Potato Eaters versus Rice Eaters. I like this comparison!

 

 There are potato eaters.There are corn eaters. There are wheat eaters. There are rice eaters. There are meat eaters. There are vegetarians. And there are people who enjoy eating everything. So, what is the right food to keep slim and healthy?

In Reality 

    All food is food. But one man's food can be another man's poison. Food nourishes and  saves living things in the planet. At the same time consuming the wrong type of food  for the wrong reasons can turn food into poison.

But why curse the rice in particular?

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 Humble Rice Fields: The best setting for poets and inspiration.

                                   

    Grains of Life: Rice plants close up

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The Actual Fact: All food is good. 

The Dilemma: Which is the best food to keep our body healthy, slim and light? 

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Questions to ponder:

Can people who diet eat rice? 

Are wheat and bread better for dieters? 

Can we stop eating rice to grow slim and healthy? 

What are the alternatives to rice?  

Is it possible to curb hunger by eating less? 

Can you live without eating rice? 

Are rice-eating people inferior to wheat eaters? 

Are potatoes good for dieting?

Is rice rich in serotonin? 

Does eating rice give us energy! 

And finally, is rice a curse in modern man's diet? 

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In the Home of a Traditional Rice-eating Family

    There is a pot full of hot steaming rice. It is a rainy day and there are no snacks around.

     No potato chips. No sweets to suck. No fattening fries to eat. Not even a piece of cake anywhere! 

    The weather is cold and rainy. Steaming rice, chicken curry with potatoes! The people is the house sit for lunch. They eat their rice with stir-fried vegetables, and aromatic chicken curry. 

    On days when they are vegetarians they eat rice with high protein-based yogurt, and lentils. They stir-fry vegetables and cook dhal saambar with lots of herb and condiments. 

    Unfortunately, this beautiful way of eating is being frowned upon by many nowadays. Rice is now considered a curse, especially by confused dieters. 

    People are afraid to eat rice. This is happening is traditional rice-eating families as well.

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Here is a sad story of a chronic dieter who refrained from eating rice.

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Personal Diary of a Chronic Dieter.

    6.00 am - Wake uptime Ah, the beginning of a brand new day! As usual, I am on a diet. I am planning to lose some of my weight. I am flabby and I hate my figure. Losing 20 kilograms will definitely help my figure, weight and life quality. 

   9.00 am - Work from home I am at my table trying to concentrate on my work but my rumbling stomach is crying for food.  

   Food! Food! Food! Glorious Food! Even a peanut would suffice! 

'Just go for 3 almonds at  least,' my small voice finally managed to convince me. 

I took out a handful of almonds. Baked of course! I finished it and tried to do my work. But my hunger is not satiated!    

                                                       

Glorious nuts

10.00 am - Rice is boiling.Good Lord! Smells like the rice is boiling in the kitchen. I can identify the aromatic smell and flavour of the soft fluffy white rice a mile away!  Working from home is terrible for dieters! 'I am on a diet! No rice for me. No rice for me,' I repeated. 

11.00 am - Rice is starchy and can lead to obesity and diabetes.The world is such a terrible place. And rice is so fattening! Very rich in carbohydrate! Over-consumption of rice can even spike our sugar level, says everyone. That's very scary! Being such a versatile grain, I  wish rice didn't have so much carbohydrate in it. 

11.30 am - Rice with chicken curry.I think my mother is cooking chicken curry. Rice with chicken curry is a divine combination! 

11.40 am - Gnawing hunger of a dieter. I feel sorry for 'no-rice dieters' like me in my part of the world where rice is abundant. Maybe dieters from wheat-growing countries will not feel as bad as me. 'It is difficult to lose weight when one get addicted to rice,' I rationalised thoughtfully. 'But how much rice my father and forefathers ate daily?' The question confused and even frightened me a little. I decided to concentrate on my work.

