Ed Levine's Serious Diet Week 29: So Far, a Net Loss of Eight Pounds (Not Bad, Right?)
I've been posting about my diet for more than half a year now, and I think it's time to take stock in the bigger picture. As I write this I weigh 246 pounds, which is 19 pounds lighter than I was at my heaviest (265), which was well before I started posting about my diet travails.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
I have lost 8 pounds in the 29 weeks I have been posting specifically about the diet. Using various metrics I have encountered in recent years, and knowing my own body, I would feel great and look good weighing 225 pounds. That is my ultimate goal, and I think it's attainable.
The Revised Plan
At this point, you're all probably sick of hearing how hard it is for me to lose weigh—especially when all kinds of delicious food are in the way. There's only so many ways to express that thought. At the same time I think having to weigh-in every Friday morning has been really good for me. Come Wednesday, I start getting nervous about facing all of you when I jump on the scale. So this is what I'm going to do.
There will still be a diet post every Friday on Serious Eats, but in a new, truncated form. I am going to come clean with the number on the scale, which at the very least should make my wife really happy. But I also reserve the right to change my mind about this, since it ain't easy seeing the naked truth in black and white. I will also briefly outline the lowlights, and the highlights if they exist, of my eating week. Kicking off this week:
At what I'll call the Sarah Wolf Bon Voyage Party, the sweet corn frozen custard was good enough to eat a whole pint, without thinking about it, but thank God there wasn't enough in the fridge for that.
Dinner with Jeffrey Steingarten and his wonderful wife at a restaurant called One Hundred Acres meant I had to order the fried chicken and the burger. The burger was most excellent (more about that later) and the fried chicken was also quite good. But good news: I was in full portion control mode so I think I escaped unscathed.
Review dinners were rough this week as well. I ate twice at Papatzul and once at a restaurant that featured Southern-influenced New American cooking (which you'll be reading about that next Tuesday).
Anyway here goes. Wish me luck.
The Weigh-In
I stayed even at 246 pounds. That's about what I expected. Per usual, I'll be back next week, serious eaters, with the tale of the scale, unless I chicken out.
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21 Comments:
I don't understand why you had to order two main courses. And I'd be surprised if that was all you really had, too. I bet you shared something else with the table to begin. Was it the peer pressure from Jeffrey Steingarten? My dad had a great suggestion for me regarding peer pressure when I was growing up: "tell them to f#ck off!" Eating a burger AND fried chicken for dinner is not what anyone, other than maybe a serious athlete in training, should be doing. Especially if you're on a diet. Choose one or the other. And get some greens. Not creamed, not pureed with butter, not deep fried, either. Wilted in olive oil would be best, or steamed. Or raw. And almost every decent restaurant has something like that in this day and age.
I understand that as a reviewer you need to sample as many dishes as possible to provide an accurate picture of a restaurant, but in that case you should spread your reviews out over many dinners, during which you eat like a normal person. this will serve two purposes: the aforementioned one of your health, but also by going on more occasions you can measure the consistency of the kitchen at various days and times of the week. I'm sure you already know all this, but I was shocked when I saw how much food you ordered at Papatzul.
So in short, I think you are making excuses for yourself. Sort of like the 100 calorie pack thing. One appetizer, one main course, with veggies. Two alcoholic drinks tops. Dessert twice a week at most. Anything more, and you are being a) unhealthy and b) dishonest. And I'm only saying this because I love you.
simon at 9:01AM on 08/15/08
Just went back over to the Papatzul review: you had FOURTEEN dishes in two dinners. Your wife was with you, yes. But still. That's out of control.
simon at 9:04AM on 08/15/08
@simon - quit judging. why do you care so much?
ceforrester at 9:14AM on 08/15/08
Tough love baby. Don't be so sensitive.
simon at 9:18AM on 08/15/08
Simon, in actuality the three of us (jeffrey, his wife, and me) split three main courses, which seems reasonable. At Papatzul I ate with many other people.
