The Fat Thing Revisited for the Last Time. . .Again.



This is a re-working of a post I wrote a couple of years ago, on my last cycle of dieting. In the time since, I maintained the weight loss for a good long time, at least nine months. Weight gain crept up a little after that, but not much. Since I'd gotten well below the "overweight" line, I really did have some wiggle-room built in.

Though I got interrupted a few times, I pretty much kept to Atkins, and continued to exercise several times a week.  A year after losing over 30 pounds, I was still down over 20. Not great, but not fat. Over the next eight months or so, I wandered up another five, and that put me right at the edge of normal/overweight. From September of last year to now, I've had a series of de-railing events from the flu, to Thanksgiving, to a stomach ailment, to vacations to Oregon and Iowa, and of course Christmas and New Year's. Well, that did it. After more than two years, I'm right back at square one. And that means 180-182ish (my scale is kind of flaky). And since I'm back at square one, here's that original post, which was written in May of 2011, a false-start of sorts. Though it began a period of very regular exercise, I didn't couple it with a diet, and so my real weight loss didn't begin until September of that year. From May, 2011, with updates:

In a fair and just world, this would be my "before" and "after"
pictures. Though I think I do look better than Ryan
Reynolds in a fat suit. Not saying I do, I just think I do.

Have you ever met someone who is so good looking, they're almost intimidating? I'm not talking about sexual attraction (though I wouldn't rule it out), I just mean that they're so attractive, it's inescapable. There was a client who comes into our office from time to time who meets that description. He's dark haired, blue eyed, and has an intense gaze. He has the look of a superhero, like Superman or Captain Marvel. He's got this reputation of a real womanizer, and I'm really not surprised about that. The first couple of times I saw him, in addition to taking all that in, I did notice that he was carrying 15-20 pounds around the middle that he could stand to lose. But the way he looked, he really pulled it off.

The next few times I saw him, I thought he probably should lay off the pizza and beer, because his 15-20 pounds had grown up to a good 30 or so. And the last time I saw him, he was pushing 45-50 more than he should. Only now, he's been carrying extra weight long enough, his hands and face are getting plump, along with the belly. Suddenly, he's not so intimidating anymore. Now, he's just starting to look like the rest of us! And I'm beginning to realize that if I could stand to lose 30 pounds, my estimates of him and others just might be low-balled quite a bit.

At the age of 47, I find that without a great deal of effort, I quickly and easily go down the same road. I've gotten an unfortunate blend of genes from my family: skinny genes and weight gain genes. If that seems like a contradiction, it's really not. I grew up a bean pole, literally able to eat as much and as often as I wanted, and never gained an an ounce. As I've segued from decade to decade, the metabolism has slowed down, and my "idle" weight has increased incrementally. I'm still a beanpole, with skinny arms, skinny legs, small chest and shoulders. But I've got the beans now too, with fat collecting around the stomach, butt and face. If I'm not dieting and exercising regularly, I get fat in those areas, and quickly.

At 20, my idle weight was 140. At 30, it was up to 150. At 40, It could be from 160-170, and now at 47? 180-and up. Seriously. I don't have to eat a lot, I just have to eat normally and not exercise, and boom, tubbo. And like the good looking guy I mentioned, if I stay fat long enough, my hands get fat enough to change ring sizes, and my face--where the weight goes first, and leaves last--gets rounder, and rounder. My friends and family (except for my brutally honest mother) always say, "you're not fat," or "you don't need to diet." But I know better.
Probably not for the last time (but who really knows), I'm hitting the Atkins Diet and the exercise again. Last time, I'd tipped the scales at about 185 (I didn't really want to know), with only a couple of pairs of pants fitting. For a guy who wore a 28" waist in college, growing out of 34"s is just embarrassing. So, I'm back to the gym, and/or walking 4 miles, and as in the past, I'll be doing that 5-7 days per week. I'm back on the low-carb diet, being careful to stay in the 20-grams-of-carbs range, and also trying not to do the low-carb treats, or overdo portion sizes. I've got a ways to go, but I'm already down a few pounds, and I just really started again on Thursday. It comes off a lot more slowly than it goes on, as everyone knows.  I doubt I'll ever get down to 140 pounds again without a horrifying disease, but I will get down to less than clinically overweight, which for me is about 165. And though I'll never be so good looking that I'm intimidating, I'm kind of doubting that the guy in my example will again, either!

