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A few weeks ago when chatting to a friend they were asking how I was getting on with my diet, as it was evidently working well – my trouser waist size at the time had gone down 4 inches. He suggested that maybe I should share what I have done in my blog to help others in a similar situation. So here it is. If at the start of the year someone had told me that I would be loosing over 50 lbs in weight in the next few months I would have just laughed at them. I know that over the past few years I have tried to loose weight in various ways. Be it jogging, swimming, cycling, doing various fat busting exercises, but for various reasons I have stopped after a short while. I may have lost a few pounds but then a few months later the weight has come back on. Eventually I go up a trouser size as my jeans will just not fit. (Just have to stop using the hot wash which as everyone knows shrinks clothes so badly!). This process has carried on over the last decade and I got a little bit heaver each year. At the start of the year (2011) I got a virus infection that attacked my liver, and became seriously ill. Their are various comments in previous blogs about this. Part of the process of getting my liver working properly again was to reduce my body fat level i.e. loose some weight. It seems that the liver is a lazy animal and deposits any fat it can't handle in the neighbourhood. So if the neighbourhood is full it has to pushing it out over the system via the blood, which causes everything else connected via the blood to complain as blood should not be full of fat. I can't say that the diet I have followed is the responsibility of any one person because it is not. Lots of helpful medical advice has been given and research done on the internet. This has eventually led to a diet that seems to work. Not only enabling me to loose weight but also not too boring or difficult to follow. (This is not a plug for a high expense diet, just a simple process that seems to work) So looking at the first three key points of the diet Incentive to stick to the diet. - Well I was given two of these, the first was from my body and the sharp stabbing pain that I get from my liver, when I eat or do the wrong thing. Not so bad now but for the first three months so bad that I did not get a single nights sleep without being woken up by the pain. Secondly I was told that I would probably not live the year if I did not get my liver functioning again properly. I know most people don't have this form of incentive, but you must have something even if it is only the fact that if you are overweight and loose weight working towards your ideal weight, research indicates that you will live longer. Lots of references on the web but here is one The essence is that if you are overweight (on the BMI scale) then you have a greater than 10% more chance of death over a 10 year period, if you are moderately obese then a 40% more chance of death and if you are severely obese then more than that. So that alone should be an incentive to loose weight.  Lots of Food Portion Size – When we are given a plate of food and we assume that this is the right amount of food for us to eat. I was told that this is probably not correct. Most plates of food have more on then than we need. The first thing was to find a smaller plate as a dinner plate and use that for a while to eat my meals on. This would get me used to eating a smaller amount at a meal. The second thing to do was to look at the nutritional info on the side of a packet or tin, (if the food came in such a container). This nutritional info often specifies what a portion size is, either in weight of grams or in millilitres if a liquid. Then get a scale or measuring jug out and just see what a portion looks like. It is probably much smaller than you imagined. I certainly found this to start with. The final way of doing it is by rough sight. If it is dry matter food stuff, then a clenched fist full can be used as a rough portion measure. If it is wet matter food stuff then a single serving spoon can be used. For drinks then 150 ml (often the portion size ) is just under half a normal size pull ring drink can full.
Once you have a rough idea on what a good meal size is then there is no need to go to the effort of using the scales etc., or the smaller plate. If you are offered more then say no thank you. Meal Frequency – The next thing I was told, was that it is much better to eat three small meals a day rather than just two, or even one and breakfast was one of the most important meals of the day. If you are going to miss one out then lunch is the candidate that should be considered, but even then you should eat something even if it is just a bit of fruit or a raw carrot or celery stick. Ones body gets hungry and small amounts of “good” food (e.g. fruit) are much better than no food some food lots of food, as the stomach gets used to the lots of food session and thinks that this should be the norm. This is continued in part two which looks at the foods themselves hydration and setting realistic targets.
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This is a fantastic alternative to batter and really healthy at the same time. Essentially the mackerel is rolled in oats providing fibre and extra texture at the same time. As it is so healthy it can be served with hand made oven wedges (make sure you keep the skin on) which can be cooked at the same time in the oven, along with another (fresh) vegetable – peas or carrots. The ingredients given are enough for two
Ingredients 4 Mackerel fillets 1 cup of oats 1 orange, (or grapefruit, or lemon) 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp mustard e.g. Dijon 1 egg – the white salt and pepper to taste How to cook - Set oven at 210 (and put wedges in if having them, as they take around 30 mins and the fish takes around 15 mins) Put the egg white in a shallow dish Take the zest off the citrus fruit, and mix with the oats in a bowl If the mustard is in powder form add to the oats and citrus zest if not then lightly smear on the top of each fish fillet Place the oats in a similar shallow dish to that of the egg white Oil a metal baking tray that is large enough to hold the fish fillets Holding the fish fillet by the tail dip in the egg white making sure both sides are covered, then place in the bowl of oats mixture. Covering first one side then the other Place the fish now completely covered in oat mixture in the tray skin side down – You have to remember which was the skin side Repeat the process for the remaining fillets Cut the citrus fruit into segments and place on the fish fillets Put in the oven for around 15 minutes, Test with a fork to see if cooked The other vegetable can be steaming while this is cooking And enjoy.. I had a large number of ripe bananas, and was wondering what to do with them. It seemed a shame to put them in the compost, then I had the thought of experimenting with a tea bread recipe I have. Well the result is delicious, so I will share the experiment with one and all.
