Monday, October 14, 2013

Chicken with Cucumber - Radish Salad and The Bad News From The Doctor

EAT LESS CRAP

C -carbonated drinks
R- refined sugar
A- artificial sweeteners and colors
P- processed food

EAT MORE FOOD

F- fruits and veggies
O- organic lean proteins
O- omega 3 fatty acids
D - drink water



Remember when I was jumping up and down and doing my happy dance to celebrate my weight loss? check here. I guess I celebrated too early. Last Thursday, I went to my doctor for my annual physical check up. Although I lost some weight, the blood work result came back and my bad cholesterol was way too high. The normal number for bad cholesterol is 199 and mine is 210. Actually, this is not really a surprise because my bad cholesterol a year ago was 270. So I guess my weight loss did help to lower my numbers.


Just what is Cholesterol?

According to Live Science, Cholesterol is  a waxy material which is produced naturally by the liver. There are two kinds of cholesterol the HDL( High Density Lipoprotein) and LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein). HDL is the angel/good  cholesterol and the LDL is the evil/bad one. We need more HDL in order to lower LDL. When LDL is too high, there is a chance that deposits are form in our vessels which will eventually become  plague. The plague can cause the blood vessels to become narrow which make it difficult for the blood to circulate  towards the heart. Bad cholesterol can cause a heart attack. The only way to know your numbers is to have blood check. Note: My summary is very limited. Please check the link.
Since my results are not good, the doctor told me to exercise more and watch my diet. I have to limit eating eggs  and meat. I can eat chicken without skin and I have to eat more on more fibrous grains like oatmeal, brown rice and eat more fruits.I also have to go back for another check up in three months.


I really want to be healthy and I want to lower my heart attack risk, so I am making a promise to myself with you my friends as my witness. I AM GOING TO GET HEALTHY AND I AM GOING TO LOWER MY LDL. How should I do that? I am going to listen to the doctor. I am going to exercise harder and eat healthier. To be honest, I really thought that my food intake is already healthy. But you see, I am good with my diet during weekdays and when I have my diet break during the weekends, that is when I binge on Chinese food. So pretty much the hard work I put in throughout the weekdays are useless. I promise to put a stop on this weekend binges and I'll exercise more. I am going to update you about my routine once a week for three months. Right now, I am 122 lbs. My desired weight for my height is 100 to 105. So, I am making my promise to you now. Ok. let us shake our hands on this. Now this is sealed. There is no more turning back...


In lieu with this plan, I am going to start our week with his skinless chicken breast - grilled and marinated. It also goes perfectly with cucumber salad to make this meal excellent. You can pair it with rice or eat alone.Whatever you decide, you will enjoy this meal. 


For the Grilled/ Broiled Chicken:
  1. 1/4 cup honey
  2. 2 tbsp soy sauce
  3. 1 tbsp tabasco
  4. 2 garlic cloves crushed
  5. juice of 1/2 lemon
  6. 4 pcs of chicken breast
  7. 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Salad  Ingredients:
  1. 2 tbsp sugar
  2. 1 tbsp warm water
  3. 1/8 cup white vine vinegar or regular white vinegar
  4. 1/4 tsp black pepper
  5. 6 radishes, thinly sliced
  6. handful of dill
  7. 1 cucumber
  8. 1/2 tsp salt



For the Grilled/ Broiled Chicken:

Mix ingredients 1 to 5 in a large bowl. Add in the chicken breast.Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight or few hours. Or even 10  minutes. Then grill or broil until cook through.

For the salad:


Mix together ingredients 1 to 4 in a large bowl. Whisk until the sugar is dissolve. Set aside.
Using a vegetable peeler or mandolin, thinly slice the cucumber.
Get  flat plate or a bowl  toss cucumber with the salt .  Let it stand for ten minutes to let the juices of the cucumber to run out.
After 10 minutes, wrap the cucumber in a clean dish towel and squeeze gently to remove excess water then stir in dill and radish. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Serve with sesame seed sprinkle around the chicken.




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