Eat Out Eat Well

weight management

Leftovers Will Defeat The Best Laid Diet Plans

By 1 Comment

You open the fridge door right after the holiday party and what do you see?  Leftover pie, cake, stuffing, turkey, ham, potatoes, lasagna, pizza – you name it.

With all of that tempting stuff staring at you, how can you possibly not nibble away?

The best laid plans have been defeated by left over stuffing – or pie – or lasagna (in my house, it’s pastitsio rather than lasagna).

Don’t forget, nibbling during clean up counts as leftovers, too. Broken cookies, pieces of piecrust, and the last spoonfuls of stuffing haven’t magically lost their calories.

The Two Most Effective Things To Do

1.  The first most effective way to handle leftovers:  Get Them Out Of The House through whatever means you choose.  Here are some “getting them out of the house” options:

  • Send them home with your family and friends — right away – as they’re going out the door.  The longer the leftovers are in your kitchen, the greater the chance you’ll eat them.
  • Throw them out.  Some people might consider it a sin to throw food out.  You need to weigh what works best for you and your conscience – whether to keep the food and eat it or to let the garbage man take it away.  You could always feed some animals if you like, too.
  • Bring it to someone in need.  There must be a food pantry or shelter that would welcome some extra food. There are many people who would appreciate a meal that they are unable to provide for themselves and their families.
  • Take it to the office or send it along with someone to take to his or her office.  There always seem to be ravenous people in offices.  Just don’t eat someone else’s leftovers as you try to get rid of yours.

2.  If you just can’t bring yourself to get your leftovers out of the house: Hide The Stuff That Tempts You.  Out of sight, out of mind is really true. We all tend to eat more when it’s right in front of us.  Food we like – especially higher calorie sugary, fatty, and salty foods, which means many holiday foods —  trigger cravings and eating.

  • Keep the veggies in the front of the fridge and the chocolate pudding in the back.
  • If the food hasn’t made its exit immediately, package it up and store put it in the back of the fridge where you can’t see it at first glance (and might forget about it).
  • Freeze it – although freezing alone isn’t enough to deter some leftover hunters (frozen butter cookies still taste great). Shove the food all the way in the back of the freezer behind the frozen peas where you can’t see it and have to move things around to get at it. It will help.
  • If you’ve bought jumbo size packages of anything in anticipation of holiday company and still have some food left in the packages — put that excess away, too.  Put it somewhere inconvenient so you’ll have to work to get at it. Once again: out of sight and, hopefully, out of mind.  Put it far away, too.  We tend to be lazy so if you have to exert energy to get the food it may take some of the desire out of it.  So store the food in the basement or garage — someplace out of the kitchen.

In Case You Keep The Leftovers

Here are guidelines to help you avoid getting sick along with stuffed.

  • Remember:  2 Hours–2 Inches–4 Days
  • Food can stay unrefrigerated for a maximum of 2 hours from the time it is taken out of the oven and then placed in the refrigerator.
  • Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours of cooking by any method — otherwise throw the leftover food away.
  • Leftover food should be stored at a maximum of 2 Inches of thickness so it cools quickly.
  • Food should spend a maximum of 4 days in the refrigerator–otherwise freeze it.
  • The exception to 4 days in the fridge: stuffing and gravy should be used within 2 days. Reheat solid leftovers to 165 degrees F and liquid leftovers to a rolling boil. Toss what you don’t finish.
  • Frozen leftover turkey, stuffing, and gravy should be used within one month.
  • To successfully freeze leftovers, package them properly using freezer wrap or freezer containers. Use heavy-duty aluminum foil, freezer paper, or freezer bags for best results and don’t leave any air space. Squeeze the excess air from the freezer bags. Without proper packaging, circulating air in the freezer can create freezer burn – those white dried-out patches on the surface of food that make it tough and tasteless.
  • Leave a one-inch headspace in containers with liquid and half an inch in containers filled with semi-solids.

Those big holiday meals are coming up!  For more hints and tips about holiday eating get my book,  The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight, available from Amazon for your kindle or kindle reader.

Do You Eat Something You Don’t Want Just To Be Polite?

By Leave a Comment

Do you think you need to eat to be polite – even if you don’t want the food or you’re totally stuffed – because you don’t want to be rude or hurt someone’s feelings?

You really don’t have to feel obliged to eat out of courtesy – especially if you don’t want the food or you’re full.  Ditch the guilt – the calories are going into your mouth, not your host’s, your Mom’s, or your friend’s.

Who Are Food Pushers?

Food pushers pile your plate high with food and act insulted if you ask them to stop. Food pushers, despite your protests, insist that you try every kind of food.  Food pushers look at your plate and loudly ask why you’re not eating, if you don’t like something, or if you’re on a diet.  Food pushers are thorns in your side and don’t necessarily have your best interest at heart. Food pushers can be your partner, friend, parent, or sister. They may or may not realize what they’re doing.  What’s important is that you do.

