Don't Want to Overeat? Ruin Your Appetite (and Other Ideas to Preserve Your Waistline)

(< calories in) = (< work to get it off)

It is almost time to sit down with the family and you know Aunt Mae has brought her infamous pecan pie. What to do?

Ruin your appetite. 

One hour before the family sits down, have a few glasses of water and eat a protein bar. It will fill you up and make all those goodies seem a little less good. Also, make wise choices--focus on soups (if there is soup, eat two servings) and vegetables and shy away from casseroles, fried foods and mayonaise-based items.

What to do when you are encouraged (pressured) to get seconds? Don't say, "oh no, I am watching what I eat," as alll that will do is get those who aren't to taunt you. Get up, put a few things on a plate and then put the plate in front of you. After a minute or two get up to get something to drink and don't sit back at the table, or sit in some other seat. The status quo will be satisfied and your can keep your holiday eating in check.

As for desserts? Eat them if you feel so inclined. Have a small slice and don't finish it. Or finish it. But realize the consequences of eating it, or anything. Food in = energy out. The less intake, the less work to get it off your body.

Happy holidays!

Dietary Trap: Juice

(behavior) / (observation) = change

I was spending a pleasant weekend with a friend when he asked me a question that I had no answer to:

"Do you have any juice to drink?"

Not what you expected, I imagine, but it was shocking to me. Because over the past decade or so I have analyzed every dietary habit I have. I want to know how things are prepared, what is in them and what the caloric consequences are for everything I eat and drink. And one of the many changes I went through in that process was eliminating every beverage that has anything more than a calorie or two per serving.

The reason is that those calories are easy calories to absorb and are typically undetected by the body. In other words, they don't help satiation. A person can sit down and drink a Coca-Cola or Snapple and in the process, intake a few hundred calories without even thinking about it. And one of the goals of having a healthy mody is thinking about the total number of daily calories consumed.

Which takes me back to juice. I think juice is one of the cruelest caloric jokes ever played on the American people. It is packed with calories--8 ounces of orange juice has 122 calories, 17 more than Coke--and an inordinate amount of sugar (over 29 grams). Beyond that, it has no content--you can  swallow it in less than a minute and be done with it. Your stomach, looking for solid material to digest and process, barely registers juice.

So juice is a decided no-no for those of you working on weight issues. No fiber, tons of calories and sugar and not satisfying. Want the benefits of OJ? Eat an orange. Eat two. Forget the propaganda of the past fifty years. Juice is not that good for you.

David Ezell will be giving a free talk on changing your mind and body--your mody--Thursday evening at 7 PM as part of the TRS Professional Suites free speakers series. He will be speaking at 44 E. 32nd Street, 11th floor at 7 pm sharp. Seating is limited so please come early. 

Healthy Street Food in New York City

I talk to my clients about defensive eating with great regularity, as there are hidden traps in almost every meal you have.

Today let's consider one of my favs--street food. New York city is littered with food carts selling meals that average about five bucks, and a lot of calories, many twice what one meal should be for an average diet.

So how to make one of the cart meals congruent with fitness goals?

• NO FRIED FOOD--that means falafel, aka Arabic hush puppies, are a no-no. Street vendors love to stuff dishes with fried tidbits. Tell them no....and watch closely as many will try to sneak them in "for flavor."
• SAUCE--there is an overwhelming desire amongst street merchants to slide in sauces of all sorts. Whenever I ask what "that" is, they say "sauce." My advice--light on the sauce or no sauce at all.
• BROWN RICE--always ask about rice options in advance and never do white rice, which is the grain world's version of shredded lettuce. Golden rice may also be available and a good option.
• VEGGIES--some guys will have all sorts of toppings for your dish--tell them yes to everything, with a few exceptions. If you are being mindful of the calorie count, say no to cheese (I do) and black olives (I do most of the time).
  
• WHITE SAUCE--I know I just talked sauce. But this one, the most egregious of the street sauces, deserves its own bullet point. NO WHITE SAUCE. It is dairy based and packed, packed with calories.

So what do you eat Dave? I get chicken and rice with salad. I only get TWO scoops of rice, as a scoop is about one cup of rice, which equals 218 calories (or thereabouts). So an extra scoop can take your dish into the high calorie zone quickly. No sauce except for "hot sauce," which usually is vinegar or tomato based. I always say no to the previously mentioned white sauce and also barbecue, which can have lots of hidden calories as well. Total calories? About 665, but that is a rough estimate as one cart's calories can vary vastly from another.

What do you do if they won't listen to me or can't understand my questions, instructions or pleas for help? As Dionne Warwick sang so long ago, "Walk on By," there is another one a block away...and you'll get a little extra exercise in to boot.

Bon apetit mes amis.