Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 38: Embracing My Inner Bok Choy
I freaked my son out last week. For perhaps the first time ever, I opted for the broccoli instead of the fried shrimp at the mediocre Chinese restaurant where we were eating. Will was incredulous: "I'm not believing what I'm seeing. What is going on here? You're really serious about this diet stuff, aren't you, Dad?"
I'm even freaking myself out with my fervent embrace of (gasp) vegetables. We're talking about way more than broccoli here. We're talking carrots and green beans and even bok choy. My appetite is a bok choy-seeking missile. Do you know what it's like to eat the bok choy and leave the pork alone?
This is more than a sea change. It's an appetite transplant. I have embraced my inner baby bok choy.
Last night I brought home roast pork with baby bok choy and brown rice from our local Cuban-Chinese restaurant. I put some of each on two plates, and my wife and I sat down to eat. I finished my plate in a few minutes (I still need to eat more slowly). I looked over at my wife's plate and she had eaten the pork and left most of the bok choy. I asked her if I could have her bok choy. I thought she was going to feant. She was speechless.
That bok choy was good. It was tender and just crisp enough. I can't tell you with all candor that I wouldn't have preferred the pork. But it is not to be. Because I have embraced my inner bok choy. Finally, after more than fifty years, I am down with leafy green vegetables. Bok choy is a leafy green vegetable, isn't it?
I'm hopeful that my embrace of bok choy and broccoli has put me in a good position weight-loss wise this week. My interim weigh-ins have been encouraging, but interim numbers are meaningless at the moment of truth. They're sort of like close polling numbers that fall within the margin of error.
Bok choy. Photograph by Sokhar on Flickr
The Weigh-In
Anyone, here goes. 240. Down another two pounds. Praise the choy! Praise the choy!
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18 Comments:
YAY! That's so awesome. Baby bok choy rocks. You should try eating with slippery chopsticks...that might slow the rate of consumption. I have a similar problem--I eat so fast sometimes I forget to breathe!
Jenn Sit at 9:29AM on 10/24/08
Holy crap, Ed. You have attained the level of master - I can only hope that someday I'll leave the meat and eat the veg. Cheers to ya.
BangieB at 9:56AM on 10/24/08
lol, bok choi is awesome, and cooked with roast pork, hellooo, of course it's tasty ;)
Why is it I can eat all vegetables and still not lose weight? Boo...
feistyfoodie at 10:35AM on 10/24/08
I am one who eats too quickly, too. College years spent speeding between jobs and 21 credit hours per semester ingrained what has tended to be a lifelong habit. Maybe I should try eating everything with chopsticks.
I love veggies though. I'm glad you're finding and embracing your inner bok choy.
Choy to the world! :)
holdthemayo at 10:49AM on 10/24/08
LOL
NYminknit at 10:53AM on 10/24/08
Excellent, news Ed. Vegetables have it all over meat, especially at a mediocre Chinese restaurant.
Joy Manning at 11:11AM on 10/24/08
You're so rad!!! And yeah, you may not be able to say you weren't preferring the pork, but now you know that the the veggie matter makes for a good, awesome, and satiating meal, too. Congrats, Ed! These past few weeks of updates have been inspiring and exciting!
OneWallKitchen at 12:23PM on 10/24/08
Oh, also--I sometimes eat too quickly, too. I recently read a couple of articles talking about how a person doesn't really feel as full as he is until 20 minutes after the fact. My Hun usually eats slower than I do, and I've been making a point of waiting until he's finished his plate to see if I really want another helping. It's worked wonders! By the time he's done, I realize I'm really not that hungry . . . not that my first helpings are exactly paltry, though. ;)
OneWallKitchen at 12:26PM on 10/24/08
Greens are definitely delicious - when cooked right. I admit, I am such a fan I will even take 'em boiled so long as they're lightly salted, but there's nothing like any greens (bok-choy, rapini, char, kale, collards) dry sauted with some garlic and oil, and maybe a bit of chili.
But my favourite? Indian style, pureed into a glorious creamy sauce with some a splash of coconut milk, curry and lots of paneer. Yum!
I'm becoming increasingly pleased I live in between China town and Little India. Lots of greens to be had all around me!
beth maher at 1:28PM on 10/24/08
Congrats ED!!!!!!! so happy for you yet again! i have to agree with you in the bok choy, Definately a fave in my house. You havent said anything, but do you feel better after embracing the veg? For me at least, too much meat makes me feel sleepy and slightly ill for hours after. Your wife must have really reached you, Good for her!
huneybumper at 2:55PM on 10/24/08
Your blog put a smile on my face. I like to hear when people are embracing a healthier diet of eating more vegetables. I regularly eat vegetables and if I don't have it as a part of my meal, I feel like it's not complete. I can do without carbs like bread and rice, but if I don't have my veggies it's not a complete meal for me.
Anyway, that's great that you lost 2 lbs this week. I'm currently on my umpteenth weight loss journey and the eating is good, but finding time to exercise isn't. Finding time to exercise is hard for me.
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amanda6hrpower at 3:45PM on 10/24/08
Congrats, Ed. It's great that you were able to lose weight by finding something delicious that you enjoy eating. It's so hard to sustain a healthy diet if it feels like you're punishing or depriving yourself.
You've inspired me to write my own diet blog as I've been also trying to eat more healthily. I wrote a post about your Serious Diet:
http://cleanliv.in
jough at 4:00PM on 10/24/08
Congrats!!! I love Chinese greens, and the only problem with me is that my typical dinner at home with the parents includes a GIGANTIC bowl of vegetables and a bit of veggies and rice. I'm talking about eating three heads of broccoli or a whole napa cabbage by myself...lol Just wait till you get to that point :)
Pammeh at 5:57PM on 10/24/08
Nice to see that bok choy was your "gateway" vegetable! ;)
The great thing is that there are a variety of Asian cooking that use it in one way or another too, so you can try bok choy a million different ways besides those of the stir-fryish variety. Hope you learn to love other leafy greens too -- my personal favs include spinach and kale.
Congrats and good luck on the rest of the weight loss journey!
Lorena at 7:25PM on 10/24/08
One of my favorite dishes is grilled baby bok choy, doused in a bit of soy sauce & sesame oil. I could eat that all day. Congrats on the weight!
MuseinTheKitchen at 9:20PM on 10/24/08
keep up the good work ed..........before you know it you'll be squeezing into yer high school bell bottoms again...!
southlake98 at 10:05PM on 10/24/08
you're doing fabulous! about a year ago, i also had an "appetite transplant" -- mostly gave up bread & started eating way more veg. i lost 30 pounds, easily, and now i don't even crave the stuff i used to. now i love me the veg.!!!
awesome, fast broccoli recipe -- cut a bunch into bite-size pieces. heat a little oil in a big nonstick skillet & cook the broccoli (stirring) on high until tender (it will get some nice charred-looking spots). turn off the heat & sprinkle liberally with thai fish sauce & lime juice. very flavorful, very easy.
p.s. my husband's a food inhaler, too. sometimes I look up from my 1st bite to see -- what the f*ck?! -- he's done eating.
pie hole at 7:59AM on 10/25/08
What are your thoughts on napa? I actually have to stay away from cabbage most of the time because of a stomach condition, but I can't control myself around napa stir-fried in garlic sauce.
gwenkern at 10:40AM on 10/27/08