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From Serious Eats

Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 39: Fighting Through the Plateau Blues

Hang in there, Ed. You can do it!!! Salt is no friend to weight loss, and ramen + porky meats tend to have lots of it. More bok choy love!

From Talk

Help with a diet

I was on high doses of Prednisone for about 5 months last year and created a diet that worked for me - obviously, you should talk with your doctor first and everyone's situation is different. I am lucky that I am small to begin with. However, I did a lot of research to create this diet and did not gain any weight or get the facial swelling that is common. Even my doctors were very surprised...I actually lost a few pounds!! I was very strict about it, and it worked for me, but it might be difficult for some.

The biggest thing I did was to avoid white foods with the exception of cheese. I can tell you I did not have even one piece of bread, not one french fry. That also means steering clear of sugar and salt. It's pretty hard, but I found that ultimately it changed my eating habits for the better! If you go to health food stores and look for gluten free products, you can find lots of yummy crackers that don't have all that processed flour. For breakfast every day I had Arrowhead Mills Organic Wheat Free 7 Grain Hot Cereal. On its own, it's not so good - but I added dried blueberries and almonds and it really filled me up. Sometimes I also made poached eggs with tarragon, olive oil, and goat cheese served over Kavli crisps and it is one of my favorite things to eat! I also ate a lot of yogurt (unsweetened) with fresh fruit. No granola.

Surprisingly, I actually ate a lot of cheese (steroids deplete calcium, as I'm sure you know) and had no issues with weight gain. For my other meals, I stuck with lots of proteins and veggies (lots of chicken and fish, grilled vegetables, sauteed spinach, that sort of thing). I also ate a lot of sushi (no soy sauce). If I wanted sweets I would have ginger slices or sometimes dried figs with goat cheese. I also never, ever drink soda anyway, so as others have mentioned, lots of water is always a good thing.

As a snack, I always kept (and still do) a stash of almonds with me. I find that when I need a snack, it gives the crunch I need and fills me up.
I also read a book "Coping with Prednisone" as part of my research - it has some recipes - but honestly the book mostly scared me so I'm not so sure I would recommend reading it beyond the food part.

One last thing. I also regularly started going to acupuncture. I'm not sure if that was a factor in my weight but it certainly helped with my overall well being, in my opinion.
I hope this info is helpful. Good luck!

From Serious Eats

My Bit Part as an Extra in 'Julie and Julia'

When Ed Met the Movies!
I love it. What a fun story, Ed. Can't wait to see you on the big screen!

From Serious Eats

A Giant Win for the Giants, a Small Win for Me

I made an enormously popular Oreo truffle dessert from a recipe that one of your readers had posted awhile ago.
But of course, I had to eat it with a side of humble pie being from New England and all.

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From Serious Eats

Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 39: Fighting Through the Plateau Blues

Hang in there, Ed. You can do it!!! Salt is no friend to weight loss, and ramen + porky meats tend to have lots of it. More bok choy love!

From Talk

Help with a diet

I was on high doses of Prednisone for about 5 months last year and created a diet that worked for me - obviously, you should talk with your doctor first and everyone's situation is different. I am lucky that I am small to begin with. However, I did a lot of research to create this diet and did not gain any weight or get the facial swelling that is common. Even my doctors were very surprised...I actually lost a few pounds!! I was very strict about it, and it worked for me, but it might be difficult for some.

The biggest thing I did was to avoid white foods with the exception of cheese. I can tell you I did not have even one piece of bread, not one french fry. That also means steering clear of sugar and salt. It's pretty hard, but I found that ultimately it changed my eating habits for the better! If you go to health food stores and look for gluten free products, you can find lots of yummy crackers that don't have all that processed flour. For breakfast every day I had Arrowhead Mills Organic Wheat Free 7 Grain Hot Cereal. On its own, it's not so good - but I added dried blueberries and almonds and it really filled me up. Sometimes I also made poached eggs with tarragon, olive oil, and goat cheese served over Kavli crisps and it is one of my favorite things to eat! I also ate a lot of yogurt (unsweetened) with fresh fruit. No granola.

