What I eat in a week #3
Hi everyone! Thanks for dropping by to week 3 of documenting my week of eats. This week was slightly different because I did a week of volunteering with my school’s Lower School pupils. As a result, I had to eat with them for lunch, which starts at ~11:30am. I was really scared of eating so early because this meant that it wouldn’t for another 4 hours before I can have my afternoon snack/fuel for workout. That said, I actually adapted to the new schedule relatively quick and perhaps because I was very busy during the afternoons, I didn’t feel much hunger.
Continue reading to find out about more of my thoughts on hunger!
Breakfast
Breakfast was as normal: High in protein to help me feel satiated. Though my portions aren’t big, and perhaps I can add some carbs for energy, I find that the extra food doesn’t make a different in satiety. Again, breakfast is my least interesting-looking meal, but I find joy in it. A habit I highly recommend more people adopting is enjoying your breakfast. I know, sounds obvious, but really tasting what you’re putting into your mouth allows your brain to process and assess your satiety levels better. Here’s a study I read to learn about this. On the flip side, this is also why I highly oppose (yet empathize with) the short lunchtimes at school, (15-20minutes) due to the sheer number of people the canteen has to serve in 1 hour. I can barely enjoy my lunch, let alone relaxing or talking to my friends! #justiceforlongerlunches
Lunch
As I mentioned, I was worried about eating lunch at 11:30am because it was an hour earlier than what I’d been used to, so I didn’t know how my body would feel not being able to eat for so many hours. However, I found that I actually preferred this time slot for school days, given that my breakfast time is typically at 6:30am. It became much easier to balance my appetite with eating intervals of 4–5 hours, rather than baring through 6 hours from breakfast to lunch.
One might ask: Winnie, aren’t there breaks for snacks between lessons? And my answer would be yes, there is. But I prefer not to eat the school snacks which typically consists of nothing but carbs (e.g. steamed buns or pastry). I know that not only will I not feel full afterwards, I will only crave lunch even more.
When scrolling on social media, I always see fitness influencers preach the necessity to feel hungry all the time or before going to bed to lose weight. Not only does this incentive promote some audience towards extreme dieting and possibly developing a fear for food, this is also simply untrue. After reading multiple studies, I’ve learned that what’s more important is creating a caloric deficit, and your meal times generally don’t matter unless you actively train. A person could have gorged down three cheeseburgers and five doughnuts first thing in the morning yet still feel hungry going to bed. Can they still lose weight? I don’t think so.
What’s more important is to focus on the quality of the food being consumed, as well as ensuring that they are consumed in suitable proportions. This is why I like to consume a larger-sized dinner, with lots of protein and moderate carbs. It helps me heal mentally after a long and tiring day. Of course, I try to not eat until my stomach hurts, but solely focusing on satiety before bed is insufficient for weight loss.
On another note, I have been loving the lunches I eat in school as well as outside during weekends! Since my schedules are often packed even in the weekends, I have found a few gems around the city offering roasted chicken breast with a few sides. I have developed an addiction for chicken breast (as you may have seen), so adding a few sides like sweet potatoes or veggies makes a perfect lunch. On Sunday, when I had a little more time, I was craving a Japanese-style beef rice bowl, so I assembled it myself! Home-cooking allows you to put as many goodies in your bowl as you’d like, whilst controlling everything that you consume. I mixed cauliflower rice with steamed white rice to increase the portion size, as well as adding some onions and mushrooms for extra fiber. The bowl was filling and delicious, but I definitely think I can be a little more generous with the savory sauce for extra flavor. Can’t wait to try this again!
Dinner
Like I said, I love a big dinner to reward myself after a long day. As you can see, I order from the same restaurants/takeaway every week because, well, their food is so comforting yet minimally processed, so I never feel sick afterward. I must caution, though, that I don’t finish everything all at once for every single meal, so rather than wasting the food (e.g. the sweet potatoes in the picture), I just save it for the next day. Speaking of which, I miss eating these go-to dishes again. Cannot wait for next week’s eats!
Indulgences/snacks
I must say, I don’t indulge often, and the secret to that is eating protein bars. Speaking purely based on ingredients, they are still comparatively healthier than traditional baked goods and sweets by containing ~15-20g of protein. Taste-wise, they are certainly not better than a rich, gooey homemade brownie, but if you choose the right brands and flavor, their taste gets extremely close to the real thing and your craving is often satisfied. Again, back to the going-to-bed-hungry argument, I disagree because these protein bars act like my late-night snack before I get ready for bed, and I’ve seen no negative effects resulting from this. I am aware of all the controversies around sugar alcohols, however, no certain conclusion has been made regarding their effects and since they do an amazing job satisfying my sweet tooth, I don’t mind them!
My two main real indulgences for the week were a mocha egg tart and a bowl of Cantonese-style double-boiled milk pudding 双皮奶 (phew, what a name!). They were sooooo good, and I’m salivating just thinking about them! The egg tart was slightly flaky and caramelized on the outside, whilst also packing a pungent coffee taste in the gooey inside. If you’re ever in Hong Kong, I highly recommend the Soft Thunder bakery. Also, perhaps even more soul-soothing, the hot double-boiled milk pudding was silky smooth and not too sweet. Though to many Westerns this seem like a strange and even unappetizing dessert, but it’s a true Cantonese staple and don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! Despite being a local, I’ve never really had the change to enjoy Cantonese desserts, and I hope to change that in the coming weeks of eats.
It’s fascinating to me how drinks, desserts and baked goods I used to eat on a daily basis can now fuel my entire week of happiness and help heal my day after treating them as indulgences. By keeping a certain level of discipline throughout my week, I especially treasure every moment of eating something sweet or going to a long-anticipated restaurant. That said, obviously this makes choosing where to go extremely difficult, especially in Hong Kong, where I’ve truly grown to love and appreciate as one of the world’s leading food capitals.
Even without realizing, I’ve blabbered on so much about so many things in this week’s eating diary! Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog and I hope you’ve learned something new or felt strongly about one of the hot topics I briefly mentioned. Definitely reach out to me if anyone likes to talk about any of the topics further! As always, I cannot wait for next week’s eats!
Thanks for reading, and see you all in a bit.
-Winnie 24/11/2024
