Meatless

So last weekend I went to 4 Fingers and end up ordering their Tofu and Mushroom salad and thought it tasted not bad.
Then I thought - why not not eat meat for a week? I've been wanting to try this but didn't have the balls  resolution to do so so why not now - anyway there's no harm, is there? I have several vegetarian friends(by religion, not choice) but none of my friends were vegan.

Just a clarification, the definitions:
Veganism: practice of abstaining the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as following an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals
Vegetarianism: the practice of abstaining the consumption of meat, may also include the by-products of animal slaughter
(adopted from Wikipedia)

Most of my non-meat eating friends were ovo-lacto vegetarian - meaning they just don't eat meat, but dairy and eggs, and its by-products(e.g. whey protein, creatine) were allowed. Or so I think its the definition of their dietary status.

So for one week I tried staying away from any kind of meat(includes my brother's nearly expired strawberry flavoured whey protein, eggs) and any obvious sources of dairy like my usual cow's milk with my overnight oats, and milk chocolate!!! Oh goodness. Life without chocolate sucked the life force out of me. However I did eat bread, so i guess I'm not entirely successful in being strictly vegetarian. Thank you Nabisco for making Oreos vegan!!!

At first it was to train my resilience and lets just say I have ZERO tolerance to food and if I could make through this, I'd prolly be able to be disciplined enough to do other things in life and set my priorities straight. Then I heard about the benefits of going meatless, loosely mentioned in random conversations:

(note that these are subjective and not ENTIRELY TRUE) in a way or another, as our bodies work differently and are idiosyncratic
(taken from here and here)

1. Lose weight - vegetables carry bulk but not calories.
2. Reducing exposure to added antibiotics, hormones, and all that lab stuff they inject into animals and their products
3. Our bodies can't digest milk(or rather, lactose) properly after being weaned out. Removing dairy clears the digestive system and underlying lactose intolerance.

I probably can find a whole other reasons to support and at the same time disapprove of the benefits but lets just put it as that. Also, the whole science and theories behind it but it'll probably bore you and make you not ever visit this place again.

and so I decided to pack my lunches(school lunches were a huge load of rice and with a tiny amount of meat anyway): meatless, cheeseless, etc etc etc



1. Miso boiled red rice, pan fried tofu, baby carrot, broccoli and japanese cucumber
2. Miso boiled red rice, Pan fried tofu sesame oil and shoyu tofu, pan fried mini portobello mushroom
3. Sprouted wheat bread(best stuff ever), chunky skippys, pomegranate arils
4. Overnight oats and chia seed in soy milk, dried cranberries, walnuts, pomegranate and goldfish crackers and oreoes

Some meals I've eaten in the course of going meatless! More can be found on instagram :-)

The experience? What I felt during my week of going no meat and minimal dairy:
1. Staring at my friend's chicken rice/chicken chop/fish and chips sadly
2. Clearer system - my bodily functions were more optimal: I could feel less breathless during exercise, feel more energetic, digestive system was also more effective in doing its usual thing. If you know what I mean. Stuff inside were moving more.
3. Cravings for meat were strangely not VERY much. It was kind of bearable.
4. Feeling more airy - less groggy and bloated - this was one of the better benefits I got out of this week to be honest as I felt better and healthier in general in a sense?
5. Farted like crazy (sorry)
6. I lost 1kg in the first 2 days, and then weight became stagnant(not sure because it was meatless or)

Overall a very interesting experience but I wouldn't go long term vegetarian, maybe going flexitarian sounds like a good choice (see semi-vegetarian)!!

On a side note I found Hershey's soymilk at NTUC the other day!!


And also to the person on ask.fm, I made oat cookies to bring to school as snacks :-) Good to try if you don't like the taste of oats/oatmeal

Healthiest ever cookies

Ingredients:

cookie dough

3.5 cup whole rolled oats(250ml cup)

5 large bananas

toppings

100ml dried cranberries

3 tbsp chocolate chips

A handful of walnuts

cinnamon

1. Blend 3 cups of oats till it becomes oat flour, but not to a very fine consistency

2. Mash bananas(blending is more efficient though)

3. Mix oat flour and bananas into a mixing bowl, together with the whole oats

4. Add cranberries, chocolate chips, walnuts and cinnamon

5. It should be between a cookie dough, but slightly more firm. If too watery, add oats. If too dry, add half a mashed banana and mix again.

