Hoorrayyyy

This is the last month to stay at TA.........

Hoorrayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

25 Feb 2010 - " Family " Dinner

Was away to Phnom Penh from 25 Feb 10 to 1 Mar 10 to attend Dara's beloved bro's wedding. Wishing him a very happy & lovely marriage life .

And when will be my time neh? :P *wink*

Reached at Phnom Penh International Airport around 5pm (Cambodia's time zone). His dad & brothers came to pick us up and this is the first time I met with his brother who stayed at France!! ( all of them also same height leh.... hahahaha ***)

First thing I wish to do is..... Jump into my new bed & visit my new room!!! :D And it doesn't disappoint me, luckily. :D

Family Reunion Steamboat Dinner

(From left to right : D's Papa, D's Mama, D's Dai Sou, D's Bro, Me & D)

(Bride, Groom, Pa, Sis, Ma.....)

(The grandma & The Kid)

Okay, is time to sleep. Have to get up quite early to send my dress to alter.

Stay tuned for more!

Mind Garden

Your mind is like a garden.

Whatever you plant in your mind garden will grow by itself.

Your thoughts are seed you are planting.

They will reproduce after their own kind.

You are the gardener of your own mind garden.

The seeds you choose to sow in your mind garden will determine the harvest that you reap in due time.

Cholesterol

Recently, I did a medical check up & reported that my cholesterol level is 0.02 higher than the normal percentage. Doctor advised me to eat carefully & moderately. As we know, cholesterol is very dangerous to our health, it could lead to more dangerous sickness. What can we do to avoid this happen to us especially to those peoples are reaching their 30+. The only thing you can do is : HEALTHY LIFE TRU HEALTHY FOOD & EXERCISE

SAMPLE Diet for High Cholesterol: Breakfasts

Breakfast foods

1 or 2 slices of toasted wholemeal OR whole grain bread - These types of breads actually help to lower your blood cholesterol, so are vitally important in any sample diet for high cholesterol!

Some days I use the 60% reduced fat margarine along with Vegemite ( a Marmite type of spread )

Other days I use a thin scraping of peanut butter, no margarine - Nuts are also good in a low cholesterol diet for reducing blood cholesterol! I use very pure peanut butter, as some are filled with sugar and other types of fats which need to be avoided on sample diets for lowering cholesterol.

Breakfast drinks

Coffee, 2/3 water to 1/3 full cream milk - Full cream milk isn't good when one is on a diet for high cholesterol, but I never could take to skim milk in coffee, I use Nutrasweet to sweeten it.

AND OR a glass of pure, pulp free orange juice - orange juice contains antioxidants that may help against cardiovascular disease and are therefore good in a cholesterol reducing diet - I restrict to one glass a day

AND OR a skim milk milkshake - see my low fat low cholesterol diet recipes to learn how you can make them suitable for a low cholesterol diet - No Saturated fat, No cholesterol and Delicious and Froffy and FILLING. By the way, skim is also good at increasing the GOOD cholesterol. Tip - when drinking one of our lower cholesterol / nil cholesterol skim milk milkshakes, don't let it stand.

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SAMPLE Diet for High Cholesterol: Morning Teas

Morning Tea drinks

I use the drinks above, more so the milk shake and occassionally a skim milk thickshake, again using the low cholesterol diet recipes I provide

Morning Tea foods

I tend to fill up on the drinks and avoid eating, but a piece of fruit or vegetable is ok when using a diet for high cholesterol.

About every second day I will have a couple of small squares of dark chocolate. Although chocolate isn't generally good for someone on this sample diet for high cholesterol, there is some research that suggests a small amount of dark chocolate is good for the heart.

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SAMPLE Diet for High Cholesterol: Lunches

Lunch Foods

I normally eat a sandwhich made with 60% reduced fat margarine, wholemeal bread and a slice of lean meat with all fat trimmed off - just enough to cover the bread, two pieces of meat if it's thin stuff. Sometimes I add lettuce.

Sometimes I will substitue the bread for pita bread or other different types of whole meal breads.

Low calorie salads made with low fat dressing is fine too, but I'm not really into salads with my high cholesterol diet, being more a meat peson.

Lunch DESSERTS

Yes I have a sweet tooth and in this diet for high cholesterol, desserts are common place.

Normally I will have a piece of cake or a slice that we made ourselves using our low cholesterol diet recipes which you can find here, or low cholesterol diet recipes we make up as we go, which you may be able to also do, as you develop your understanding of your body and cholesterol.

In terms of shop bought desserts, as long as they are low in saturated fat ( like 0 to 2 % ) and not over the top in calories. Observe portion sizes when on a high cholesterol diet.

Lunch Drinks

For lunch, it's got to be coffee for me, made the same way as for breakfast coffee. Normally 2 cups.

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SAMPLE Diet for High Cholesterol: Afternoon Teas

Afternoon Tea Foods

You are probably expecting me to say fruit or vegetables, which would be healthy and good for a cholesterol reducing diet, but on this diet for high cholesterol, I eat cake or slice that's been made the low cholesterol way by ourselves.

OR Cake or slice that's shop bought, which is low in saturated fat, low in cholesterol ( assuming we can find cholesterol mentioned ) and NOT high in calories. Observe portion sizes!

Afternoon Tea Drinks

For lunch, it's got to be coffee for me, made the same way as for breakfast coffee. Again, normally 2 cups for me.