12.00 am - Lunch time is nearing.To forget my mother's rice and chicken curry, I planned to get some small healthy snack that will contain my hunger until lunchtime. I thought hard for 6 minutes.

12.06 pm - Time to fill the empty stomach.

'A small snack will definitely do good to my poor stomach.' 

What revealation! 

I jumped up from my chair in elation. Any food is better than nothing at all, at this point of the day. I opened the larder. 

There were potato chips, lightly salted of course! 'Fantastic!' I thought, even though I knew that fried potato chips are unhealthy. 

'A few pieces would not hurt. After all, it is a rainy day and my body needs the extra energy to pull through till lunchtime,' I justified. I noticed another packet of something under the potato chips. Corn chips - baked! And then another - 'Haw flakes! Ah, I feel like in seventh Heaven! 

'Haw-flake Candies! Good for digestion!' I ran my fingers on the snacks delicately, and finally decided to eat the corn chips which were better than the deep fried potato chips.

'Wonderful! At last a good snack for my rumbling stomach!' I cried softly and walked back  into my room with the corn chips and the haw flake candy. 

 

I finished the corn chips and the sweet-sour haw-flake candies as I worked with my office files. Then I stood up and stretched, and considered another 'healthy' snack. 'One more snack won't hurt!' I walked towards the larder again. But half-way, I stopped, recalling my  pledge to lose 20 kilos. 

'The chips will have to last till lunch,' I consoled myself. And then I will have a chicken breast, broccoli and one plum! Beautiful - I am on diet! 

Being a non-rice lunch, things were pretty challenging especially my carbohydrate and protein count.  After all, I am on a diet and must eat accordingly! 

1.00 pm - Lunch time.My happiest time of the day. This is the only time when I get to see my plate full of things to eat! My lunch is lovely. I eat quality chicken protein, and healthy broccoli. Plus a plum for nutrients and vitamins!

4.01 pm - Pre-workout Snack
By 4 o'clock in the evening before my exercise, I need to take something for energy.  A cup of black coffee maybe... I went to the kitchen and discovered some sugar-free sesame biscuits and oats crackers in the cabinet drawers. I added some nuts to my coffee time. I go nuts for nuts! Wow!

                        

    

Tasty  sugar-free sesame biscuits and black coffee with oats crackers plus nuts.

                      

4.16 pm - Addition to the Pre-workout snack.

'The world is such a beautiful place,' I philosophised. 

As pre-workout food, I first selected a slice of sugar-free walnut carrot cake from the refrigerator. Walnuts are good and they make my heart healthy! 

My ancestors in this part of the world were very unlucky. I am very sure they did not get to eat walnuts during their time. Modernisation has made the world into a smaller place. Every kind of foodstuffs can be imported nowadays.

By the time I finished the piece of cake I realised that I have also gobbled up all the nuts in the plate and also from the packet! Nuts are easy to indulge! Hey, not a problem here! Nuts have quality protein!

And while waiting for my friend to come I made myself a glass of whey protein. My friend too takes whey protein and hates exercising alone. 

No-rice dieters have so many similarities. What would I do without my friend's company and support! We drive down to the nearest park to exercise every other day. The exercise really helps to revitalise and I feel active  and happy.

4.46 pm - Waiting time.While waiting, I grabbed a handful of peanuts, dry toasted of course! These nuts are addictive. By time I have eaten my second handful, my friend called: 'I can't make it today. Something important has turned up, you go ahead!'

5.00 pm - Plan B. I contemplated on Plan B. Well, the gym is not conducive, especially with the Covid virus and the park is so far away. It would be boring to drive alone to the park.    

Anyway, I have to finish that project paper of mine. The park can wait. I turned on the TV to release my stress for a bit. 

'I will just watch for 10 minutes,' I decided. The travelogue  was fantastic. I dream of my new figure - 20 kilograms lighter and the new me! It was so comforting to dream.

'Until I achieve my target I will not eat rice,' I renewed my wow enthusiastically. 

