Stupid Menu Tricks
Last Friday my wife and I dropped the kids off at a birthday party (yay!) and headed to Islands for dinner. I'd worked out in the morning and ate conservatively throughout the day and as a result, I knew that I had plenty of calories to spare and could reasonably expect to enjoy a burger guilt-free. And I was right. But nothing's ever easy...so here's what happened: I grabbed the nutritional info sheet when we sat down and quickly saw that the regular burger was about 850 calories...sliders (on the appetizer menu) were "only 750". Milkshakes were about 500 calories...and fries were about 450. Ok...order the sliders to shave off a couple, and get fries and a milkshake. That's about 1700 calories, which happens to be what i had left for the day. Perfect! The punchline? The sliders were 750 calories per serving and you get two servings...so 750 turned into 1500 calories. Similar problem for the fries - a plate of fries is 5 servings....I shared them with my wife, but I probably ate 3 portions...so that's 1300 calories of fries.
Ugh. My spirits sank after dinner as I looked more closely at the nutritional info and started writing down what I had eaten. As a result of not reading the nutritional info more carefully I ended up doubling the 1700 calories I expected...what had been a great day of burning calories turned into a barely break-even day. I was angry, disappointed and frustrated...and it felt like the entire day was a waste. So...word to the wise: read the nutritional info, but read closely...and be especially wary of appetizers, which may be multiple servings. Days later, I'm still a bit grumpy with myself about this, but I'm chalking it up to experience. Lesson learned. And hey, I feel a helluva lot better than I did three weeks ago. So it's not the end of the world.
Wellness vision, revisited
One good thing that came out of the Burger of Doom is refinement of my wellness vision. In last week's wellness coaching session, we shared our vision statements and I realized that mine needed a lot of work. I had good ideas, but needed to boil my "wellness vision in story form" down into simple bullet points. Cara and I worked on that during dinner...here's what we came up with:
- I role-model physical and emotional wellness for my friends and family
- I am proud of who I am and where I’m going
- I engage in outdoor activities regularly
- I am free of weight-related illness
- I make decisions that actively improve my wellbeing
Better! I'll be reviewing this with my wellness coaches and fellow Losers later today...and will probably refine this just a bit more. But already this gives me a way to define myself that I can be committed to today and work towards continuously.
Frustration
When I weighed in last friday I found that my weight had ticket UP half a pound...but I also took a body fat reading and after crunching the numbers saw that it looked like I had burned off 1 lb of fat and put on 1.5 lbs of muscle. So that's a healthy weight gain and consistent with my goals. That's the conclusion I came to on Friday, and my attitude held up for a couple days...but by early this week I was feeling emotionally down about my weight despite my intellectual analysis. It's hard not to get fixated on the weight number. I want badly to be able to say that I've dropped below 300lbs for the first time in...5 years? 7? So even if gaining weight is good from a long-term perspective, I was really down.
The good news: my wife is great.
I shared my frustration with Cara and she gave me a hug...and pointed out that she's very familiar with how my body looks and feels...and she's noticed a big difference. She pointed out the changes she can see and feel and that helped a bit. It at least reinforced my initial reaction to the weight gain. But because I'm stubborn, I clung to the grumpiness. I'd worked up a good grump and wasn't going down easy! Since then I've taken a close look at my shoulders, arms, and belly...and Cara made me look at the pictures we've been taking of my progress. And while I still am disappointed that my weight ticked up a tad, I have to admit that Cara's right...I'm looking better...and feeling better. Heck, I even noticed today that I've reclaimed a notch on my belt!
More good news: I have a temper!
No...really...it's a good thing. You just have to know how to outsmart yourself. And I'm good at that! Wednesday morning during the workout I made myself mad and let the pent up frustration work FOR me. On the treadmill, walking on an incline as usual, I got mad and said to myself, "what the hell?! Other people can run...get your @ss in gear!" The result: I bumped up the pace for 4 1-minute jogs (5 mph) which got my heart pumping hard but felt satisfying. And because I still wasn't satisfied, I added a 30-second run (6 mph) at the end of two of the jogs. It was hard, and it was tiring, but it felt great to make myself GO! And after 3 weeks of walking regularly, I was suprised and excited to see how doable it was.
I did more of the same while lifting weights. I was working my arms and tiring and decided to get mad about it. "You should be able do do this!" I told myself...so I got mad at myself and pushed harder...and sure enough, it worked! There's something about drawing on some emotional energy that makes it possible to do a bit more. I suppose this is a smaller version of stories you hear about mothers picking up & moving big stuff that's fallen on their kids. Ask them afterwards and they'll tell you they don't know how they did it...and they're clearly unable to do it on demand. But get some adrenaline flowing and good things can happen.
Blah, blah blah...what about food stuff?
