Calories = calories?

Same number of carbohydrate-derived calories. One is a real food (about 3.5 oz sweet potato);
the other comes in a packet. Are they the same?

So, I'm experimenting with consuming less refined sugars and more whole, real foods.
A fancy packet of Hammer Gel for my morning bike ride is the same amount of calories as half of a small, steamed sweet potato. (About 90.) The sweet potato has fiber, and vitamins and phytochemicals and other good stuff.  The Hammer Gel has some electrolytes and sodium added.

(The coffee with half & half would be equally consumed along with either.)

My bike ride this morning (about 1hr 15 minutes, including stretching by the Pacific Ocean) wasn't as amped up as it has been on these supercharged energy gels -- but that could also be due to other factors, like less sleep, and a high-intensity weight training workout that left me sore, just the day before.

More testing is needed before I can definitively confirm whether or not Hammer Gel calories is the same as a piece of tuber.

I'd be curious as to know what other people have found.

Relearning Sweet Desserts

Figs, broiled, with a dollop of plain yogurt

I'm a big believer in dessert. I love it.
I also believe tastes can change. Desserts don't have to be calorie bombs.

Craving something sweet this evening, I made broiled figs with yogurt for dessert.
It's easy to fall in love with desserts this simple and good.

Four figs, a sprinkling of sugar to caramelize under the broiler, a dollop of Fage 0% Greek yogurt.
111 calories, 3g fiber, 19g carbs, 5g protein, 0g fat. 
2 minutes.

Pre- and Post-Workout Meals for High Intensity Weight Training

I love my weight training sessions at Myogenics in West Hollywood.  I work one-on-one with a trainer, Brad, doing exactly 5 machines for 22 minutes. 

Pre-workout meal is heavy on the carbs: a mini Clif bar, nectarine & orange. My regular super-strong coffee with one oz. half-and-half.

1 tsp. pure creatine before and after high-intensity weight training.
Meal - 330 calories: 6g fat, 59g carbs, 9g protein, 9g fiber

Post-workout meal: 3 oz. shrimp fried in a dab of butter, habanero salsa, half a steamed yam, 1/2 cup pinto beans, lots of water.
Yeah, I know: it doesn't look like The French Laundry's version, but it's tasty and filling.

375 calories: 7g fat (the butter); 52g carbs, 26g protein, 12g fiber

Brad, my trainer: after I asked him to take pictures of me working out:

Eats Whatever He Wants

I'm so stuffed...

Pinto bean soup with kale, salad with steamed veggies, mahi-mahi

...on just 350 calories. Seriously. I think I am about to explode.
I've been reading Volumetrics and Eat to Live again -- these books make me jazzed up about eating healthy. They both recommend soups and salads because both are so filling on such few calories, and dense in good nutrients.

Hence, lunch today (after a 16-mile bike ride):

Three-Course Lunch for 350 calories - soup, salad, protein

Salad with added steamed veggies (4 oz broccoli, 4 oz green beans, 5 oz eggplant); Trader Joe's marinated mahi-mahi (about 3.5 oz piece), homemade pinto bean soup with kale. 350 calories.
9g fat, 44g carbs, 29g protein, 14g fiber. Wow! Salad dressing is my fave low-fat lettuce lubricant, Galeo's.

I'm so full I could explode. I won't be hungry again until dinner for sure.

Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks | Video on TED.com

"If your friends are obese, your risk of obesity is 40% higher."

A perfect reason why reading Calorie Rebel every day could help you lose weight: Nicholas Christakis' findings on this TED video show that the more fat friends you have, the more likely you are to be fat.
Conversely, the more healthily-eating friends (is that a word?) you have, the more likely you are to eat healthy = the better chance you'll lose weight and/or keep it off.
That's where I come in.
We live in a society of caloric superabundance. There's way more delicious calories out there to eat than your body needs. It's not easy to sidestep all those delicious calories, but ya gotta do it.

So make friends with Calorie Rebels. Just by hanging around with them, the ## may start to slide.

Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks | Video on TED.com

Salads Starring [non-red-meat] Protein Sources

Presenting two non-red-meat protein sources to go with everyday salads.

Watch out: the chicken-style seitan looks a lot like Satan. It looks like hell but it tastes like chicken! Especially if you do not really, ever, eat chicken (like me) then you could never know the difference.

Seitan is low fat - so you can eat more of everything else! And it's high protein = high satiety. Stay satisfied longer with less calories.

Watch out for the canned salmon in the further-below picture. Canned salmon also looks yucky (BONES) but the bones are soft and you do not notice them when you eat it. Canned salmon has a lot more flavor and a lot less mercury than canned tuna. Truly yummier.

 Lunch Salad with Seitan

Seitan is a lowfat, high protein meatlike substance made from wheat gluten.

(click on the pic for a larger image)

Lunch salad with snap peas, tomatoes, cucumber, Galeo's dressing, and 3 oz. chicken-style seitan.
225 calories -- 4g fat, 26g protein (!!), 26g carbs, 8g fiber.

Lunch Salad with Salmon

Canned salmon is another great protein source for your salad.
Never mind the bones - they are soft and you can eat them.

Lunch salad with 3.5 oz canned salmon, tomatoes, 1/2 oz. walnuts, carrots, celery, cucumber & 1/2 TBS regular salad dressing.
350 calories, 22g fat (salmon & walnuts mostly), 26g carbs, 21g protein, 9g fiber.

How to Eat All the Produce You Buy at the Farmer's Market

The problem: You buy a ton of fresh fruits and vegetables at the Farmer's Market on the weekend. Then, it sits in your fridge and rots.

Farmer's Market Haul: enough for all my 1200-calorie days all week long
(click on the picture for a high-resolution image)

The solution: Take a picture of it. Then, plan out your meals for the week looking at your picture. By taking all the veggies out and composing them for their portrait, you will remember better what you bought than if you'd chucked all those plastic bags into the fridge compartments!

Also, planning your meals means you're more likely to stick to your healthy eating goals.
 
The two-fer: Eating fresh, low-calorie and healthy all week long, because you planned on it. And, your produce doesn't go to waste!

I Love Egg-White Omelets!

Egg-White Omelet & Fruit for Breakfast

Egg whites, fresh salsa, a small apple, a large peach. Coffee with half-and-half. 300 calories.

I love egg-white omelets. They are super fast to make, especially if you use egg whites straight from a carton. This one is simply filled with fresh salsa. An small Fuji apple, a fresh ripe peach, and voila, you have a high-fiber, low-fat, high-protein breakfast for about 300 calories. It will keep you going all morning. 

The bonus? NO sugar, NO refined flour -- that's good for you.

I pour a dash of Asian ponzu or soy sauce in the egg whites for salt/flavor. Doesn't add to the calories. I use a little extra-virgin olive oil (about 1/2 tsp.) in my nonstick pan.

Total calories: about 300 (including the coffee)
Fat: 6.6g
Protein: 16g
Carbs: 52g
Fiber: 7g  WOW! More than those farty beans!

Beans for Breakfast?

I know, I'm weird. But eating refined flour and starches for breakfast is not good if you want to lose weight and keep it off. You can find a better way. This is one of mine.

Beans for breakfast?

For the same amount of calories, beans have more protein and fiber than cereal, even oatmeal.
Beans keep you fuller longer so you don't feel like snacking mid-morning.

 Breakfast

300-calorie breakfast: Trader Joe's salmon, Cuban-style black beans, coffee with an ounce of half-and-half.

Compare: a serving of these black beans has 100 calories and

• 0.5 gram of fat
• 19g carbs -- low-glycemic (the GOOD kind!)
• 6g protein
• 6g fiber

A packet of plain (boring) Quaker instant oatmeal for the same 100 calories:

• 2g fat
• 19g carbs -- same amount but these are instant (read: processed) carbs that get into your system faster, and could make you hungry again sooner
• 4g protein
• 3g fiber

PLUS, who eats plain oatmeal? No, you put syrup or brown sugar or yogurt in it, which all add up calorically.


