G'day from singapore

ESCapement

Newcomer
Joined
Sep 26, 2018
Reaction score
1
Age
51
Location
Singapore
Lifestyle
  1. Vegan
Hello fellow Vegans.

I am a relatively new vegan having been veg for about a year and vegan since January this year.

In Sydney where I grew up I found it very easy to accommodate the changes to my diet from veg to vegan because I knew exactly what products I could get, or I could find out easily enough. The names and ingredients were all very familiar.

It took me no time at all in my transition to not be missing meat. Some dairy has been harder but really the switch to purely plant based has not been at all difficult from a food satisfaction, variety and general nutritional balance perspective.

I cook and experiment happily so now that I am in Singapore I am still coping just fine, but it is certainly more difficult logistically due to lack of familiarity with the languages, ingredients and brand names. Also the best locations to buy fresh or bulk because a lot of things here are at least as expensive as Sydney, if not significantly more so, since pretty much everything is imported.

I have been eating a lot of Indian and asian fusion type meals at work or when I am out and found awesome vegan and veg/vegan-option places to go through Happy Cow and other internet resources.

I am a dedicated cyclist and training hard for an event back in Australia next year which will be a pretty ambitious project now that I am in a hot, flat city and new job with lots of travel!

The only hiccup I had along the way was some anaemia which I fixed with a quality iron supplement (Ferro-grad C then, and a chelated Iron "vegan friendly" one I got online since moving). I also took care to get an Omega 3 and B12 supplement in rotation. But I acknowledge there is much to learn so I am not just flushing money down the toilet for questionable benefit.

So the main area I am very keen to learn about here is fine tuning my supplements and sourcing economical ways to make breakfast cereals and lunches for work. I make breakfast my biggest meal to set myself up for the day and most package cereals have way too much refined ingredients (especially sugar) and dehydrated fruits which also add to the glycogen burden.

I am using "no added sugar" for whatever I can get - like Soy Milk and cereals, sauces etc., but I am not by any means over the top against sugar.

Anyway, that's some background intro and I look forward to reading and discussing in the forums!

Best,
Will
 
Welcome.
My standard advice to people concerned about nutrition is to use CronOmeter for at least a week.
The best cheapest breakfast is oatmeal. I make a big pot of steel cut oats in the rice cooker. and just heat up a cup with some soymilk and fresh fruit in the mornings.
Smoothies are also a great breakfast. My favorite is soymilk, banana, peanut butter, and ground flax seed.
 
Welcome.
My standard advice to people concerned about nutrition is to use CronOmeter for at least a week.
The best cheapest breakfast is oatmeal. I make a big pot of steel cut oats in the rice cooker. and just heat up a cup with some soymilk and fresh fruit in the mornings.
Smoothies are also a great breakfast. My favorite is soymilk, banana, peanut butter, and ground flax seed.
Thanks for the app recommendation. I've used myfitnesspal extensively in the past till I didn't need to calorie count, but I've never applied the tracking approach to my vitamin intake - I'm getting cron-o-meter now!
Also, I love the breakfast suggestions.
 
CronOmeter's website is free. You have to pay for the app. if you buy the app you do unlock some more of the website's features.
 
Not sure. Never had any gone bad. I make 4 servings and it lasts over a week. but I've never kept them much longer than 10 days.

I can say with certainty that Food Safe guidelines say no more than 4-6 days for cooked oatmeal in the fridge. I never keep mine more than 4 days, but that's mainly because it gets eaten up before that. I've read some food safe guidelines as strict as 2-3 days for these sorts of refrigerated items, but 4-6 is what I go by for oatmeal.

Things like soups and stews are different again. Some things can spoil much faster. It's better safe that sick. I've seen hummus turn in 4 days, easily. I'm all for convenience, but there's a fine line between lazy and safety. Also, there's no question fresh tastes better, with the exception of a nice soup or stew that develops flavour overnight.


*
 
  • Like
Reactions: ESCapement
Sounds fine. I'm having a crack with my rice cooker doing oats overnight with a banana, some raisins and a pinch of salt. Got a blender on weekend for smoothies. So getting everything sorted.
Thanks for the replies!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lou
Hello and Welcome! My brother lives in Australia and my uncle did too before he died. I've been to both Australia and Singapore but remember nothing about it as I was only a baby then.

Glad you are managing on a vegan diet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lou