Nutritional Harmony With Frunatic

My Health and Fitness Regime

I used to think I was quite smart when it came to managing my health, nutrition and fitness needs.  After all, I led a fairly active lifestyle, getting a good amount of workout at the gym about 5 times a week, and I would try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals without missing out on my favourite foods.  Every 6 months, I would go for that mandatory medical check-up, and for me, it was a necessary routine because I have a congenital heart defect that needed lots more medical attention.

So yes, when it came to my health, I was definitely on top of it. 

I got so fixated with my nutritional needs that I had even done a DNA test to get better insights into my nutritional and fitness requirements.  After an intense session at the gym, I would immediately have a protein shake chock full of nutrients that I thought could refuel me.

However, really, how much of nutrients would I really need?  Was I consuming unnecessarily more than what my body was absorbing? What nutritional deficiencies do I have since my DNA test about 2 years ago?   I swept these questions under the carpet for as long as I could, till I visited Frunatic a few days ago.  I was mind-blown by the educational experience and thought I had to share it here.

What Is Frunatic?

It was hard to label Frunatic....a restaurant?  That probably would not be very accurate.  Frunatic was set up as a Food and Wellness concept which had a team of highly qualified and passionate nutritionists, dieticians, naturopathy doctors and an executive chef who designed therapeutic nutrient-densed wellness foods using Traditional Chinese Medicinal herbs and whole foods containing superfoods, vitamins, minerals and all other natural wholesome goodness, focused on supporting a client’s nutritional needs and lifestyle.

So if a client was hoping to manage his diabetes condition and lower his blood-sugar levels, Frunatic would craft a program that included nutritional analysis, wellness consultations and a food preparation program to ensure he gets fed right while keeping his blood-sugar level in check.

For someone like myself, who lead a highly stressful lifestyle, bouncing between work, gym, home, my business and multiple passions,  and possibly lack sleep ( I sleep only 4.5hours a day and mom calls it “old people’s problem”), I would probably need a program that is for anti-fatigue support.

The Frunatic Therapeutic Wellness Meal Program

The Frunatic Therapeutic Wellness Meal Program first puts me through a non-invasive nutritional analysis which assesses which nutrients was missing from my body. That means, I know what my body needs specifically.  How many times, I would have been “eating healthily” only to realise that most of the nutrients I had eaten in my healthy meal really were not what I need or were not absorbed enough to benefit me thoroughly?   After the nutritional analysis, and dietary consultations, the team will then curate a weekly 8-course omakase meal plan where the meal which is dairy, gluten, trans-fat, additives, cholesterol and preservatives-free, could be delivered to me or served to me at their restaurant premises.  The program also includes an executive health screening.  Most of us, don’t have just one issue in our hands.  With our complex lifestyles, we often have multitude of issues.  It would not be uncommon for a single person with multiple needs to address from fatigue, stress, lack of sleep, hypertension, diabetes, weight management etc.  So what I ultimately would have, with Frunatic, is a comprehensive wellness program designed specifically for me and backed by my personal team of dieticians, nutritionists, naturopathy doctors and medical doctors…oh and not forgetting the executive chef!  For more than $900 worth of expertise and scientifically- planned meals for this program, I am paying only less than $400 for it.  This was definitely great value for money, especially when it did not add unnecessary stress on me like following a strict diet, or ingesting more supplements.

Frunatic’s therapeutic wellness meals concept is so unique.  It has no competition like it.  And here’s what I ate that day.  I definitely was substantially fed and really had not much space to even finish my main course and dessert.  The food was also absolutely delicious that I would not have thought of it as health food.

My Personalised Frunatic Therapeutic Wellness Meal

I was served an 8-course omakase meal meant for adrenal support because I was deemed to be suffering from fatigue.  I did lack rest and was juggling so many commitments that required my maintaining a certain level of energy throughout the day.  I thought that eating smaller portions each day, would be enough to help me manage my weight and support my health and fitness.  However, I realized that I was not eating enough.  This adrenal support meal contained superfoods like arugula, and flax seeds, and lots more goodness to help reenergized me again.

This was my meal, which was kickstarted with a glass of sparkling probiotic enzyme drink. 

And yes, the sequence matters:

 Ginseng Lemongrass Tea - Invigorating alkaline water infused with premium American ginseng, lemon slices and a stalk of lemongrass.

