also added an additional spinning session to the week (2 sessions of spinning, 1 hot yoga and 1 body balance) and didn't feel much fatigue during my exercises.

Weight Loss after Week 3 - 0.7kg

Accumulated Weight Loss after 3 weeks - 3.4 kg

You may think that 3.4kg in 3 weeks isn't all that impressive, but the important point to note is that this diet is sustainable as long as you do not let the glutton in you go out of control. Other than the first 1 or 2 days of the weeding week whereby I felt constant hunger from the lack of starchy carbohydrates (and without fruits at hand to fill my tummy), I was well fed and didn't feel starved or deprived at any time. 

I guess this will be my wordiest post ever and without a single photograph, so you weight loss hopefuls might already be seeing stars right now, so I shall end my wall of text here. 

Stay tuned for part 2 of this #eatclean weight loss diet plan (hopefully will be up next week!) whereby I will share my progress of this diet after the 3rd week. 

Hint: Cheat day coming up! 

To know more in-depth about the Weed-Seed-Feed Detox Diet, do check out the link HERE
For added boost in your weight loss results, you can also take the Advascience 21 Day Ultimate Cleanse (available HERE) along with this diet.

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: Garden Picks Treats [Sponsored]

Yeah, you got it. I got more yummies from Garden Picks again! 

Other than the old favourites (read my review on these two yummies HERE) there's also a handful of other new yummies that came together in the box. 

First up, these yummy chili corn nuts. And unlike their name, they're not nuts. Corn nuts are actually corn kernels that have been roasted or deep-fried, making them seriously crunchy and nutty in flavour. 

For the case of Garden Pick's corn nuts, they're roasted and flavoured to be mildly spicy with a refreshing splash of lime. It tasted very 'Indian food' at first bite, but the combination of the strong crunch, spiciness and zesty flavour of lime will definitely get you addicted.

I first tried a crispy lotus seed when a neighbour brought some back for us from Vietnam, and I got hooked on first bite. Crisp and crunchy (not hard and crunchy, though some might be) with a slightly sweet nutty flavour, this is definitely one of my low calories go-to snacks.

I had really high expectation of this. Dry roasted edamame, how good can this get? But I was slightly disappointed to find out that they tasted exactly like dry roasted green peas. 

I know these two are somewhat similar, but in their fresh, cooked version, I can really taste the difference between edamame and green peas. 

But anyhow, if you love edamame and roasted green peas, this healthy, low-calorie snack will be your best friend. 

And now for my absolutely favourite, the BBQ Rice Crisps. I personally will advise that you buy them in the small standard packs (3 for $10), or you might have to portion-pack them yourselves if you were to buy the bulk packs. It's all for your waist lines, people. Because you won't be able to practice any form of self control with these.
Extremely crispy and flavourful, they are so good you won't be able to stop popping them into your mouth until you empty the entire bag.
They've been OOS for a while and has recently been restocked HERE (note that this link will be broken if it goes OOS again) so hurry!
They also come in chilli flavour so if you'll prefer a spicy kick, do check that out as well!

All of Garden Picks products are available in two sizes, standard packs which are going at 3 for $10, or bulk packs, prices varies.

For more information on Garden Picks and their choices of snacks, nuts, dried fruits and nut butters, check out their website HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Mia Bakes: Homemade Digestive Biscuits (Wholewheat Oatmeal Honey Biscuits)

If you didn't know, I've started on a diet-changing mission almost 3 weeks back and I'm currently on my 3rd week of zero refined sugar, zero refined carbohydrates diet. 

But, I can't give up on my wheat products and it's kind of depressing whenever I see sugar listed among the top 3 in the ingredient list of those biscuits I loved, or they do not use 100% wholegrain flour. 

So I thought, heck it! I'm going to bake my own healthy, no refined sugar, 100% wholegrain biscuits! 

And I'm not going to lie that I'm super happy to find out that they taste really close to those store-bought digestive biscuits, just not as crumbly-crisp and of course, not as sweet. 

