0 Priorities refresher

What do you live for? What makes you tick? What rocks your boat?

Life is short; we all have some passion that gives our lives purpose, so as to make the best out of our temporary existence on earth. Sometimes we are guilty of chasing after material goods, wealth, experiences, certificates, medals, epicurean delights and other worldly pleasures. Personally I need to remind myself to eat to live and not vice versa. As the Bible reminds us,

Serving two masters
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 6:24

Putting God first
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:31

The antidote to greed and coveteousness, as the Pastor delivered in his message today, is to live a simple lifestyle. Eat simply, dress modestly (as in having a timeless wardrobe and not chasing after the latest fashion trends), and donate the extra time and money for good causes.

A somewhat simple breakfast for a simple lifestyle this morning: D24 cashew coconut steelies, which was in every way a tropical paradise. In case you're interested, it's steel cut oatmeal simmered for 25 min in water/soymilk (3.5:1 ratio), then D24 durian puree and Sunwarrior protein powder stirred in two minutes before serving. Finally, cashew coconut butter was drizzled on top, the heat causing it to melt instantly into milky nutty puddles.

I shall take this chance to review Sunwarrior protein powder which I had purchased online from iHerb. It has a mild, slightly malty taste which I really like. In fact it's the best tasting protein powder I ever had! Many plus points for taste. However, it doesn't dissolve as easily as soy/whey/egg protein powder. It will eventually after much vigorous stirring, and yield a rich creamy texture. No griity bits like soy protein! If you're seeking fluffiness in your protein powders, stick to egg white; Sunwarrior brown rice protein merely thickens but does not give much volume. I've been enjoying Sunwarrior daily in my oatmeals. Overall this is really one of the best protein powders and it's name lives up to the many raving reviews.

2 Harnessing the power of dollars

We all know it's in to be 'green.' Buy local. Eat sustainable. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Taglines are abound, but have these mantras actually been translated into actions? On my part, I do try to make green efforts such as bringing my own shopping bags but beyond that, not much. Which is why I decided to take up the Mindful Consumption challenge as part of the 2012 DIY Lifestyle challenge.

The DIY lifestyle challenge is the brainchild of Evon, a graphic designer and final year student at NTU School of Art, Design and Media. This project, which doubles up as her final year project, aims to inculcate sustainable lifestyle choices in urban dwellers. (If only my FYP can be as cool as hers!) There are four specific challenges in the series, targeting different aspects of DIY in every day lives: Food, Commute, Making and Mindful Consumption. I chose the latter.

Mindful consumption is about being constantly aware of the things we consume and spend money on can affects us, the community, society and the planet. It dose not only refer to the food we eat, but the TV we watch, and even the conversations we partake it. Anyway, here's what I have to do for the Mindful Consumption challenge (which has a more specific focus on tangible consumption):

• Snap a photo of everything you spend money on every day for seven days (i.e. food, clothes etc.)
• Keep a consumption diary, tracking what you bought every day and how much you spent.
• Document the above with pictures/videos and upload them in a new album on Facebook, tagging at least 3 friends

Tips are provided on the website, such as buying local, second-hand, and recyclable products, and stopping to think if "I really really need this" before buying.

Here's the breakdown for challenge Day 1 (mostly, no actually all food):

Item	Brand	Bought from	Country of origin
Steel cut oats	Bob's Red Mill	Brown Rice Paradise	US
Chocolate rice milk	Rice Dream	MarketPlace	US
Protein powder	Right 4 Your Type	Clinic	US
Pomegranate	-	Cold Storage	Australia
Coconut cashew dream	Loving Earth	Real Food Grocer	Australia
Ensure Plus	Ensure Plus	Pharmacy	Ireland
Roast chicken set lunch	-	Han's	Unknown
Royal Gala apples	-	Cold Storage	US
Red cherries	-	Cold Storage	US
Green bell pepper	-	Cold Storage	Malaysia?
Coriander	-	Cold Storage	Malaysia
Jazz apple	-	Cold Storage	US
Salmon	-	NTUC	Atlantic ocean?

