Build our wealth but take care of our health.

I met up with a friend for dinner recently and he remarked on how I used to blog about my cooking. It has been a while since I last had such a blog, has it not?






Well, although not as often as before, I am still cooking but I am just too lazy to blog about it. What's new, right? AK is a lazy fellow.

Anyway, I was in the mood. So, this was lunch today:

Fried rice and seaweed. I used:

1. Cooked white rice.
2. 3 eggs.
3. 3 tbsp. coconut oil.
4. 4 gm of seaweed.

And I ate the fried rice with seaweed. You can tell I have probably been watching a bit too much K-drama. 

I still think a high fat, low carbohydrate diet is good for me but I am no longer very strict. 

I used to keep my carbohydrate intake to less than 50gm a day. For a while now, I have allowed myself between 50gm to 100gm of carbohydrate a day.

Still, I have rice (which is made up mostly of carbohydrate) only once in a while. Half a bowl of cooked white rice has about 22 grams of carbohydrates. That's plenty. 

Eggs have about 1 gm of carbohydrate each. Per serving of seaweed (2gm) has 0.2 gm of carbohydrate and I had two servings.

We want to build our wealth but we should take care of our health too.




Finally, for readers who want to lose weight, remember, losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Less carbohydrate is the way to go.

Related post:
A topless pic.

Another fantastic buy! Don't say AK bo jio! (Buy potato chips or blue chips when marked down.)

UPDATE (7 SEP 17):
I simply love dark chocolate.

Made in Belgium.

It is super smooth and tastes soooo good.

Price: $1.00 per bar. 

Yup. This makes it taste even better!

Where to get this? 

Scroll to the end of this blog for the address.

Don't say AK bo jio. 




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Many know that I have a weakness for chocolates and ice cream. Without chocolates and ice cream, I think life is not worth living. To me, they are like an essential food group.

There is something else that I like but not to as big a degree. Potato chips. Specifically, Pringles potato chips.

Some might remember how I would eat Pringles potato chips with baked beans, eating them like horderves.

OK, if you must be very French about it, hors d'oeuvre). 

As I have been avoiding beans in my diet in recent months, I eat potato chips with fried eggs or tuna flakes these days. Yup horderves again.

When I went to Japan for vacations, I would buy their Pringles potato chips because they taste better than the ones we have here. The texture is smoother and the taste is less salty.

They are also available here in Isetan, Meidi-ya and some specialty shops but they are pretty pricey, as you can imagine.

Recently, however, I discovered that I could buy them really cheaply somewhere in Singapore and what did I do?

Price?

50 cents per can.  

Really?

Really!

Not joking?

Nope.

Where to buy this?

They are selling fast and I am wondering if I should buy more.

If you want to get some, better be fast hands, fast legs. OK, you better be faster than AK.

What? Where exactly in Bedok?

Er...

OK, I tell you (reluctantly):

Don't say AK bo jio. 




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Update 4 Aug 16, 10.45AM.

Cepat!

Related posts:
1. How AK saved 32.7% + 9% in a supermarket?
2. Cheap cheap chocolates!

Read only if you want to be closer to heaven.

Heavenly!

Why I suddenly like that say?

I have been a bit more lax when it comes to my diet in recent days and readers who follow me on Facebook know this as I post photos of what I cook on my Facebook wall frequently.

I decided to have something that is extremely unhealthy this morning, so unhealthy that it will elicit screams from the most health conscious of readers.

Ingredients:

A prata.
A slice of cheese.
A scoop of ice cream.
Some nuts.

Step by step instructions:

1. Pan fry prata on both sides.
2. Press warm and crispy prata into a bowl.

3. Apply cheese so that it melts slightly into prata.
4. Wait for a while for this to cool.
5. Add a scoop of ice cream.
6. Add some nuts.

There! Heavenly breakfast!

I call it "Nutty Cream PrAKta". 

Sounds cheesy? 

Aiyoh.

Why do you think there is a slice of cheese?

Duh...

Now I must do the socially responsible thing and apply a health warning label (just like what they have on cigarette packaging):

This will bring you to closer to heaven (in more ways than one). You have been warned!

Bad AK! Bad AK!



Related post:
Being fallible in dieting and investing.

Compare apples with apples and learn something.

Many readers think that I don't take enough fruits and vegetables and I have been making an effort to increase my intake. 

I enjoy a particular brand of apples a lot, Envy. Crisp and sweet, it is probably more expensive than some apples but, hey, I am learning to be nicer to myself.

Envy apples sell out quickly and many times I find them sold out at the NTUC Fairprice in the HDB estate near my place. So, when I saw them on sale at a branch in a shopping mall this morning, I bought some.

This evening, after dinner in a warm and crowded kopitiam near my place, I popped into the NTUC Fairprice I usually patronise just to enjoy the air conditioning. Clever, right?

Then, I saw the apples. 

Ah, new stock has arrived, I thought to myself. Out of habit, I looked at the price and, then, I looked again.

