Healthy or Unhealthy?

I came across this article, it is about unhealthy food that people always think they are healthy. And i guess, it could be one of your favourite in the list below :D

No 10. Vegetable oil

The “oil” used for frying in fast food restaurants, is most commonly palm oil, an almost purely saturated (unhealthy) oil. It’s semi-solid at room temperature, but is of course liquid when heated and used for frying, and it’s certainly not healthy. If another more healthy oil had been chosen for frying, those tasty fries wouldn’t have been bad for you. Not at all, as long as the potatoes are of good quality. “Then why don’t the fast food restaurants use the healthy kind of oil then?” you might ask yourself. The unhealthy stuff is cheap, and the fast food companies tend to care more about their money than your health.

 No 9. Pasta

Although there are near infinite variations, and therefore several healthy variations of this food swell, the typical pasta you get when you buy your spaghetti, macaroni or noodles, at least in the Western World, is just plain white flour, mixed with water and eggs (although the small percentage of egg included don’t contribute much to the nutritional value of pasta). No vitamins, no minerals, and barely any fiber. Nothing, except empty carbs, shaped as pasta. And just to make things worse, “fast food pasta,” take-away Chinese food for instance, often contain loads of salt, mixed with unhealthy fat.

No 8. White Bread

This is pasta, but shaped like bread. You probably already knew this, but there are still people left in the world that think that all kinds of bread are good for them. White bread is not, trust me!

No 7. Soup Mix

I mean come on, you didn’t think that goofy green powder you mix into water could be good for you, did you? Well, it isn’t. When you eat soup, you eat/drink the water, milk, butter, or whatever else you had that powder mixed into, along with a mixture of tasty salt and preservatives. A lot of salt, in fact. Salt is sadly often overlooked as a risk-factor in food. Salt is actually a major contributor to heart disease. It has to be excreted from the body. The kidneys do this job, and without going too deep on the physiology, the blood pressure increases the more salt you consume, in order to excrete it. And high blood pressure is not good for you, which you probably already know.

No 6. Ketchup

Don’t let the fact that it almost got accepted as a vegetable in the United States fool you. Despite containing the antioxidant lycopene (antioxidants greatly reduce the risks of mutations in your body, and the risk of developing diseases like cancer), ketchup contains loads of sugar (as high as 26% carbohydrates, according to Wikipedia), and also a lot of salt. Most of the ketchup we eat is processed and non-organic, so the lycopene levels are much lower than what it could be from the amount of tomatoes used.

No 5. Diet Soda

Some studies have shown that diet soda may not be too bad for you by it self, but it still gave the test group a considerable weight gain. A theory was that diet soda actually stimulated the appetite, so that you “ate back” more than the calories you saved by drinking a diet soda instead of a sugary version. Several animal studies have suggested that the artificial sweeteners used in diet soda can cause weight gain, just like ordinary sugars. Also, some of these sweeteners, like Aspartame, have been believed to increase the risk of certain kinds of cancer, although this has not been scientifically proven, as far as I know.

No 4. Processed Cheese

It’s probably common knowledge that cheese isn’t too good for you, but processed cheese is actually -really- bad for you! Here’s a little story from my childhood, on the subject.

Since when I first ate a hamburger at the local Burger King, I wondered what kind of cheese they used on those delicious hamburgers they sold there. It was so… good and cheesy, and yellow too! Many years passed, and I, as a burger fanatic, tried many types of cheese on my homemade hamburgers without really getting the wanted result. Then, one day when I traveled over the border to Sweden, I found the cheese I was looking for in the first grocery store I went into. “American cheese” it was named, if I’m not mistaken, and I bought a couple of these which I took home to Norway, to put them to the test. And yep, that was the yellow, cheesy cheese I had been looking for! Since we all know that Norway is a much better place to be than Sweden, despite the two countries being pretty much the same, EXCEPT for the Swedes selling this cheese, I felt had to do some investigation.

And indeed, my bad feelings turned to disbelief, as I found out that processed cheese (which doesn’t actually meet the requirements for being called cheese), was so high in salt that it was actually not sold here. Some sources also showed that the average processed cheese you get on your fast food burgers contain so much salt that you can reach far past the recommended daily intake with just 2-3 slices of cheese. I’m not sure how the Burger King here gets the cheese though, but that’s probably another story…

No 3. Soy Sauce

Unlike many other soy products, soy sauce does not contain certain antioxidants known as isoflavones, but the level of antioxidants in soy sauce is still so high that it’s often viewed (or mistaken), as healthy. On the negative side, however, soy sauce contains very high amounts of salt. There has also been several studies showing that there are often chemicals known to increase the risks of certain types of cancer, found in soy sauce. Luckily, after much stricter regulations on these chemicals and the relatively fresh knowledge of the dangers associated with high salt-contents, there now excises several kinds of low-sodium soy sauces, free of dangerous chemicals. Sadly, as with most healthy variants of various foods, it is not as tasty as the real deal.

