Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Strategy of Going Halfsies


When I was planning my pre-gym snack today, at first I just thought to grab a protein energy bar, but then I realized I didn't have to stick to the calories on the package: I could cut them in half!

Parmesan-Crusted Trout with salad & vegetables
I'm trying to keep my snacks to 80-100 calories each so I can eat many small meals, and not get to the end of the day and be stuck skimping on my dinner, my favorite meal of the day.

It sounds like a no-brainer: Cut it in half. But how often do you do it? Isn't it just as satisfying to eat half a bar as it is to eat a whole one? Because after the first two bites, the main enjoyment has been had, right? On the other side, it's really hard to just eat half if the whole thing's in your palm or staring up at you from the plate.

So much harder to eat half, so much easier to cut in half and only take half.

For lunch I invented a fantastically-rich tasting but calorically-poor entrée I call "Parmesan-Crusted Rainbow Trout." Please check it out. Unbelievably delicious, takes only 10 minutes to make. Here's the link (on the Weight Watchers website):  Parmesan-Crusted Rainbow Trout
(Makes two portions, 140 calories, 10g protein per serving.)

What I discovered is that while light mayonnaise tastes the same as regular mayo in a recipe, light cheese does not.  No, no, no!

I also found that mixing the light mayo with a little dijon mustard makes the sauce go farther. Real Parmesan cheese, instead of some wannabe "light" cheese, makes a huge difference in taste. But only a small amount still gives you the rich flavor. Halfsies, again: Use only half the amount of real, flavorful cheese as you would the full amount of "lite" cheez-product and you get all the flavor for the same number of calories.

This fish is so moist and tender! I cut the finished entrée in half and saved the other half for dinner.

Voila: 3 strategies in one:
  • Streamlining by making two meals at once
  • Going halfsies
  • Shaving the cals by using light mayo instead of "Real"
The meal pictured is only 225 calories, using a light dressing on the salad and tossing the veggies with a few flavorful drops of toasted walnut oil.

What about you? Do you find yourself cutting things in half? When and why?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Challenge: Many Tiny Meals

A friend of mine, who has trouble losing weight even when he tried a low-calorie, raw food diet, told me how one time he did lose weight consistently: at a boot-camp-style retreat where the organizers worked the participants hard 2x a day and fed them a high-protein meal every 2 hours.

Eating every 2 hours and working out supposedly "speeds up your metabolism." There is a lot of hoo-ha out there both confirming and denying this assertion, so I wanted to try it.

I set an alarm on my phone to ring every two hours with the annoying message: "Time to eat another 200 calories!"

The challenge: Each meal had to take no more than 15 minutes to prepare; 200-260 calories; high protein (at least 30%-40%); and contain fiber-rich carbs from fruits and vegetables instead of bread, pasta or other refined grain products. Steaming instead of sauteing kept the calories low, and employing measuring spoons kept the oil and dressings under control.

Here's a pictoral record of my assembled tiny meals.
(You'll notice there are only four, not five. In the morning I had coffee and a fruit smoothie before my workout, not pictured.)

This works for the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program, too! Each meal was between 4 and 7 PointsPlus, and added up to a 29-point day. Right on target for my plan.


Morning Snack
Broiled tuna steak with steamed yam: 220 cals, 29% fat, 37% carbs, 34% pro
 Lunch
Two thin cheese & salsa omelets with an Asian pear: 230 cals, 24% fat, 44% carbs, 32% pro









"Mediterranean Tuna Fillet over Eggplant Marinara:" 260 cals, 38% fat, 31% carbs, 31% pro

Dinner (above) and Evening Snack (below)
Salad with broiled tuna and a nectarine: 230 cals, 37% fat, 21% carbs, 42% pro

As you can probably guess, there was a big piece of albacore tuna steak that got carved up in creative ways! 

Result: I had a lot of fun today inventing these tiny meals. Eating a tiny meal every 2 or 2 1/2 hours meant I was never hungry, except once: I felt a little hungry after my morning workout, but I could easily wait until my next alarm. Each tiny meal felt satisfying, and I never felt full -- just not hungry anymore.
Best of all, I didn't get bored because I was documenting it all for you guys! 

Felt so proud of my "Mediterranean Tuna over Eggplant Marinara" recipe that I posted it on Weight Watchers.com. I encourage you to try it.

Next time I'd double the portions and refrigerate or freeze them to always have a healthy meal close at hand.