Posts Tagged ‘meal’
Holiday horrors
No. That’s not the theme from Jaws you hear playing the background. Although for those of us with a dieter’s mentality, come mid November, that’s pretty much what we hear in our heads from now through New Year’s Day — along with the little voice inside our head telling us to “Just forget the diet and start again in the new year.”
Ulp. It’s that time again.
Nothing strikes terror in the heart of a dieter more than the holiday season. And like it or not, it’s upon us. But this year is going to be different. Why? Because this year, you’re staying in control (you are stronger than Pumpkin Pie, after all). And you’re also going to exercise your newfound knowledge regarding the difference between a Splurge Meal and a Binge. After all, Thanksgiving (and the rest of the holidays) are approaching quickly. So why not psyche ourselves up, mentally, now?
In the book Just Stop Eating So Much!, I write about Splurge Meal options when you get close to or reach your goal weight. Yes, at a Splurge Meal you can enjoy your favorite foods and beverages – but you’re encouraged to do it within reason (paying attention to portion sizes and pushing the plate away before the waistline of your jeans starts cutting off circulation to the upper half of your body).
The trick is to really enjoy a meal – not an entire day (or weekend, week, month or season) of splurging. Because when continuing to eat after the one meal, splurging becomesbingeing – and that leads to disaster for both your mental and physical health.
But here’s the good news! This Thanksgiving, whether you’re at, near – or far from – your goal weight, you have permission to enjoy a Splurge Meal. If you just enjoy the one Thanksgiving meal and eat and drink according to healthier food and portion guidelines for the rest of the holiday weekend, you won’t hurt your efforts to look and feel great.
And when it comes to splurging on Thanksgiving Dinner, try and make sure you enjoy allaspects of it and don’t make it about eating as many sweet potatoes as you can, since you know you’re back to your commitment to eating healthier resumes right after the meal is over. Instead, really taste the food with each bite. Savor every morsel – and enjoy all of the different the flavor sensations – while also enjoying the people you’re dining with and listing the reasons you’re thankful in your head.
So this Turkey Day, eat, drink and be merry – all without guilt. But don’t be a glutton. Stop before you’re too full and don’t mourn not being able to have a turkey sandwich later. After all, your weight loss efforts are a choice. You are choosing to get healthy, to look better, to fit into your skinny jeans and to turn a few heads by Christmastime.
By successfully living through an “eating holiday,” you will prove once and for all that this time you’re really in control. And that’s definitely cause for celebration!
http://youtu.be/aeA9hEdcDvs
Rockstar Dieting Tip #4
As dieters (and/or maintain-ers), nothing can excite us and, at the same time, strike fear into every fibre of our being as dining out can. Thankfully, today’s Rockstar Dieting Tip offers a way to half your cake and eat it, too. (Read on!)
Rockstar Dieting Tip #4 — When Dining Out, Split Your Meal with Yourself
Here’s a little something I learned from one of my famous actress friends here in Los Angeles. When dining out at a restaurant, order what you want with reckless abandon. But — while placing your order, tell your server you want the food split in half — and that you want 1/2 of the meal put into a to-go container before it’s even delivered to the table. This way you’re enjoying your favorite foods at your favorite restaurants — but in more reasonable (and more diet- or weight maintenance-friendly) portions. In other words, you really can have your cake and eat it, too. Just make sure you half your cake (or whatever) before having it. Then take the extra portion home to share with a roommate, spouse or to even have yourself (at another appropriate mealtime).
This might seem like a simple thing to do. But it’s not necessarily easy. After all, when we sit down to dine at our favorite eateries, we sometimes want to enjoy the bigger portions. But we never enjoy the overstuffed, bloated feeling we have after the meal is consumed. And we never enjoy having to squeeze into our jeans the next day (or, worse yet, see a “gain” on the scale the next time we weigh ourselves).