No 2. Peanut

Nuts are generally healthy. Most sorts come packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and lots of goodies for your body to enjoy. Peanuts is not a horrible exception, but it might not be as good as other kinds of nuts. The majority of peanuts sold as snacks come packed with salt, and they are often roasted and come coated in unhealthy fats. But the nuts themselves are healthy, you say? Well, maybe. Of course they have the before mentioned benefits of containing a lot of vitamins and minerals, but they contain A LOT of the kind of unsaturated fatty acids known as omega-6 fatty acids. You might have heard about it before, along with the omega-3 acids.

It is a scientific fact that a food intake with a too distorted omega 6:omega 3 ratio (in favor of the omega 6 version), increases the risk for many common diseases, like diabetes and Alzheimer’s. The ratio SHOULD be 1:1, but the American diet ranges between 1:20 and 1:50, in favor of the omega 6. Maybe I shouldn’t go as far as to say peanuts are bad for you, but they should be consumed in a limited quantity, and they should be eaten as nature made them – raw and without added salt.

No 1. Fruit Juice

Controversial perhaps, but this entry is number 1 for a good reason – so many people believe fruit juice is so healthy that they substitute it for all whole fruit in their diet. Now it is true that fruit juice contains a lot of vitamins but it is at great cost; most fruit juice is pumped up with extra sugar and aside from a few varieties has its pulp removed. The pulp in fruit provides essential fibre which can be considered a good counterbalance to all the natural sugar contained in the fruit. So my advice to you: ditch fruit drinks and eat whole raw fruit instead.

 

10 Unhealthy Foods You Think are Healthy

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After reading this, are you shocked that some of the food you love are actually unhealthy?

Therefore in order to keep healthy, always remember: Less Sugar, Less Salt, Less Oil, and Drink More Water!

Random on the weekdays

#1 Another tragic incident happened to Hermie’s cubicle.
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37 boxes entirely filled up hermie’s cubicle space.

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#2 Aunty Crystal pathetically packing up goodies bag and even skipped lunch. Poor thing. But we did helped her out! Marketing is not easy. PROVEN here!

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#3 Loves from hermie! Didn’t know that beauty diaries mask are so goood!

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#4 Weekday jogging at MBS after heck work. Enjoy the breeze and very very chio scenery! Saw people flying LED kite too.

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#5 Sarang bi main actor Jang Geung Suk! So handsome!!! Recently i’ve been watching this korean drama. Although i couldn’t understand korean but still i love korean drama. The way they dressed are so nice! Especially girls. Sweet and lovely. The colors they match <3

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#6 Loves from Ganjeong Spider. =’( Sad to hear the news…

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#7 Have you seen cat who eat durian? Here is one!

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#8 Bought some accessories from Taipei Muse! Major love. Visit Taipei Muse now!

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#9 TOP i see no difference. HAHA Big Bang fans dont kill be please. Heard that Big bang concert tickets in Singapore sold out in 3 minutes! Even my friend couldn’t get it.

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#10 Happy Birthday to my friend, Potato Eve!

Who dont love suprises ??

Halfway through the weekly stressed WIP meeting at OMG SKY,Marie colleague of ours came running up with a bouquet of flowers..~! First thought that came to my mind ” OMG is it mine? is it mine?  ” ” argh.. cant be me luhhh..” ” i hope its mine “. The 3 golden thoughts. * im sure the rest of the MFP ladies share the same thoughts with me * giggles *

hehehe =X it belongs to ATARI~!! 

 Next standard question. ” who is it who is it from?! ”

Gan Chiong… 2 mins passed… still didnt manage to open the card.. with the courtesy from Chrsytal.. i saw scribbles of chinese words.. hehehe..  * loved * =)

 

 

How to Sell Everything

One summer, on a Friday afternoon, a young man was being trained by his supervisor on his first day as a salesperson at a large department store. His supervisor was trying to show him the amount of things he could sell to customers by making them feel they needed the items. “Watch this,” he said and approached a man who has just entered the store. “May I help you, sir?”

The man replied, “I just moved into my first house and I need some fertiliser for my lawn.”

So the supervisor said, “Well, we have five- and ten-pound bags of fertiliser. I recommend you go with the ten pound bag.”

“Why is that?”

“The ten-pound bag will get you through most of the summer, but the five-pound bag won’t,” the supervisor answered.

“Fine,” the man agreed, “I’ll take the ten-pounder.” “Very good sir. And would you like the stiff rake or the spring-rake with that?”

“Rake? What do I need that for?”

“Well sir,” said the supervisor authoritatively, “if you don’t rake up the old dead grass before you spread the fertiliser, it won’t all reach the soil.”

“All right then. I’ll get the stiff rake.”

