An example of menu planning

Here is an example of menu planning for Mr X (male) and Ms Y (female) (for you all to reference). A healthy menu should includes carbohydrate (CHO) sources of foods, protein sources, vegetables, fruits as well as adequate fluid intake. For breakfast, I will suggest sandwich by preparing 2 or 3 slices of wholemeal or wholegrain meal (150-225Kcal), one hard boil egg or 40g tuna/salmon (65 Kcal) and lastly add on some lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. We can calculate this whole dish contain 225-290 Kcal. If you would like to make it tastier, add on 1tsp mayonnaise which will give u another 45 Kcal. There might be some people prefer to take noodles as breakfast, one  bowl of mihun/ kuey teow / mee can give around 225 Kcal, addons such as fish-ball or fishcake will contribute around 65 Kcal, or adding fried egg (egg=65 Kcal, cooking oil for fried=90 Kcal), so total up will get 445 Kcal. Usually, we estimate there are 2 tsp of cooking oil for frying, so just a small reminder at here, fried foods absorb more oil compare to others cooking method (steam, stir-fry; baked or roast).

For lunch and dinner menu calculation,here are the guidelines for different portion size.

1 chinese bowl of rice(CHO)=225 Kcal, add on with >1/2 cup stir fry vegetables (vegetables, cooking oil and assume the vege has no calories, taking count for cooking oil only (45 Kcal)), one whole moderate steam fish (protein, cooking oil) is 130 Kcal, oil is estimated equals to 90 Kcal, so the total calorie intake for lunch is  around 490 Kcal. It is suggested to take 1 piece or 1 slice of fruit after meal such as orange/apple/pear/papaya/watermelon. One slice of fruit usually provides 60 Kcal. There might be some people prefer western style of lunch or dinner included spaghetti or fried rice/mee. One chinese bowl of spaghetti/pasta contributes 225 Kcal, add on chicken meatballs (60g=130 Kcal) or fish slices (80g=70 Kcal), mash potatoes (1/2 cup=75 Kcal), carrot slices, onions and other vegetables. The sauces will provide around 90 Kcal. Thus, the total calorie for whole dish is around 445-460 Kcal.

Thus, we could estimate if a normal body weight adult female Ms Y who only take 3 main meals in a day can distribute 300 to 400 Kcal for breakfast, 500 Kcal for lunch and dinner, so the total energy intake is around 1300-1400 Kcal only. For male adult Mr X, an extra one serving compare to Ms Y can distribute 500 Kcal for breakfast, 600-700 Kcal for lunch and dinner, that makes around 1800-2000 Kcal in a day. Of course, if you would like to take snack in between the meal time, it is suggested to cut down 100 Kcal distribution for each meal, you might be serving 300 Kcal for your snacks. However, the most important factor is the food choice. If the choice is healhty, without exceeding the requirements that you need such as not high saturated fat, high sugar (sweet) or high sodium content, you are having a healthy and balance meal everyday. If you are on diet, I recommend to go for low fat, fresh and natural food choice such as vegetables (salad) and fruits for your snacks.

在这里，我想分享一个例子，让大家可以尝试健康的菜单。一个健康的菜单应包括碳水化合物的食物来源，蛋白质来源，蔬菜，水果以及足够的水分。早餐，我会建议可以享用一些简单三明治。这包括准备2或3片全麦面包（150 -225Kcal），一粒水煮鸡蛋或40克金枪鱼/鲑鱼（65Kcal），最后加上一些生菜，西红柿和黄瓜。我们可以计算整份三文治大约含有225-290卡路里。如果您想使其更加美味，可以添加1茶匙蛋黄酱，这将给你另外45卡路里。有一些人喜欢把面食当早餐。一碗米粉，面或河粉大约提供225卡路里，30克鱼丸或鱼饼加入将有65卡路里，如果加上在另一煎鸡蛋（鸡蛋= 65大卡，烹调油油炸= 90千卡），所以总共是445卡路里。普遍情况下，我们估计用2茶匙油去煎炸一份食物，所以在这里只是一个小提醒，油炸食物会是食物吸收更多的油，所以健康的烹饪方法（蒸，炒，烤或烤）比较健康。

午餐和晚餐的计算，例如，如下所示：

1碗米饭（碳水化合物食物）= 225卡路里，加入>1 / 2杯炒蔬菜（蔬菜，食用油）=蔬菜无卡路里，只算油有45卡路里，一个中等蒸鱼（蛋白质，烹调油）= 130卡路里，油=90卡路里，所以午餐大约是490卡路里。饭后，是建议食用1个或1片水果如橙/苹果/梨/木瓜/西瓜。一个/片水果通常提供60卡路里。可能有一些人喜欢西式午餐或晚餐，包括意大利面或炒饭/面等。一碗意大利面/面食提供225卡路里，加一些鸡肉丸（60克= 130卡路里）或鱼片（80克= 70卡路里），马铃薯泥（1 /2杯= 75卡路里），一些胡萝卜片，洋葱和其他蔬菜。酱料将提供约90卡路里。因此，晚餐总热量大约是445-460卡路里。

因此，我们可以预计，如果体重正常的成年女性只需要在一天摄取1300至1400卡路里可分配于三餐正餐（早，午，晚）每餐300至400卡路里。如果一个成年的男性，其数额可能可以比女性多一点卡路里摄取，如500卡路里的早餐，午餐和晚餐为600至700卡路里，那么他大约在一天摄取1800-2000卡路里。当然，如果你想享用早茶或下午茶，是建议每餐减少100卡路里，那么你将能够获得300卡路里给早茶或下午茶。不过，最重要的因素要考虑的是对食物的选择。如果食物的选择是健康，没有超过特定的标准，如高饱和脂肪，高糖（甜）或高钠（盐）。这是建议选择低脂肪，自然新鲜的食物，如蔬菜和水果成为您的零食。