Surprisingly, I actually ate a lot of cheese (steroids deplete calcium, as I'm sure you know) and had no issues with weight gain. For my other meals, I stuck with lots of proteins and veggies (lots of chicken and fish, grilled vegetables, sauteed spinach, that sort of thing). I also ate a lot of sushi (no soy sauce). If I wanted sweets I would have ginger slices or sometimes dried figs with goat cheese. I also never, ever drink soda anyway, so as others have mentioned, lots of water is always a good thing.

As a snack, I always kept (and still do) a stash of almonds with me. I find that when I need a snack, it gives the crunch I need and fills me up.
I also read a book "Coping with Prednisone" as part of my research - it has some recipes - but honestly the book mostly scared me so I'm not so sure I would recommend reading it beyond the food part.

One last thing. I also regularly started going to acupuncture. I'm not sure if that was a factor in my weight but it certainly helped with my overall well being, in my opinion.
I hope this info is helpful. Good luck!

From Serious Eats

My Bit Part as an Extra in 'Julie and Julia'

When Ed Met the Movies!
I love it. What a fun story, Ed. Can't wait to see you on the big screen!

From Serious Eats

A Giant Win for the Giants, a Small Win for Me

I made an enormously popular Oreo truffle dessert from a recipe that one of your readers had posted awhile ago.
But of course, I had to eat it with a side of humble pie being from New England and all.

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

Though I'm protective of my New England roots, I can't argue that New York has the edge...by far. But, on the side of Boston, I'm glad you had the good sense to include Kelly's Roast Beef. If you're adding a seafood category, B&G Oysters is heavenly, and, chain restaurant or not, the chowder at Legal Seafoods still rocks!

From Serious Eats

Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 39: Fighting Through the Plateau Blues

Don't get discouraged, Ed, I don't think a week is really a plateau. Keep it up, you're doing great! The extra exercise idea, though, is a good one. Do you have a pedometer?

From Serious Eats

Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 39: Fighting Through the Plateau Blues

I too am staring down a plateau. I know that the only realistic way to work through it is to up my exercise level (I'm hovering around 1500-1700 calories a day and don't really want to eat fewer than that). So, I'm probably going to up my exercise to 4x a week from 3. Good luck!

From Serious Eats

Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 39: Fighting Through the Plateau Blues

I agree, plateaus suck. I was relieved when even on Biggest Loser, where contestants devote their entire waking life to losing weight through extreme amounts of exercise and diet, they, too, plateau. A lot of people give up at this point. Put your head down and bull on through, Ed! =)

From Serious Eats

My Bit Part as an Extra in 'Julie and Julia'

How fun was that?! I was in Paris June 3-8 and happened upon a side street with tight security. YES! Meryl Streep was on the set, and all I could see were black screens with a lot of crew members hanging around. If only I had known the dress code, perhaps I could have been an extra, too. Maybe next time.

From Serious Eats

My Bit Part as an Extra in 'Julie and Julia'

I think the Julie Julia book was not based on My Life in France, wasn't it based on Julie's project to cook each recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking?

From Serious Eats

My Bit Part as an Extra in 'Julie and Julia'

I just finished her Bad about My Neck book. I'm sure I could be an extra in that one! If only I had some pull....other than on the wattle, I mean!

#47, in a Sherlock Holmes coat, hm? Anyone else out there hearing the Maxwell Smart voiceover? "Salsa, I was shopping for salsa. Would you believe...?"

Ed, I think your new nom de plume should be Agent 47, after all being an extra is sort of like subterfuge, non?

Jacqueline Church
aka The Leather District Gourmet

From Serious Eats

My Bit Part as an Extra in 'Julie and Julia'

First Thomas Keller consults on Ratatouille, now this! Excellent!

Maybe the SE crowd knows the answer to this... Some time back, Joan Cusack was slated to portray beloved Julia Child in a movie but nothing ever came of it... Anyone know the movie or why nothing happened?

From Serious Eats

My Bit Part as an Extra in 'Julie and Julia'

your last paragraph made my eyes well up with tears
good for you, ed
a really nice experience all around
couldn't have happened to a seemingly nicer guy

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

I am a New Yorker who has been living in Boston for some 25 years. New York has always been a world-class food town. Who could really argue. When I was growing up in New York in mid-20th century, New York was the capital of the world, and where food was concerned there were some truly great things I simply took for granted.