Sure or not?

I was pretty sure I paid a higher price just this morning.

Anyway, I bought a pack, came home and checked. You know lah, we should compare apples with apples, right?

AK so witty? I also say.

See the difference?

OK, magnified for the optically challenged:

Alamak. How come like that?

Now, I know. 

Moral of the story:
"Don't buy fruits from NTUC Fairprice found in more atas locations."

A 10% difference is a big deal. 

Well, to me it is, anyway.

I know. It is hard for me to change my ways.

Comparing apples with apples, I learned something this evening.

Related post:
What a visit to NTUC Fairprice could teach us?

She is $600 richer each month without any risk.

I have been doing quite a bit of cooking at home instead of eating out. 

Er, I think I heard a few of you going "Isn't that something you always do?" 

OK, I have been doing a lot more cooking at home.

Today, I received a message from a reader:

"My hubby and I are your readers. I started first when I asked a colleague who sat next to me at work what was she reading on her phone. She showed me your blog. She suggested to follow you on fb because you do a lot more sharing there than in your blog.

"For months now, we would prepare food to bring to work for lunch. Recently, we started lunch pooling. We are very pleased with the idea. It doesn't take much more to make another set of lunch for each other. 

"We have you to thank for this because you are constantly sharing about preparing your own meals. Please keep sharing photos of your meals. They keep us going.

"Since doing this, we have saved much money. We were eating out everyday before this. It also made me examine our family food expenditure. Instead of eating at restaurants every weekend, we now do it once a month or not at all.

"My husband is actually more enthusiastic about the changes now than I was when we first started because he sees the money. Roughly, we are saving $600 more every month now.

"Since preparing our own meals saved us so much money in the last few months, we have bought tickets to your first meet the readers session next month. lol"

I usually update my wall on Facebook with photos of my cooking but not here in my blog. 

OK, for those who do not follow me on Facebook, here are photos of my lunch today:

Fried rice with potato and egg.

Steamed some vegetable.

AK's Donburi!

If AK can cook, so can you!

Remember, saving money is probably difficult in the beginning but you will get better at it. It will become a habit and, suddenly, that $100,000 target doesn't seem too far away.

“The first $100,000 is a bitch, but you gotta do it. I don’t care what you have to do—if it means walking everywhere and not eating anything that wasn’t purchased with a coupon...” 
- Charlie Munger

Related posts:
1. My food bill and my weight.
2. First "Evening with AK and friends" in 2016.

Achieving financial freedom by making some lemonade (or chocolate oatmeal).

You know what they say about how we should make lemonade if life should throw us some lemons? 

Yes, things do not always go the way we want them to. That is life.

You know the saying that it does not rain but it pours? 

Yes, bad things could happen one after another in a short span of time. That is life.

Unless we are some highly enlightened priest or monk, for examples, being a mere mortal, it is hard for us not to be affected in a negative way. 

I know.

I could probably write a sequel to "A series of unfortunate events" based on what happened to me in the last few months.

When a friend found out, she said that my full time job is now a patient because I have been visiting hospitals (yes, in the plural).

It can get quite depressing especially if we know what hospital food is like. Yes, yucky!

The important thing is to try and stay positive. Yes, I know it is easier said than done but, still, we have to find happiness where we can.

So, when they served me a breakfast of tasteless oatmeal, half boiled egg and Milo, what did I do?

Alone, the Milo drink was too sweet. Alone, the oatmeal was too bland. Hmmmm...

What if I were to mix them together? Voila:

Haha. I had chocolate oatmeal which wasn't so bad.

Working towards financial freedom, those of us who have some advantages in life might already find it tough and those of us who have none will definitely find it even tougher. 

Yes, life might deal us a bad hand of cards but that is life. The important thing is to stay positive when given some rather unhappy circumstances and try to find that silver lining.

Things don't always go our way. That is life.

If we want a better life, we will have to find a way.

Related posts:
1. Filial son working towards financial security.
2. Life was difficult and I wondered...

How to make a cucumber fish cake burger? Is Vitasoy Less Sugar really healthier than the regular version and Yeo's?

If I can avoid leaving the comfort of home, I will. So, if I can do a bit of cooking at home and avoid crowds at food centres, why not?

However, I am not a chef extraordinaire. I also don't want to have to do a lot of cleaning up after cooking. So, it is only light weight cooking for me but I try to be imaginative.

Recently, I made a couple of fish cake burgers!

What do they look like?

Tadah! Yummy? You bet!

So, how did I make these?

Get some fish cakes and cucumber. Cheap, cheap.

800 watts and 2 minutes in the microwave oven does the job.

Use a sharp knife and dissect the fish cake.

Stuffed with cucumber, dusted with turmeric and black pepper.

Easy, right? It satisfies my craving for hawker food but in a healthier way. Cheap too at less than a dollar.

Going, going, gone!

Recently, I stop consuming soya bean but I used to drink lots of soya bean milk.