Wow! I really ought to hang my head in shame. My food comes from all sorts of far-flung places except local soil. My carbon footprint must be as huge as a dinosaur's one. It doesn't help that Singapore virtually has nil farms. At least it's good to know that Bob's Red Mill is a small business in Oregon (started as family-run but recently turned employee-owned) and not to mention their steel cut oats have cinched the Golden Spurtle Awards How cute is that? I think I could try to switch to local soy milk although I find the taste vastly different from Silk soy; it has a very strong beany taste. Or am I just being atas? As far as fruits go, US apples are by far the best (Jazz, Fuji, Granny Smith, Ambrosia, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady). Sure China has Fuji too, and thus more 'regional,' but it's just inferior in taste (watery apples anyone?)

It's so difficult to strike a balance between local, organic, quality and variety. Of course the ideal situation would be local and organic, of high quality and great variety. I think Day 1 of this exercise has revealed a lot of points to ponder upon, and that this following week will uncover even more of the politics of consumption.

4 Sign me up

I persuaded Mum to sign up for Biblethon, a church effort to handwrite the whole Bible. Yep you heard that right. It's a three-prong exercise to celebrate our church (Wesley) upgrading project, to emphasise spiritual building (and not just building of physical structures), and to reinforce this year's theme of 'Speak Good Bible'. We each get 15 minutes to write a number of verses, and the final handwritten Bible will be displayed at the church's archives. I think it's quite an innovative idea to bring people together. I also signed up for a talk called 'How Do I Know God's Will?' Everybody faces some identity crisis now and then, and since it's only two hours and at a reasonable price, I thought it wouldn't hurt to go. It will be my first time attending a church talk though.

Did some atas grocery shopping which put me in a very good mood, albeit significantly poorer. ThreeSixty at Ion has spruced up its line of products; it's range is now even more exclusive - and expensive. Extra virgin olive oils, authentic balsamic vinegars (from the region of Modena or Emilia Reggio and aged at least 12 years), Japanese mini-watermelons at 38 bucks and a mango at freakish 128 bucks! The cheapo me bought varlhona guanaja (70% dark chocolate) just because it was going 2 for the price of 1. I also bought a jar of dried porcini mushrooms which would come in very handy for risottos and soups, and a mini jar of fig jam by Hediard. At realfoodgrocer (Killiney Road), I finally found coconut cashew cream. Coconut oil is now sold at many places including specialty supermarts, but coconut butter is still a tough find. I have yet to find pure coconut butter (without mixing with other nuts).

And last but not least, a very stimulating breakfast that I had this morning, both in terms of color and taste. All my favorite ingredients in a bowl!

Should I or should I not volunteer for SIWW?

4 Dreams to reality

My dream retail business
Have you ever woke up one day with a brilliant bold idea? For most of my life I've always thought (or have been influenced to believe) that I would end up working in the health/medical/research industry. With graduation impending (about 1 year to go), I've been giving my prospective career more thought. One day I was playing around the Internet, trying to order some Wild Squirrel peanut butter but it ended up that they don't export to Singapore. This is not the first time I've encountered problems in shipping things to Singapore and then it dawned on me that I could be a food purveyor and retailer, specializing in artisanal, unique foods sourced from all over the world. Similar concepts in Singapore would be Brown Rice Paradise, Supernature or Cut the Mustard.

This is totally a wild idea but, why not?

To introduce a fresh concept that has not yet been seen in Singapore, my store would have a bulk bin section for grains, cereals and beans. I first encountered this in Whole Foods (London) and found it extremely useful especially if you just need a small amount of a certain ingredient. There could also be an in-house cafe featuring the products sold and/or homemade products. I could even start my own product line of nut butter and nut milks, sold at a much more competitive price. As for interior design, I'd imagine it to take on a rustic Scandinavian look, that is, lots of whites, light and distressed wood. Possible names for my business would be: Rise for Break Fast (with a focus on breakfast goods) or Pantry Staples (more holistic).

At this point in time, I know nuts about conducting a business, branding and contacts. Maybe I should ask if there's any vacancy at BRP. After all, I still haven't got any proper thing to do during this hols. Does that mean my last three years (four when I graduate) in Life Sciences will be a waste?