No recipes to share today - we didn't do any "interesting" cooking that I can think of since the last time I blogged. But here are my thoughts regarding things that everyone should have in their kitchen...and why:
- Kitchenaide mixer (or any other heavy-duty stand mixer)
These are amazing tools - they don't help you lose weight or cut calories, but they make lots of things easier to do - like knead bread dough, or pasta dough...mix cookie dough (in moderation!) or mash potatoes. Trust me. I've never heard anyone be anything other than happy with their Kitchenaide mixer. - Immersion blender (aka "Blender on a stick")
It's not as easy to make a compelling case for the Blender on a Stick as it is the kitchenaide...but they're only about $40 and super handy for making creamy soups...which, by the way, needn't be prohibitively caloric (note to self: post recipes for basic soups)...blending soups in a regular blender can result in an explosion of soup...air pulled down into the hot liquid quickly expands, and can blow the top of the blender taking lots of hot liquid with it, creating a mess...and possibly burning hands. Don't ask me how I know this. I just do. - Good knives
Invest $100 in an 8-inch chef's knife made of high-carbon stainless steel from Solingen, Germany. Wustof and Henckles are good brands...there are others. You'll never buy another knife again, and never need to. This particular kind of steel...from this location, is generally considered to be the finest in the world for cutlery. It's what every professional I know uses. The knives hold an edge well and when they get dull, you can get them sharpened for free at the meat counter of your local Raleys or Bel Aire. And you want your knives to BE AS SHARP AS POSSIBLE! Why? Because cuts from a sharp knife are almost always shallower, hurt less, and heal faster. Sharp knives don't require much pressure, and they cut cleanly. If you're working with a dull knife you'll have to use a lot more force to get the knife through what you're cutting...and if it slips, you'll be putting that energy into your hand...and dull knives don't cut, they tear. Trust me. Knives are supposed to be sharp by their very definition. If your knife isn't sharp you might as well be using a pointed stick. Harrumph! - Cheap knives
One exception to the rule is paring knives. They should be sharp, sure...but honestly, I haven't noticed much difference between a cheap $10 paring knife (3" long or so) and my expensive Wustof paring knife. The biggest reason is that you use paring knives with smaller things that are easier to cut. You're not asking it to do much work, so you don't get the same bang-for-buck that you do out of your chef's knife. - V-slicer
You've probably seen these on an infomercial or two...and really, they're fantastic. Don't bother using one with a tomato...after a couple uses they won't be sharp enough to do the job right. But if you want to make a cucumber salad or have really thinly sliced onions or potatoes, this is the tool for the job. And they only cost $20. If you're a nut (like me) you can blow $150 on a mandoline slicer...they're uber-adjustable, have removable blades that can be sharpened, and can take a nice chunk out of your thumb (don't ask me how I know)...but 99% of the time, the cheap plastic V-slicer does the job just fine. - Digital kitchen scale
If you're counting calories or doing serious baking, then you need to be able to weigh things accurately. A good digital scale will give you results in ounces or grams, accurate to 0.1 ounces or 1g. Can't live without one. I've also got an old-fasioned scale...but it rarely comes off the shelf. - Good pans
Hard-anodized aluminum pans (like the Calphalon brand) are great. Stainless steel is nice too, but require diligent cleaning to keep them pretty. Either way, you want a thick pan that retains heat well and conducts heat evenly to avoid hotspots and scorching. Costco's kirkland brand are perfectly acceptable and reasonably priced. Invest in your pans and you'll be rewarded. - Cheap non-stick pans
There's a dirty little secret about non-stick pans. A couple of them actually...first, any non-stick pan is destined to be thrown away because non-stick finishes eventually wear off or at least become less effective over time. Second, the best "non-stick" pan I own is my cast-iron skillet (no teflon there!) and third, when used properly, ANY pan will be non-stick. Still, teflon pans are handy tools for the kitchen. They make it easy to cook with little (notice, I didn't say "no") fat and it's easy to keep stuff from sticking to them. But don't buy an expensive non-stick pan. Get something inexpensive...a restaurant supply store is a great resource. Buy one, use it, and then toss it when the finish starts to wear out.
That's all for now. Recipes next time...I promise :)
First of all...Thank you all for your support. We couldn't do this without the friends and family we have.
ReplyDeleteOk...so now a few of my comments about Rich's kitchen advice...There is absolutely no need to buy an expensive mandolin unless you are a former chef. The v-slicer works fantastic. I do have to second his comments about the cast iron skillet and the knives. I was skeptical about both until I used them. Especially the cast iron skillet.
Take a look at your local restaurant supply store for many of the things Rich mentioned. In Sac East Bay Restaurant Supply is a great store and is open to the public. There is also a kitchen gadget outlet in Folsom. Cast iron skillets can be found anywhere from your grocery store to Target. There are also some great buys on kitchen toys online...it just takes some time to find them. I have used both methods to buy Rich toys. :)