“Very good sir. And would you like the fixed sprinkler or the oscillating sprinkler with that?”

The man started to get a bit steamed and asked harshly, “Sprinkler? Look, I just came in here for some fertiliser. What do I need a sprinkler for?” Calmly, the supervisor responded, “Well sir, if you water your lawn immediately after fertilising, the fertiliser will sink into the soil more quickly and in no time at all, you’ll have the greenest lawn in your neighbourhood.”

This sounded pretty good to the man so he picked up the fixed sprinkler. “OK, then. I’ll take all this.”

“Very good sir. And would you like the electric or gas mower with that,” asked the supervisor.

Now the customer had about had it and he all but blew up at the supervisor. “LAWNMOWER? Look, all I wanted when I came here was a bag of fertiliser. You’ve already managed to sell me a rake and a sprinkler besides. Give me one good reason why I should get a lawnmower, too!”

Calm as ever, the supervisor said, “Well sir, if you get a lawnmower now, then you’ll be all ready to start trimming your beautiful green grass the minute it starts getting too long. Your lawn will look like a golf course and you’ll be the envy of all your neighbours! Besides, they are on sale this week only, and you’re going to need it either way.”

Well, the man figured that sounded OK and he really wanted to get out of there before he bought anything else so at last he relented. “Fine. I’ll get the electric mower, but that’s it!”

“Very good sir. I’ll ring that up for you.”

After the man had left the store with all his new purchases, the supervisor turned to the trainee and said, “So, do you think you could do that?” The trainee said that he thought he could and the supervisor directed him towards another customer.

The trainee approached the puzzled-looking man and asked, “May I help you sir?”

The man replied, “Yes. I need some tampons for my wife.” Well, the trainee is totally thrown off by this request. He can’t imagine what he could offer the man to go along with that. However, he wanted to impress his boss so he thought hard. Suddenly, he had it! “Very good sir. And would you like the electric or gas mower with that?”

“Mower? What the hell is wrong with you? I came in here looking for tampons. Why the hell should I get a lawnmower, too?”

“Well sir,” the trainee answered, “I figure your weekend is shot, so you might as well cut the grass.”

I jelly =(

Have you girls seen this picture floating around on Facebook?

Pretty hor!! Personally I think this looks abit like resident bloggers Wendy & Miyake. Maybe I should really go and cut bangs and wear my fake eyelashes more often. Because if this person can look that kawaii, I think I can also. Why? Because…

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She is a HE.

WHERE GOT GUY SO CHIO ONEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. Apparently he/she is a cross dresser from Thailand and his/her Facebook page is getting alot of attention. But to be honest hor…. I am so flat chested that I think my chest also looks like that =(

xoxo, chryst

4 reasons why you should never go to Ichiban Sushi

Last Sunday, the BF & I went to Ichiban Sushi at Changi City Point cos I was craving for Japanese and I don’t remember ever trying out Ichiban before.

Piss Factor #1
We got to the main entrance at about 6.30pm and there were maybe 3 couples infront of us. The restaurant was about 80% full but it still took us a good 30 minutes to get a seat cos the wait staff ignored the queue.

Piss Factor #2
We were given the table nearest to their kitchen. Please take note: DO NOT EVER ACCEPT THIS TABLE. I think it’s understood that the traffic there would be pretty much rush hour. That is perfectly alright with me. But it is not okay when employees scream into your ear everything single bloody time they enter or exit the kitchen. By scream, I mean scream. I had a massive headache after 15 minutes. It’s very unprofessional of a restaurant when staff shout at each other across the room.

Piss Factor #3
BF ordered beef teriyaki while I got the cha soba. His food came in 15 minutes. It looked and smelled really really really good! My tummy was growling away and I couldn’t wait for my icy cold noodles to arrive! I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. I saw trays of cha soba go out to other hungry people =(

And so I waited some more. I WAITED FOR AN HOUR FOR A CHA SOBA. In case you don’t know what this is, here’s a picture:
All cha soba is made from is noodles, some ice, and a dipping sauce. It DOES NOT take 1 hour to prepare. My BF had already finished his meal a long time ago and was fidgeting around. Even though I was starving, I decided to cancel my order cos it didn’t make any sense to sit there and hear people screaming. I was still okay at this point since it’s a Sunday, and I am usually quite nice and passive cos I don’t sleep much on Saturday nights =p

The next thing that happened really pissed me off. They had the cheek to immediately bring out a serving of cha soba from the kitchen! The flow went like this: I flagged down a waitress to say that I wanna cancel my order, she said okay and went straight into the kitchen beside us to bring it out and say “but madam, it is already prepared”. It obviously wasn’t a fresh order since the ice had already melted. If it was ready, why wasn’t I served eons ago? I refused to accept the noodles and very adamantly told them that I WANT TO CANCEL. The waitress then launched into a broken tape recording of “madam, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.” Repeat that sentence about 20 times. That was exactly what she did.