So, let's get over the ingredients so we can get started.

You'll need:

100g Wholewheat AP Flour

100g rolled oats

(I used quick-cooking oats)

100g Salted Butter, soften

2 tsp Baking Powder

2 to 2.5 tbps raw Honey

If you prefer to use brown sugar instead of honey, you'll probably need more depending on how sweet you like your biscuits to be and also some milk to form your dough,

First up, blitz your oatmeal in your food processor until it resembles flour. Then, add in your wholewheat flour and baking powder and whisk to combine. 

Using clean hands, knead in your soften butter until the mixture starts to get clumpy and resembles wet sand. 

Finally, knead in your honey until your mixture forms a dough ball. 

I suggest that you start with 2 tbps of honey first and only add in more if your dough is still dry. If you wish to have less sweet version, you can reduce your honey and add in milk for the required hydration level of your dough too. 

Wrap your dough ball with clingwrap and leave in the fridge for at least 1 to 2 hours for it to set, so that it's easier to roll out and cut out your biscuits.

I rolled mine pretty thinly, about slightly less than 1 cm thick and cut our some cute bunnies and lambs with my small cookie-cutter.

Send your biscuits into your oven, preheated to 180 degree Celsius and bake for 15 minutes until you can smell the buttery fragrance coming out from your biscuits. They do not spread at all, so you may lay them as close as possible on your baking sheet. 

Tadaa, my cute bunnies and lambs.

A friend asked if those bunnies are Ewok, though. =.="

I halved the recipe and got 15 of these small sized biscuits, which are so yummy!

And of course, if butter is still not healthy enough for you, feel free to switch it with another oil of your choice, like coconut oil or EVOO for an even more guilt-free sweet treat!

To get the wholegrain flour and organic raw honey I've used for this recipe, hop over to iHerb right now! 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: MenstruHeat by PSLove with 20% OFF Discount Code [Sponsored]

Ever thought that if period cramps help to burn calories, maybe then it'll be worth the pain? 

Well, it doesn't! So why should you continue suffering?

PSLove is a feminine healthcare brand based in Singapore and they've taken on the mission of saving women from their menstrual cramps every month. Caring for women is a very big part of what PSLove does, and so they created their flagship product, MenstruHeat, a heat therapy patch for menstrual cramp (and backache) relief.

With air-permeable membrane for quick heating effects, the patches are made with medical grade adhesive for easy-on and easy-off adhering without leaving any marks on our skin. 

Extremely convenient, you only need to tear open the package, peel off the back of the patch and stick the patch onto where heat is desired. 

Unless you have a massive abdomen, if not the patch should be big enough to fit nicely on your achy tummy.

Do you know that more than 50% of us women suffer from some form of menstrual pain during our periods, and heat is actually a clinically proven remedy to ease our pain!

There's 3 easy ways you can use your MenstruHeat patch:
1. Directly on skin for most heat
2. On top of underwear for medium heat
3. On underside of shirt for least heat

Personally, I found the 2nd method for medium heat impossible to achieve as not everybody will choose to wear waist-high grandma undies during our periods. And comparing between sticking the patch directly onto our skin or on the underside of our shirt, I'll definitely go with sticking it directly onto my skin for the most heat. You need not worry about scor
The only downside of sticking it onto my skin was that I get a little sweaty from the heat and the patch started to come off (and I had to transfer it onto the underside of my shirt instead).

MenstruHeat is now available at all Guardian Stores and at MenstruHeat.com
Quote 'MOLLYMIA' for your purchase at MenstruHeat.com to get 20% off your first order, valid for 3 months until 13th November 2016!

There's also an online subscription for these patches so be sure to check them out!

Till then,
Mia Foo

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#MyMarmiteMyWay - Mia's Marmite-ly Love [Sponsored]

Oh, Marmite! My precious!

