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Oil, Vinegar, Food Preparation, and Eating Out Tips

Two spray dispensers for cooking oil, and a container of Roland Diamond Balsamic Vinegar of Modena.

Salad dressings typically contain lots of calories, fat, salt and sugar, and should be avoided if one is trying to lose (or maintain) weight, so instead, I ask for oil and vinegar when I dine out, or use only balsamic vinegar when I eat at home. However, if balsamic vinegar is not available when dining out, I will then use red wine vinegar. And it is amazing, when dining out, how often the server does not know the difference between balsamic vinegar and balsamic vinaigrette – I have won many bets that the server will inevitably bring out a container of balsamic vinaigrette instead of balsamic vinegar. Just so there is no confusion, balsamic vinegar is pure vinegar, made from grapes and is low in calories, whereas balsamic vinaigrette is made from combining oil (usually olive oil) with balsamic vinegar, along with garlic, salt, etc., and it is higher in calories and salt than just balsamic vinegar.

That is not to say I do not use oil in my cooking, but I use it sparingly. The oils I primarily use are olive oil (first cold pressed extra virgin), canola oil (when I want to avoid an olive taste, like with French toast), and peanut oil (with grilled meats when I want a peanut flavor, and want to use an oil with a higher burn temperature than olive oil). I even use olive oil for omelets, instead of butter, but use a spray dispenser (Misto®, or some other spray dispenser) to spray the pan/pot with a thin coat of oil, instead of just pouring the oil into the pan/pot. The main advantage of this technique is that it limits the amount of calories added to the dish since you only use the amount of oil (hence calories) needed to coat the pan/pot to avoid the food from sticking. I learned this technique at the Canyon Ranch Spa (Lennox, MA location), where I took a few cooking classes, and it is the technique they use to limit calories. Other advantages of this technique are that your oil last longer (as you use less), and when cooking up French toast or pancakes (on those special occasions), there is no excess oil in the pan to burn during each batch, as you simply re-spray the pan after each batch rather than re-use the excess brunt oil.

I also use this technique when I cook my vegetables in a microwave, as I first spray them with oil (usually olive oil) before adding any spices, thereby better adhering the spices to the vegetables. In this way, the spices and olive oil can better enhance the taste of the cooked vegetables without adding too many calories, while also helping the vegetables to cook better as the heated oil helps the cooking process. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, part of my process for controlling my food and caloric intake, is to take time on the weekend to clean and cut various vegetables into bite-sized pieces (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots, sting beans, etc.), put them in a microwave container, spray them with olive oil, add spices (typically, crushed pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic, etc.), and then place them in a sealed container in my refrigerator so that I can quickly cook the vegetables once I get home during the week.

While on the subject, here are some other dining out tips. First, should the restaurant not have balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar, and one still wants dressing on one’s salad, choose the dressing with the least creamy and/or cheesy composition, ask for it on the side, and then use a fork to sparingly spread it on the salad. Second, avoid sauces, particularly, cream sauces. So instead of having, e.g., sauce béarnaise on a steak, ask for balsamic vinegar instead. As an aside, and as you may or may not know, the more expensive the balsamic vinegar (typically by how long it has been aged – which can be for 25 or more years), the balsamic vinegar has a sweater taste, and is more viscous. These aged/premium vinegars can even be used for meat toppings, dressing, or even dessert toppings. One brand of balsamic vinegar that I particularly like is Roland Diamond Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, and I use it for everything from salad dressing, sauce for meats and vegetables, and sometimes even on desserts.

Another eating out tip has to do specifically with Mexican restaurants. What I do is avoid the chips, tacos, and wrappings, so I instead just eat the salsa straight out of the container with a fork, and/or put it on my dish instead of a sauce. So when first ordering, I ask the server for my own container of salsa, separate from the container that others in my party may be using for dipping their chips, and then eat right out of that container. There are many advantages to this approach – salsa without chips is low in calories, the chips are very high in salt and in calories, and by eating salsa in such a way, I still maintain the flavor of my Mexican meal, without the extra calories and salt from the chips (or tacos, wrappings, etc.). I also eat guacamole in the same matter, sans chips, since avocados, which are high in calories, nonetheless have no cholesterol and contain monounsaturated fat, which studies have shown helps to reduce one’s cholesterol and are a good heart healthy choice.

Persevere To Overcome Doubt

2014 Gridiron 4-Mile

2015 Gridiron 4-Mile

Today I ran in the NYC Gridiron 4-Mile run, something that I have also done in 2013 and 2014, and really enjoy doing. I have also run in the Central Park New Year’s Eve run, which is also great fun, and has been a fantastic way to start off the New Year. I only run in these two races each year, and instead take long walks – every Sunday taking a 2 ½ hour 8-mile walk.

