Hello! (:

I stumbled onto your instagram somehow and the first thing that excited me was how you're a plant-based blogger from Singapore--which is pretty cool because I haven't met that many plant-based lifestyle Singaporeans on Instagram. Anyway, I just wanted to say that your food is gorgeous and I think it is great that you're so aware of what you're putting into your body at this age. But at the same time--please pardon me if you find this rude or inappropriate, I only have good intentions!--I think that it is important for you to maintain some flexibility too. It is okay to treat yourself with 'unclean' foods and deviate from a strict HCLF ratio. The most important thing is to always listen to what your body wants, not just what you think is healthy (eg. cravings are usually a sign of some micronutrient deficiency). I say this because I noticed your age, and I think at this point having a 'perfect body' is wayyy less fun than spending time with friends and just letting loose. I'm not saying that healthy living isn't important, but emotional and social well-being is really invaluable too and focusing on your physical health shouldn't cause you to inadvertently neglect other areas of your life. Besides, every body is a perfect body for themselves. ;)

Also, as a teenager you may be susceptible to overly fixating on the technical aspects of healthy living and being more self-conscious. I made that mistake when I was your age--I started off by being more into healthy lifestyles and read up a lot on nutrition, and exercised a fair bit while obsessing over my thighs and stomach. Due to other circumstances, this eventually spiralled down into me eating less and less (because my list of 'clean foods' got stricter when I had no means to supply my diet adequately and I was too perfectionistic about what constituted clean eating), and before I knew it, I was left with a bunch of food issues. In retrospect, my body was perfectly fine and my sudden awareness of my slight curves after puberty, plus mental comparisons with my friends, made me think I was 'fat'. And then I tried to correct that through healthy methods that consumed me instead.

What my long, rambling story is trying to say: I've realised now that health is really about being holistic. It is not about following an 80/10/10 rule, or eating the perfect low-fat, sugar-free diet. (Fat is actually very essential to your brain and maintaining certain organs!) It's about feeling in harmony with yourself, so that whatever you eat and however you move, really flows with what your body needs. Ally (agirlnamedally), Anna (annabanana-1 on tumblr) and Siobhan (superfoodsiobhan/ iamnotover on tumblr) in particular are great examples, I think, of how we should maintain a carefree, non-restrictive attitude while following our ethical beliefs in veganism (:

Anyhow, all the best with school starting bb!! (I should know...) Enjoy life to the fullest x