If you're wondering what does marmite stands for, it is actually a French term for a large, covered earthenware or metal cooking pot. The British Marmite was originally supplied in an earthenware pot, but since the 1920s, it was changed into glass jars shaped like the French cooking pot.

The immense popularity of this original version of Marmite sparked off the creation of other similar products (with or without the same name) but with different tastes, and the original British version of Marmite is a sticky, dark brown food paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour that is extremely salty. This acquired taste is reflected in the marketing slogan: Love it or Hate it.
Apparently, the product's name has even entered British English as a metaphor for something that is of acquired taste or tends to polarised opinions.

Believe it or not, I've literally grown up on Marmite. My mother used to feed me brown rice porridge with marmite when I started eating solid food when I was a baby. And since then, Marmite has stuck on in my diet. I never gave up on it.

Beside folic acid, marmite is also high in various B vitamins, out of which Niacin (Vit B3) helps produces neutrophils, a white blood cell that helps our body's immune system fight against the Staphylococcus bacteria.

Upon growing up, marmite still remains as one of the staples in my diet and there's never a day without a pot of marmite in my fridge. It's a must-add to my porridge, every single time, and on days I don't feel like eating 'proper meals' yet feels hungry, I'll just add some marmite to my cooked oatmeal and there you have it, yummy marmite oatmeal!

Frankly speaking, I feel that those who couldn't stand the taste of marmite is because they simply didn't understand it. How many times have you watched a youtube video (the marmite challenge went pretty viral on youtube a while back) of someone who cringes after taking a bite of the marmite toast, only because he/she has spread on a thick layer of marmite on the toast as if it was peanut butter or fruit jam? I wouldn't eat that marmite toast, either. As mentioned above, marmite is extremely salty and should always be added sparingly. Well, unless you love eating salt by tablespoons, then go for it.

And to better make use of my marmite (other than adding them to oatmeal and porridge), I decided to try out the extremely popular dish, Marmite Chicken!

You'll need:
Chicken (I've used chicken fillet) - 400g
Marmite - 1/2 tbsp
Hot Bean Sauce - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Dark Soy Sauce - 1/2 tbsp
Sesame Oil - 1/2 tsp
Water 60ml
Cornstarch (for thickening, if desire)
Shallot & Chili (if desire)

First, mix up all the seasoning (except for cornstarch) and set aside
Stirfry the chicken until half cooked before adding in the seasoning. Continue stirfry for about 5 minutes until the seasoning mixture is reduced.
Add shallot and chili if desire.
If you prefer a thicker gravy, thicken with some cornstarch water.

TADAA!

Marmite comes in 3 different serving sizes to cater to your individual preferences, available at all supermarkets:
115g - $3.69
230g - $6.47
470g - $12.33

Starting from 8th August, you can redeem a FREE Marmite sample bottle from SampleStore.com HERE, whilst stock last.

There will also be a #MyMarmiteMyWay review contest coming up on Sample Store. After redeeming your free Marmite sample, just share your personal experience on how you've enjoyed your free Marmite sample (eg. added it in your porridge etc) in your SampleStore review and 3 lucky winners will get to receive all 3 different sizes of Marmite!
Winners to be announced on Sample Store Instagram & Facebook page. Contest ends 30th September 2016.
Good Luck!

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Roast Cafe

Out of the few cafes we've hopped during our #tkgbkk (stands for TK goes Bangkok, if you're curious), I have to say Roast did it best.

There's two branches located quite near each other, one at Thong Lor and the other at EmQuartier, which is at Phrom Phong BTS, which is nearer to our hostel. But somehow, due to no reviews of the EmQuartier branch found online, we took a cab to the branch at Thong Lor instead, on our last day of #tkgbkk trip. 

The Roast is located at the Top Yard of The COMMONS, which is a 5 mins' drive or 20 minutes walk away from Thong Lo BTS station. If you're insistent on not cabbing, I will recommend you visit the EmQuartier branch instead.