It was in law school when I first started running as sport, and before then, running was just a training tool for the sports I played competitively – tennis, soccer, basketball, and baseball. Running distances started innocently enough, with me taking 1 mile runs near my apartment, but eventually grew to unofficially running 18.6 miles of the New York City Marathon my first year in law school, and then officially running and completing the Marathon my second year. How that happened is a great story onto itself (for another time), but the result of all that running, and training, was knee injuries, and the cessation of running due to injury. When I stopped running I quickly gained weight, and that weight stayed with me until the last few years.

To avoid a recurrence of leg injuries, I do not run anymore (except those two short runs), and instead prefer to walk briskally – walk everywhere in Manhattan (avoiding public transit and cabs), and take my aforementioned Sunday walk. Moreover, my daily exercise is on a indoor recumbent bike, and on an elliptical machine – both low-impact activities which minimize the possibility of leg injuries. That is one of the reasons I prefer those two pieces of equipment over a treadmill.

Yet on those two occasions a year, I enjoy the challenge of again running over a distance, which brings me to today’s run, and how I was struggling to keep running, instead of just walking. But what kept me running was the thought that if I just persevered long enough, I would overcome my difficulties running, as well as my doubt about whether I could run the entire race. Being able to persevere is an important element in finding and maintaining one’s inner drive, and it has applications to all parts of one’s life, not just with regard to physical fitness.

No matter whom you are, or what you are doing, at some point you will have doubts about what you are doing, and whether you will accomplish a goal. For me, I have never been the smartest, nor the best athlete, but where I am strongest is my ability to stick it out and work to improve myself. And there are also tricks that have gotten me though those periods, like today, when I kept focusing on just taking one step at a time, and that I should keep running to the end of a song that I was listening to on my iPhone. I also thought about how elevated I would feel if I was able to accomplish my goal of running the entire race.

During my daily morning exercise, I am not always in the best physical or mental condition to exercise for an hour, so I find distractions – watching something on TV, listening to a particular song, reading e-mails, etc., just trying to find something to get me a few minutes more on the bike. Those minutes add up, and eventually, you can accomplish your goal, like I did today in running the entire race.

So this week’s message is when those situations occur, and you have doubt about being able to accomplish a goal, focus on something that will get you doing the activity for just a few minutes more, and eventually, you will be able to accomplish your goal. For longer term goals, just focus on doing a small part, and eventually, all those small parts will add up to accomplishing your goal.

A Blast From The Past — A Journal Entry from 2010

Skiing in Sun Valley — December 2014

As I may have mentioned, for 1 1/2 years I kept a journal during my weight loss, detailing what I experienced physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally. Below is my entry from December 2010, which is a long way from where I am now. Periodically, I will post excerpts from that journal as I believe they may have relevance to those trying to establish or maintain their inner drive.

December 12, 2010. Finally cracked the 290 barrier, and on top of that, have now lost a total of 127.6 lbs. from the beginning of this year [2010]. For the record, this week I lost 2 lbs., and currently weigh 288.4 lbs. As the year is coming to an end, it is a good time to reflect on what I have accomplished, the approach I have taken, and what lessons can be learned.

In the movie Kung Fu Panda, the hero, a big fat panda, is presented with a secret scroll that is believed to provide superpowers to whomever reads the scroll, however, when the scroll is opened, it is only a reflective sheet displaying an image of the person who is trying to read it. As the story progresses, the panda learns that there is no special power contained in the scroll, and that any special power comes from one’s confidence in themselves, and their ability to achieve a goal or task. That lesson certainly applies to weight loss.

There are no shortcuts to losing weight, or to accomplishing anything worthwhile. And I am reminded of the adage that the journey is more rewarding than finally accomplishing the goal. To lose weight first requires the belief, patience (one step at a time), and determination to lose weight. Next it requires exercise (both aerobic and with weights), a change in one’s diet (reducing the amount of calories consumed), and choosing foods that help promote weight loss (e.g., whole grain bread instead of white bread, eating fruits and vegetables, and avoiding “hidden” calories or those foods that trigger further eating — most soft drinks, salad dressings, gravies, or desserts).

This past year I have not had one slice of pizza, or a soft drink. The pizza I sort of miss, but I do not miss the soft drinks at all. Personally, I do not believe in even drinking diet soft drinks, and avoid any drink that has sugar, or a sugar substitute. Instead, I like to drink water (not flavored), or unsweetened ice tea. For my workouts, water work is great, but if it is a particularly strenuous workout, I use an iced tea called Sportea®, which has no sweeteners, has a nice citrus taste, and replenishes electrolytes.

