As a Singaporean, our list of struggles is endless. Money, ambition, relationships, how Singapore is NOT a part of China etc. But have you tried opening up a search engine and searched “diet plans for fat loss” or “how to lose weight”? The top most common results I personally always find include:
- eat high-protein meals
- avoid food high in sugar
- fat-burning meal plan ideas
- exercise at least 3 to 5 times a week
Okay, the search results make sense to me. BUT.
So this is where my struggles as an Asian Singaporean come in. First and foremost, almost all of the search results are by our dear angmor counterparts. As Asians, we grew up eating rice and noodles, or any form of carbs, as 70% of our main meal. Just picture our typical Singaporean dishes, such as Bak Chor Mee, Chicken rice, Nasi Lemak, Ban Mian, Cai Fan. Noodles, rice, rice, noodles, rice.
Can you imagine going to a cai fan stall with your order be like: “Less rice. No, lesser. Lesser. Ah ok. Two portions of that steamed chicken. Oh, the pieces with no skin, please. And two portions of that broccoli and cauliflower stir fry, but please drain out the zhup. No sauce.” Not only will the stall uncle judge you, so will the auntie behind you. And I confirm-plus-chop your plate of cai fan will cost you $5+.
That being said, I am not saying that the diets or meal plans do not work for us. There are ample Singaporeans that are shredded and fit. They simply have much more discipline and perseverance than I do (obviously).
There are many different types of food out there that can replace our conventional carbs, such as consuming quinoa or sweet potato instead. Or even switching out white rice for brown rice, and spaghetti for wholemeal spaghetti. But did I mention how I do not like quinoa, sweet potato or wholemeal spaghetti? Did I also mention that some of the healthier alternatives cost so much more?
Singapore is like that lor.
My struggle is how sometimes I am tired. I just want to grab something from the kopitiam 5-mins walk away from my house, that costs $3 to $4. That’s it. Just something delicious, something to fill me up. What healthy meal options do I have that are high in protein or low in sugar (i.e. white carbs), and cost less than $5? Have. I can only think of one dish. Sliced fish soup. But hor, I jiak buay pak leh. Clear soup with 4 to 5 small cubes of silken tofu, 4 to 5 slices of fish, and a few mouthfuls of veggies simply does not fill me up. At least not for long.
My only advice to anyone who wants to eat clean is simply to spend more. When I say spend more, I do not only refer to money, but also to time and effort.
Money-wise:
Try the cai fan example I gave earlier. Get multiple portions of white meats, steamed or stewed, as well as heaps of vegetables (not curry veg or potato, please hor). The steamed egg is a good addition too. If there is enough liao already, you can refrain from getting any rice at all. Otherwise, half portion of rice is ok too. But like I said, this does not come cheap. 1 portion of meat can easily cost $1.50 to $2.50, and veggies usually $1.
Another alternative is to order from western stalls instead, ordering mains such as chicken, fish, or beef. You can simply request for no sauce, which is usually super high in sodium and is often doused over the meat. Switch out the side of fries to veggies. Sometimes, the portion of meat is small and insufficient. You can ask for an upsize for a few dollars, or just simply order two sets. Normally, a plate of chicken chop costs about $5, $7 to $8 if you upsize. So might as well order two sets for $10. But of course, fish and beef will definitely cost more.
If money is not an issue for you, or if you do not mind spending more for convenience and your health, go to cafes or stores that allow you to build your own bowl. They are definitely not cheap because I don’t think $10 is even enough. Or you can order dishes like Pan Seared Salmon and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with a side of Broccoli. If it costs under $15 nett, I already 谢天谢地. But I’m not ballin’, so this is definitely a long-long-one-time kind of thing.
If you are a Crazy Rich Asian, it couldn’t be simpler. Hire a diet coach, a nutritionist, a personal chef. Or you can order from companies that deliver your food to you weekly. They provide you with a menu and a breakdown of the macros and calories. You just have to choose the meals you want from the menu, and make your payment. Usually, they do not charge per meal but per set. For example, a set of 15 meals a week for $180. So from their breakfast menu you pick 5 meals, lunch menu you pick 5, and dinner menu you pick 5. I personally have not tried this and I don’t think I ever will because I don’t spend $180 on food in a week. But I do know MMA World Champion Angela Lee has her food delivered as such. I don’t know hor, I’m not a world champion.
Many angmor YouTubers I have seen use many healthy and convenient alternatives like cauliflower rice or frozen pre-cut vegetables. They just simply pour them into their pan. Where can I buy cauliflower rice in Singapore though? Frozen pre-cut broccoli is like $6 a packet if I am not mistaken. A fresh un-cut floret of broccoli is like $1+. I believe that if I was rich or if I was living in an angmor country with an ok income, a healthy diet will be a lot less dreadful.
Time and effort-wise:
Spend the time to do research. Not only will you learn more about dieting, you will be surprised at how some diet myths that you and I commonly know are not only false, but some can even lead to adverse effects such as health complications like diabetes. But disclaimer hor, I am not certified nor a professional. I do my own research and readings in almost all my free time because of my interest, therefore have constructed my own set of beliefs. My point is, educate yourself sistar!