6. Cover baking tray with vegetable oil(so that cookies won't stick) and make cookies with mixture. Make sure cookies are about the same size so that they all will cook at the same time. 

7. Preheat oven

8. Pop cookies into oven 

9. Bake for 20 mins, 170c(not sure about this as my oven is abit wonky, do check other 2 ingredient oat cookie receipes online)

Makes about 22 cookies. Each cookie is about 100 calories. Toppings can be changed to liking but calorie content will change too.

Do feedback on ask.fm/beefballs with questions/etc :-)

Past week

(From my Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, processed with VSCO)

The photo quality gives me a headache... Sorry for anyone who's reading this if its doing it to you too. Anyway here's how I spent my holiday in a nutshell thus far? Not everything is documented(obviously)....
And so I've been trying out part-time jobs in the F&B industry so that I can earn money so I don't stay at home broke and crying and lets just say I'm not cut out for it. Not even surprised if I piss any of the guests off.
In the pockets of days that I'm not working I'm either cooking, shopping or getting creative. And other times are left for training. And stalking London Fashion Week.
Thought it'll be kinda erm. Cool? To post what I have for lunch/dinner on work days(they provide food before work. Yay free food! Never say no to food.)

1. Work Lunch #1

2. Work Lunch #2

3. Work Lunch #3

4. Work.. Dessert? From the same workplace as work lunch #3

5. Sneaks for thelabcoat re-launch(I need to step up my game, brains getting rusty... Drop me an ask on my ask.fm if you have any suggestions)

6. Random breakfast(and people thought I eat salad all the time)

7. Random home lunch. Got too lazy to cook everything individually so just threw everything together into one giant omelette.

8. Knit pouch for my MP3(which has taken quite abit of abuse from the other things in my bag.... sorry)

9. New dangly earrings!!! Normally I stay with studs but studs are a hassle now that I have to take them on and off all the time. Probably would go back to get more. Switch up my look maybe. And thank goodness I didn't throw the random corkboard I bought from Daiso because it has now been given a new lease of life!

Trying to keep my holidays not only consisting of being in bed/pigging out/watching tv or shows or youtube videos..... Going pretty well. Hyped for the rest of my holidays.

But not for my results.... Bleargh. Fingers crossed.

Mini shoe haul

(Patent slingback pointed toe flats & neon Juju heels, Topshop)

Scored these two pairs of shoes for real cheap at Topshop the other day and I'm really happy!!! Trying to find a pair of flats which are not too girly/kawaii feel and these fits the bill. Really loving the pointed toe detail!

I've been wanting a pair of Jujus since the soles of my Sun Jellies are wearing out and are starting to hurt(ouch, ugh!)my feet when I walk long distances. Prolly would get my hands on a pair of Juju flat sandals, too.

Still remember when the whole jelly shoe craze was on and sun jellies were marketed as being the "original and better quality" brand of shoes I totally bought into it. Not saying I don't love them but quite disappointed how my jelly shoes turned out to be that way. Probably get a pair in black/clear like my current jelly shoes. Juju has a different sole and all and hope it is gonna turn out better! If space and money permits, I'd probably get a few pairs. Ha ha. Really hope I can have more fashion-y stuff in this space hopefully!

Time to pack and leave house for my chalet, hello to BBQ, randoms and all!

Korean food

(Taken with my Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, GIFs from Tumblr, here)

So in attempt to keep my life experiences in a physical form why not put it here?
Basically this is how my day went! Didn't get to take a photo of my outfit but I was looking pretty vintage. I mean who the heck takes an outfit in the middle of a bustling mall?!
Instead of studying for my Engineering Mechanics test on monday I've decided to head out for some good food and a movie, well its high time I did something about my weight which is slowly spiralling out of control and its a little scary.
After picking up my new frames YH and I had Nene Chicken at Star Vista and then picked up some chocolate(my ultimate weakness) at Candy Empire!

Nene Chicken is definitely good but I can't say so for the environment for the one at Star Vista given the confined space. Had to non-intentionally shove through 2 people just to get straws for YH and I. Which made them and I quite uncomfortable.
But the food was awesome 'cos unlike other fried chicken restaurants(Is this the right terminology for places like these) the chicken was obviously cooked with a considerable amount of oil but it didn't feel like it and the sauce wasn't the omg my throat is about to shrivel up and die kind of feeling and I deff wanted more. The fries were nice and had no oily aftertaste and the pickled radish was a nice touch. Definitely come back here again. I tried the new sesame one and YH had the freaking hot (LOL) one and both of us loved it.