'Life is beautiful,' I contemplated, looking at the slim girl in the TV. Two more melt-in-the-mouth chocolate chip cookies went into my tummy. After all, I read somewhere that chocolate is a mood enchanter. The hydrogenated fats in the cookies may not really harm me. I am young, tough and healthy.  

                   

                                               

Lovely chocolate cookies. 

'The chocolate in the cookies will even motivate me to exercise today!' I thought. 

And true enough, by six o'clock in the evening, I got up to go to the park. The chocolate has worked! Anyway, the cookies are soaking in my stomach juices and I have to exercise to burn the excess energy. 

5.24 pm - Maybe chocolate cookies are not good for dieters.Suddenly, I felt like cursing the cookies that I ate. However, to curse the cookie is like 'cursing my own stomach.' The cookies are now going to be part of my flesh, blood and flab! 

5.28 pm - The regret.Disgusted at my  unconventional thoughts, I quickly changed into my exercise outfit and got out. Before leaving, I decided to pick up a banana. I need the energy to  exercise. 

I am not going to eat rice at night. Rice is so fattening. After all, bananas are recommended by almost all the exercise sites in the net as a fantastic pre-workout food. I ate the banana in the car and reached the park. 

                                                

Glorious bananas

My exercise only lasted for 38 minutes because it started to rain again.

7.45 pm - Home-cooked food for dinner.Dinner time is quality time for the family. But no rice for me. I munched on a raw carrot while helping my mother to prepare dinner. As I helped, I checked the  fridge and  found a left-over pizza.  I ate a small slice. Delicious!

                                                 

Hard work must be rewarded. Clever!

8.20pm -  Dinner Time.The family members came down for dinner. It's family time!I smiled happily. The exercise energised me. The kids enjoyed the chicken curry and rice. 

I prepared some delightful no-salt mint soup for myself. Someone said mint is good for weight loss. I enjoyed the mint soup with one piece fried chicken. Actually the fried chicken was a left-over piece from yesterday's dinner. Food should not go to waste. I felt sorry for the millions of people who are hungry-stricken throughout the world. 

'No rice for me,' I reminded myself looking at the younger family members munching the long fluffy grains of rice. It is Basmati for today. My mother is a fantastic cook! For me, the chicken had provided enough protein for the day. It was a bit oily though! I wonder what oil my mother used to fry the chicken yesterday.

'Never mind. Fried chicken just for today,' I consoled myself. Later, I helped mom clean the house and put the clothes into the washing machine.

10.01pm - Supper time. I am exhausted. My energy is low.  As usual, there is going to be no supper for me. I am on a no-rice diet. But a small something should be okay occasionally. 

  

                                    

Wheat-based instant noodles  

Note to the readers: However, sometimes I take a small cup of  instant noodles late at night. Noodles are made of wheat so I feel it is better than rice. I treat the noodles as an indulgent. Well, I grab the noodles only if I get really hungry at night. 

11.30pm - Bedtime.I am tired and  sleepy.  It is eleven-thirty at night. Another successful diet day.  Before sleeping, I take a cup of warm milk for my calcium requirement. My poor bones! I want to lead a slim and healthy life. 

Goodnight Sweetheart!

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I don't take rice. I take whey protein. I exercise, usually walk up to 2 kilometres twice or three times in a week. Occasionally, I do some stretching and sometimes weight lifting in my local gymnasium.                      

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But I have not reached my target weight. In fact, I seem to be growing heavier by the days. My friend said is may be my muscle mass increasing with  exercise. 

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Life is getting tougher for me nowadays because of this continuous dieting. I even feel a bit depressed at times. I am always hungry despite my healthy nuts and 'occasional' snacks. 

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Perhaps I should try a different diet next month. Eating grilled potato maybe...  

Oh my oh! Grilled potato diet in the making... but this is  for next month's diet!

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What do you think? Please help me by giving your comments and advice on how to curb hunger when dieting. Or maybe I need professional help. Something about my snacking habit is bothering me.