Here's hoping that it works as it has in the past, and that I can increase the time I keep it off, so that I don't have to start over again for quite some time. If you are starting a similar plan, I'm pulling for you! I'll publish updates, and will be republishing a bunch of Atkins recipes in the next few weeks, along with any new ones I discover or invent. Here's to the un-fattening!

Atkins Diet/Low Carb Recipe: Cajun Faux Rice

Click to embiggen.

If you are on a low-carb diet, you know that you get carb cravings. Specific ones too, like not just rice, but fried rice. Well, if you haven't tried using cauliflower as a rice substitute yet, get cracking! Here are two recipes I've posted in the past, one for beef fried rice, and one for curry rice.

The last time I did the curry dish, I got it in my head that the next time I do this, I'm going to figure out how to do a Cajun rice dish out of cauliflower, something like red beans & rice (without the beans). How hard could it be? Well, depending upon your aptitude and desire to really cook, it's not too bad. It's not fast, and it's a bit messy. But it is really, really good! This is my first try, very loosly based upon a couple of different recipes I found online for different Cajun rice recipes, and my own intuition.

One medium-large head of cauliflower
One medium onion
One red bell pepper
One green bell pepper
Two tablespoons diced garlic (I used prepared from a jar)
Liberal splash of olive oil
One pound of low-carb sausage, browned ground beef, or other meat*
Two Bay Leaves
1/2 tp Cayenne Pepper, 1 tp Thyme, 1/4 tp Sage, 1 tp Cajun Seasoning
1/2-can Chicken Broth

Chop the onion, bell pepper and garlic (if it is not prepared), as well as the meat you are using (*Casual Gourmet Chicken Sausage pre-cooked Roasted Red Pepper & Spinach is what I used). In a large skillet, sauté meat, onion, bell peppers and garlic, med-high heat, duration: 15 minutes more or less. (I sprinkled some chili powder & cajun seasoning over entire mixture before sautéing, on a whim).

While the skillet is going, prepare your cauliflower. Make it rice-like in your preferred way (this is the messy part), whether that is chopping, a food processor, or a cheese grater.

Add spices and bay leaves to the skillet. Add 1/2-can Chicken Broth (otherwise, it's a bit dry). Pour "rice" into skillet, stir, cover, keep heat med-high. Duration: About 20-25 minutes, let your intuition be your guide. Stir occasionally, to make sure all the spices and ingredients get thoroughly mixed, and that the "rice" gets evenly cooked. If it's too soupy to your taste, uncover and simmer for a while.

Carb Count: Sausage: 5 g (1 per link), Cauliflower: 20ish, entire batch, Peppers: 8ish for both, Onion: 6ish. Entire skillet-full of food: 29 grams. Serves at least 8 servings, so a generous serving size is about 4 g of carbohydrates, max! 

In a word: it's delicious. The consistency of the rice won't fool anyone, and I wonder if the cauliflower should be cooked "dry" and added to the rest later in the process. In my previous "rice" dishes, there was no broth, but this dish seems to require it. But what this dish does, is satisfy a craving. There is virtually no trade-off, you don't feel deprived at all that it isn't the real thing. And you don't have to like cauliflower, either, you'd never know that's what it's made of unless you were told.

Atkins Diet Idea: Faux Potatoes for Breakfast!

If you've ever tried the Atkins Diet, you know that boredom and cravings are the biggest reasons for falling off of it. In fact, one of the reasons that Atkins doesn't rank higher is that there is big weight loss, then people stop the diet and get fat again. Maintenance is the issue, and I've found some workarounds for that.

I like my cheese browned to crunchy goodness, so
I use the convection fan on mine. You don't have to.