Preparing your own meals definitely helps your diet because you know exactly what you are putting into your mouth. There are plenty of recipes and meal ideas online that are accessible for free. But again, I do not have the time and I’m too lazy. Imagine this: I am going to have pan-seared salmon and steamed broccoli. If you have been grocery shopping, you will know that broccoli comes in a big floret. After cutting it up into pieces, you will realise that it is a god damn lot of broccoli. I probably have half of them with my salmon. What about the other half? Now I have to think of another dish. Maybe stir-fried broccoli with tofu and minced pork? I don’t know about you but I doubt I need the entire packet of minced pork for one meal. How now brown cow? Steamed eggs with mixed veggies and the remaining minced pork? But the mixed veggies comes in one big packet right? Do you see my point now?
If you do not have the problem of having fresh food spoiled in your fridge then props to you. You will definitely be able to eat healthier and shed some weight by preparing your own meals. This brings me on to my next point, meal-prepping.
What I hate about meal-preps is how you prepare meals in a container, all weighed and macros measured, and store them in your fridge. You basically heat them up before consuming. I only have one word to describe the food: overcooked. Everything is overcooked, from your broccoli becoming nua and your meat becoming tough. If you meal-prep on Sunday, and bring your food to the office on Monday, you have to first thank god that your office has a microwave. But where can you eat? Are you allowed to eat at your desk or only at the pantry? If you usually eat with your colleagues, are you still going to go for lunch with them? If they eat outside, is outside food allowed? Will you be tempted by what they are having? And imagine your food on Thursday which you had prepared on Sunday. Uh-huh.
I personally have meal-prepped for a period of time. But I prefer to do it when I am home often. Meaning that if I have school or work 5-days a week, then no I do not meal-prep. Because let’s face it. If you have school everyday, weekends are definitely spent doing school work or going out the entire day. And if you work, the chances of you nua-ing at home or catching up with friends over the weekends are super high. You have to first plan what to cook and what to buy, before actually heading out to get the items. After getting home, you have to wash, cut, peel, season, marinate etc. If you are tracking, you have to count macros and weigh your ingredients as well. Easily half to two-third of the day is gone. And many times, I end up not eating the food I had prepped and had to throw them away.
In Singapore, everyone is overworked in my opinion. In school, students want good grades and good CCA records. So we study, go to tuition, go for training, or go for club meetings and attend events. At work, we OT. If your manager or seniors don’t leave, you dare not leave too. Or we simply have too much work that we bring them home. Sometimes, we work part-time for extra income. Some people even volunteer in their free time.
Often, we watch YouTube videos or read articles about people leading a healthy lifestyle. But in my experience, most of them are freelancers, influencers, or fitness is just how they make a living. So yes, they do not take our typical lifestyle into consideration, neither do they take our culture and upbringing into consideration.
Once again, I am not saying that it is impossible to be fit and healthy in Singapore. I am saying that it is extremely difficult, at least for me. It took me a span of four years to lose 20kg, when I have watched videos of people who have done it in a year or two and in the videos I have watched, none of them are Singaporeans.
I am still experimenting, trying to find a diet and lifestyle that is sustainable for me. I mean, I do not see myself meal-prepping for the next 20 or 30 years of my life. Maybe what suits me is a combination of different diets, who knows?
I personally tried a yong tau foo diet (self-invented), where all I ate was yong tau foo or ytf for short. This type of ytf stall is the type where you pick the liao that you want, and choose your base and your carb. For my diet, I picked only non-fried items and no meat. Plus, I only had it soup or dry, with no sauce and no carb. So imagine hardboiled eggs, tofu, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach. The only sauce I allowed myself to is soy sauce with chilli padi. I ate ytf for a year in poly, with cheat meals probably about once a week. Needless to say, the weight came off. If you are schooling and there is a ytf store in your school canteen, try out this diet. You technically have nowhere else to eat while at school, and you still get to eat with your friends. Just don’t get tempted by whatever your friends are having. The ytf meal can pack a mere 300 to 500 calories, and cost you from $3.50 to maybe $5 a meal. So this diet worked wonders for me during my poly days, plus I don’t get stuck on the same liao every single time. Not that bad la! I don’t take breakfast, even now. Therefore, my calories came from mainly lunch and dinner. There is no point in the ytf diet for lunch if I ate junk for dinner. So yes, dinner was always restricted. I remember dabao-ing sliced fish soup home, and adding more tofu and veggies in so that it was filling. If I were to eat out, I would spend more at restaurants for salads (sauce on the side) as my main, and only drink water or sugarless teas like earl grey or green tea.
The ytf diet worked for me at that point in my life. As my life changes, my diet and lifestyle choices have to change as well. So the researching and experimenting never stops. But one thing for sure is that as a Singaporean Asian, I wish that all Bak Chor Mee stalls have a diet version that uses shirataki noodles, has vegetables and guilt-free zhup that costs under $5! IS THIS TOO MUCH TO ASK?
The Ocean Rebel 