Bye for now!

With lots of low-calorie candies and sugar-free sweets,

 VSK

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 Some Information about Rice.

    Did you know that rice is actually the seeds of a type of grass?  There are the Asian rice variety (Oryza sativa) and the African rice (Oryza glaberrima). Rice is the humble staple of almost half of the people who live in the world. 

    For dieters, the dilemma is how to control their diet by eating right. Rice is not bad. In fact, rice is very delicious when combined with many savoury and even sweet dishes, vegetables and fruits! Like other grains, rice has carbohydrate and minerals such as Vitamins B1, B6, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Selenium and Manganese.

    

    Just like potatoes, corn and wheat, rice comes in various types and colours. There are brown, red, black, white, sticky, wild, basmati, parboiled rice. The list goes on with the ongoing hybridisation of rice breeds.

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    Unlike the case of the Chronic Dieter above, I like to eat rice in many healthy ways. Salad brown rice, Chicken Black Rice, Prawn rice with papaya. Rice with fennel fronds, Lemon rice, Rice with lemon pickle, Meat rice, Vegetarian rice, Fried rice, Mix-coloured rice, Rice Tosai, Rice pancake, Rice noodles... My God the combination is endless! 

The rice is here to stay! For rice-eaters out there, enjoy viewing my rice dish varieties.    

                         

My ever-favourite home-cooked low-starch par-boiled rice with long gourd, fried chicken, saambar, and papadam. Yum...

                       

Another healthy favourite: Rice noodles, coconut-rice, peanuts, ikan bilis, yam-based hash brown, almonds, egg, and cucumber.

                    

A glorious rice set served in banana leaf.

Rice Tosai -Pizza Style

See what rice can be turned into! Rice Tosai - Pizza Style is filled with mouth-watering natural yogurt, blueberry yogurt, tomato, olives, carrots, avocado, turnip, fennel, boiled chicken, mango, bell pepper, and chilli.  How can anyone even think that rice is unhealthy!

Plain Rice Tosai with pepper, egg and fennel leaves.

                                     

Vegetarian Style Carrot Rice Idli with spicy tofu sambal, dhal curry, tomato red chutney, coconut white chutney. 

                     

Avocado and asparagus rice served with healthy asparagus, red baby tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, tofu and fried chicken.

          Plain Rice Tosai                                     Pizza-cut Rice Tosai

Festive Multi-coloured Herb Rice and .... oops! wheat noodles. And a wheat-based vegetarian curry puff! 

Ghee-roasted herbal rice with boiled chic peas.

Ketchup fried rice

All time favourite: Healthy Fried Rice with curry leaf, mix-veg and ikan bilis. 

Diet-friendly Avocado-Egg Rice Tosai 

Diet-friendly Rice Tosai drizzled with tasty cheesy mint sauce, egg and pepper. 

Sweet ponggal rice with raisins and cashews in banana leaf.

Black Rice beauty with healthy salad, fennel fronds, prawns and plum combination.

Black rice with grilled okra, bitter gourd and pomfret in spicy olive oil mango pickle... yum!

Brown rice with grilled prawns, soaked mango, and fennel fronds. (I ate this last night!)

Parboiled rice with boiled bok choy, broccoli, mango and grilled spicy fish.

Plain boiled Rice with fennel fronds. Can be eaten with any combination. Rice with meat. Rice with salad. Rice with fruits. My rice combinations are awfully tasty and trendy. And it keeps you away from the extra weight!

 

 

I  recommend you the Banana Rice.

Ingredients

Steaming hot rice and two ripe bananas

How to eat

On a plate take some steaming hot rice. Peel two bananas.  Smash or cut the bananas into small slices. Eat with the hot rice. Will taste excellent with Basmathi  rice

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 So far, I have lost 15 kilo by eating rice! I feel light, agile and as happy as the flowers!

Cheerio!

Note: Artistic view of Japanese Roses. 

Picture courtesy of VSK.