Make the healthier choice

We are all responsible for our own healthy ageing, as we prepare to live a longer and happier life. Do you find it challenging to be healthy for 100? It is easier than you think. We round up the health champs in Prudential to share simple health tips. In this edition, Jasmine Yap, Sales Quality Analyst, shares her tips on making the healthier choice.

Tell us what you do to stay healthy for longer!

I used to travel to Japan frequently, and came away with a strong belief that diet plays a key role in how well and how long we live. Inspired by this, I made adjustments to my eating habits not only to maintain good health, but to also lose some weight and feel good.

For example, I stick to 3 meals a day at relatively fixed times and eat no later than 8pm. I try to eat more for breakfast as I believe in starting the day happy 😊 For lunch and dinner, I do my best to monitor the amount of carbs that I consume such as asking for more vegetables and less rice.

I didn’t exactly follow these eating habits when I was younger. I’d always thought that I was still “young” and didn’t need to do anything till I was older. Thankfully, I got rid of that notion and became really disciplined about this when I wanted to lose weight and be healthy on the inside and outside. Another motivation is my dad, who had a small health scare a few years back and is now a huge advocate of healthy eating in our family!

Do you have any tips on making the healthier food choices?

There’s so much information these days on what are good and bad food, that it can be difficult to decide which is best for you. So for me, my general rule is ‘moderation’ – eat well, eat in moderation, and we’re good to go!

For instance, don’t cut out one food type completely, such as carbohydrates just because you want to lose weight quickly. You still need some amount of carbs to give you energy! At the same time, cut down on sugary foods and drinks like bubble tea (my weakness, along with fried chicken) by sharing them or choosing options with less or no sugar.

It’s not easy sticking to healthy eating habits, especially with Singapore’s awesome food scene where there’s always something new and interesting to try! For me, if I know that I’m going to have a gathering with lots of tempting food available, I’ll make sure to limit my intake and choose a healthier option for my other meals.

How about at work? How do you stick to making the healthier choice?

Breakfast is provided in the office. What’s even better is that a nutritionist reviews the breakfast and tea items at our office, so I know that I am getting a variety of nutritious food. If I’m feeling peckish, I’ll snack on dried fruits, nuts or the high fibre oats biscuits that can be found in our WorkPlayce pantry. But I make sure to do portion control so as not to spoil my appetite later!

How will you use Pulse by Prudential to stay healthy?

The Healthcheck feature will be great for helping me understand and visualise my health better. This will hopefully help me to stay on track of my health goals!