The place is so big and spacious I think it's more of a restaurant (that serves great coffee) instead of a cafe. We visited on a Monday morning and it was pretty empty at 10 plus in the morning, but the crowd came soon enough at 11 plus or so and they were pretty much full house. Are we truly maneki-neko or what? 

We did notice, in both CTC and Platinum Mall, that whenever we step into an empty store, a hoard of shoppers will flood in within minutes. 

It worked, EVERY SINGLE TIME, until a point when J and I were kinda bored from the senseless shopping and we just stepped into the empty store nearest to us and true enough a group of shoppers came in seconds later.

There, we brought you customers. Mission accomplished. 

Of course, let's start off with the free bread! HAHA, kidding.

But I have to say that that's really some decent bread, though. 

Caffe Latte

Comparing this with the one at Gram (review HERE), this definitely won, hands down. Proper latte art, smooth and fragrant coffee with the right amount of bitterness, which doesn't require any sugar added. 

Vanilla Bean Shake

A must try for all vanilla fans out there. Extremely rich, creamy and sweet with a strong vanilla taste. 

American Pancakes

served with crispy bacons and whipped butter

Soft and fluffy pancakes, albeit a little tasteless on their own (you know some pancakes has a slight sweetness? This doesn't.), with a shockingly huge glob of whipped butter. Needless to say that glob of fat was promptly removed from the stack and left on one side of the plate. 

Truffle Alfredo

Not a truffle fan (they smells like petrol, yikes!) but due to addition of bacon, ham and mushroom, this has a more complex and rich taste as compared to the one we had at Karmakamet Diner (review coming up real soon!). 

Seafood Stew

market seafood in tomato & white wine sauce, served with toasted baguette

This was my favourite dish of the day. The sauce/gravy was so rich and flavourful, it's a pity they didn't make a soup out of it. The seafood were generally a little overcooked (slightly tough) but that didn't really matter because the gravy was just heavenly. 

Infused with the sweetness of fresh seafood, slightly tangy from the tomato and with a savoury and mildly spicy kick, this is the dish to go for if you're a seafood fan. 

Crab Cake Benedicts 

served with potato rosti, onion jam and grilled veggies

Well, not a fan of this at all. It might be because all the serving portions were so tiny it's impossible to get a good taste of the food when split among 5 of us. That sorry looking piece of potato rosti was literally a one-bite-only, or two, if you have a smaller mouth. 

The crab cake, albeit tasty with the sweet flavour of crab meat, was the loose and crumbly kind of patty, which really didn't go very well with my palate.

Slow Roasted Fried Chicken

48 hr buttermilk and hot sauce marinated half chicken

The meat was slightly dry and tough (because I got the breast meat) but definitely flavourful. The spiciness was discreet initially and slowly creeps on you as you eat, so don't be too quick to comment that it is not spicy at all. But of course, the overall spiciness isn't something unmanageable for the typical Singaporean. 

The extra hot sauce dip serves alongside the chicken totally reminded me of Nandos, somehow.

Cranberry Brioche French Toast

I hated this. French toast and cream cheese just do not go well with each other, period. 

It was such a pity as this dish has so much potential, but they just decided to kill it by giving the french toast a thick layer of cream cheese cranberry compote filling. 

The french toast itself also pales in comparison to what we had at Gram, by the way.

Chocolate Souffle

Another meh dish. I guess Roast does savoury hot food better than their desserts or were we just plain unlucky to have ordered what they do not do well? The souffle wasn't smooth at all, and you can taste some grains of sugar here and there. It was supposed to be a chocolate souffle, but the everything 'chocolate' about it ends at the appearance. There's absolutely no chocolate taste to it, just a plain sugary sweetness.

And another boo to poor presentation. Looks like the souffle had a case of uncontrollable-diarrhoea, no? 

Roast is located at 

Unit #T1 (Roast), The COMMONS

335 Thonglor Soi 17, Sukhumvit 55

Klongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110

for information of their opening hours and menu, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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