No Quick Weight Loss Schemes

By now, you’re probably well aware of two major weight-related stories in the news. The FDA recall of the weight loss product Hydroxycut due to reports of liver problems that have claimed at least 1 life, and actress Kirstie Alley – famously seen on Oprah a couple of years ago after losing 70+pounds on Jenny Craig. A recent appearance on Oprah showed Alley has gained back all the weight she lost and then some. It’s so regretful that people get hurt by these artificial attempts at weight loss. It’s sometimes tough for people to accept, but it’s true. There is no real and/or healthy short cut to weight loss. It takes commitment, it takes discipline, and it takes a mental lifestyle change. That doesn’t include some quick-fix, “I lost 50 pounds in 3 weeks” diet drug or plan.

Save your health by doing it the right way – eating better and eating less. Put yourself first when it comes to your diet. Don’t finish what the kids leave on their plates. Don’t eat the leftovers in the refrigerator that nobody else wants unless they fit into your calorie count for the day. And don’t let getting into that wedding dress or looking good for your high school reunion prompt you to submit yourself to some diet scheme. When you go back to your old habits, (because you haven’t learned a new approach to eating), the pounds you might have shed will all come back, and maybe 5-10 more added to them. If done right, the weight does come off faster and easier than you may realize. And the effects last longer. Hopefully, a lifetime.

You do deserve better. Don’t you?

Birthdays and Other Celebrations

Last week was a busy one for me and my husband. First, we celebrated our wedding anniversary. Two days later it was my birthday. Yes, thank you very much. The day after that, we had friends over for dinner. There are a lot of ‘celebratory’ meals in that small space of time.

Special occasions usually call for special meals, and typically a special meal is heavier, bigger, and always ends with dessert. So what did I do about it? Nothing. The experts say part of our fascination, read problem, with food is that practically from birth, we are taught to associate food with happiness and celebration. Birthday cakes, holiday meals, all A’s on our report card, just about any reason to be happy includes a reason to have a cookie or a piece of cake. I’m no different from the next person but I refused to fret and wring my hands over every bite.

I made the dinner for our anniversary: a no-holds-barred dish of lamb chops with herbs and mushrooms in phyllo dough. It was great and although I didn’t eat every bite, I knew it wasn’t low calorie. Dessert was chocolate mousse made from a mix, however, so I ‘lightened’ things a bit since I made it with no-fat milk. A couple of days later, my birthday dinner was at a local French café that I adore. I had a cup of tomato basil soup which I usually avoid since it’s made with cream and is pretty high calorie. I enjoyed every spoonful. And yes, since it was my birthday, I had dessert, a vanilla custard tart. And finally, the dinner with friends? That called for my homemade chili and cornbread with dessert, a key lime pie.

What’s my point? This was a special week. It was a time of celebration with a gathering of friends. It’s important not to go overboard, but it I also believe we are entitled to a little indulgence every now and again. Now that the week is over, and things are getting back to normal, I’m also back on track with my calorie counting. If I’ve put on a pound, or even two after all that, it will take a couple of weeks to get back to my "fightin’ weight" as they say, but I’m motivated. I haven’t ‘given up’ because of my indulging this past week. It’s important to never lose sight of your goal: maintaining a good weight. Just be aware that the times we throw calorie counting to the wind are special occasions and should not be the norm. As long as we keep them infrequent, high calorie days should be no real problem now and then with little consequences.

Changing Up Recipes

It’s important when calorie counting, not to get discouraged because you think you can no longer eat the high fat or high calorie foods you’ve enjoyed in the past. The truth is, if you know much about cooking, you can lighten up just about anything. There are so many low fat, low calorie versions of staples now that it’s easy to substitute a number of items without truly compromising the flavor.

