Posted by dom on February 28th, 2007 — Posted in Tips
By Yuliana Hendarto.
I was just watching Tyra Banks Show this evening and she had the (ex – I think) wife and daughter of Mike Tyson as her guests! The topic was about how the mother was ashamed of her daugther’s weight and as a result, she stopped her daughter from eating various things, as well as making bad remarks about the daughter’s weight.
Well ok the daughter is rather heavy, but guess what, her mum’s comments are not helping!
In fact, if anything, those years of frustrations and embarassment caused by the mum’s remarks probably contributed to her weight gain.
Isn’t it just amazing how a parent can be so unsopportive and destructive to his/her own child? Maybe the intention wasn’t bad. She saw the child has a tendency to gain weight easily and so wanted to keep her healthy. But rather than making fun of her, why not inspire her to change her eating habits instead?
It’s the push vs pull factor.
And a play between positive and negative emotions.
The same thing goes with people who put themselves on strict diets and absolutely deny themselves certain foods. I think that’s just absurd.
With all due respect, I totally admire people with such strong willpower. However, they should also keep in mind that we want a healthy lifestyle so that we can enjoy life! Not to torture ourselves with a constant diet of celery sticks and what-nots.
And the result of that? Cravings.
It’s psychological. The more we think of NOT eating certain things, the more we think of eating them! This continues until it comes to a point where your mind just can’t take it anymore and you have a ‘relapse’.
And then all hell break loose.
In healthy eating, I’d rather not restrict myself to certain foods. In fact, I eat whatever I feel like, whenever I have the desire to eat it. However, bear in mind the quantities! Eat just enough to make yourself feel quite happy and satisfied, but not overly full. Also, don’t ever feel any regret afterwards – it doesn’t help!
So the number 1 rule to healthy eating is:
Have a positive attitude, and have the right reasons for dieting! Your diet isn’t there to stop you from living your life, it’s there to allow you to enjoy your life to the fullest!
So live it!
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Posted by dom on February 26th, 2007 — Posted in Misc
Guest blogger Yuliana Hendarto takes a look at one of our personal favourite foods:
Chocolate. This must be one of the most delicious, lovely, fun and famous food on earth! Not only does chocolate tastes great, it has lots of nutritional and health benefits too! Lucky you.But before all of you rush out to the nearest convenience store and grab your chocolates, let’s take a look at these first:
Longevity
A Harvard medical studies consisting of 800 male graduates found that chocoholics have longer life span. This is probably due to high polyphenol level in chocolates, which is claimed to protect you again heart disease.However, many of the so-called chocolate bars today are so rich in sugar, milk and fat content that it’s just too unhealthy for large consumptions! So opt for good quality chocolates or dark chocolates. Avoid the ones with nuts for lower calorie, fat and cholesterol content and NEVER ever consider mars or snickers bars as chocolates. They’re candy bars. Period.
Acne
The popular belief says that chocolate causes acne. However, be rest assured that there is NO effect of eating chocolates whatsoever on your skin. In fact, haven’t you heard of chocolate spa treatments? From body wrap, scrubs, bath, hydroteraphy to massages, it’s said to be good for the skin and muscles.
Chocoholism
Apparently the word does not just signify someone who loves chocolate. Chocolate does have some addictive substances! These include sugar (didn’t think sugar is addictive huh?), theobromine, anandamide (an endogenous cannabinoid), tyroptophan, phenylethylamine, caffeine.
Phew. What a mouthful!
No worries. Simply put, theobromine causes the mood-elevating effect while tyroptophan plays a role in our nervous system to help regulate our mood. On the other hand, anandamide is internally and naturally produced by our body and has short-lasting effect. Altogether, the amount of these chemical substances found in chocolates is pretty minute such that the effect on us is rather negligible, aside from the happy feelings. However, take note that theobromine (and hence chocolates) can be fatal for our pets!
Here is a list of some fun facts about chocolates:
- The Mayans started drinking hot chocolate as far back as 2,600 years ago!! That is also the earliest record of Cacao use.
- Chocolate’s basic ingredients are the cocoa solids, cocoa fat and sugar.
- It is cacao trees and cacao pods, and becomes cocoa after the beans have been processed
- Chocolate was reserved for warriors, nobility and priests.
- The Aztec used cacao beans for their taxes: a slave cost 100 cacao beans and 12 for a courtesan’s service!!!
And to end this entry on a sweet note, here’s a fun link to a Chocolate Quiz!
Sources:
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Posted by dom on February 24th, 2007 — Posted in Recipes
To finish off our Soup Week, guest blogger Dixie Doodle gives us one of her personal favourites:
Spinach. It’s one of my favorite vegetables. I know that its green leafy goodness has gotten a bad rap lately, with the e.coli breakout and all, but let’s forget about that and focus on its good points. Spinach is high in nutritional value. It’s a great source of Vitamins A, C and E, as well and being high in calcium, iron and folic acid. Its nutritional value is highest when it’s fresh, but most folks don’t like the taste of fresh spinach; so when cooking it, the less amount of cook time, the better.It’s a fairly versatile little veggie, having been used in many a different recipe. Quiches, soufflés, salads, sautéed and served on the side of a grilled fish fillet. Whew, I need to stop, I’m making myself hungry! Oh, can’t forget my absolute fave, hot spinach and cheese dip! Mmmm! So, what’s not to love?
