Day Three, 3/2

I shall skip over my breakfast as it's the same as the previous two days, and so's the 'mid-morning-to-afternoon' snack of almonds. However, I'll still take into account the nutritional information.

Then I headed out for Chinese New Year visitations! For the pork floss rolls, I'll estimate my intake to one serving, which equates to 228kcal, 14g total fat, 9.6g saturated fat (a lot!), and 412mg of sodium. As for pineapple tarts, I consumed 328kcal, only 4g of protein (that's 1g/per tart), 11g carbohydrates, 4g of fat and 58mg sodium. The pastry has 292kcal, 15g total fat, 9.1g saturated fat, only 1.1g dietary fibre, 11g sugar and 143mg sodium. The wafer has 19kcal and 0.2g saturated fat, as well as 4g carbohydrates. My cereal cookie had 49kcal, only 7g carbohydrates and 61mg sodium. I think all these values are the reason for the number of healthy diet articles popping up during CNY season.

The pork floss rolls were surprisingly not as salty as I had expected them to be, but still it was quite a lot. I think from the values of the nutritional information of CNY goodies, they don't give a lot of energy as they are low in carbohydrates and fibre; rather, they are high in sodium, fat and sugar. Not to mention that they are really high in calories too!

My daily apple had 130kcal, 34g carbohydrates, 25g sugar and 5.0g dietary fibre; my Vitasoy had 128kcal and 19g carbohydrates. I think that these values are reasonable and they add some moderation to my, thus far, fattening diet... even if I had another pineapple tart after this.

I continued to have ANOTHER wafer and ANOTHER pineapple tart, before having a dinner of white rice with mapo tofu. The rice has 205kcal, 0.4g total fat and 44.5g carbohydrates, which is 15%; I think, this is why people eat rice for energy. The tofu adds another 226kcal, 17g total fat, of which 4.5g are saturated fats, 17g protein, only 1.0g dietary fibre and 307mg sodium. I didn't look up the values for the other minerals that tofu contains, although it is said to be a 'miracle food'.

I think, once in a while, it is okay to 'pig out' a bit, especially if it is for special occasions like Chinese New Year or a birthday celebration. However, the key to healthy eating is moderation and variety, and so we have to balance out our guilt-inducing snacks with healthy, fresh alternatives like vegetables and fruits. This can be done using the healthy food pyramid.

Even though the goodies might taste very good, it's a bit scary once you look at the values. I can't imagine being a nutritionist and instead of holding a delectable pineapple tart in my hand, I would be holding sodium and fat and sugar instead.

As long as we balance out our fats, oils and sugars with the appropriate amounts of fibre, carbohydrates and healthy fats, not to mention proteins, I think everyone should be given a bit of leeway when it comes to issues like what we eat. For example, my diet today is a drastic change from my usual diet (see Day One) but it is not as if I eat snacks every single day.

In reference to my diet, I think some things could have been changed; first of all, I could have eaten simply steamed tofu instead of mapo tofu, and the white rice could have been changed to brown rice. I also have 'sort of' an explanation for the amount of pineapple tarts: I wanted to see which brand tasted the best! Little did I know how much sugar and fats and sodium they contained. However, I think the granola bar, milk and almonds were good to start off the day with, especially since they contained fiber, calcium and monounsaturated fats that the snacks were lacking.

In conclusion, I think this entire experience of recording down my food intake has been very fruitful and interesting. I've been given the opportunity and incentive to find out what exactly I am eating; something that every consumer has the ability to do, but not everyone does so. Now, I'm able to plan out meals healthily and understand just how much nutrition I need for the day, as well as the importance of moderation.