Posted by Ed Levine, July 18, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Here's my dilemma. I have two completely conflicting impulses. I want to taste every delicious thing in this world, and I also want to keep control of my weight so that I can live to see my son grow old and our future grandchildren grow up. Can I succeed in doing both? Sometimes, when I'm feeling good and in control, I think the answer is yes. At other times, when there is so much food coming into Serious Eats world headquarters and when I feel the need to food-explore every morning, diet success seems like an impossible dream. This past week was an impossible dream week, and from a dieting-living perspective, it might have been saved by the other serious eaters.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 4, 2008 at 8:30 AM
I've been up on the Cape all this week and yes, I brought my scale (right). But having the scale with me only begs the question of how often I should weigh myself no matter where I am.
I brought the scale to hold myself accountable for any forays into vacation gluttony I might embark on, but the fact of the matter is that this question of how often I should be getting on the scale has been weighing on me for months.
I know there is no right answer to this almost cosmic question. I last attended a Weight Watchers' meeting 20 years ago, so I don't know where those eminently sensible folks are on this issue now. Other people advocate trying on the same pair of pants or shorts every week to see how snugly they fit, instead of weighing in. Still others say once a week, a third camp advocates weighing yourself every day at the same time.
Here's where I come down on this issue right now (after the jump). Please, serious eaters, let me know if it makes any sense at all.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 27, 2008 at 8:45 AM
Is peanut butter the devil to a serious dieter—or an angel? To eat peanut butter or not to eat peanut butter? That is the question. I love peanut butter. Who doesn't? But does peanut butter love me and my diet back? My wife says no, that peanut butter is no serious dieter's friend. "The peanut butter thing is a problem, Ed," she says. "Nothing good comes out of having a jar of peanut butter in this house."
The first five months of watching my weight I swore off peanut butter, mostly because I find it incredibly difficult to exert any self-control when a full jar of peanut butter is nearby. Jars of Cream-Nut peanut butter (made by Koeze & Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan) with its intensely peanutty, just salty and sweet enough taste, sing a most seductive siren song.
But can I resist its undeniable charms, or must I resort to complete peanut butter abstinence? Must I start attending Peanut Butter Lovers Anonymous meetings? "Hello, my name is Ed. I'm a peanutbutterholic."
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 20, 2008 at 8:30 AM
After months of experimentation I have finally come up with my perfect diet breakfast. I wish what I am about to tell you would be of more comfort to those of you who strive to eat a reasonably healthy diet, but it most assuredly isn't. In fact, what I'm about to tell you may be horrifying. Because I haven't settled on Greek yogurt or granola or toast made from whole-grain bread as my ideal diet breakfast, though I have grown to appreciate each of those foods in recent months. In fact I am using all three of the above-mentioned items in my diet breakfast rotation, along with a toasted bialy with the lightest schmear of whipped cream cheese.
But for this past week at least, my ideal breakfast turns out to be a 0.8-ounce bag of Kettle Bakes potato chips, a 20-ounce bottle of Diet Coke, and a banana. I find it has everything I'm looking for in a breakfast.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 13, 2008 at 9:25 AM
Speaking of diets, Japan is taking the measuring tape to its citizenry to make sure the populace does not get fat—or, as they call it there, metabo. Companies and local governments are required to add the statistic to employees' annual checkups.
To reach its goals of shrinking the overweight population by 10 percent over the next four years and 25 percent over the next seven years, the government will impose financial penalties on companies and local governments that fail to meet specific targets. The country’s Ministry of Health argues that the campaign will keep the spread of diseases like diabetes and strokes in check.
A handy graph included with this story in the New York Times shows that average Japanese waistlines are 32.8 inches for men and 28 for women; U.S. waistline averages are 39 for men and 36.5 for women.
Posted by Ed Levine, June 13, 2008 at 8:30 AM
"Eight ounces of steak? An amuse bouche in my eyes."
Until very recently I was obsessed with the bigger-is-better school of eating. I would always look for what I thought would be the biggest appetizer, the biggest main course, and the biggest dessert. Half a rack of ribs? Not enough. A four-ounce burger? Child's play—or at the very least a child's portion. Half portions of pasta were for wusses. Eight ounces of steak? An amuse bouche in my eyes.
Now that I'm trying to change the way I eat and live, I'm really trying to cut down on my portion size. It's easier to do this at home, and much more difficult to do so at restaurants, where many chefs and restaurateurs want to impress you with quantity instead of quality because they want to be seen as generously spirited and magnanimous. There are a few chefs, however, who are taking a gutsy approach to portion size.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 6, 2008 at 8:45 AM
Don't get me wrong, I love reviewing restaurants. It's a dream job, really, but for someone like me, who loves food but puts on weight easily, it can pose all sorts of problems. Just tasting something and pushing it away because there's so much other food coming is incredibly difficult to do, especially if that something is seriously delicious.
How am I going to write a restaurant review every week and continue to watch my weight? That's the zillion dollar question.
Now that I've been doing it for a month I can see that this is not going to be easy, serious eaters.
These are the tactics I have been employing:
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 10, 2008 at 9:45 AM
I'm hitting the road this Sunday for almost a week, and the signs of caloric danger are everywhere. First, I'm headed to Dallas to take in the Pillsbury Bake-Off. One hundred finalists vying for the $1,000,000 first prize are baking their best stuff in portable kitchens. I'm not judging, but I'm sure I will get to taste lots of elaborately constructed creative desserts using an array of everyday products.
But the bake-off is not what I'm most worried about. I'm much more worried about all the food I want to taste in Dallas, a city I have never been to before. To make matters worse (or better, depending on your vantage point), I am very likely to meet up with my friend Robb Walsh, restaurant critic for the Houston Press, who has spent the last 20 years eating his way through Texas one perfect bite at a time. Robb is a splendid fellow and a fine writer, but as far as I'm concerned, he's trouble with a capital T.
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Posted by Lia Bulaong, May 1, 2007 at 8:45 AM
According to both the British Culinary Federation and the Master Chefs of Britain, chefs in the UK are becoming thinner—there's apparently been a 75 percent drop in chef obesity over the past 20 years!
Gordon Ramsay thinks he knows why: "Running a kitchen is like running a marathon," he says. "It demands stamina and the ability to pace yourself. Being on your feet for 18 hours a day requires a level of fitness and strength that doesn't work well with excess weight. Most chefs rarely sit down for a square meal: you don't want to start service weighed down by a heavy dinner." Fat or skinny, I don't really care—just make me something delicious to eat! (Oh, and please pass the lardo...) [via The Food Section]