At my house there are 5 adults and 2 toddlers to feed. Two of those adults are males and neither of them wants “twig and tree bark” (better known as diet or low-fat) food. Part of the reason this recipe is one of my favorites is that it is a big winner at my house and no one, but me, knows that it is a “diet” dish. I’ve made it three times since I acquired the recipe and it is always gone before everyone gets their fill, so this last time I doubled the recipe. That gave everyone enough, plus I get a bit left over for lunch the next day.
So in honor of Soup Week here at endiet.com, I give you:
Creamy Chicken & Spinach Soup
- 9oz cheese tortellini
- 14.5oz fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 can 98%fat-free cream of chicken soup
- 16oz chopped frozen spinach (thawed)
- 9oz cooked diced chicken breast
- 2 cups skim milk
- 1/2tsp ground thyme
- 1/4tsp black pepper
Cook tortellini according to directions on the package, using the chicken broth instead of water. Do not drain broth once tortellini is cooked. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook until heated through. (just a few minutes) Makes 6 servings at 1 & 1/3 cup.
P.S. The original recipe calls for only 8oz of spinach, but since I do love me some spinach, I have doubled it.
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Posted by dom on February 23rd, 2007 — Posted in Recipes
Day Five
Mallorquin Vegetable Stew
- Onion, chopped
- Green peppers, chopped
- Garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- Green cabbage, chopped
- Cauliflower florets
- Tomatoes, chopped
- Thyme
- Paprika
Heat olive oil in a large pot at a low heat. Fry the onion, peppers and garlic until golden and soft, around 10 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and cauliflower and fry for a few minutes more. Increase the heat to medium hot, then add in tomatoes, thyme and paprika and stir well. Cover the vegetables with broth, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are tender but stop before they are falling apart. You can chill or freeze at this point. Bring to a simmer before serving.
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Posted by dom on February 22nd, 2007 — Posted in Recipes
Day Four
Curried Chicken Soup
- 1-4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 inch ginger, cut into thick slices
- 2-3 stalks of lemon grass
- Curry powder (you can go very spicy with this if you like)
- Coconut milk
- Boneless/skinless chicken, cut into small cubes
Don’t add the following until directly before serving:
- Spinach leaves
- Spring onions, sliced
- Coriander leaves, chopped
- Lime juice
Mix the garlic, ginger, lemon grass and curry powder into the broth and bring to a boil. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes and then strain out the solids. Bring to a boil again and add chicken, simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Mix in coconut milk to taste. You can chill or freeze it at this point. Before serving, bring to a boil and then add the greens and a touch of lime juice, serve immediately.
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Posted by dom on February 21st, 2007 — Posted in Recipes
Day Three
Cream of Broccoli Soup
- Broccoli, roughly chopped
- Chives
- Tabasco sauce
- A very small amount of cream
Heat the broth and simmer the broccoli for 10 minutes. Stir in the chives and Tabasco and heath through. Liquidise the result and then stir in the cream. Run the liquidiser again until you have a creamy soup. Warm through before serving.
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Posted by dom on February 20th, 2007 — Posted in Recipes
Day Two
Chinese Egg Drop Soup
- Soy sauce (go gently!)
- Sesame oil (ditto)
- Spring onion (Green onion to Americans)
- Spinach leaves
- Chard leaves, ripped into shreds
- 1 egg (don’t add until serving!)
If you are preparing this ahead, let the broth cool then add in all the above ingredients and chill. When ready to serve, heat the soup up quickly, then beat the egg and stir it in rapidly so it leaves trails of cooked egg. Serve immediately.
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Posted by dom on February 19th, 2007 — Posted in Recipes
As a part of my quest to eat healthy and lose weight, I’ve committed to two course meals every evening. Even when we’re just eating at the computer, I serve a small starter.
Photo By Giovanni JL
There’s a few reasons for this. One is that it seems luxurious, I feel posh and maybe even a little bit spoilt. I’m always looking to fend off feelings of deprivation (WAH! Why can’t I have a Big Mac?) and this is one of my little tricks to keep me feeling happy about the diet.
There are lots of articles about eating slower, savouring each mouthful, in order to ensure you don’t keep eating after you are full. I think that separate courses, with a quick break in between, helps us to eat slower while tricking us into feeling like we are eating more – there’s a little bit of a break between the courses. It also keeps the main meal from looking pitiful, those initial hunger pangs have already dealt with and so there is less of an urge to overfill the plate with food.
The trick is to keep it simple — it’s not like I have time to do Cordon Bleu cooking on a week night! So I plan out a set of soups at the weekend, ready for serving during the week.
Soup isn’t hard to make, freezes like a dream, and it most of them don’t need any faffing on the night – just heat and serve! The trick is to start with one base and add in flavours and textures to keep them each nicely separate.