That makes this a great tip for being moderate while enjoying different types of foods. (Not to mention this tip allows us to have a social life even while trying to just stop eating so much!)
As dieters, we too often get caught up in the “This is the last time I’ll ever eat this” syndrome (thanks to years of on-again and off-again dieting). This little restaurant trick stops that mentality in it’s tracks. We can have it — we can just choose to not have so much of it.
And don’t worry about what the server thinks. You can add a little something extra to the tip if he or she is nice about dividing your meal in half at the beginning of your dining experience. And you can take pride in knowing you’re doing the same thing some major actresses do to keep their camera-ready figures.
And why shouldn’t you do the same as them? You’re a supermodel, darn it. And if anyone questions that, you send them to me.
Photo Source: L’Espresso Food & Wine
Recipe: Steak à la Gregg
Looking to cook up some mouth watering, diet friendly steaks that are as healthy as they are delicious? Well, look no further – because I’m going to share my tried and true recipe for creating delicious steaks that are sure to please any dieter as well as any dinner guest (whether the guest is on a diet or not).
I usually fix these steaks on Sunday nights as a special weekend treat. And the best part is, when having guests over, I don’t have to do anything different to “dress up” (read: add flavor to) their steaks. Easy. Fast. Delicious. No outdoor grill necessary. Just a broiler and a few spices. And the best part? Steaks prepared this way won’t wreck your diet!
First things first: Look for steaks that are red, juicy and fresh (always check the expiration date and never purchase steaks that are about to “expire” or look dull in color or that are even starting to “grey”). The steaks should also have “fat veins” running through the meat as well as some fat around the edges. We won’t be using any additional butter or oil with this recipe, so the fat in the steak helps with the flavor (making the steaks virtually self-basting while broiling and extremely juicy and tender for eating).
And no, this naturally occurring fat won’t harm your healthy eating plan when eaten in moderation. (It’s all about balance, remember?)
I usually prefer big, thick Rib-eye steaks. And the cuts of meat I prefer are large. But as you’ll read later, each of the steaks I buy serve up more than one serving, which makes for convenient “left over” meals during the week.
Steak à la Gregg
2 – 4 Rib-eye Steaks (depending on number of guests – can always make 1 steak, too)
Granulated Garlic
Fresh Ground Pepper
Directions
• Preheat Broiler to Highest Setting
• Line Shallow, Broiler-Safe Baking Pan with Nonstick Aluminum Foil
• Place steaks on foil (in pan)
• Cover each steak generously with Granulated Garlic and Fresh Ground Pepper
• Broil for 10 – 17 minutes, depending on thickness of meat
• Remove pan from broiler, turn steaks over, re-sprinkle with Garlic and Pepper (being careful of the sometimes bubbling liquefied fat)
• Broil for 5 – 7 minutes more (depending on desired cooking temperature)
• Remove from Broiler (again, being careful of the sometimes bubbling liquefied fat)
• Carefully remove steak from broiling pan, place on doubled paper towel (on plate)
• Put another doubled-paper towel on other side, then “press” steak (which is now between the paper towels) with spatula (this soaks up most of the “fat juice” from the steaks, but still leaves the steak moist with a little bit running liquid)
• Remove paper towels, turn steak over (so the first side cooked faces up for “best presentation” purposes)
• Add side salad (recipe for salad shown will be shared next week)
• Serve immediately
Additional Tip: As always, you want to keep portion control in mind. I usually eat about half of my steak and save the rest for an easy midweek meal (chopping up the remaining portion in a salad or simply warming it up and serving with steamed vegetables and freshly chopped cherry or grape tomatoes). If you think you might overdo it (eat too much!), then cut your steak portion in half before serving.
Also, because I know I will be reheating the saved portion of the steak later in the week, I usually undercook my steak a little, and avoid eating that part of it during the first serving.
For the side salad recipe, click here.
Please let me know how you like this recipe! Or better yet? Invite me over!
Happy Steak-ing!
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