Had Awfully Chocolate Hei double scoop ice cream 'cos why not!?

And then we watched Lucy which you can read about here in their Wiki. The movie was overall OK. Good plot and the reason why these kind of sci-fi-ish movies attract me is because it just might happen in real life but in actual fact, probability is like 0.0000001. Like In Time (wtf it has been about 2 years already!?). I was sliiiiightly disappointed though because it could have been better at the whole... execution? Of the movie.

Headed to Marks and Spencers Food Hall(of which has appeared several times in this blog like the ice cream) and had dinner at Paik's Bibim

Paik's Bibim

1 Harbourfront Walk

#02-125

Vivocity Singapore 098585

Opening Hours 1130 - 2130

The food is about the price range of Nene Chicken and I wasn't disappointed. I ordered a CupBap and YH ordered a Beef Bimbimbap(I think) and a Cupbap is basically a Bimbimbap in a cup. Which was really nice and they even had spicy korean sauce at every table. The setting was like a fast food restaurant's and was really pleasant!

Did some shopping and so that's pretty much it. Can't wait for tomorrow's test to be over and then I can get started with things I want to do and probably/hopefully blog more.

If anyone still reads this space!

Awkward

It is currently 2am and I just feel completely awake, is that sort of weird?
I had like half a bag of chocolates, Cadbury Mini Drops to be exact and it was like sort of a bad decision, yet a good decision. I mean I put myself on a diet/healthier lifestyle and wanted to cheat a little because I was feeling deprived and after the grilled chicken McWrap (which was kinda good, but not WOW), I stuffed my face with a mini piglet mooncake (sounds gory but its just a piece of confectionery shaped like a pig, packaged in a pig basket/cage? Is that what they call it?).
Okay I got lost in my sentence.
Anyway dieting is all about portion control, blah blah and all that and i thought i could like eat one serving(22 pieces of that tiny pieces of chocolate) to be exact and then i ended up eating half a bag.
Well sorry not sorry.
This is actually good because you ain't supposed to feel sorry for overeating, i guess, unless you're on weight watchers or on The Biggest Loser.
I don't want to sound like "wow i'm so healthy i eat greens and shit"? Like aren't we supposed to eat our greens and be healthy and be at the peak of our health at this age(18-25)?
For me I'm just a girl trying to get a nicer looking body man. Its like in chinese they say "Only care that you once had(possessed) it, and nothing else matters" (lol bad translation sorry)
Like other girls I have bad body image, and the list goes on so why not solve this solution or i think i'll die and go up to heaven and like "lol i was fat my whole life". Be contented, yknow? I guess?
My life is one big uncertainty now and its a happy sad thing because the fact that anything can happen really interests me so I go one step at a time.
Like what if I suddenly wake up and someone gives me a call saying that i'm billionaire's daughter and I'm adopted by my current parents? YOU'LL NEVER KNOW
Stupid things aside i think i'll lose some weight and pick up some new skills (eg sewing, drawing, etc) and shit this holiday. The whole "I want my holiday to be enriching" but i think i'll end up hiding in my room with my laptop in the clothes i wore 5 days ago online shopping lol
And dear future me/other people, i'll probably read this and feel stupid but whatever. I do what I want.

Accessory obsession

So after countless vlogs and Man Vs Pin (see Threadbanger) I revived my Pinterest account and since my submission week is over, why not?
Since forever i have this obsession with bracelets and often they are probably  a waste of money  too expensive to purchase every time i go to a shop, say, Topshop and love their accessories (except for sale period), i'd find some way to make my own and that way I can make one for myself and even friends and even sell it (link -> thelabcoat )!
So I gathered a few photos from the net and decided to keep it here as well, just for keepsake, maybe I'll print a few photos and put up a moodboard in my room (could have a DIY for that) as well.
I am becoming a DIY maniac lol.

(credit to Yarn Journey, Ssek Jewelry, and various etsys, tumblrs and Pinterests)

Probably do a remake for some of these bracelets, get in touch with me on ask.fm and @jiayincredible on instagram and twitter :-)

if anyone still reads this place.