Ever since I realized my hometown’s high-salt, high-carb, sugar-spiking diet was wrecking my skin — causing bad breakouts and dull complexion — I’ve become super cautious about everything I eat. That’s when I suddenly noticed even the convenient cafeteria meals are full of hidden problems. Breakfast is low in vegetables; lunch is too oily with tiny veggie portions, which messes with my digestion. Dinner has limited choices and no whole-grain staples. Overall, compared to the Mediterranean diet and anti-inflammatory diet, it has way too many flaws. So I asked a friend for healthy eating tips. She makes steamed corn and purple sweet potatoes for breakfast, and brings a homemade bento for lunch — mostly long-lasting mushrooms and root vegetables. She preps them ahead, freezes them, and just microwaves before eating. It doesn’t look very appetizing, but it’s great for the body. Sometimes she doesn’t pack enough, so she stays a little hungry; over time, that helped her lose weight.
After the Spring Festival, she lost 2.5–4 kg just by eating this way. I was really impressed and started thinking about how to copy her routine.
First, I figured out how many meals I need a day. Normally two meals are enough, but my schedule is irregular, so I can’t stick to fixed brunch or dinner. Also, skipping breakfast upsets my stomach a bit. I decided a 0.5 + 1 + 0.5 meal plan suits me best: one proper main meal, plus two light, casual ones.
Next, choosing the main meal. Making breakfast means waking up early; packing lunch is a hassle. Cooking my own dinner is the easiest option.
Here’s my current meal plan:
Breakfast: Only tea egg + soy milk. If I’m really hungry, I add a small portion of carbs like corn or pumpkin.
Lunch: Microwaveable energy bowls — basically veggie salad + chicken breast + brown rice. It doesn’t taste great, but it fills me up.
Lots of people suggest bringing a bento or rinsing cafeteria food to cut oil, but that’s too much trouble and easy to forget. I prefer just eating something healthy directly.
I also remembered one reason I lost weight last year: I went dancing at noon, and to save time, I just grabbed a sausage + soy milk from the convenience store for lunch — sometimes two if I was hungrier. It was a lazy lunch, but I never felt starved or deprived. So I’m keeping lunch low-effort like that.
Dinner: A huge portion of vegetables (around 500g) with whole-grain staples. Lots of veggies keep my digestion smooth and are great for my body — since it’s hard to get enough veggies at the cafeteria, I make up for it at dinner.
I’ve only been doing this for one day, so the results are still to be seen.