What’s Your Game Plan?

You need to have a game plan for how you’re going to deal with food pushers.  A plan sounds clinical but it doesn’t have to be. It could be your saving grace.  Think about how you want to handle yourself in the face of food, family, someone’s special stuffing, your family’s traditional sweet potato casserole (which you may hate but always feel obliged to eat), and the array of desserts staring at you from seemingly every table and counter.

One size – or one plan – does not fit all.  You need to choose the plan of action and strategy that works best for you and your circumstances.

What are you going to do or say to the food pushers?  Are you going to stand firm and say you don’t want to eat the stuffing because you’re watching your carbs – and then steel yourself for the snarky look?  Are you going to say that you really need to watch your weight – or that you can’t eat that much – or that you get sleepy when you overeat and, unfortunately, you really have some work that you have to finish and you need to be alert?

Are you going to say that you really don’t care for pie – pumpkin or otherwise – and that your favorite dessert is fruit? If someone really hounds you about trying certain foods you can always claim an allergy or that you’re eating heart healthy (claiming an upset stomach might buy you an early exit or other guests avoiding you like the plague).

You’re In Charge

It’s so easy to default to shoving food in your mouth when faced with food pushers and potentially annoying family members, some of whom seem spend the entire time carping at one another.

Nothing is engraved in stone but if you have an idea about what you want to accomplish and how to go about it you’ll be far less likely to nibble and nosh all day and night. You’re the one in charge of what and how much food goes into your mouth. Take charge and remain in charge of you.

Do You Really Want To Eat That – Or Is Something Else Making You Do It?

By Leave a Comment

Do you have a complicated relationship with food?  Most of us do.  We need food to survive – but all too frequently we eat more than we need – and what we eat isn’t always nutritionally the best (does this push your chocolate/chips/candy/cookie bell?).

This quote from a story on Time.com called The Science of Appetite says it all: “Somewhere in your brain, there’s a cupcake circuit. How it works is not entirely clear, and you couldn’t see it even if you knew where to look. But it’s there all the same—and it’s a powerful thing. You didn’t pop out of the womb prewired for cupcakes, but long ago, early in your babyhood, you got your first taste of one, and instantly a series of sensory, metabolic and neurochemical fireworks went off.”

What Factors Feed Into What We Eat?

Many factors that feed into what we eat. Sometimes just the very sight, smell, and/or thought of something delicious trip some of your internal food bells and might make you want to eat even when you’re not hungry.

Come on, ‘fess up, how many times have you walked down the street – or have been in the mall – or have been sitting in a restaurant stuffed to the gills – and then you see or smell something that you didn’t know you wanted 30 seconds before? All of a sudden you absolutely crave whatever tickled your nose, eyes, and taste buds and 30 seconds after that you’re chowing down.  You’re putting food into your mouth even though you’re not hungry and didn’t even want what you find yourself eating before you saw it and/or smelled it!

Why we do this is really complicated – and if science had all of the answers weight management wouldn’t be such a topic of conversation.

How to Put On The Brakes

There is something you can try to help you put on the eating brakes – especially with holiday eating. Give yourself a mini-pause and ask yourself:

  • Do I really want to eat that?
  • Do I really, really want it or do I want it because it looks good, smells good, and means Christmas (or Halloween, or Thanksgiving, or Hanukkah, or Valentine’s Day or whatever memory it provokes?
  • Is it worth the calories?
  • Do I need all of it (or any of it) to be happy or satisfied?
  • How will I feel after I eat it – both physically and emotionally?
  • What is more important to me:  the food, how I feel while I’m eating it, how I feel after I eat it, and/or what the scale might say to me tomorrow morning?

Find more tips, strategies, and solutions in my new book, The Sensible Holiday Eating Guide: How To Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Without Gaining Weight available on Amazon for your Kindle or Kindle Reader.

How Juicy, Delicious Watermelon Can Help You Lose Weight

By 7 Comments

Here’s the reason:  food that has a high water content — like cucumbers, soup (especially broth-based soup), and, you guessed it, watermelon — make you feel full and, they’re usually relatively low calorie foods.

How great is it that something as nutritious and calorie friendly as watermelon is such a treat?  Juicy watermelon has certainly finished off lots of camp meals and family picnics and dare I mention the college special: watermelon infused with vodka?  And, how pretty are those intricate carved watermelon baskets filled with watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew balls?  Very labor intensive.  My mother was good at that.

I just came back from a trip to Greece where just about every lunch and dinner ended with a beautiful platter of red, ripe watermelon.  Totally satisfying, thirst quenching, and an important component of the Mediterranean diet.

A Melon With History

The first recorded watermelon harvest was in Egypt, nearly 5,000 years ago. Now you can find more than 1,200 varieties grown in 96 countries.  Watermelon — 92% water and 6% sugar — is a cousin of cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash and is the most consumed melon in the US, followed by cantaloupe and honeydew.