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SAMPLE Diet for High Cholesterol: Dinners

Dinner Foods

Variety is the spice of life, so dinner is often very different from one day to the next and that shows in this sample diet for high cholesterol.

When using meat, which for me is every day, make sure you prepare the meat the low cholesterol, low saturated fat way. First choose lean meats, less than 10% fat, remove excess fat. If cooking, use a grill so as to remove even more of the saturated fat and cholesterol.

With a diet for high cholesterol, vegetables also should be prepared by oven frying using a fine spray of cooking oil, or by steaming, or by boiling.

Herbs and spices can be used to flavour - do not add fats.

You think cooking oil is safe because it's vegetable oil, such as canola oil or grapeseed oil or olive oil ... even these good oils are normally between 9 and 22% saturated fat, that's why frying is a very rare treat when on diets for high cholesterol.

If you check out our lower cholesterol naturally page, you will find alot of information on foods, herbs and so on that can lower blood cholesterol. Add these to your high cholesterol diet plan to control your cholesterol even better.

Some indepth dinner sample menus to reduce cholesterol:

Main reduce cholesterol version meal 1.: I have bacon and eggs about once a week: Eggs on toast, bacon on the side or as 2 bacon and egg jaffles - use the 60% reduced fat margarine enriched with plant sterols on wholemeal bread. The whole meal bread is to lower cholesterol and stabilise blood sugars. Removing excess fat from bacon and using the plant sterol margarine removes most of the saturated fat that one's body would convert to cholesterol. An excellent and lovely very much reduced cholesterol dinner.

Main reduce cholesterol version meal 2.: Meat or fish with vegetables. Carrots are nearly always included as they are known to reduce cholesterol. Onions are good for reducing cholesterol, matter of fact, anything in the onion family appears to be good to reduce cholesterol. So these foods are a definite inclusion in this diet for high cholesterol.

If you have to have chips with your meat or fish sometimes: To maintain the lower cholesterol way, cook only with a thin spray of cooking oil and oven fry. Wedges with the skin on, I now find are much more tasty than plain chips - again oven fried with a thin spray of vegetable oil, then seasoned just about anyway you want. Wont necessarily reduce cholesterol directly, but it shouldn't raise cholesterol either. There is also a possibility that they will indirectly reduce cholesterol by substituting for a higher saturated fat or higher cholesterol food, that may have otherwise been used, such as deep fried chips.

Food substitution is an important point in a diet for high cholesterol - I look for better and nicer reduced cholesterol alternatives, NOT going without. Also, by being a lower calorie version to normal chips, the risk of the body producing vldl cholesterol appears reduced as well - meaning they may lower cholesterol by keeping the big dinner calorie intake down.

Main lower cholesterol version meal 3.: Fruit and nuts. Once a week I have a meal of dried fruits and nuts. Only a few teaspoons of the nuts to keep down the saturated fat and calories coming from them. I've found this to be a lovely alternative meal to include in my diet for high cholesterol.

Provided the dried fruits have been prepared correctly, they shouldn't contain cholesterol nor saturated fat - check the food label to be safer. This reduced cholesterol meal, may also help reduce cholesterol through the nuts and fruit fibre.

Side Dish to accompany reduced cholesterol version meal - if desired: Wholemeal bread - due to it's ability to lower cholesterol. Topped with 60% low fat, plant sterol enriched vegetable margarine spread thinly, to cut down the saturated fat and calories further, which helps lower cholesterol, such as ldl and vldl cholesterol.

Or, to make this side dish nicer, add garlic powder or garlic bits to the topping. You have lovely garlic bread, plus the garlic is a potent means to reduce cholesterol.

Matter of fact, this garlic bread side dish is so designed to reduce cholesterol, that even if the main dish with meat or fish was going to raise your blood cholesterol, this side dish may turn it round to lower cholesterol. This is a very tasty way to reduce cholesterol! An excellent option to include in YOUR diet for high cholesterol.

As can be seen, there is an awful lot to consider in putting a diet for high cholesterol together. No wonder so many people don't get it wrong and end up on medication or just dropping dead. Hopefully this sample diet for high cholesterol will fill that gap.

Dinner DESSERTS

You can add a low cholesterol, low saturated fat, low calorie dessert if you want, but I'm normally happy with a low cholesterol diet milk shake. Normally I'm feeling fullish.

Dinner Drinks

Low calorie soft drink or

As stated above, a reduced cholesterol diet skim milkshake, as skim milk has been shown to be able to increase good cholesterol, or

A glass of pure orange juice.

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SAMPLE Diet for High Cholesterol: Supper

Supper Drinks

Mainly low calorie soft drink

Maybe one hot chocolate or fancy milk coffee once a week as a special treat, generally not good for a diet to reduce cholesterol.

Supper Foods

Low fat, low calorie Yoghurt

Fruit - may be one or two apples and or piece of fresh pineapple and or an orange and or some grapes.

Normal ice cream as rare treat, or ice cream on a stick or in a cone, all shop bought prepackaged - but only maybe eaten once a week and one serving size. You may feel this is too much to ask, even on a sample diet for high cholesterol, but they are loaded with saturated fat and calories.

Disclaimer : The above method was copied from a website, I never try it before so.... You take your own risk on it !!!

P/s : Mr Peou Dara, you should take note of this post. Is very helpful to you.