Here’s an example. I just came across a casserole recipe in allrecipes.com called “Heavenly Potatoes and Ham.” It looks good and has received rave reviews from cooks who’ve tried it. But it’s more than 500 calories per serving. It contains a good amount of sour cream, butter, and cheese as well as a can of cream of chicken soup. The good news is that almost all of these ingredients can be modified to make this dish less heavy with fat and calories. I try not to go ‘no fat’ on most things because I think a little fat is good for successful cooking not to mention flavor, but there is some very good lite sour cream and lite butter on the market today. Low fat cheddar cheese is quite good and even cream of chicken soup now comes in a healthier low fat version. Making these adjustments should have little effect on the flavor but a large impact on the calorie count of this dish.

This modification can even work with many desserts. I’ve mentioned here earlier how applesauce is a fine substitute for fat in many brownie and cake recipes. With the formulation of sugar substitutes like Splenda, even the sweetness of a dessert is no longer altered when such changes are made. But if you don’t like the idea of anything other than sugar in your desserts, let me suggest that many recipes can do very well with less. I have a recipe for fruit bars that calls for both white and brown sugar. I accidentally left out the brown sugar the first time I made it. To my surprise, the bars were quite sweet enough! I have therefore, never made the bars with the full amount of sugar given in the recipe.

Try some alterations to your favorite dishes. You might find that they are just as good and just as satisfying. And you can feel even better knowing you’ve done something proactive for yourself.

The Business of Eating

Yes, it has been a few days since my last posting. I've been out of town for several days on business. But that brings me to the subject of today's entry. How do you eat when you're living for days out of hotels and restaurants? It isn't easy, but the encouraging thing about it is this: if you are diligent on a daily basis, then you can actually fade the heat when it comes to going a week off your program and unable to do any calorie counting.

The challenging thing I found is that being with a group of business people, it's hard to eat 'lite' or ask for any special compensations of the restaurant chef without drawing attention to yourself and having comments made by your fellow diners; something you really don't want to have happen. So here is what I did. Breakfast, thankfully, was easily taken care of. I packed plenty of nutrition bars to bring along. Most every hotel room has a coffee maker of some kind now, so it was easy for me to have my usual breakfast of coffee and a bar. Lunch meals ran the full spectrum of everything from something grabbed on the road, to an actual sit-down meal in a small town diner where a serving of chicken fried steak or chicken and gravy over homemade biscuits are the norm. For the on the road stops, a Subway Sandwich shop fit the bill. But for the diner stops, the choices were tougher. In those cases, I sometimes opted for a salad with dressing on the side. Instead of pouring all of it over my salad, I dipped my fork in the dressing before each bite, and that gave me the flavor I wanted without having a salad 'swimming' in dressing. Or I would pick a cup of soup with a small sandwich. When I finished, there was still food on the plate.

Dinner was the toughest. When you're eating out with a group of colleagues, particularly men, they tend to lean toward ordering those huge steak dinners complete with wine and dessert. Even in those cases I tried to lean toward the healthy end of things. Most steak places still offer a few fish and chicken dishes. As long as the meat is broiled or baked and not battered and fried, you're probably pretty safe. And forget what Mom said, you never have to clean your plate. In fact, if you do that by today's American restaurant servings, you're probably eating enough for 2 other people.

Side dishes can be loaded with fat and calories. In those cases I opted for a baked potato dry, (as in not loaded with butter, cheese, and sour cream), and got those items "on the side" to add as I saw fit. Frankly, I didn't add them, but they were there if I'd wanted. Other 'healthier' choices available were steamed vegetables, which I also opted for on occasion. I did order steak one night so I got the leaner cut, the filet Mignon over say a fatty prime rib or some such. Wine was easy since as long as your glass is half full, no one knows whether you're drinking it or not. Sipping it slowly as an accompaniment instead of a thirst quencher, allows you to join in with everyone but not go crazy with empty calories. I always have a glass of water next to my wine glass and that's what I end up drinking mostly. One out of 5 nights of straight restaurant meals, I went ahead and selected a dessert. And even then I went for what I thought might be a tad healthier. In this case, Key Lime pie over what I can only call the biggest slab of chocolate cake I've ever seen. (And Americans wonder why we're so fat!) Remember, you also always have the option of sharing a dessert if someone else at the table wants to.