 What weird things do you eat for breakfast?

What does a 1200-Calorie Day Look Like?

I didn't start losing weight until I dropped my calories to 1200 a day. That's pretty low - but not if you eat lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, salads and soups. Then it's actually enough food to satisfy you, plus it's way more healthy than eating lots of refined-flour foods and sugary snack foods.
Of course I LOOOVE sweets and desserts -- but limit them to once a week for now.

I started keeping track of my calories using one of these calorie counting programs. I find Calorie King to be the easiest & fastest.

But what does a 1200-calorie day actually look like?

I know, I know: this is going to look VERY STRANGE to anyone eating a typical American diet!

Breakfast

Do not eat the cork - it's just for reference! 3 oz salmon is a small fillet. 3.5 oz. steamed yam is about half the tuber.
Plus coffee with 1 oz half-and-half: 300 calories.

Morning Snack

Three figs, 6oz strawberries, 1/2 cup nonfat Greek-style yogurt = 175 calories

Lunch

Big lunch salad with half a steamed yam, half a bag of baby spinach, tomato, honeydew melon, and cut-up lowfat tofu dog. Dressing is low-fat Galeo's Miso dressing jazzed up with 1 tsp. teriyaki sauce. Total: 250 calories.

Afternoon Snack

Puree of kale soup with pinto beans (homemade) - 125 Calories for 1 1/2 cups

Dinner

Humongous salad with 2 oz steamed salmon, steamed broccoli, raw cuke, snap peas, romaine lettuce. Galeo's dressing added garlic, lemon & a few drops sesame oil. 265 calories.

Dessert

Fresh white nectarine (5 oz) = 65 calories

Final Stats:

Total calories: about 1200. 

35 grams fiber from whole foods.

Plenty of phytonutrients from plant foods.

Omega-3's from salmon.

Calorie-free drinks: Filtered water, iced coffee no sugar, unsweetened iced tea.

Ratios: 23% fat, 23% protein, 54% carbohydrate

Exercise: Brisk walk around the neighborhood listening to RadioLab podcast - 1.25 hrs.

Remapping Visual Remains

Our mission: to lose weight and keep it off in a world of Caloric Superabundance.

Strategy #1. Accustom yourself to eating fewer calories. 

Translation: leave food on your plate every time you eat at a typical American restaurant.

Eggs Florentine (half order), The Dish restaurant, Seattle
(This was hard. See my review on Yelp)

How to View the Photographs - the Theory

We often see what appetizing meals look like, but we don't see what is left over.
The remains.
It's important to visualize remains so that when you see them in real life, you know that is what you are supposed to be seeing. If you are used to eating everything on your plate, you never see the remains. 

But, if you want to enjoy eating out and still maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life: you have to leave stuff, or box it up and take it home. Rarely eat the whole thing. Maybe never. Get used to wasting food. It will go to waste either way, either in the garbage or on your hips, thighs and butt.

Remains of the Egg Florentine

Start Seeing Remains

These are photos designed to to train the eye to visualize, accept and expect to see remains on the plate.

When you look at these photos, it's most effective to be mentally relaxed. Notice your feelings. Would you eat those leftovers? Project a positive feeling onto each image as something you've left over and you're not going to eat.

House-made beignets at Cafe Fanny, Berkeley
(Beignets, I found out, are French doughnuts)

I got one beignet with jam
 & an espresso - just wanted a taste

Already you have a very strong association between a plate of appetizing food and a positive feeling of "Yum! I want that." Now you need to pair another GOOD feeling with the sight of remains.

Remains of beignet. A taste was all I needed.
I left the rest on the counter.

See remains, yet feel happy, satisfied, and on your way to establishing a healthy habit in a world of Caloric Superabundance.

See the full plate. Know that it's probably too much food. Leave remains. Feel good about seeing remains.

Fish and shellfish tagine with summer squash,
at Lola restaurant, Seattle

Remains of fish and shellfish tagine
(It was delicious for breakfast the next morning!)

For more about cognitive mapping.