Friday, 06 November 2009
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The Dark Restaurant: Eyes not required
The Dark Restaurant (黑暗餐厅) has a very innovative concept. I was brought there by some friends in Shanghai, China. (However, many blind/dark restaurants are beginning to pop up all over the world! They recently opened one in Toronto too.) They say that if you have lost one of your five senses, your other senses become more sensitive. If you take away your sight, you would be able to concentrate on your other senses so much more! What would it be like to taste food with a blind eye? Indulge your senses to the next level!When you eat at Dark Restaurant, you eat in complete darkness. It is supposed to help you enhance your taste sensations as you slowly savor each flavor and texture. All the waiters and waitresses are blind as well. It helps you experience what it would feel like to actually be blind!
Here is what the menu looks like. You can click on these pictures to view a larger version. The eye on the cover of the menu is so beautiful!
This is considered fine dining and very expensive compared to the vast amount of cheaper street foods available in China. As of now, US$1 = 6.8 RMB, so these dishes range from US$25-35. And you order first before entering the dark dining hall of course!
It was a really interesting experience! I don't have any other pictures because cameras are not allowed inside. Plus it's all dark anyway. I wondered whether there was any kind of decor in the dining hall because it was seriously pitch black. The kind of darkness where you can't see your own hand if you put it in front of your face! My friends and I kept bumping into things with our hands... It was difficult to find food and bring it to your mouth. We ended up using our fingers... (Good thing nobody could see our bad table manners!) But the food was DELICIOUS and I was really able to concentrate on the taste and flavor!You may be able to get the same effect by blindfolding yourself or eating in a room with no windows. Although it may feel very silly, it is something to try! It's great to really savor and enjoy your food because eating slowly will help you realize when you are full and prevent you from overeating. Pay attention to your body's needs while you are eating. There is a difference between eating to satiety and eating until you are stuffed and can't move!
What do you think of this concept? Would you like to try eating at the Dark Restaurant?
Thursday, 29 October 2009
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How Asians are Obsessed with Slimness
I wrote a post a while back about cultural perspectives on calling someone fat or telling someone that they have gained weight. I really find people in Hong Kong to be absolutely obsessed with slimness and dieting. I feel that their standards of slimness are more difficult, unhealthy, and unrealistic compared to North American standards. I also don't think they understand the idea of how curves on a woman can be sexy.
Some of my most awkward conversations evolved from women just completely bashing themselves. We could be talking of something completely random like the weather when all of a sudden, my coworker might say: "I'm so fat. I need to diet!" Another coworker may say "Oh my god! ME TOO!" (yes in an excited and animated manner). And then they continue to speak negatively of their bodies and share dieting tricks. Me? I am completely left out of the conversation because I choose not to be so detrimental to my self-esteem and well-being. And I don't want to "agree" that these women were fat. Heck, they were 1/2 my size.
Where does it all start? Dieting and slimming advertisements are plastered EVERYWHERE on the transportation systems of Hong Kong. I heard that Korea and Japan are just as bad for these kinds of media influences.
Getting them while their young
I came across this Korean advertisement that is directed to children. It encourages them to eat fermented soy beans, which actually contain great amounts of microflora/probiotics (great for your gut). However, I disliked how it enforced the beauty ideals of "S-lines" and "V-lines" at 0:50.Face Rollers
A particular concern of many Asian women is the cheek fat. These face rollers claim to be able to make your face smaller through... massage mechanism?!
Don't ask me... I'm just a nutrition student. I'm going to tell you that fat is fat. Want to get rid of it? Diet and exercise. For some people, it's just plain genetics. I've seen plenty of bigger women with tiny, very pretty faces.
Unrealistic standards
This is the most common weight loss advertisement that I saw plastered on every wall of MTR train stations in Hong Kong. These photos are from 2007/2008, but I'd bet that they are still advertising this campaign now! The singer Janice Vidal went from 120 pounds to just 105 pounds (as claimed on the ad)
They show her "before" picture in a little circle. But every time that I saw this advertisement, I wanted to shout at it and everyone in the train station: "120 POUNDS IS NOT FAT!!!" It is a perfectly healthy size! I looked up the singer's height and she is 5'3. At 120lbs, her BMI would be 21.3, which is in the healthy/normal range. For some people, such a low weight of 105lbs is just not feasible. I know that if I was close to this weight, I would be incredibly grumpy and unfriendly.
Tea & Slimming Drinks
I often come across these tea drink advertisements on Youtube. If they are the same zero calorie tea drinks that I have tried in Hong Kong, then these drinks are really bitter!But you can see how they market towards women and address face size, the "V-line", and waist line. They use popular celebrities who were already slim even before they chose to endorse these drinks! Yes tea can boost your metabolism and help you burn more calories throughout the day, but these drinks did not make these celebrities skinny because they were already skinny and fit to begin with! In Hyori's case (right side video), she has an amazing body because she is an active dancer! (I don't know about plastic surgery rumours though)
Calf-Reduction Surgery
The idea of surgery scares me. I've heard that calf-reduction surgery is the most common procedure after double eyelid surgery.Women find bulky calves to be a problem, especially when wearing short skirts or swimsuits. Some feel larger calves make their legs look shorter, and short height can be a form of employment discrimination in parts of Asia. So how do some women choose to solve this problem? Calf-reduction surgery.
Your calves contain three main muscles: the medial gastrocnemius, the lateral gastrocnemius, and the soleus. All three of these muscles are essential to running, jumping, skipping, etc. There are many different calf-reduction surgeries, but some are so extreme that they remove the entire medial gastrocnemius muscle! This is painful and the patient may have trouble walking post-operation. Is surgery really worth it?