I would usually buy Yeo's because it is less expensive but I would occasionally indulge in Vitasoy too when they had special offers.

The "healthier" less sugar pack has more saturated fat and sodium.

Yeo's has the highest sugar level!

So, which version of soya bean milk would you choose to consume?

Well, there is quite a bit of discussion as to whether soya bean is even good for us. I believe we might only have a problem if we take too much of it which was what I was doing. Now, I am avoiding it.

"Soy contain protease inhibitors which interfere with the digestion of protein. Also, in order to prevent germination, phytates tie up minerals like calcium, zinc, and iron. Both protease inhibitors and phytates are reduced by the traditional, time-consuming fermentation processes developed in the orient, but not by modern quick methods.

"Lectins are proteins found in beans, grains, and other foods. They bite into carbohydrates, particularly sugars, often causing immune system reactions and blood clotting. Soybean lectins react with the carbohydrate component of cell membranes, causing cell injuries and deaths. As this damage accumulates, it adversely affects the gastrointestinal, immune, and other systems."

(Taken from: American Nutrition Association.)

On that note, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post as much as I did writing it.

Bon appetit!

Related post:
Food bill grew but weight shrank.
Update on my progress:
I have lost 9 kgs to date and 4 inches around my waist.

AK has been brewing something good!

Someone asked me why have I not blogged about stuff I eat and drink for so long? Has it been very long? Maybe so. 

I have been somewhat lazy when it comes to blogging but my habit of spending time on preparing many of my own meals has not changed.

Anyway, I am doing this blog post to share a recipe for something which I have been enjoying lately:

Hmmm...

Looks like green tea (which I enjoy too) but it is not. 

So, what is in the pot?

Hmmm (again) ...

Everytime I brew this, my tiny apartment smells so nice. In fact, I was told that the corridor on my floor smells nice because of my brew too! 

It is that powerful!

I am doing the entire floor a big favour because the aroma keeps the roaches away, I am sure.

The ingredients are inexpensive and will provide many, many days of drinking pleasure. 

Only 50c. From NTUC Fairprice.
4 or 5 pandan leaves for a pot (1 litre).

2 big pieces of ginger for $1.00 or so.
4 or 5 slices of ginger for a pot (1 litre).

Wolf berries and barley.
One tablespoon of each for a pot (1 litre).

Taking this brew has many benefits:

1. It has antioxidants like Selenium, Vitamins A and C. We know antioxidants are good for us in many ways.

2. It also has Calcium, Copper, Potassium, Magnesium and Manganese which are all essential for good health.

3. It has Vitamins B1, B2 and B3 which are essential for energy production in the body.

4. A ginger drink is also beneficial as it reduces stiffness and pain in joints because ginger as a food has an anti-inflammatory effect.

I drink this sugarless. You could add some sugar to your brew, if you like. 

I hope you like this healthy brew as much as I do. 


Related post:
My food bill grew in size but my weight reduced.

Being fallible in dieting and investing.

Added (15 Dec 2016)
I made lunch.

Egg and cheese prata. 
Pan fried with butter.
Lots of black pepper.

Now, read the rest of the blog.

One year ago in December 2015:

Regular readers probably know that AK is on a special diet by now and has enjoyed some early success.

Dieting, like many things in life such as being frugal, requires discipline. Often, people give up after a while because they get too extreme and feel deprived. This applies to both dieting and being frugal. 

What do I mean by feeling deprived? 

It is like meeting a Dementor (as in the fantasy creature from Harry Potter) and having all the happiness sucked out of us because we were denied all the food that made us happy. 

Dieting shouldn't be like that. 

Dieting should be a happy process of discovering ourselves with a healthier body weight.

I shared in an earlier blog post that I find it hard to have zero carbs and zero sugar in my diet. It is especially hard because I have a sweet tooth. 

So, I go for as little carbs and sugar as possible. That is the best I could do.

My weight loss process might be a little slower, as a result, but I am still losing weight. Dieting is not a race. 

Of course, it would be good to be able to lose weight faster but if I must become unhappy to do so, then, the diet can go where the sun never shines.

After several weeks, today, I cheated big time on my diet:

Hot chocolate, cakes and cookies.

It was a real treat! It was also free of charge and that made me feel less guilty about cheating. LOL.

If we are following a diet, being too extreme is not a good idea. A gradual weight loss is better than a drastic one. 

We shouldn't have to be too concerned with being right with what we eat all the time.

This brings to mind what Peter Lynch said about how being right 6 times out of 10 times would make us better than most investors. 

We cannot be right all the time as investors and dieters. We should just aim to be right most of the time and that should make us quite happy.

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Added on 24 April 2016:
I find this a pretty good compromise for my diet:

Just another egg omelette with coconut oil and olive oil?

It is filled with curry potato and cheese!

Protein, good fats and good carbohydrates. Yummy too!

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Added 17 Jan 17:

Related posts:
1. My food bill grew in size.
2. Life is about many things.
3. Is it bad to sit on cash?