This is a very simple recipe, the only downside is that it is very moreish, so does not last very long, though I am sure it would keep for a few days in an air tight container. Ingredients
Chicken is one of the meats that I am encouraged to eat as it it low fat, hopefully helping my liver on the road to recovery, but I am not meant to eat the skin as that is fatty. So often a recipe ends up putting all the flavours onto the skin, which is no good to me. Not to be undone I have come across this method of cutting the meat and getting the spices down into the bird. It works really well in the taste department, though does slightly spoil the look of the roast bird when it comes out, as the breast is not a beautiful smooth golden spherical shape but rather a series of parallel slits
Ingredients 1 large (or medium) sized chicken 1 lemon 1 onion Freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard 1 to 3 teaspoons of Spice mix depending on how spicy you want it. I made a Turkish spice mix for a change, details given below, but any spice mix can be used Turkish Spice mix - To make this I used the following (It is given as a ratio so you can add as much spice mixture to the chicken as you want – I used the ratio 2 parts equals half a teaspoon and if dried/powdered spices are used any remaining can be stored for another time) 2 parts tarragon 2 parts oregano 2 parts chopped fresh chilli (or powder) 1 part coriander 1 part cumin 1 part cinnamon Mix these together thoroughly in a bowl with a teaspoon Method
It tastes good both hot or cold. (if not on a low fat diet you can use the juices that come from it to fry some vegetables along with the onion rings that come from the backing tray as they hold a lot of spicy flavours) Enjoy To keep to my low fat diet I don't have any form of butter or spread on my toast in the morning, so what I do have has to taste that extra special. Well here is a recipe for a marmalade, that meets these requirements, making around 5-6 jars of marmalade.
Ingredients 1 Large or (two small) oranges, grapefruit and lemons, and 3Ils of sugar (1.3kg). Method
Enjoy. Not being allowed to have any form of spread or butter on my toast to help reduce the Gamma GT levels, tasty jam is a must, especially if it can be made from home grown ingredients. We have had two goes at this jam as it is so good it seems to fly away.
The basic ingredients are
Take a nice freshly baked loaf of spread. Cut a slice and spread - then eat and enjoy.  I wanted something different to up my Omega 3 and of course sardines are very good at that. Looking at what needed to be eaten from the fridge I made the following even remembering to take a photo or two. This makes enough for two people. Ingredients 1 120g cans of sardines sunflower oil 1 50g can of anchovy fillets in oil 1 can chopped tomatoes 1 table spoons capers 1 (or less) table spoon of extra virgin olive oil 1 red chilli 1 green chilli 1 pepper lightly chopped 1 generous handful of basil leaves, (or 2 heaped teaspoons of dried basil) 1 onion chopped finely 1 cup of chopped green veg (I used stick beans) or frozen veg e.g. peas Pasta of your choice (not lasagne) Parmesan cheese, grated if required. Method Heat olive oil in frying pan and lightly fry onions, add chilli & basil and chopped pepper. Continue for a few minutes. Then add chopped green veg, can of chopped tomatoes and stir. Once come to the boil add the sardines and anchovy fillets siring as required. At the same time cook the pasta according to the instructions. Make up a simple salad if required. When pasta is cooked add drain and add sardine and anchovy sauce and server in bowl. Preparation time 5 minutes, cooking time 10-15 minutes  To celebrate the fact that my Gamma GT (Gamma-glutamyl transferase) level has fallen by over 100 we thought we would have something slightly different than the normal bit of chicken to eat. Though still on my diet of as low fat tasty food as possible I came across this idea for a recipe. It has been modified it slightly to reduce the fat content and to cope with what was in my fridge/cupboard at the time.
(When cooking I still have not got round to the idea of taking photos of what I am doing. I basically experiment a lot and if it is any good (i.e. get some positive feedback) bother to think about how I did it and record it. Then a set of empty plates do not make good photos. Who know maybe should change the way I do things , but no all my experiments work by any means) Ingredients
Turkish Spice mix - To make this I used the following (It is given as a ratio so you can add as much spice mixture to the chicken as you want – I used the ratio 2 parts equals half a teaspoon)
Mix these together thoroughly in a bowl with a teaspoon Method
It will need to cook for between 2-3 hours depending on size of chicken. The skin will become golden and crispy and do not baste just before serving unless this is not going to be eaten Serve with some combination of salad, pita bread, yoghurt or new potatoes (removing the chicken skin to minimise fat consumption if necessary) depending on what your diet will allow. It tastes good both hot or cold. (if not on a low fat diet you can use the juices that come from it to fry some vegetables along with the onion rings that come from the backing tray as they hold a lot of spicy flavours) For some while now I have been slowly recovering from a serious liver illness, and this has meant that I am on as low fat diet as possible. This has produced lots of food challenges, and today I experimented producing very very low fat leek and potato soup.
Ingredients leeks, potatoes, celery, stock a table spoon of oats & 1 pepper, 1 clove of garlic. Herbs - mint, parsley and tarragon. 1 Teaspoon of balsamic vinegar Plus salt and pepper to taste The ratio was roughly one large leek to one medium sized potato to one celery stick to 200ml of stock. I used 6 leeks which needed roughly 1.2 Litres of stock Method I chopped up the leeks into thin strips, the potatoes into 1cm cubes, the celery into thin slices and the pepper as well. Put into large pan added the stock. It needs to cover the ingredients. Bring to the boil and simmer. Then add herbs roughly half a teaspoon of each and chopped garlic. Stir and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Blitz in the food processor and put back on the heat. (Add some more herbs if necessary i.e. tastes a bit bland) Add the oats and vinegar and simmer for another 10 minutes stirring as required. Add salt and pepper to taste. Those not on a low fat diet can add milk or crème fresh to their bowl on serving, to provide a slightly more creamy flavour. Any spare soup can go in the freezer for another day. It certainly got the thumbs up for a could wet day. |
Tim Fuller
Dyslexic doodles on photography, food (growing, cooking & of course eating), faith and other fascinating things. This is a personal blog expressing my views. Archives
November 2015
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