All in all it was not a bad week of eating. When I stood on the scale this morning, even I was surprised to see that the number was the same as it was the day I left. I attribute that all to the fact that I'm careful about what I eat and how much, most of the time. If you're careful, then every now and then when these events come along that are beyond your control, you and your body will do just fine. Afterward, you can get back on your program, which I've already done, and carry on!

Some Days Are Tougher Than Others

So how did you do? Holidays are always tough. Family and friends. They compliment you on your weight loss, say you look amazing, and ask you, 'how did you do it?!" But they don't really want to see or hear about the discipline it takes, and they certainly aren't ready to hear about it if they're not willing to do it themselves. Couple that with all that homemade food staring you in the face at holiday gatherings, especially while everyone else is piling up their plates, and it's hard to turn it down. If you didn't, or if you feel you still overate, even though you tried not to, do NOT beat yourself up. Do not throw up your hands and say, "Oh what's the use." Because you know how important this is. And you can do it!

Remember that no matter what kind of food day you had yesterday, it should have no bearing on how you are going to treat today. Don't give in to the temptation that because you 'blew' it one day, that means you might as well give up. Treat every day as a new food day, get right back on your plan, write down your foods, and write down your calories. Stick to your predetermined total. Don't listen to those old tapes in your head that say you have no discipline or that everybody in your family tends to be heavy so you might as well not fight it. Don't do that to yourself. You can do something about it. You are doing something about it. You are worth doing something about it. Never forget that!

Don't Cheat Yourself

Calorie counting is critical but be sure you are in fact getting the amount of food you're charging yourself for. When food has played such an important part of your life, and you decide you're going to limit how much of it you have, you don't want to cheat yourself out of even one morsel!

That's why it's important to have a good kitchen scale and weigh portions, particularly if it's food coming from cans. On the nutrition label, the manufacturer will not only give the size of the serving of say, green beans, but it will also give how many of those servings you can expect to get from said can. If you portion out those servings by simply eyeballing it, you may find that the information of, "about 3 1/2 servings," written on the nutrition label seems extremely generous when the food is actually separated that way. In most instances, I have rarely come across a can of just about anything that actually contained the amount the label claimed. Don't ask me how the manufacturers get away with it, but they do and some major brands are actually worse about it than others. Do your own test. Not only are you getting cheated out of the amount of food you think you're eating, but it's especially annoying when you're trying to feed a family on a budget and you aren't getting the value you think you are.

If you take a moment to weigh your servings, (it's really not that big a hassle if you keep your scale easily accessible - mine sits on my kitchen counter all the time), you may well find that out of a 15.5 ounce can of most any vegetable, you'll end up with just a little more than 2 servings, and yes, I'm even including the packing water in those measurements.

When it comes to accurate calorie counting, portion control is critical. Just be certain you're getting what you think you are.

Calorie Counting Cookbook

I'm always on the lookout for new cookbooks. I have quite a number lining my kitchen shelves, cabinets, drawers, you get the idea. But my favorites have two things in common, colorful photographs of the recipes, (how am I supposed to know what I've fixed looks the way it's supposed to if there are no pictures?), and the nutrition information.

A new cookbook written by Duncanville, TX cooking teacher, Karel Anne Tieszen, has both. It's called "In Your Own Kitchen" and it's her first venture into writing down what she's been doing in the form of her adult cooking classes for years. On her website, it states that the classes "emphasize realistic food preparation for 'regular' people..." And that appears to be the approach of her cookbook, too.

She came up with the more than 150 recipes for the cookbook after years of seeing which ones her students favored. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Tieszen said, "If you know the reality of what the calorie count is going to be, you know how to accommodate it into your day." Amen to that! It's nice when a cookbook author realizes the importance and benefit of providing it for you. The cookbook is offered through Amazon but is currently sold out and there's a waiting list. It can, however, still be purchased directly from Tieszen's website, http://www.kitchen-friends.com/

Another bit of good news: On a quick shopping stop at a Super Target yesterday, I was encouraged to see that many of their packaged baked goods, the ones from their own bakery, now include nutrition labels complete with calorie count! In the past, I was tempted to buy some of their specialty breads but resisted since I had no idea how to figure them into my day. Another store I like to frequent, Texas-based Central Market, has a large heavenly aromatic bread-baking section which I still avoid for that same reason. As people become more mindful of their calorie intake, hopefully, such stores will eventually 'get' how important that factor is to many of their customers.

