Counting calories

The other day, I was reading a report on Eat According To Your Blood Type Diet. Being O-blooded, I was told I could eat as much meat and as little grains as possible. Supposedly, my ancestors were the hunters. So, my body is made to take in a generous portion of meat.

That's all and well. But it's very difficult to start counting grains because rice is so much a part of the Asian diet. When I come home for dinner and restrict the serving of rice on my plate, my mum would give a long pout and pull a guilt trip on how she had toiled over the stove and no-one appreciates it!

I wish, I told her, I wish I can declare like a supermodel that I can eat anything I want and still look svelte (although I'm disinclined to believe that, as I've worked with models and observed they eat morsels).

I love food. It's hard not to when you live in a food paradise like Singapore. Our local food is oh-so-delicious as much as it's oh-so-fattening. That bowl of fish soup seems healthy, but look closer and you'll see something swimming in it. Oh, it's just pure unadulterated oil!

I think the reason waistlines are expanding globally (and it's not because we have chosen casual clothes over constricting corsets) is that people are spoilt for choices (I'm, of course, speaking for first world countries). Why have a plain sandwich when you can have roast beef sandwich packed with melted cheese, mushrooms and what not?

So, here I am, trying to get a healthier lifestyle going. On Monday, I trekked through the Machritchie rainforest for nearly two hours, covering at least a 10km stretch. After all that sweat, I felt good about myself and skipped away to a social dinner appointment with a friend. At the restaurant, I gave a once-over the menu and caught an Indonesian deep-fried tofu and egg dish topped with sweet soy sauce (yummy!). Hmm, if I order that, I'll be back at square one. My eyes searched for a healthier alternative and found Thai papaya salad.

Tough choice. What did I eventually pick off the menu? No prizes for guessing. Machritchie, here I come!

PS: Totally unrelated. Pingcat, from your previous comment: the book nearest to me had less than 123 pages!

Seven-year itch

My friend, N, who's 27, has just got divorced from her husband of nearly seven years. Which might prove that the seven-year itch is not just hearsay, after all.

There was no major blow-up in their marriage (even she conceded so). They simply grew apart, that's all.

Now, how in the world did it come to this when everyday, they lived under the same roof. Anyone would be wont to guess that they don't communicate enough, which does hold some truth.

They had often quibbled over the Little Things that eventually snowballed into a Big Thing. Then suddenly, one day they woke up and concluded, oh, this marriage is just not working out, so let's call it quits.

It sounds like a pretty lame excuse for bailing out of a marriage. But this is exactly what's happening everyday, faster than you can say "I do". Marriages are going the way of Hollywood. Once the passion has fizzled, it's time to throw in the towel.

Why was Divorce almost a taboo word forty, fifty years ago? Did people respect the sanctity of marriage more back then? Perhaps. Were women more willing to suffer in silence back then? Perhaps. Did men feel a stronger sense of responsibility over their family? Perhaps.

This is all very phobia-inducing for unmarried women like myself. To have the thought of divorce as a probability and marriage of a lifetime as luck. So, marriage is a gamble, they say.

But I refuse to assume that belief (or else, I'm bound to become a runaway bride many times over). You've got to decide to get married with your eyes wide open. Leave all these happily-ever-after fairytale notion of marriage in fiction land. You've got to remember that you love your partner for his/her good points and accept him/her with warts and all - for the REST of your life. Take commitment not as a lip service but as an oath as if you life depended on it. I guess you just have to find like-minded people like myself.

And stick to it, for goodness sake.

PS: Tell me why you would or would never get married.