It is also important to explain to your friends, family and colleagues what you are trying to do, and avoid partaking in some of the social eating activities that occur daily. For example, this week was cookie week at work, which was a team building exercise, with a different employee bringing cookies into work each day. I brought cookies the first day, however, I did not eat a single cookie the whole week. I partook in the activities, but did not eat, which everyone understood as they knew about my situation. I have also learned this year that it is important not to eat too late, and then go right to sleep. The problem is that once you are asleep your metabolic rate slows down and your body doesn’t process the food as efficiently, so what is left over becomes fatty matter. At least that is what I believe. So I make it a point not to eat too late, and schedule dinners out earlier rather than later. Also, I exercise in the morning, before I eat breakfast, since it gets my metabolism going, and it further gets going once I have breakfast.

Also critical to my success this year was preparing my food in advance, so that when I get home from work, dinner is ready within 30 minutes. But to have a meal ready when you get home takes a lot of planning and preparation. So what I do every weekend is shop for food, and then, with respect to any meat I have purchased (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb or pork), clean and divide the meat into daily servings, and put each serving into its own container for use during the week. I also clean all the vegetables I am going to have that week, add spices to the vegetables as appropriate, and also divide the vegetables into daily portions. Typically I spay the vegetables with olive oil before adding any spices, and then put the vegetables into a microwave container so that they can be heated quickly once I get home and am ready for my dinner. Also, balsamic vinegar is wonder food, that I use all the time, in that it has few calories yet tastes great, and can be substituted for gravies or dressings. My rule of thumb is to buy fresh and quality ingredients, and to prepare food in such a way that it tastes great, so that you are not missing anything in your alternative menu choices, just the extra calories.

Also, it is important to realize that long commutes to work can have an impact on one’s ability to lose weight. I have read studies whose results show that the longer one’s commute, the more weight one puts on. If one’s commute is particularly long, one hour or more, it has been my experience that (i) either you get hungry and eat something in the car, or (ii) you are famished when you get home, and eat anything that is available in large quantities, and without regard to what you are eating. One solution is to have a balanced meal that can be prepared immediately upon getting home from work. Another part of the solution is to have a nutritious snack, like peanut butter on a whole grain cracker, just before you leave work, so it keeps you satisfied until you reach home and can have dinner.

Another thing that has worked for me, is to have a “weigh day” — one day in the week that is my official weight for that week, so I have a definitive point of reference each week by which to measure my weight loss progress. My weigh day is Saturday, and my weight on Saturday morning is what I put into my spreadsheet. I also like to weigh myself each day to see how I am doing, and if I am not doing well leading into my weigh day, I may increase my exercise, or try and cut back my food intake. From what I have read, a reasonable level of weight loss each week is about 2 lbs. – I have been averaging about 2.5 lbs. this year.

Years ago I remember reading about the owner of the Carnegie Deli in New York, who had lost a lot of weight, but he allowed himself one day a week to pig out a little. I thought that was a good idea, and Saturday, after my workout and weigh-in, is my pig out day. But as I progress in my weight loss, I have noticed that I have nonetheless become somewhat conscious on pig-out day. But it is important to have a day when you can “let your hair down” a little, and not have to pay strict attention to what you are eating, as it gives my mind a rest, and it will make me a more pleasant person to be around as I go through this process. I keep reminding myself that this is a lifestyle change, so it has to be sustainable, and that a dieter that is miserable, will be a dieter who will ultimately not succeed.

Salt-Free Spicy Hot Fat-Burning Chicken Chili

One of my favorite dishes to make is my chicken chili, as it tastes great, lasts for weeks, is low in calories, it is salt-free, and is quite filling, Typically, I serve it over broccoli or cauliflower, and all you have to do is to cook up a big batch, take a part of what you made and reheat it in your microwave, and within minutes, dinner is ready. A key element in my strategy for losing/maintaining weight, is to have dinner ready in no more than 30 minutes. It is also my philosophy never to order in, to make foods from scratch, and use fresh ingredients.

Ingredients:

4-5 Chicken breast, cut into large cubes
4-5 sweet onions, cut into slices,, and then cut in half
28 oz. can of whole pealed tomatoes (preferably Scalafani)
28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes (preferably Scalafani)
16 oz, if sliced mushrooms (cremini or white)
1 can of kidney beans
4 ears of cooked corn, with kernels cut off
2 jalapeno peppers diced (seeds removed)
crushed garlic to taste
shallots to taste
cilantro to taste
crushed peppers to taste
chili powder to taste (at least 2 tablespoons)
cayenne pepper to taste
turmeric to taste
smoked paprika to taste

Preparation:

In a 8 qt. pot saute onions, garlic, shallots,, and jalapeno peppers in olive oil until onions are soft.
Added chili powder and mix.
Add both cans of tomatoes, and cut the whole tomatoes in half.
Now add paprika, turmeric, cilantro, crushed peppers, cayenne pepper, corn, kidney beans, and mushrooms.
Stir mixture and taste for amount of spiciness you want. Lower temperature to low, and cook the mixture until hot.
finally add the chicken, and cook at low heat for at least an hour until the chicken if fully cooked.
When done, transfer the chili to seal-able microwavable container(s), and put in the refrigerator.