The Importance of Snacking

Snacking is really important. It's how we know we're not depriving ourselves, restricting ourselves. If you 'ban' certain foods like sweets or breads, for example, one day you'll find yourself sitting on the kitchen floor with a package of Oreos or a loaf of Mrs. Baird's eating the whole package! Deprivation diets only work for the few weeks you force yourself to be on them. They're not the kind of permanent lifestyle change you want to make. At least they never worked for me or anyone I know. That's why snacking is important. I try to have a mid-afternoon snack every day.

But I've found there are a couple of keys to snacking. One is to pick something that will really satisfy you. If you're looking for a mouth-satisfying salty crunch, then having a banana isn't going to cut it. Think before you dive in. Really consider what you want at that moment and have it. Don't substitute. Healthy snacking is the wisest, but if you have something because you think it's healthy when you really want something else like a handful of cheese puffs, you'll end up eating both and then you'll go through all that kicking yourself because of no discipline, etc., etc.

The second key, of course, is keeping your snack portions under control. Look at the amount of calories you have decided to allow yourself for snacks. Whether it's a healthy handful of nuts or a bunch of M&M's, keeping it all under control is part of having your cake, as they say, and eating it, too. If it's a prepackaged food, look for the nutrition label and find where it gives the serving size. For most chips and crackers it's going to be about 1 ounce or 28 grams. Before you take that first bite, pour up the serving amount. And yes, crackers you eat before you fold the box shut, DO count. Close the box or package and put it away. Then and only then, should you start eating the snack. It's important to take your time and enjoy it. If you wolf it down, it won't feel like you've had anything and your brain will still be in search of... Remember, the battle you're waging here isn't so much with your stomach as it is with your mind. If the snack you've picked is say, an apple, take a quick glance at your calorie counting book for the size or weight of the fruit. If you've decided to allow yourself a maximum of 250 calories for a snack, and say the apple you've chosen is about 100 calories, have an ounce of cheese to balance it out. The snack will last longer that way and be more satisfying.

Above all, write down your snack on your daily food list and add it into your calorie count. As long as you respect your wants and needs, snacking can be an integral and successful part of your lifestyle change.

No Deprivation, Moderation

The wonderful thing about calorie counting is that you can basically eat anything you want. Nothing is off limits. Of course that's what also brings out its critics. They're afraid you're not smart enough to eat a balanced meal. But it's not that difficult to do. And you'll discover in doing this, that the more healthy variety you have, i.e. vegetables, chicken, pork, the more of it you'll be able to eat and the better you'll feel.

Yes, there is some measuring and counting. But that's really to help you get your portions under control. We have forgotten how much of anything we should eat because over the last 30 years our plates and our portions have grown to ridiculous size.

Looking at your calories for the day as a sort of bank account that you get to write 'food checks' on makes it easy. This diet doesn't say, "no carbs" or "no sugar" or "no fat," although admittedly, cutting down on such foods because they are high in calories, will help. This diet says if you can afford it with the calories you have available, you can eat it! In fact, it's important to eat a reasonable amount of carbs, fats, and sugar, else you will crave what you can't have, setting yourself up for an eventual day (or night) of binging. The body will have what it wants, whether that's bread or chocolate.

Remember, all diets work. They do. Even that awful cabbage soup diet so popular years ago and that all-rice-all-the-time diet I did in my teens. That's because any drastic changes to the body's system for 10-days or 2-weeks will make you drop a few pounds. The problem with fad deprivation diets is that you're not meant to stay on them. And once you're done and have lost the weight you wanted, you go right back to the old habits becuase you didn't learn to make better choices. That's fine if you want to continue doing that awful weight loss and gain see-saw with your body for the rest of your life. I personally don't.

The idea is balance. Moderation in all things serves us best, I believe, and that includes the types and the amounts of food we eat. The good news is that healthy equals more food in the long run.