17 Aug 08 The Daily Plate
If you use the daily plate correctly you can set yourself goals to work towards, and also get a good profile on your food intake, and exercise too.
I’ve been doing this now since about the third week in June, and I’ve lost 17lbs so far. My goal is to lose 65lbs. I was tipping the scales at 235, and now I’m 218, and I want to get down to 170.
As for extra foods, I strongly believe that if we eat ‘proper’ food, and less of it too, that’s the way to go. I don’t go for any of these diet plans at all, and none of the food supplement things (such as Slimfast etc). I think the way to go is to eat more fruit and vegetables, smaller meat portions, and cut out as much of the crap as possible – fast food, soda, cakes, donuts and that kind of thing.
Cut back on dressings and sauces too. Reduce salt intake. Eat little or no processed foods. No TV Dinners. That’s my take on it all anyway. There are so many food products on the shelves that are full of empty calories – watch out for that High Fructose Corn Syrup – it’s in everything.
I’ve also cut back on carbs, and particularly the refined ones. So out goes white rice, in comes wholegrain; out goes white bread in exchange for wholemeal; and I try to eat more backed potatoes, but cut back on the fillings!
We also steam a lot of our vegetables, as it helps retain more of the nutrients, and it’s not any more difficult to do that any other method.
More fish, less red meat.
That’s about what I’ve been doing, and encouraging Kathy (who can be very stubborn – I’ve only had that twice this week!), to do the same.
Oh one last thing – drink plenty of water – from the faucet is fine – it’s good for you!
Tags: dressings, empty calories, extra foods, faucet, fillings, food intake, food supplement, fructose corn syrup, fruit and vegetables, high fructose corn, high fructose corn syrup, processed foods, proper food, red meat, salt intake, tipping the scales, tv dinners, white bread, white rice, wholemeal
02 Apr 08 Food
It’s often said that food tastes better the next day.
Well some things do. I can’t say I’m keen on warmed up fries, or cold liver, but many things ARE better the next day.
I almost always eat lunch at home. In fact, we eat most of our meals at home. For starters (excuse the pun) you know what you’re getting, and it’s almost always a whole lot cheaper.
I can’t help but smile at those that complain they have no money, but get 2-3 coffees at starbucks each day, and also breakfast on the way to the office, lunch out while they’re there, and sometimes a meal on the way home too. It’s easy to spend in one day eating out, the same as one would spend on a whole weeks groceries, and that’s not eating in the posh places downtown either!
As I’m more often than not working at home, I usually cook dinner. I try to make a varied selection of meals, and we try to eat as much fresh food as possible. TV dinners are a no-no.
Do we have a weekly plan? Heck no, not usually. I often make up my mind what’s for dinner at around 2pm or sometimes even later. One doesn’t have to spend hours in the kitchen cooking or preparing many meals anyway. I make full use of the microwave too; I don’t take any notice of those that walk around muttering about radioactive food. Oh, and if you only think of a microwave as something to defrost frozen items in, or re-heat leftovers, or the cup of coffee that’s gone cold (yes, I do all of those things too), then you’re missing out.
I often cook fresh vegetables (we try to have something green most mealtimes) in the microwave. Brocolli, cauliflower, asparagus all come out just fine. Potatoes cook great too.
Anyway, I digress. I wasn’t really writing about the virtues of the microwave, just mentioning it as another, perfectly acceptable (in my view) method of cooking.
As a child, my mother would buy a huge piece of beef, and we’d have roast beef dinner on Sunday, cold beef and pickles on Monday, and cottage pie on Tuesday. Now that was getting some mileage. It was a common thing though in England back then. In fact it was so common for housewives to buy a peice of meat on Saturday, big enough to last at least two days, that butchers stores (most of which were family run then) were usually closed on a Monday.
Nowadays I don’t do that, or stick to a routine as such. I don’t cook anything really exciting usually, as I’m busy working most afternoons. I also make use of a crockpot at times as well, and salads are good to eat, particularly in the warmer weather, and a variety of those can be made quite quickly too.
This evening…?
I’m not sure yet.
Tags: 2pm, asparagus, cauliflower, coffees, cottage pie, cup of coffee, fresh food, groceries, leftovers, mealtimes, method of cooking, microwave, office lunch, pickles, pun, starbucks, tv dinners, virtues, whole lot, working at home
