I just read a blog where the author said the reasons diets don’t work is because people are not motivated enough to lose weight, poppycock! One of the main reasons folks fail to lose weight when on a diet is lack of good tasting food! Diet food just doesn’t taste good. Almost everyone I talk to loves IN and Out Burger. Why? It tastes good, no great! Is it good for you? Well of course not, it is full of empty fatty calories that your body has a hard time digesting and eliminating, AND is really bad for your arteries. That doesn’t seem to matter to most people. What matters is that it tastes good. We want food that is cheap and tastes good. Healthy food can be to expensive and it takes a long time to prepare. To make it taste good you need to add a lot of different flavors like curries, peppers, flowers like lavender and yes some fats like olive and sesame oil. It is so easy to buy take out that is loaded with fat and salt. After your done eating it you kind of puff up like a dough boy or girl from the hydrogenated oils and MSG. It is not easy to stop, shop, and cook every night. You have to have a plan!
So what do you do? You have to have a plan. A plan, a plan what type of plan? Here is your 3 step approach:
1. Sit down with you spouse, partner or just yourself on Saturday or Sunday morning and plan what meals you like to eat. Most people have 7-10 recipes they make at home on a regular basis. If you don’t, find some that are fairly easy to make, are healthy and taste good. Ask friends if you are stuck. Write down your dinners for the week – plan one dinner out so you don’t go crazy! We usually plan sushi out because we can’t make it at home and it really tastes good and is good for you. Cheap not so much, but how much sushi can you eat of anyway? Keep your lists each week so you can refer to them for ideas for the future.
2. Go the you local farmer’s market and buy the food for the week. You can find just about everything you need at the one in San Rafaelon Thursday and Sunday mornings. Bring your list so you don’t go crazy buying things you are not going eat soon. The vendor’s samples always seem to taste better at the market then when you bring the item home. Don’t forget to bring your shopping bags. My son is 5 now and I still bring his stroller and fill it up with food so I don’t have to carry it. The walking is good for him.
3. Here is the good part. How to cook this stuff. It is easier than you think. Make lots of slow cooked stews. Cut the veggies, add the meat, liquid like broth, and many different spices depending on you taste. Stick it in the slow cooker before work and it will be done when you get home.
I cook an Papua New Guinea version moo-moo, my sister-in-law Lucy taught me which is curry and light coconut milk base with ginger, sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and lots and lots of kale or just about any dark leafy green. Serve it over some brown rice and voila! Low-fat, gluten free, leave out the meat and vegan. You can eat it that night and the next day for lunch. You can also make a healthy hungarian beef stew with lots of paprika, or a brazilian fish stew with red, yellow and jalapeno peppers and light coconut milk. You can mix up the slow food with the quick food. Quick stir fries, veggies, shrimp in sesame oil with cashews and a little Thai curry. How about a Mexican style dish with veggies, black beans, ground turkey, with cumin, cayenne pepper and lime. All flavorful, colorful, healthy, low-fat and TASTE GOOD!
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