I appreciate your concern. Of course I sometimes make excuses for myself. Don't we all? In the end I know the responsibility for all this weight stuff lies with me and no one else. Rest assured that I am dealing with it honestly and forthrightly.
Ed Levine at 9:36AM on 08/15/08
I see. In that case, my humblest apologies :(
simon at 9:46AM on 08/15/08
I'm curious though, how did you share the burger three ways? Did you each take a bite and pass it around?
simon at 9:49AM on 08/15/08
Ed, if i had your job i too would need a diet strategy. i think it is great you are trying and have lost some weight. it is hard to say no when yummy food is in front of you all the time. as jealous as i am it is probably better this is your job and not mine. i'd be in big trouble.
i found limiting drinks (not just alchohol) and certain condiments makes a difference. we waste so many calories on beverages. just a thought. are you still exercising?
keep up the good work.
jaf at 9:51AM on 08/15/08
My friend told me this saying once: Eat what you want. Not too much. Mostly vegetables.
...I like that.
breadbreaker at 10:58AM on 08/15/08
Ed ignore the sarcasm being spat at you occasionally, some of us understand how hardit can be to lose or gain weight. Have you ever thought of maybe reviewing some of these places on the merits of not only the food quality and service, but also on how easy or complicated it is to find a healthy, reasonably sized portion? "diet food" isnt the answer, we want food that is delicious as well as healthy, I know it can be done.
huneybumper at 11:05AM on 08/15/08
Keep on keeping on, Ed! Ooh, I like that, huneybumper--reviews of the healthier, weight-control-friendly dishes. Maybe leave reviews of the pound packers to staff with faster metabolisms, at least until you hit your goal weight. That 20-lb loss might come a lot more quickly, and if you weed out a lot of the sweets during this time, you could maybe lose some of your cravings for the less healthy stuff. That might help with maintenance.
OneWallKitchen at 11:16AM on 08/15/08
wow, some really encouraging first comments here!
listen: if you love food, it's really, really hard to lose weight. I didn't even attempt to diet for a long time, because I was convinced that the only way I could slim down would be to give up all of the foods I so desperately love, & that that was no way to live. so I tried to lose weight through exercise instead, which (aside from making me more toned under my extra chub) didn't really have much effect.
then I started planning a wedding, & the thought of having to look at the pictures from it for the rest of my life provoked me to actually attempt a diet. around the same time, a coworker told me about www.thedailyplate.com, which is a free calorie-tracking site that allows you to set a X lbs/week weightloss goal based on your height, weight, & gender -- it then sets your caloric intake limit accordingly. exercise that you do can be tallied as well, giving you bonus calories to "spend" on more delicious food.
I was shocked at first to see how quickly the calories added up when I plugged in some of my more indulgent meals, but once my body got used to consuming within the limit, I had a surprising amount of leeway. I set my goal to 1.5 lbs/week, tracked my calories religiously, & lost nearly 20 lbs in a little less than 3 months; my husband, who wasn't tracking officially but eating the same dinners as I was, lost about 40 lbs in that time period. with very few exceptions, I never went over my limit during that time, although I did allow myself the luxury of "banking" calories from nights of especially healthy eating to be "spent" on the weekends (such as: going to caterer & wedding-cake tastings!).
my husband & I both lost this weight while eating cheese, ice cream, burgers, pizza, etc., & drinking beer -- we just consumed less of that stuff than we might have previously. & after we got used to it, we found that stopping after a few bites of certain extra-caloric treats didn't even require that much willpower. plus, the "sheer mathematics" aspect of this type of dieting really helped me -- there weren't "good" or "bad" foods, only a calorie limit, which means if I had one fried chicken leg's worth of calories left for the day, there was no reason I should even feel a shred of guilt for eating it. (it's also a good incentive to eat more veggies, since those fill you up without taking much away from your overall allotment.)