Reheat the any portion of the chili in the microwave, and serve on broccoli or cauliflower.

Exercise In The Morning Before Breakfast

Every morning, 7 days a week, I get on my recumbent stationary bike, and exercise for 1 hour. As I go forward with this website, I will pass along more of my tips, suggestions, and philosophy about fitness and exercise.

At this point, I like the recumbent bike in the morning for a number of reasons:

You can do it in any weather (as it is inside),
You can multitask while exercising which helps to make the hour pass (watch TV, listen to music, read, make phone calls, etc.),
It is a safe piece of exercise equipment (for example, if you have a lapse in concentration on a treadmill, you can fall, which is not that case with a stationary bike),
The recumbent seat is easier on one’s back and buttocks than a regular stationary bike,

While a regular stationary bike, or an elliptical machine, would also be suitable, I really appreciate the benefits of a recumbent bike in providing a piece of equipment that one can use on an consistent basis, and which can safely allow for multitasking and distractions which help you get through a long workout.

Also, I believe it is key to start your exercise first thing in the morning before you eat. This way, you are able to start up your body’s metabolism, which will help you through the day in burning up calories.

Charting My Weight Since December 2011

As I mentioned in a previous post, from December 31, 2009 through December 2011, I lost 229.2 lbs., getting down to 186.8 lbs., around what I weighed when I ran the NYC Marathon when I was in law school. Since that time, from January 07, 2012 until December 26, 2014, my weight fluctuated, but I have still remained in the 190’s, The chart clearly shows that maintaining weight loss is not a stead-state endeavor.

In many ways, it is more challenging to loosen the reins, and maintain a weight loss, than lose the weight. As I move forward with this website, I will periodically post how I am doing in maintaining my weight loss, which requires constant vigilance, and what I have been doing to remain at my target weight zone — in the 180’s/190’s.

Chart Showing My Weight Loss

On December 31, 2009 I weighed 416 pounds. Going back to 2006, I weighed over 460 pounds, so much in fact, that I pinged the scale in my doctor’s office. In 2009, I turned 50 years old, and decided it was time to either take charge in my life and lose all the weight I had gained since law school — in law school I ran the NYC Marathon, and weighed in the high 180’s/low 190’s.

I am always asked what finally drove me to dedicate myself to losing all this weight, and simply, I wanted to date again (after my girlfriend of 24 years passed away in 2008), play sports, and live a normal life. So over the next two years, I worked to get myself back into the high 180’s/low 190’s. I charted my weight weekly, with my weigh day, and my official weight for the week, always being recorded on Saturday. I reached my goal in December 31, 2011, when I weighed 186.8 lbs.

My loss of weight over those two years is shown in the above chart, and as I add to this website, I will share my experiences, suggestions, tricks and feelings as I undertook that journey. Since that time, I have continued to track my weight, and at the end of December of 2014, weighed 199.8 lbs. — still in the 190’s after 3 years,

Bathroom Scale Anxiety

For me the bathroom scale is tool to be used in constantly monitoring my weight, and is not some evil anthropomorphic object to be feared. I weigh myself every morning, before I eat, to see how my weight in progressing during the week. If it is higher one morning than I think it should be, I may increase my exercise that day, cut down my food intake, or eat earlier. However, my official weight, i.e., what I tell people I weigh, is only taken once a week on Saturday, and that is the weight I put down in my spreadsheet which I use to track my weight.

I will talk more about my philosophy regarding weighing oneself every day, etc., in later blog entries, and will be sharing with you parts of my past and present spreadsheets, but today’s entry is about how lost and anxious I am felt, when in November 2014, my trusted digital doctor’s scale broke, and I was without it for a few days. While I was waiting for a replacement, I used a compact digital scale I have, that I take on trips, so that I can still monitor my weight when traveling. However, that travel scale is not as accurate as my doctor’s scale, and is susceptible to being tricked in registering different weights depending how one stands on it. Accurate knowledge is empowering, and that is why I think it critical to have a very accurate and stable scale, so that one can be confident in, and trust, the weight information you reading from your scale. So for those of you who are embarking on a weight loss journey, or to maintain a weight loss, my suggestion is to invest in a good doctor’s scale, which will become a trusted and valuable tool in your journey.

To Move Forward, Just Take One Step At A Time

Drive From Within