Eating clean.

So if people who are reading this don't already know, I've been eating clean (attempting to, but still with a few slip ups along the way) for about 5 months now. It's was hard to begin with initially, suddenly switching from rice and meat (which I have practically grown up eating) to well, protein, fruits and vegetables. The first month was the toughest, with cravings of all my favourite foods coming into my mind at all times, especially when I'm holding a cup of blended spinach and avocado juice :/ 

Eventually though, after educating myself better with the whole eating clean lifestyle, I realized that it doesn't mean I've to totally cut out whatever I used to it, all I had to do was do it in moderation. So I was happy again! Anyways, long story short, it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. That and the decision to exercise and make it a routine instead of a short-term thing.

What inspires and continues to motivate me most is the fact that most of my friends are now resolving to eating clean and exercising more as well and they say it's because of me. It's just a very proud feeling when you get told things like that. And I'm glad to say that I feel really happy to be able to motivate people around me to do things that will benefit them. 

So anyways, I've been experimenting a lot with different sorts of foods and sometimes, when I have the time, I even decorate them nicely to make it presentable and pretty, because to me, pretty food = happy tummy! These are just a few of the things I've been having as of late.

Teddy bears asleep in the forest.

Best smoothie recipe EVER!

Simple but cute peanut butter toast (:

Experimental smoothie that turned out DELICIOUS!

Alright then, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to continue sustaining this lifestyle because honestly, I think the food cravings have now gone and I look forward to my clean meals every day. I also have cheat meals on the weekends to help balance things out! After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, right?

xoxo, elvyna.

Clean eating lifestyle.

So for those of you who don't already know from my Instagram and stuffs, I've recently (well, not so recently actually) decided to change my lifestyle and eating habits to strive and become a fitter version of myself. And guess what? I'm actually liking it and seeing results!

So I go to (try to) the gym about 4-5 times a week and normally I'll do an hour of weight training/ circuit training and then I'll end with cardio where I just run on the treadmill for a minimum of 5km. And by that time I'll be so drenched in sweat and feeling awesome!

Then I look forward to going home and preparing some kickass healthy, protein-packed meal to replenish what I've lost at the gym. I normally work with the same ingredients but I just try to find different things to prepare them with. 

A meal I love: Avocado (all time fav!) on crackerbread with mozarella and tomato slices and turkey breast chunks + sausages on the side.

Something similar using the same ingredients but its a salad on the bottom.

My dessert/snack whenever I'm craving for anything sweet. Healthy, natural and yum! (:

Hope I'll continue to see more results and burn all the fats away!

xoxo, elvyna.

Isle of Wight.

So I'm on my 5th week now of Medicine in Practice (MiP) placement at St Mary's Hospital in the Isle of Wight. Things have been going great. Ended last week with a bang at the GP practice I was in for 2 weeks. Did really well on the assessment at the end and my GP was very pleased with me. That's a good start right? (:

Anyways, here are some pics of the island and stuff when the boy came down over the weekends to see me.

The hospital;s main entrance.

Us starting our adventure day (:

Yarmouth Harbour. Pretty sailboats. I want one too if the weather was nicer in England!

The Needles Park, Alum Bay. Pretty lousy gloomy day.

Chairlift down Needles Park :/ Steep!

Olympic Torch relay at the Park. Tried to get away from the crowd of people there.

Ventnor Pier.

Ventnor Beach. Rocks galore.

Local island-made ice cream (: I must've had this like 3-4 times now since I've been on the island.

The Spyglass Inn for lunch/dinner. Recommended by Michelin (:

His: Oriental Style Beef. Super yummy.

Mine: Half lobster with New Potatoes. Fresh lobster. YUM YUM (:

Walking along the coloured sand beach on Ventnor.

Finished the day off with a slice of Chocolate Indulgence from Chocolate Apothecary in Ryde (my GP place).

All in all, a very exciting but short weekend spent on visiting places and eating (: Weather could've been better (Was pretty scary when it started pouring as we were on the chairlift), but I'm not complaining, we still got around.

Missing the boy already. Oh wells..

xoxo, elvyna.

Weekend of food (:

The past weekend was an awesome one. Went back to Southampton to spend some time with the boy. Made lots of nice yummy food to make up for the dull, bland food I had during the week of Anaesthetic placement in the Isle of Wight.

Also had a lovely time starting and finishing a Singapore drama series called The Oath about doctors with the boy. Gosh, talk about drama marathon. The ending of the series was a bit sad though :( Anyways, here are the pics of the food we had over the weekend.

Dinner: Mint Lamb meatballs penne pasta with garlic bread and belleverde broccoli.

Breakfast: Ham on garlic bread with hard boiled egg.

Also baked two loaves of Chocolate Raspberry banana bread/cake to munch on while watching the series. Gave the other loaf to the boy to bring to placements.

My tummy has had a happy weekend (:

Now back to a week of GP placements and tasteless repetitive meals everyday!

xoxo, elvyna.

Healthy Eating.