Many of these are as unobtainable now in New York as they are elsewhere. Is New York pastrami still great at Katz's? - yes but it's not like it used to be, and it's made in Albany. Is New York cheesecake wonderful? - not like it used to be when Leonard's of 2nd Avenue was still supplying the best to restaurants and hotels so anonymously. Today you can barely find any mention of the place or its extraordinary product anywhere on the web. You'll notice my name here: "noshstalgic" - I've been blogging about this stuff for a while now at noshstalgia.blogspot.com.

After a while, ranting into the blogosphere didn't seem a sufficient response. So I began an effort at culinary archeology to recreate the things I so missed. And even though I still love many of New York's signature items, I am here to make a claim. The best pastrami in the land is now hand-made in Boston, MA - to my specifications. My recent blog postings at Noshstalgia extolled the virtues of pastrami as the ideal Super Bowl food. Not nachos, not chicken wings. Quoting now:
"Nothing else so distills the essentials of football sustenance - Beef, Spice, Warmth, Smoke, and Beer Affinity."

So - confining ourselves to the dual questions of pastrami as football food - and as quintessential New York food - who's wrong here - Ed or Sheryl?
Both...
Sheryl because pastrami is perfect for football.
And Ed because the best is actually to be found here in Boston. If you don't believe me, (and please pardon the commercial plug) stop on by to Savenor's or John Dewar's (Boston's two premier meat purveyors) and ask for some of Boston's Deli Arts brand pastrami. Take it home, steam it up as directed, and slice it down. It's like a time machine. You'll smile.

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

I am a New Yorker who has been living in Boston for some 25 years. New York has always been a world-class food town. Who could really argue. When I was growing up in New York in mid-20th century, New York was the capital of the world, and where food was concerned there were some truly great things I simply took for granted.

Many of these are as unobtainable now in New York as they are elsewhere. Is New York pastrami still great at Katz's? - yes but it's not like it used to be, and it's made in Albany. Is New York cheesecake wonderful? - not like it used to be when Leonard's of 2nd Avenue was still supplying the best to restaurants and hotels so anonymously. Today you can barely find any mention of the place or its extraordinary product anywhere on the web. You'll notice my name here: "noshstalgic" - I've been blogging about this stuff for a while now at noshstalgia.blogspot.com.

After a while, ranting into the blogosphere didn't seem a sufficient response. So I began an effort at culinary archeology to recreate the things I so missed. And even though I still love many of New York's signature items, I am here to make a claim. The best pastrami in the land is now hand-made in Boston, MA - to my specifications. My recent blog postings at Noshstalgia extolled the virtues of pastrami as the ideal Super Bowl food. Not nachos, not chicken wings. Quoting now:
"Nothing else so distills the essentials of football sustenance - Beef, Spice, Warmth, Smoke, and Beer Affinity."

So who's wrong here - Ed or Sheryl?
Both...
Sheryl because pastrami is perfect for football.
And Ed because the best is actually to be found here in Boston. If you don't believe me, (and please pardon the commercial plug) stop on by to Savenor's or John Dewar's (Boston's two premier meat purveyors) and ask for some of Boston's best - Deli Arts brand pastrami. Take it home, steam it up. It's like a time machine. You'll smile.

From Serious Eats

A Giant Win for the Giants, a Small Win for Me

I also made white truffle popcorn! It's been a while since I COULD NOT stop eating something.

From Serious Eats

A Giant Win for the Giants, a Small Win for Me

i don't have a tv and don't follow football, but i knew the giants had won because of all of the joyous screaming in my apartment building.

btw it was really easy to get a table at lupa yesterday!

From Serious Eats

A Giant Win for the Giants, a Small Win for Me

Our house was certainly rockin'. First with the best burgers I've ever made, and then the G-Men, nuf said.

Check it out: The Teacher Learns to Cook

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

I'm a NJ/NY person who went to school in Boston for 2 years, and I love the city as well as NY.

But aren't we being a bit unfair to B-town, judging it on a NYC food group basis? Things might stack up differently, with say, who has the best lobster, or even linguini with clam sauce from the North End? Plus, does New Haven count in the New England pizza sweepstakes--if so, Pepe's might throw a wrench in the voting...plus, what about lobster rolls?

Ice cream seems really unfair, too, given that eating ice cream on a Boston street in the middle of winter seems more like a health hazard than a treat!