I make my own chicken broth and I do recommend it for the very best flavour (luxurious, remember?) but if you must use pre-made stock, then I would take the time to boil some vegetables and herbs in with it for a touch more flavour (and then strain).
Now you need to make sure you have plenty of containers to store it in: I chill soup for the next couple of days and freeze anything that I’m planning to serve more than three days away.
You can get really clever and do double batches, chilling one for later in the week and freezing one for later in the month! But I’m rarely that organised.
Now, how to keep that soup from seeming the same everyday? No problem. This week I’ll be offering you five different soup ideas with a basic list of ingredients to add for each. All of these are healthy but you can feel free to drop items that aren’t allowed on your diet, be inventive!
Then check the simple instructions and you have a new soup! The main time hit is the chopping so I try to do a bunch at once on a Sunday afternoon which limits the amount of fiddly work and, more importantly, the washing up!
This week we’ll do a 5-day menu of soups starting from an admittedly very large batch of chicken stock. The vegetable soups can equally be made with vegetable broth — the main thing is to remember that the stock is a critical flavour, not just a sideline and thus it needs to be of good quality. You have to really like the taste of stock cubes and salt if you want to try to use Oxo.
Day One:
Mexican Chicken Soup
- Coriander leaves, chopped
- Tomatoes, chopped
- Jalapeno chiles, to taste (the soup should have a bit of bite, not cause alarms to go off)
- Sweet corn
- Chunks of chicken, bite sized
Mix all the ingredients and add to the pot of boiling broth. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through. This can be chilled or frozen, just reheat. Serve.
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Posted by dom on February 17th, 2007 — Posted in News
Salmonella strikes again. Only last summer, here in the UK, Cadbury was forced to recall a million chocolate bars due to traces of salmonella being found in some of its products.
In November of last year the FSA issued a warning concerning imported eggs.
Now, supermarkets across the country have taken houmous off the shelves after salmonella was discovered in two varieties during routine tests.
From ITV News
Products affected are:
- M&S own brand houmous, flavoured houmous and topped houmous. All date codes.
- Co-op own brand houmous and flavoured houmous. All date codes up to February 28, 2007.
- Sainsbury’s own brand houmous, flavoured houmous and topped houmous. All date codes up to February 28, 2007.
- Somerfield own brand houmous and flavoured houmous. All date codes up to February 28, 2007.
- Tesco own brand houmous, flavoured houmous and topped houmous. All date codes up to February 28, 2007.
- Waitrose own brand houmous, flavoured houmous and topped houmous. All date codes up to February 28, 2007.
Overseas, a salmonella outbreak has been linked to Peanut Butter and now several thousand cartons of imported cantaloupes have been recalled after the fruit tested positive for salmonella.
Salmonella typhimurium (red) invading cultured human cells.
Credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH
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Posted by dom on February 6th, 2007 — Posted in Recipes, Tips
You can blame Fox Mulder for my penchant for sunflower seeds. Where Popeye failed in introducing me to healthy food (no matter how you disguise it, spinach is spinach is spinach) Mulder succeeded (literally) in tempting me into the art of nutritious nibbling.
Some lovely facts about sunflower seeds:
- They are a rich source of potassium.
- They are high in protein, unsaturated fats, calcium, iron, and phosphorus.
- They are rich in B vitamins, especially B6
- They are high in zinc which plays a critical role in the health of the adrenal glands.
It would seem that during times of stress the levels of these nutrients plummet, indicating that the good old sunflower seed can reduce my stress levels (and yours too obviously) allowing me to be calm and composed should Duchovny call at my door.
Sunflower seeds are easy to purchase. Tesco for example sell 100g bags for 33p and 300g bags for 89p. Holland and Barrett sell a 250g bag of organic sunflower seeds for £1.79.
I find they are a great substitute for the chocolate/crisps snack-attacks. They are great for keeping by the side of the computer allowing me to nibble away in a guilt free fashion. They are also the type of snack that can help those trying to give up smoking, whilst at the same time attempting to avoid the nasty weight gain that comes with the quitting. If it’s the hand/mouth thing that tempts you back to the old ciggies then try this out – get healthy whilst getting healthy!
Here’s a recipe for you
Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 ounce long-grain brown rice
- pinch of salt (optional) and Black pepper
- 4 large sweet peppers
- 3 tablespoons of margarine or butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 ounce celery – chopped finely
- 4 ounce sunflower seeds
- parsley and oregano
- 2 eggs- lightly beaten
- green chile – finely chopped
- 4 ounce grated cheese
Method
- Cook the rice until tender. Drain and set to one side
- Cut the peppers in half, removing the seeds. Parboil for 5 minutes.
- Oil a baking dish and arrange the peppers.
- Sauté the onion, celery and sunflower seeds in the margarine (or butter)
- Remove from heat and stir into the rice.
- Add the parsley, oregano, eggs, chiles, salt and black pepper.
- Now fill the peppers with the mixture and put the grated cheese on top
- Bake in the oven gas mark 4 to 5, 180oC, 350oF for about 20 minutes.
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