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I feel like I'm just letting each day slip by. Today was yet another uneventful day. Well, at least I made cashew milk in the morning. Then I went TPCC to (finally) register for Passion Card. So now at least I get to present my card when shopping at Cold Storage when the cashier asks. Anyway there was a 5-year membership promotion of $6 (usual price $15 - more than 50% discount!) if you sign up for PA membership and a PA course. I picked the chocolate making class. It's a one-day class, three hours in fact sometime in June. I'm not sure how much you can pick up in just three hours but I think it's going to be fun and a new experience.

Maybe another reason why I'm feeling so dejected has got to do with being rejected by the Prof. After patiently waiting for more than a month, I sent him a reminder email, and to that he said, "thank you for your interest, I have found another student." Err... so thanks, but at least he should have bothered to get back sooner? I've set up another appointment with another Prof next week. He hails from China, works in neurodevelopment, and now I've got some readings to do.

I've just created an Etsy account for no particular reason. I thought it may be useful in my future business, which at this point in time have no idea what it will be. Soap making?

Came across a Natural Chef program in Bauman College in the US. My head is in a whizz now. Good night.

1 Waffleton

Vans blueberry waffles were at half-price! Obviously I couldn't pass up the chance of not buying it, despite its expiry date drawing imminently near (1 Apr to be exact). I've tried the original one before and loved it, so I was pretty excited to try the blueberry.

It was blueberry domination. You could smell the the sweet fragrance of blueberries even when the waffles was in its frozen state. A start to a promising meal indeed. You could see specks of blue dotted through the waffles. And most importantly, you could taste the ephemeral blueberries; unlike most commercial brands where "blueberries" is synonymous with sickeningly sweet artificial blueberry syrup flavor, Vans was real and natural. My only gripe was that the waffles didn't get as crisp as I would have liked; perhaps that may be remedied by toasting it a bit longer. I had the waffle smothered in my homemade cashew butter and topped with the sweetest yellow peach ever. It's good to switch from oatmeal once in a while, you know [except that these waffles are wheat-based].

I can't believe its WEEK 11 already. So many things to do, so little time. 2 more thousand-word essays, 1 software to complete, 1 more short essay, 1 presentation and 4 exams to go.

4 Fourth time's the success

I'm getting better at this.
First time ultimate fail;
Second time with cashew butter, better but clumpy
Third time with peanut butter, still clumpy
Fourth time with cashew butter (and 1/2 tbsp walnut oil) - thick and creamy!

The key to success - patience, patience, patience. And a high threshold to noise.

0 A new interpretation

BKF: (overripe-till-the-point-of-mush) Sweet Tentation pear steel cutters + sunflower seeds + cashew buter and more cashew nuts

Mid-morn: Ensure Plus (vanilla)

Lunch*: 4 kimchi dumplings, >1/2 Old School PB&Jelly Probar, >1/2 Korean Fuji apple, 1 sesame cookie

Dinner: brown rice, sutchi (so sick of sutchi (angry face), steamed bokchoy, chicken leek soup, 4 slices watermelon

*Lunch was a hodgepodge of randomness, because I didn't like pappy's food (there wasn't any left but even if there was I wouldn't have had it) and by the time I reached home is was half-past-two so I didn't feel like cooking up a storm. But after consuming all those junk (esp the sesame cookie), I felt a tiny tinge of guilt especially when considering the high amount of sodium and sugar, plus no veg. But I soon got over it.

I was quite excited about the PB&Jelly Probar, and the name 'Old School' invokes further nostalgia and cravings for this classic. Come on, who can say no to PB&J? But my anticipation gave way to slight disappointment. Not that it was bad in any way; in fact it was yums in all its glory - chewy oats, crunchy sunflower seeds and almonds, dried fruits pieces here and there - but it was nowhere as good as the cocoa pistachio (those choco nibs!). That bar set a new gold standard! The PB&Jelly bar lacked a distinct peanut flavour. More peanut butter would be appreciated. Nevertheless, I liked their interpretation of 'jelly,' in which raspberries and natural raspberry flavour was used instead of say, jam. Unfortunately, as mentioned, there wasn't enough peanut flavour to complement the raspberries.

Last time I used to eat by serving size i.e. I must complete exactly 3/4 bowl of rice, palm-size protein and x amt of veg, regardless of how hungry/full I actually was. However, now I'm beginning to eat by judging my satiety level, which is working out pretty well at the moment, because I realize my previous 'assigned' portions were not really satisfactory; it had room to include more. I should have made the switch earlier; maybe it was a routine that I feared to break out of, but I'm glad I did. The initial step is always the hardest. Now that the momentum's here and inertia is overcome, I'm not so staunch against changes.