as some extra encouragement, my hubs & I have both put zero effort into maintaining our diet, & have still stayed within 3-5 pounds of our wedding-day weights -- & that was four months ago. which proves that it's much easier to keep the weight off than it is to get rid of it in the first place.
so, Ed, maybe the solution is to try & track your calories, at least for a little while -- that way, you can have your cake & eat (less of) it too, shedding the pounds that you're so eager to lose & still enjoying all your favorite foods. & then once you hit your 225 goal, you can go crazy again...if the weight comes back, well, now you know what to do to make it go away (that's our plan, at least).
hope that's at least somewhat helpful -- & good luck!
courtguerra at 11:22AM on 08/15/08
Simon dood don't be mean you gotta encourage not tear down.... Dieting is very hard. And no one should be judging anyone unless your A) Brad Pitt and doing 100k crunches to get in shape for fightclub OR B) mike phelps and swimming 8 hours a day in the ocean and can eat 10k-12 calories in a day....
s0m3f00l at 11:31AM on 08/15/08
For the record, I don't think anything I said was mean. Presumptuous, maybe. Judgmental, meh, a little I guess. Making too many assumptions, definitely. Americans are so used to being coddled, any hint at criticism that isn't swaddled in rah rah cheerleading and pats on the back is taken as meanness. Sometimes a kick in the ass is necessary and justified, and has no malice to it. It's purely motivational. Like a coach, urging his athlete on towards greater gains.
simon at 11:39AM on 08/15/08
You know, Ed, maybe you haven't lost as much weight as quickly as you might have hoped but looking at the upside, you have lost weight and you're more likely to keep it off when you lose slowly rather than quickly. Trying to make a lot of big changes all at once is what overwhelms most people when it comes to losing weight, making it unrealistic if not impossible to keep up those changes. So...keep making a small change here and there. As those adjustments become habit, make a couple more small changes. I think it's great that you're able to assess yourself as you go along and determine what's working and what's not.
I concur with jaf that caloric beverages can be diet breakers.
holdthemayo at 11:41AM on 08/15/08
Simon says: "I'm curious though, how did you share the burger three ways? Did you each take a bite and pass it around?"
Simon: As someone with some experience eating burgers for review, perhaps I can chime in here. There's this thing called a knife that allows you to cut things into pieces—halves, quarters, even thirds (less common because it requires more skill to achieve even trisection).
Heheh. Just kidding.
When I go with friends to a burger joint for review, we typically cut our burgers in half or quarters and share. Sometimes if I go alone, I cut the burger in half (for the "autopsy shot") and only eat half, since my gf is on me about weight and cholesterol. Plus, I try to limit myself to one burger a week.
Adam Kuban at 12:11PM on 08/15/08
Adam, next you're going to tell me that you eat your pizza with a knife and fork too...
simon at 12:54PM on 08/15/08
Naysayers, be damned.... Every lost pound is a victory.
Keep up the good work.
Brownie at 2:46PM on 08/15/08
Ed, I feel your pain. When I was in my mid 30s I weighed 260. At 6'2", I was still ruggedly handsome, but the older you get, the more the extra weight affects you.
For me, it was more about a lifestyle change than watching calories. I eat meat about thrice a week now. I love salumi, pizza, and pasta, and I eat those whenever I want, but I want to less. I certainly didn't change what or how much I eat, just how often. Eating less at every meal didn't work for me.
For the last 10 years, I've hoovered around 190 pounds. I feel better, and climbing the stairs no longer exhaustes me.
@Adam: I knew about the knife, and I do indeed eat pizza with a fork and knife. When you have a mustache and beard, that's the best way to go.
Don Luis at 4:36PM on 08/15/08
kudos and good luck.
redzerostar at 8:39PM on 08/16/08
Congrats on sticking with something that is not easy.
Kerosena at 11:16AM on 08/20/08