Strawberry and Grapefruit Skin Smoothie - Grapefruit, strawberry, banana, baby spinach, and chia seeds.

Asian Fusion Salad With Sesame Ginger Dressing – Fusion salad of shredded cabbage, grated carrots, and sliced onions brought together with a touch of sesame ginger dressing.

Glowing Sunshine Juice - Carrots, grapefruit, ginger and ginko powder.

Hazelnut Cacao Truffle – Hazlenuts, dates, raw cacao powder, and gogi berries.

Roma Kale Chips – Kale leaves marinated with red bell pepper paste, and seasoned paprika.

Vegan Yong Tau Foo With Brown Rice – Ladies finger, eggplant, tofu stuffed with special mushroom and minced water chestnut.

Mango Pandan Cheesecake – Mango mousse with pandan on a bed of crispy almond coconut crust.

Verdict?  -  BELLY WHOLESOME AND HEALTHY YET DELICIOUS

 

*My meal seen here within this blog post was prepared for me, courtesy of the team at Frunatic.  Thank you for the educational experience.

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

The Rabbit Hole Salad

A Salad With Benefits Beyond Health

 

It was not difficult to make a healthier choice when it comes to lunch around the Raffles Place area.  I was surrounded by so many cafes serving salads, sandwiches, soup and cold-pressed juice where I worked.  Even when the temptations of cheap and delicious local fare at the likes of Lau Pa Sat, Market Street and several food courts were just a stone’s throw away, my desire to have a quick lunch that was healthy and guilt-free, within an air-conditioned environment often won hands down as an option for lunch. 

 

Let’s face it, when I indulged in a bowl of salad, I felt relatively happier that I need not have to face the wrath of my personal trainers and explain myself later.  The salad always looked so colourful that it was instagrammable, and that helped because I was a social media whore. I often come out of the café smelling and looking refreshed compared to having come out of a food court smelling like chicken rice.  That was useful particularly when I had to meet the boss after lunch for a presentation. A salad meal meant that I had left enough room within my calorie count for the day to have a cupcake that I might accidentally chance upon at the office pantry.

 

But did we need yet another café serving clean eats when there were already so many that had sprung up across the CBD? How different can another café serving up salad, sandwiches, soup and cold-pressed juice be?  You would still be served a salad bowl with a base of lettuce leaves, and other vegetables and a protein topping of your choice, right? The last time I checked, a lettuce tasted like a lettuce no matter where I bought that box of salad from.  After packing a random box of salad back to the office, could you tell the difference between what had been served at the Daily Cut, Omnivore, Salad Stop, The Salad Shop, Grain Traders, Wheat, Raw Bar, and Lean Bento?  Some salad aficionados might differ in opinion.

 

The truth was that, now that I have been walking on this journey towards better health, and knowing that I needed to eat right so that I could be fuelled enough to get me through my very hectic work schedule, I would not think that there could be too many of such cafes.  I would usually head for the one that was most convenient and had the shortest queue.

 

However, when the Rabbit Hole Salad & Juice opened at One Raffles Place, that would usually be my first stop for salad because that café served up clean eats with a difference.

 

This café is a social enterprise, set up to not only feed people with great tasting and healthy salads complete with a choice of home-made dressings, sandwiches, soup and cold-pressed juice.  It also provided an opportunity for people with autism to integrate into mainstream society by learning valuable skills like food-handling and customer servicing.

 

This was a café after my heart.  If I had bought some lunch, knowing that what I bought was giving someone with autism a chance in life, it made my lunch tasted even better.

 

The Rabbit Hole not only won hands down with me because of their social purpose.  They wowed me with their customer service too. 

 

A few weeks ago, I contacted The Rabbit Hole via Instagram and told them that I wanted to add more kale in my diet.  Super food right?  Must be good.  However, I hated the taste of kale, and if I could drink it all down in one gulp, that would help.  Pure kale juice was not offered within their menu.  However, they obliged and prepared a glass of pure kale juice for me. 

 

Today at lunch, while waiting for them to prepare my kale juice, I was so glad I had the chance to explain to some people at the salad queue about the wonders of kale. 

 

It looks like the Rabbit Hole might need to put pure kale juice within their menu after all.

Verdict?  -  BELLY FULFILLING KNOWING THAT I ATE A SALAD FOR A CAUSE OTHER THAN MY HEALTH

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.