Weekend's here, but no cheer for me. :(

0 What it takes

I'm currently reading up on hypermetabolism - a physiological state of increased rate of metabolic activity. Research has shown that although patients with AN are hypometabolic during the starved state (conservation of energy, glucose-sparing), they become hypermetabolic during refeeding. It appears to be counter-productive to the body and why this is so remains unclear. Nonetheless, this increase in metabolic rate can slow the rate of weight gain by significantly increasing caloric requirements beyond what can be predicted by the increase in body weight. As summarized neatly in a study by Garber (2011):

Obarzanek et al demonstrated an increase in REE (resting energy expenditure) of 21% over baseline when calorie intake advanced from 1,105 to 2,105 calories, and a further increase of 63% over baseline at an intake of 3,216 calories [10]. Van Wymelbeke et al (2004) showed 13% increase in REE when calories increased from 823 to 2,057 in 1 week, with a total increase of 43% over baseline after 10 weeks of feeding, when subjects reached 2,615 calories [9]. These increases are partly due to increases in the energy required to process, digest, and absorb nutrients, or the thermic effect of feeding (TEF) [7], [12], [13]. However, increased TEF does not completely explain the dramatically elevated metabolic needs during refeeding in AN patients. More recent studies have shown that psychological factors, including anxiety, depression, and fear of weight gain, may contribute to the hypermetabolic state [9], [12], [16]. Rigaud et al administered blind loads (such that patients were unaware of the calories ingested) to AN patients through tube feeding and demonstrated a calorie-dependent increase in REE [12]. This study demonstrated unadjusted correlations between TEF and increased calories, plasma cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and catecholamines, decreased beta-endorphin, fear of becoming fat, and feelings of satiety and anxiety. These findings underscore the complexity associated with energy expenditure in AN.

The conclusion of another study speaks much for the sentiments expressed by many recovering AN:

According to our results, a body-weight gain of 150 g/d requires the intake of not only the assumed 6500 kJ but also a further 4500 kJ (ie,11 000 kJ, or 2630 kcal/d), or 300 kJ (ie, 75 kcal)/kg body weight/d. One can understand why it is so difficult in such conditions to obtain a weight gain of >1 kg/wk. And thus, it is often unfair to accuse most of these AN patients of discarding their food when they do not gain body weight.

When I read that, I was like MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY! So many people just think that we don't eat or refuse to eat when we actually make tremendous effort to put on weight. They don't realize the body is so much more complex than input>output. That said, now that I am more educated on the prospect of my body of being in a hypermetabolic state, I too must be more conscious of how much more effort I must put in and eat eat eat. On forums, recovering ANs talk about having a minimum of 3000-4000 kcal/day just to kick start the weight gain process. Based on my current diet plan, I don't think I hit anywhere near that. Time to change that.

References
Garber AK et al (2011) A prospective examination of weight gain in hospitalized adolescents with anorexia nervosa on a recommended refeeding protocol. J Adol Health 24-29.
Wymelbeke VV et al (2004) Factors associated with the increase in resting energy expenditure during refeeding in malnourished anorexia nervosa patients. Am J Clin Nutr 1469-1477.

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Yesterday I attempted again to make my own nut butter. My first attempt was quite long ago, with almond butter. It turned out disastrous, more like chopped nuts than a butter. I used a blender then. This time round with cashew butter, I used a chopper which yielded better results, though still on the crumbly side and far from the gold creamy standards of Artisana. I did add oil - walnut oil - while processing; maybe I added too little? It was 2 teaspoons I think. I had some for breakfast (protein oatmeal/Magoo's granola) and it tasted not bad, though I would skip the soaking step cause I think it washed away some of the flavour. Being packed in a generic plastic vacuum bag without any indication of it being raw or roasted, I thought the precautionary soaking step would be better. Finally finished the last of the durians (3 entire durians in 4 days). Scrummy till the last seed :)

Today before Heritage I went to Mac Commons. Quiet and spacious, with luxurious iMacs, huge tables and comfy chairs, this is an ideal studying place... except the cold from the blasting air-con, as usual.