Been trying to eat healthy since a couple of days ago, knowing that I'll be binging on as much Malaysian food as I can when I get home next weekend. So here's a picture collection of what I've been eating the past couple of days. I realized I love styling and taking pictures of food ALOT. LOL. :P

Day 1: Fruit Platter -a mixture of blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, apple, oranges, and plums.

Day 2 : Vegetable mix - Tenderstem broccoli,sautéed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

Day 3: Fruit and vegetables mix - Strawberries, blueberries, oranges, tenderstem broccoli, cherry tomatoes.

Day 4 : Bananas and Vanilla Soy Milk.

Cheating in between : Japanese cheesecake (:

Adding matcha powder and strawbies on top to make it look prettier. Tastes better on its own though.

Well, that's all I have so far. Just a week more before I go back so excited I can't wait. So happy report submission is done now I've only got the presentation to do :/

xoxo, elvyna.

Diet, take 15262473.

So I'm starting with a healthy diet again. Been binging over the past couple of days in Amsterdam letting loose I feel it's time to be healthy! Let's hope this lasts. It actually tastes surprisingly good though so this could work (:

Pics from Amsterdam will be up soon!

xoxo, elvyna.

You and me, always between the lines.

Some pictures of the AMAY-ZING food I had in London last weekend when I went up to leech visit my aunt (:

Amazing soy sauce roast chicken.
Prawn dumplings.
Siu Yuk! (:
Chilli Fried Black Pepper Squid (:

Looking at the pictures above are making me salivate and my tummy rumble. It's almost dinner time.

It has been one of the most stressful days ever for me as my abstract was due in today, Orthopaedics end of attachment exam and presentation filled my morning and I had to go to the labs to get a spleen and incubate it over the weekends! Everything turned out pretty well though. Better than I expected in fact.

My abstract was submitted an hour before it was due (albeit me going over the word limit-that's an issue for another day :/), I ended up getting the highest marks in the whole attachment for the exam (thank You so much God! I'll never do last minute studying again) and the spleen is sitting happily now even as I type in the incubator.

Things DO turn out well when I trust. Trust me, I was praying so hard last night I think I jammed up the prayer queue to God. Ahhh. Time to wind down and relax with a barbeque with friends tomorrow. Can't wait! (:

xoxo, elvyna.

Chocolate craving.

It's that time of the month again and this time I'm craving for chocolate, so I decided to bake myself a brownie to satisfy that craving! It's a recipe from Donna Hay, which has the awesome-st iPad cooking/baking app I've ever had.

A mixture of dark and milk chocolate.
Because you can never have too much butter, according to Julia Child (:
Favourite mixer at work (:
Extra chopped up chocolate mixed with the final batter to increase chocolatey-ness (:
Transfer time.
Baked and ready to be indulged in. With a bit of frozen yoghurt or vanilla ice cream on the side, it's the perfect end to my Saturday (:

xoxo, elvyna.

Teddy

Another one of my new found loves (:

Great week at labs, starting Orthopaedics placement next week. Happy times (:

xoxo, elvyna.

Homemade Marmalade.

My Sundays just keep getting better and better. Blessed today by a church member who gave me a jar of homemade marmalade. I could almost feel a tear forming when he gave it to me. I guess I was hormonal as well but still, it's so lovely to know that other people care.

Came home and immediately had the marmalade with the apricot and blackcurrant scone I bought from Winchester yesterday. It was really good. Ahhh. Life is good (:

xoxo, elvyna.

A Valentine's to remember (:

Went to London to celebrate Valentine's day this year. First time celebrating it really. It was really fun going for a mini trip like that. Had lunch at Royal China in Bayswater, which was one of the recommended places in London to go to for Dimsum. They served really good dimsum to be honest, but the portions were small-ish and it was pricey :/

Disclaimer: Picture quality kinda sucks cos I was using my digital instead of DSLR. Felt it was too heavy to lug around in London the whole time :/

Char Siew Cheong Fun! Ordered two of these (:
The usuals.
The tastiest (and also priciest) eggtarts I've ever tasted in my life! The pastry was golden browned to perfection and each layer crumbled and melted in the mouth! (:
Glutinous rice wrapped in leaf (:

Had dinner at Koffman's at the Berkeley. Its not a Micheline star per se, but the head chef is the guy who trained loads of now Michelin-starred chefs around London. My aunt recommended we went to this place so we did. And boy, did it not disappoint! (:
Us (:
Lovely bread selection. Garlic brioche was totally my fav (:
My starter: Terrine of Foie Gras with baguette and brioche.
His: Langoustines and scallops with shellfish broth.
My main: Home-styled, braised beef cheeks in red wine.
His: Pig's trotter stuffed with sweetbread and morsels. (The chef's specialty! Totally recommend it) (:
My date (:
Dessert: Pistachio souffle with pistachio ice cream (: (The fluffiest souffle I've ever tasted! One of their specialities as well)

All in all, it was a great Valentine's celebration, and I think I've gained 5kgs more after that one day meal in London. Oh well, well worth it I'd say (:

xoxo, elvyna.