Piss Factor #4
Went to the cashier to pay for my BF’s meal. There were only 2 customers ahead of us. We waited for 30 minutes to pay. Why? The person who was manning the cashier LEFT her station to go clean tables and attend to the queue snaking in.

This will be the first and the last time that I will ever go to any Ichiban Sushi. Their service standard is so ridiculously bad that even the harassed old aunties at MacDonalds far outshine them. Consider yourselves warned.

xoxo, chryst

People naming houses?

One fine day, i got a text from my gf.. it went like

Her: U know, in other countries people give their houses a name.
Her: Shall we name ours?
Me: Ha ha
Me: Uh

So yes now we are going to think of a name for our new place. I welcome suggestions.

Naming aside, yes our new place is coming along really nicely. It’s situated along the leafy stretch of Punggol Waterway and connected to a new semi-expressway to TPE/KPE. Its also surrounded by waters and gardens so we felt it’ll be a great place to start a family. Schools and 24hr food places are also conveniently close. Grocerers too are but few minutes away. I’m really glad we got this plot and not the earlier plot we balloted for.

Buying a house in Singapore is like wow… an investment unlike no other for peasants like me. Still, now that we’ve got over the months of waiting, suspense, admins and $$$…. all thats left is to watch to building of the apartment itself!

Thats how it is now, a field of mud and granite

How it’ll look after our very talented builders are finished with it. (Artist impression, not real)

Hopefully it looks as close to the mockup ha ha…

So yes we are both really excited and even though its still a couple of years away, we’re having fun conceptualising and planning our future home. I am kinda sick of the place Im at now so an apartment that have my hands in its design is very much welcomed!

Now back to thinking of a name for it …

8 pictures to restore your faith in humanity

People aren’t always awful. Sometimes, they’re maybe even just a little bit wonderful. Sometimes, I see pictures/stories on the internet that make me feel like there’s some hope for this world. Here’s some of them.

1. This picture of Chicago Christians who showed up at a gay pride parade to apologize for homophobia in the church, and the reaction from the parade.

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2. The story about Japanese senior citizens who volunteered to tackle the nuclear crisis at Fukushima power station so that young people wouldn’t have to subject themselves to radiation. You Sirs, have my utmost respect.

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3. This sign at an awesome bookshop.

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4. The moment in which this Ohio athlete stopped to help an injured competitor across the finish line. 17 year old Megan Vogel was in last place in the 3.2km run when she caught up to competitor Arden McMath. Instead of running past her to avoid finishing last, Vogel put McMath’s arm around her shoulders, carried her for 30 meters, and then pushed her across the finish line before crossing it herself.

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5. This exchange between a 3 year old girl and a shopping center.

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6. This picture of a villager carrying stranded kittens to safety during floods in Cuttack City, India.

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7. This sign at an awesome drycleaner’s.Elite Cleaners in Minneapolis helped over 2,000 unemployed workers that couldn’t afford dry cleaning. Owner Don Chapman estimated that it cost his company USD $32,000.

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8. The exchange between a protester and a soldier during a protest in Brazil.

My birthday celebration~

Okay… I’m like a month too late but the crew had a simple celebration for my “18th” birthday in May!

koky mysteriously disappeared for a couple of hours from the office cos… she went to collect my all time favourite cheesecake from Hilton Hotel~ Thank you for making the trip there cos I know that you don’t like the sun and it’s so damn far away plus you didn’t get to eat lunch <3

My 2 Hilton cheesecakes for the day (the one on the left bought by my bf!):

The American & the Oreo. Birthday calories don’t count. Screw the diet!

The team presented me with a super pretty gift that was dubiously heavy….

My teh oh peng? (Side note: my surname is Oh, probably that’s why it’s in capitals.)

The back:

And now… the inside of both packages~

Funding for my daily morning iced tea! Apparently koky had to walk to a few banks to change for coins. Who ask you all to do this kind of things? See lah, make koky suffer. The funny part about their present to me is that I even have the F.A. (final artwork) of my birthday card/angpao.

Another funny thing that happened was that Hilton Hotel called me in the afternoon.

Hilton: Miss Oh? Your cake is ready for collection. What time will you be coming by to pick it up?

Me: Huh? What cake?

Hilton: You ordered a cake yesterday at (forgot the timing)pm, said that you will collect it today.

Hilton: [sudden silence]

Hilton: Urm.. the cake was ordered by a Mr Leow, I think we made a mistake. Sorry and have a good day. Goodbye.

*click. end call.*

HAHAHAHAHAHA. The BF’s surprise kena ruined. Made me laugh though. It was a wonderful day spent with my darling MFP crew, family, best friends and the BF. Thank you people for all your hard work =D

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo, chryst