Some Watermelon Trivia

  • Watermelon, with its water content, is a volume food. It fills you up and quenches your thirst and is great for weight control.
  • One wedge (about 1/16 of a melon, 286 g) has 86 calories, no fat, 22g carbs, 1g fiber, and 2g protein.
  • 10 watermelon balls (122g) have 37 calories, 0 fat, 9g carbs, 0g fiber, and 1g protein
  • 1 cup of diced watermelon (152g) has 46 calories, 0g fat, 11g carbs, 1g fiber, and 1g protein
  • Two cups of red flesh watermelon chunks supplies 25% of daily vitamin A, 30% of daily vitamin C, B6 (6%) of B6; 8% potassium, 4% phosphorus, 8% magnesium, beta carotene, and lycopene.
  • Watermelon’s inner rind is edible and has a bunch of hidden nutrients.  The outer rind, also edible, is sometimes used as a stir-fried or stewed vegetable or as a pickled condiment.
  • Look for a watermelon that’s firm, symmetrical, and bruise, cut, or dent free. It should be heavy for its size and its underside should have a creamy yellow spot from where it sat on the ground while it ripened in the sun.
  • Whole melons will keep for 7 to 10 days at room temperature but lose flavor and texture if they’re stored too long. They’ll keep for three to four days in the fridge after they’re cut.

Unusual Watermelon Salads

I recently had a salad made with arugula, yellow watermelon chunks, grilled red watermelon slices, pistachios, grated ricotta salata, and balsamic dressing.  It was awesome.

Here’s another salad I frequently make.  I’m not too precise with my measurements and it still tastes fantastic:

Mediterranean Watermelon Salad (adapted from watermelon.org)

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups torn mixed salad greens
  • 3 cups cubed seeded watermelon
  • 1/2 cup sliced red onion
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/2 cup watermelon vinaigrette
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Mint sprigs

Watermelon Vinaigrette:

  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 cup pureed watermelon (puree chunks in a food processor)
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:

Make the vinaigrette by whisking  all of the ingredients together. Store it in the refrigerator and shake well before using. Makes about 1/2 cup.

In a large bowl, mix all of the salad ingredients except the vinaigrette, pepper, and mint. Just before serving, toss the salad mixture with the vinaigrette. Garnish with pepper and mint sprigs.

Makes 6 servings. About 75 calories per serving.

Multi-tasking = Distraction = Mindless Eating

By 1 Comment

Do You Work Or Watch TV While You’re Eating?

Where do you have your breakfast?  In the car or train while you’re going to work?  Maybe while you’re walking down the street juggling that plastic topped paper cup of coffee, a muffin, your books and papers, your open jacket flapping in the breeze.

Where do you eat lunch:  at your desk; standing in front of the kitchen sink; in front of the computer – or maybe with your open laptop competing for lap space which then gets blessed with drips and a chunk of tomato that’s oozed out from your sandwich?

A poll of more than 1500 people (Wansink, Mindless Eating), found that:

  • 91% usually watch TV when eating meals at home alone
  • 62% are frequently too busy to sit down and eat
  • 35% eat lunch at their desk
  • 26% often eat while they drive

Distraction Vs. Weight

When you multi-task you’re distracted and distraction is the enemy of weight management (and tasting your food).  Any kind of distraction can lead to:

  • eating too much — a procrastination method used by many
  • forgetting –  or not being aware — of what you’re eating
  • not knowing how much (the quantity) you’re eating;
  • why you’re eating – of even if you’re really hungry.

Mindless Eating

When you’re distracted your focus is not on your food but rather on about a hundred different things.  That’s the classic recipe for mindless eating.

What Can You Do?

Everyone is busy.  Everyone eats.  Putting the two together can lead to mindless eating and creeping weight gain (and maybe indigestion).  How about making your own personal set of eating rules?

In good conscience I can’t really suggest eating without doing other things.  That’s the classic recommendation but I frequently eat while I work.  While that “rule” won’t work for me maybe it will for you.

Create Your Own FoodMAP

If you’re like me, perhaps you can set a rule that you’re going to serve yourself a set portion of food and that’s all you’ll eat. No seconds and no squeezing so much on your plate that you essentially have seconds without getting up for more.

Perhaps you set a snacking rule – one snack only and not before 3PM — or not before you finish whatever project you’re working on.  Just do it mindfully so the whole afternoon doesn’t turn into one long episode of coffee drips and food crumbs all over your keyboard.  Once relieved from unrelenting snacking you may figure out why you haven’t been hungry at dinnertime (which you would eat anyway – while checking your emails — because it’s time for dinner).

Perhaps you want to turn over a new leaf and solely concentrate on your meals.  The choice is yours.  The challenge is to do what is right for you, your body, and your lifestyle.  Create your own FoodMAP.  Just try to make mindful choices that work for you.

What’s your plan?