New Challenge: Not Finishing Cup Ramen Soup

I used to be a huge fan of cup ramen, but I am trying to be better to my health nowadays, and the cup noodles are a big challenge that I need to prioritize.

The magic about cup ramen in Japan is that they always come out with new flavours. New soup and versions made by different companies, or even better, made by new famous ramen shops from places of Japan that I will never visit just for a bowl of ramen. So, when the soup of the cup noodle is supposedly similar to the original shop and I quite enjoy it, of course I want to finish it.

The health concern here is obviously the sodium intake. The noodle itself is already unhealthy as the noodles are typically deep fried, but the soup contains so much sodium that is quite scary, and I used to consciously ignore that as I drank it to the last drop with guilt.

This cup noodle, for instance, contains 4.3g of sodium. That is quite a lot of sodium in this little cup that alone does not fill me up as a lunch! And that is honestly another issue. Since I am not quite full from just the noodles, drinking the soup is another way to help make the meal for filling, even though it does no good to my body and more harm instead. The irony here is that the name of the cup noodles series is actually “until the very last drop”, and I am trying to hold back from it.

You might think: just stop eating cup noodles then! Yes, that would be the easiest way, but when I am stressed with work and is low on time (and money!), the noodles are the easiest go-to for some quick food so that I can get back to focusing on work, or at least I do not need to head out just for food. That convenience is hard to beat.

Both for the flavour and hunger, I am always tempted to finish up the soup, but I have decided that this habit shall stop!

My method of self-encouragement is that I have downloaded an app on my phone called “thing counter”. Each time I do not finish the soup, I add 1 to the counter. It does not really do much except giving me the satisfaction of seeing the number go up, and I know that I am doing a good thing for my body.