My family have taken gym membership and with a personal trainer I am burning 800-1000 cal's / day. So this means I am trying to approach my daily calorie budget with b'fast and lunch and then my dinner - exercise calories gives me the ability to stay in the cal budget and usually finish 200 or 300 below the budget.

This opens up the options for b'fast. Previously I had a problem skipping b'fast and lunch and taking all my calories at night. Now I try to take calories in the morning and noon and eat light at night. So far I lost 10kg in 3 months.

For b'fast, I want calories but want to minimize fat. The baked curry puffs and Tazo tea, fruits and a protein shake (200 cal) takes me to 700-800 cals for b'fast. Starbucks has the Tazo tea and curry puff and I take the protein drink and fruit at home before jumping on th bus.

But I believe the b'fast choices in Singapore are getting better but still quite limited. I remember in the eighties is was more common to see places open before 7:30 but now not so much and as hawker centres try to cut costs, the quality and healthiness of the food has also gone down; at least I haven't seen a food court that has maintained the quality standard. They are competing on price.

When time is tight, fruit at home and the granola bar keeps you under 500 calories.