Popular Asian media has a huge impact on people's self-esteem and eating behaviors. Do you think Asian beauty standards are harsher? Or does Western culture have it just as bad?
Monday, 26 October 2009
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100-Calorie Healthy and Unhealthy Snacks
I was recently volunteering at another health tradeshow where we set up different tables and health assessment stations. One of the tables that I worked at showed examples of snacks ranging around approximately 100 calories. We separated the snacks into two categories: healthy vs unhealthy
Healthy 100 Calorie Snacks
Some of the above examples include:
- 1/2 an avocado
- 100g yogurt
- 1/2 an apple with 2 tsp peanut butter
- 4 rice crackers with 2 Tbsp cottage cheese
These foods are healthy because they are part of the four food groups. They are nutrient-dense, high in fiber, and low in sodium because these foods are not processed! These foods will give you more bang for your buck in calories and help to keep you fuller for longer.
Unhealthy 100 Calorie Snacks
Some of the above examples include:
- Packaged instant oatmeal
- Quaker Granola Bars
- Lays 100-calorie Classic Potato Chips
- And other 100-calorie packaged snacks
People were most surprised by the oatmeal being in the unhealthy snacks category. Oatmeal is great! However, packaged instant oatmeal is also high in sodium and sugar. Although instant oatmeal is convenient, it is a much better route to cook your oatmeal from scratch using rolled oats. This way, you can control what goes inside! You can choose how much additional sugar you want or choose different types of sweeteners (eg. Splenda, maple syrup, honey, etc.) I like to add an egg in my breakfast oatmeal to add more protein to keep me fuller or ground flaxseed for healthy fats (you can't taste the flaxseed). Although instant oatmeal doesn't taste salty, it still has additional sodium added to it as it was processed.
One difference you can see between the two categories is that the foods in the unhealthy section are all processed and packaged! It's great that they are portion-sized into 100 calorie bags. This is better than mindlessly eating out of a large bag in front of the television! However, these choices are not as good as others. Cookies and chips do not fit into the four food groups and do not contain as many vitamins, minerals, and fiber as the foods in the healthy category.
Everything in moderation! Try your best to make SMART choices!
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
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Japan's Morning Banana Diet
Good luck finding bananas in Japan! Last year, the newest fad diet emerged in Japan: the morning banana diet. Some celebrity lost a lot of weight through this method and started a huge craze. But nation-wide banana shortages? Wow.
This youtube video will describe the morning banana diet to you:
I was looking through other youtube videos. I disagreed with a lot of them, except this one:
The speaker is a registered dietitian. I apologize for being lazy and just posting the video, but this dietitian really hits everything I wanted to say.
I think this morning banana diet is similar to the Special K challenge. You are essentially replacing your breakfast with a healthy, well portion-sized meal. But your diet success will depend a lot on what you normally eat for breakfast and what you eat at the other meals of the day. If you normally eat cookies for breakfast and then replaced cookies with one banana, you will probably lose weight if you keep your other meals/snacks the same because bananas have less calories than cookies. But with these diets, just because you eat a healthy breakfast does not mean that you can eat whatever you want throughout the rest of the day.
For me...
1 banana for breakfast + [Tons of pizza, French fries, cheesecake the rest of the day] = probably weight gain
1 banana for breakfast + [Sensible, well-portion-sized lunch and dinner] = maintained weight, *maybe* weight loss depending on my calorie expenditureRemember that [calories in = calories out]! Bananas are not some kind of magical fruit. I wonder if the same kind of fad diet could have emerged with apples or oranges. Losing weight requires one to burn more calories that he consumes overall!
I had heard about this diet before, but didn't think about posting about it until patsy_choco told me several of her friends were on this diet and she wanted to know my opinion on it. I think it's funny... because I'm a real foodie. I would love to go to Japan! And when I do go to Japan one day, I sure won't be eating something as mediocre as bananas!
Friday, 16 October 2009
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Health Tip: Easy Way to Add Green Tea to your Diet
Green tea is a very common drink throughout Asia. In Chinese culture, it is often an accompaniment to dim sum and restaurant meals. The health benefits of green tea are already very well-known in scientific literature and modern media. Green tea contains catechin polyphenols that are powerful antioxidants. Studies have shown that green tea will help inhibit the growth of cancer cells, lower LDL cholesterol levels, and increase one's metabolism, aiding in weight loss.But how much green tea do you need to drink in order to receive all these health benefits? Many of the participants in these green tea efficacy studies consumed up to 10 cups of green tea per day! I find it difficult to even consume that much water in one day!
Here is a really easy and convenient way to get green tea into your diet. I don't know why people don't do this more. I always see people putting those powdered Crystal Light packages into their water to enhance the flavor. But you're also putting in tons of artificial sugars and chemicals in your diet. Why not just place a green tea bag into your water bottle?
Iced green tea is really refreshing! Just place one tea bag into a 500mL bottle of room temperature water. Shake it gently and place it in the refridgerator for at least 1 hour to chill. Voila! Bring it along to work or school and slowly sip on the health benefits of green tea throughout the day!
This is a very healthy and natural way to drink green tea. There are a lot of processed green teas out on the market by Lipton and many Asian brands. If it's sweet, it's likely to be full of sugars or artificial sweeteners. So try to drink these options in moderation!
i-Nutrition@xanga
I'm a Canadian-born-Chick who wants to be a registered dietitian!
This blog is my side project to communicate healthy living to others.
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