Eat – and be happy and healthy about it

What say you on the issue below?

HIYA, dear. We Malaysians love our food so much that we could eat six meals a day and die happy. When it comes to food, our motto is live to eat, not eat to live.

My 20-year-old daughter recently declared that she eats to live and that deciding what to eat is such a chore. I peered at her closely to ascertain that this girl shared the same DNA as me and wasn’t a clone substituted by an extra-terrestrial from Pluto or Jupiter.

“You’re not Malaysian,” I told her as she peeled the skin off the pau she was having for dinner while I and the rest of the brood tucked into mackerel steak, fish and chips, pork chop and fried rice.

She has begun to be selective of the food she consumes. She is cutting down on fried stuff, processed food and meat and is eating more vegetables.

Although I do not condone her lack of gung-ho spirit towards food (aiyoh, we are Malaysians and Chinese to boot), we should all take a leaf out of her book.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we should totally abstain from fried stuff, processed food and meat (FPM) but minimising our consumption of these items is a healthy practice. I do not advocate total abstinence of FPM as it may cause adverse effects.

Imagine this scenario. You’ve gone cold turkey for a week and hadn’t had any FPM at all. You reward yourself with a big fat hamburger oozing with extra cheese and mayonnaise.

Suddenly someone whacks your head. You open your eyes and see your brother’s hand raised in the air as if he is about to slap you.

“You bit me, you doofus!” he growls. He shows you his hand with the teeth marks. Oops … that was the delicious hamburger in your dream.

Really, you don’t have to go the extreme route, dear. Here are some workable ideas.

After you’ve had fried chicken for lunch, punish yourself with bland, steamed food for dinner and stay off supper.

Though you may be an animal lover – you love them so much you’ve got to have their meat on your plate – exercise compassion, say once a week, and abstain from meat for one whole day.

If you have to snack, don’t binge on junk food. Fruits are a great alternative. You could munch on raw carrots if that’s your thing but go easy on the dip.

If the sauce is laden with calories, you might as well pour a gigantic pack of prawn crackers down your throat.

Make a conscious effort to eat healthy, dear. Your body will thank you for it.