Entries tagged with 'Ed Levine's Serious Diet'
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"Nobody gets to see me up close and personal with my scale." [Photograph: Ed Levine] A few days ago my wife asked if I was about to take a shower in our bathroom. I said I was, but first I had to weigh myself. I walked over to Will's bathroom, where Thinner lives. My wife followed right behind me. Just as I was about to open the door to Thinner's one room abode, my wife asked the question no serious dieter wants to hear: "I want to see what you weigh. Can I watch you get on the scale?" "Are you kidding," I said, knowing she wasn't kidding at all. "Absolutely not. Nobody gets to see me up close and...
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This week involved many of these. This past week I realized that simply "Saying No" (my apologies to Nancy Reagan) was not going to cut it on my serious diet; somehow, some way I was going to have to find a way to participate in the gustatory goings-on at SE World HQ and still lose weight (albeit slowly). Why? Because it's just too hard not to. Consider the following eating-oriented festivities that went on during the last seven days (including my birthday on Wednesday) at the office, a mere three feet from my desk: A pepperoni pizza taste test featuring the four big national pizza chains. A frozen pepperoni pizza taste test featuring five brands. A New York wings...
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"I am still 25 pounds from my goal." The good news, and it's really good news. My knee is feeling considerably better, thanks to a new anti-inflammatory prescription and my new best friend Mr. Ice. I ice my knees for 20 minutes after I play squash. Then I ice them again on the days I don't play squash. I bought a $42 ice knee wrap that I bring to the squash court with me every morning I play. I put the whole thing (two ice packs inserted into the pockets of a wrap that fits perfectly around my knee). I've been moving better than I have in months. I can actually get around the court without looking like the the...
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Healthy knees, aka not Ed's knees. [Filckr: Minnaert] The last few months I have found it hard to play squash because I haven't been able to bend my knees all the way. For someone who derives as much pleasure as I do from chasing some kind of ball three times a week, this has been a real problem. A real big problem in particular because chasing a ball has been my chief form of exercise for just about my entire adult life. So last Thursday, when I found myself unable to continue on the squash court because my knees were hurting so badly (and because I knew that my partners that day were not having any fun playing with...
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Fewer of these in my life. [Photograph: Robyn Lee] At the risk of sounding like Ebenezer Scrooge, I for one am thrilled that the holidays are over. Why? I'm sure you can guess. Food temptation is everywhere in December: at the office where the FedEx guy would show up every day with a new box of serious diet-busting food; at home, where I would find buttered pecans and chocolates everywhere; and at other people's gracious holiday parties, where, for example, this year I encountered the best chocolate cookie I have ever tasted....
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©iStockphoto.com/galdzer Happy New Year, serious eaters. May your 2010 be filled with lots of seriously delicious food (eaten in moderation, of course—this is, after all, a serious diet post) with people whose company you enjoy. That's in fact what we strive to do every day on Serious Eats, and to the extent that we succeed, it's largely because of the warm embrace we receive from the ever-growing community of serious eaters all over the world. But this being a diet post, I hope you allow me to indulge in the age-old practice of New Year's resolutions. They are a cliche—I know that. But nonetheless I am going to lay mine on you. (Plus, I know you are probably thinking...
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All right, all right, serious eaters. I am going to dispense with the usual blow-by-blow, bite-by-bite, food-by-food description of all the temptations I've been confronted by this holiday season, because let's face it, you've already heard most of it. And frankly, I'm sure all of you are tempted by the same kinds of things this holiday season. Everyone is confronted by too many cookies, too much chocolate, too many baked goods of every stripe imaginable, too many mini quiches, too many spiced nuts, too much eggnog, too many pigs in a blanket, and too many seriously delicious things in general. In fact, I'd like you to tell me what you have had the hardest time resisting this holiday season...
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"There were so many damn tasty cookies on that table that for me it was the serious dieter equivalent of Improvised Explosive Diet Devices (IEDDs)." The IEDDs at the Cookie Swap. [Photograph: SE Flickr pool] Since I weigh in on Fridays I usually plan my eating week so that Thursdays are given over to kelp, miso, and vegetables. Hey, I'm no dummy. I don't want to embarrass myself when I jump on Thinner the next morning. I'm just not that into public humiliation. But this past holiday week I must admit,things got away from me scheduling-wise. Wednesday Carey put on the SENY chocolate chip cookie finals. The cookies with the 11 highest scores in the preliminary rounds were gathered on...
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"I feel like Obama describing the effects of the stimulus package." Do serious eaters have to gain weight during the holiday season? Or can I find a way to navigate through these most treacherous of diet waters? As I've chronicled before, even non-holiday weeks present numerous challenges at Serious Eats World HQ, but consider what I've been confronted with the past few days: Ridiculously good and cute chocolate mice from Larry Burdick Chocolates are three feet from me as I type. And amazing crunchy vanilla crystallized almonds from Antoine Amrani Chocolates. And bacon butter crunch from Vosges. Fair? Probably not, but that's how we roll. Erin staged a butter tasting. Six kinds of butter on pieces of baguette. I waved...
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Thanksgiving leftovers, a latke and brisket-filled Chanukah party, a chocolate chip cookie tasting, and last night's ten-course meal—help! Thanksgiving leftovers by themselves are a buttery, greasy, slippery slope when it comes to serious dieting. Nothing good can come of availing yourself of the copious amounts of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and worst of all, pie. But then in my case, I add diet insult to injury by throwing in another early Chanukah party's worth of fattening leftovers into the mix. Needless to say, it wasn't a pretty week. Let me explain. We had my wife's family over on Thanksgiving at 2 p.m., which means we're digging into leftovers by Thursday night. But because I was weighing in on Friday...
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