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

papa ginos! a pizza chain that is TOTALLY awesome. papa ginos is the best boston pizza, ok- it's not gourmet but it tastes GREAT. I also like sweet tomatoes and the upper crust...for more upscale pizza moods.

ice cream: toscaninis is my favorite, but i also like christina's quite a bit. herrell's is ok. not a huge fan of emack.

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

As a Red Sox, and Patriots fan, currently living in NYC, I spent 7 wonderful years in Boston, after growing up in Maine. You missed two great Boston Institutions for food. Emack & Bolio's for great Ice Cream, and the Union Oyster House for some of the best Seafood in New England! I wish I could be at the U.O.H. for the Super Bowl, downing multiple plates of their great oysters!!! New York may have pizza, but Boston has the whole Italian North End, which FAR surpasses what is left of NYC's "VERY" Little Italy. I can't even scratch the surface here of what Boston has to offer, not only for the football fan, but for everyone's taste for the great food Boston has to offer! Boston Wins!!!

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

I was also going to bring up The Upper Crust. A branch just opened down the street from me. Awesome pizza. We eat there or get delivery at least once a week.

Also, for ice cream, in the town I'm in (about 10 miles outside Boston) we have Lizzy's. Fabulous ice cream. Just fabulous.

If we get into the hot dog discussion, how much will just plain "sausage" rolls get into it? Because if they don't count in that discussion, then they need to be considered in the sandwich discussion. The first thing my boyfriend and I did when we got back from New York last May was hit up a sausage vendor in Fanueil Hall. Not only were we hungry, but we needed to counter the memory of a particularly craptastic "hot dog" we'd been served from a cart near Madison Square Garden late night on our way back to our hotel. Overpriced and underwhelming. All hail The Sausage Guy!

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

Herrell's is nasty. I was there once and was mobbed by flys. For pizza Boston has a home grown chain called Upper Crust. Solid pseudo-Neopolitan pies w/ a mighty good crushed tomato 'sauce.' Deffinatly my favorite pizza chain.
But seriously, how can you compare NY to anything. Boston's population is a tiny fraction. Maybe Boston to Philly, or Cleveland to Cincinati or whatever. NY is singular in the country and in a very small group world wide.
Food aside, 'The Hub' certainly has a sports edge.

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

Isn't it the New England Patriots? I think you have to include the entire region this team represents. You made the exception for Ice Cream, so the floodgates are open.

No discussion of pizza in New England should forget Al Forno.

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

Come on man. Boston is over 3 hours by car from Burlington, VT. But as a former resident of Boston, current resident of NYC (and actually raised in Burlington) I will give Boston the edge on Ice Cream. There is good ice cream to be had in NYC, but nothing has ever blown my mind like the burnt sugar ice cream at christinas in Inman Square.

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

mdp, I'll wait for the bbq thread to officially open, but methinks you are wrong about NY's bbq offerings...

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

I'm interested in the bbq standoff -- it's sort of like a Jets - Dolphins game. Also, for sandwiches, don't forget Darwin's in Cambridge, just a great shop for 20% less than your neighborhood Pax Gourmet.

From Serious Eats

Boston vs. New York Food Super Bowl: Breaking It Down Food by Food

As a Die-Hard Patriot fan, but a huge fan of NY Eats. I have to throw my 2 cents in here. 1st Hands down The Patriots have this game by at least 10 points. 19-0 just deal with it.

In terms of Restaurants there is no comparison NY stomps Boston like a bug.
When you get down to individual items though it gets a little tighter.
Sandwiches - NY for Deli you just cant find anything that even resembles a good Pastrami or Corned Beef Sandwich in Boston. And the sandwiches at places like Alidoro and 'ino just cant be found in Boston.

Ice Cream - I know we love Ice Cream up here and I think Christiana's is best.. but I have never had anything as good as the gelato at Otto or Grom and I love the Taro Ice Cream at Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.

Pizza - Here is the one place I find NY to be a bit over-rated. Totonos , Johns on Bleeker, Una Pizza Napoletana, DiFara are all great but I never felt they were that much better than a great Pizza at Reginas or as flavorful as Santarpios. Its not that Boston Pizza is so much better I just find that it is just as good and sometimes surpasses the Pizza Ive had in NY. Pizza is the one thing in NY that every time I go out of the way for its never as good as I had hoped.....always good but never that much better than at home.

Dont even get into Hot Dogs because that is not even a discussion worth having. NY hands down.

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