Chief in importance for me are scheduled "diet breaks." Those are interludes in the diet, of a pre-set duration. When I've plateaued, but still wanted to lose more, I'll schedule a cheat day. Maybe a 2-day cheat, with the certainty that I'd begin the induction phase of Atkins again the following day. Typically, at worst you gain a pound or two, and you kick-start the diet, and start losing again. For my Christmas vacation, The Other Half and I actually took a rare cheat week, from Christmas Eve to the following week. The damage for me? Four or five pounds, which I've lost in the next eight days!

So, that is one way to keep on track, and even goose the diet into helping you lose weight.  Another is to find recipes that are not only on the diet, but delicious. I've presented several here on the blog, and you can find ideas and links to ideas here. Included there, you will find a link for my recipe for Cheesy Baked Faux Potato Casserole. It is made from cauliflower, but even a cauliflower hater will like it. I know this, because I taste tested it on a cauliflower hater (Hi, Les!). 

But, even though I've posted this recipe several times, I'm doing so again for a reason. See, on Atkins, one of the easiest meals is breakfast. Eggs--even omelets made with most common ingredients--are completely on the menu. Bacon, sausage, bacon, ham, bacon, steak and bacon are all on the menu! So that part is easy. But if you're like me, you like some carbs with breakfast too. Toast can be handled with this recipe for flaxseed focaccia bread, which isn't delicious, but is also inoffensive (which you can't say about many other bread substitutes). I've dressed up the recipe with garlic powder and cheese to make it tastier, and it makes a fine yolk-scooping substance! But you know what else is missing? Potatoes. Potatoes, rice and bread are all verboten on a low-carb diet, and I love them all. Bread I've covered. Rice is also taken care of in that link I gave you above, but here it is again.

Well, as it turns out, my Cheesy Baked Faux Potato Casserole? It makes a hell of an addition to breakfast. When we make it (and we're rarely without it), whether in single or double batch, there will always be leftovers in the fridge. Take a scoop of that and warm it up with your bacon and eggs, and you'll swear you're eating potatoes, especially from leftovers, when all the flavors have had time to settle. With this tip, and those linked above, I hope I've helped you stick to the low-carb diet. And I'm always looking for more ideas, so please let me know if you've got more! Thanks for reading.

BAKED CHEESY MASHED FAUXTATOES

1 large head of cauliflower
4 oz. cream cheese
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2-cup sour cream (or chip dip of our choice!)
1/4-cup grated Parmesan (or mozzarella, or other cheese)
Bacon bits (real ones!)
Chopped green onion, chives or sauteed white onions (to taste)
1 cup grated cheddar
Salt and pepper to taste (optional)
Garlic (optional)
Dollop heavy whipping cream (optional) 

(Extra butter, cream cheese, sour cream, whipping cream, Parmesan and cheddar cheeses, and bacon will only make this better. Use your own discretion.)

Steam cauliflower until it is soft and mushy. Mash it. Put butter and cream cheese into mixing bowl. Put hot mashed cauliflower in bowl to melt the butter and cream cheese. Put in all other ingredients except for cheddar (and save a little bacon for later), and stir it all up. Put the mixture into an 8" x 8" baking pan. Sprinkle shredded cheddar on top, along with some of the bacon. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

I found this at (of all places) a body building site. But who cares, it's great!

Source: forum.bodybuilding.com

Another Low Carb Treat: Cheesecake!

One of my favorite desserts has always been cheesecake. I've even requested it more than once as my birthday cake. Anyway, I've already explained several times that I'm on a modified Atkins diet, and am experimenting with recipes to make it more tolerable. And "tolerable" means not compromising taste, or at least, not by much.

So, I started thinking about desserts, and it occurred to me that cream cheese is low carb. And, that it's cheesecake's main ingredient. There had to be a recipe for it with low carb ingredients. And how hard could a faux graham cracker crust be?

As it turns out, both were doable, and there are many to choose from online. Here is the recipe I used for the crust:

"GRAHAM CRACKER" PIE CRUST

• 3 ounces almond flour, 3/4 cup
• 3 tablespoons flax meal
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup granular Splenda
• (I added a dollop of vanilla--Ed.)

Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Pour butter and vanilla over the dry ingredients. Mix well and spread in a 9" pie plate or springform pan. Bake at 375º about 10-12 minutes until set and lightly browned. Cool, then fill the pie.

Per 1/8 Recipe: 153 Calories; 15g Fat; 3g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs; Per 1/12 Recipe: 102 Calories; 10g Fat; 2g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

Source: Genaw

CHEESECAKE FILLING:

• 3 packages (1 and 1/2 lbs) cream cheese (room temperature)*
• 4 eggs (preferably room temperature)
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 Tablespoon) vanilla
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon (1/2 Tablespoon) lemon juice (we used lime--Ed.)
• 1 and 1/3 cups sugar equivalent (Splenda) artificial sweetener 
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Heat oven to 400 F

Put (room temperature) cream cheese in mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy. Add other ingredients, scraping the bowl and beaters each time (this is very important), fully incorporating each ingredient. When all ingredients are combined, scrape one more time, beat one more minute, and pour mixture into pan over crust.

 Put the cheesecake on a sheet pan in case of drippage. After putting the cheesecake in the oven at 400 F, turn the oven down to 200 F. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, checking often after an hour. When the cake is firm to touch but slightly soft in the center, or the center reaches 155 F, remove from oven.

Makes 16 servings.

Nutritional Information: Each serving has 2 grams effective carbohydrate plus 1 gram fiber, 6 grams protein, and 221 calories.

Source: About.com

Okay, so the cheescake in the photo is mine. It turned out spectacularly well, with the following caveats: I didn't get my cream cheese "room temperature" enough, so the batter was a bit gloppy. The crust--while incredibly delicious--is very thin in a 9" pan.  Next time, I'm going to use a smaller springform pan, and increase the crust recipe. That will make the cheesecake smaller in diameter, but thicker than my relatively flat pie. We didn't add any toppings. This sucker is calorie-laden enough as it is. But it was truly delicious. You could serve it at a party, and nobody--nobody--would have any idea it was "low carb." No way.

*I bought the 3 lb. block of Philadelphia cream cheese at Sam's Club, and cut it in half. It's enough for two cheesecakes. 

Low Carb Recipe: Pizza!

As I've said several times here, I'm on the Atkins Diet (well, a slight variation), and it's working very well. Even with a four-day "cheat" window for my trip home for Thanksgiving, the low-carb diet, along with regular exercise has led to a 30-pound weight loss. But it isn't easy, don't let anybody tell you it's easy. It isn't because you get hungry, it's because you get bored. So this time around, I'm trying new things and new combinations of things, to make the diet fun.

I'd already come up with my own low-carbohydrate pizza, which you can find here. And that particular recipe is really good, no lie. But only if you use Mission brand white tortillas. All the others I've tried are awful. Annnyway, I wanted a full-size pizza. I knew there had to be a way.

Click to embiggen

Some of the things you can use as flour substitutes are: flaxseed meal, almond flour, whey protein powder and soy flour, used in various combinations. Flax is the coolest, because it a) has as much fiber as it has carbs, which cancel each other out, and b) it has a benign, not unpleasant taste. The same cannot be said of soy flour, which I try to avoid. So for my first try at a full-size pizza, I decided to go for flax. The result can be seen in the picture, and as you can see, I can make a mean pizza. But how does it taste?

Great. I had three slices! Nobody would eat a flax-crust pizza, and not know something was different. But it's a passable substrate for my wonderful toppings. The only problem is, it's not particularly sturdy. You can pick up a slice, but it would likely crumble as you eat it. So, I'm on a quest for a stiffer crust. Whether that means adding something (xanthan gum?), or an entirely different recipe, I don't know. Perhaps a little garlic and Parmesan cheese in the batter would be good too. Anyway, if you're on Atkins, and you're bored, this isn't a bad change of pace.

I can't really give a carb count here. The recipe includes one, but I don't buy it. Pizza sauce (Ragu or store brands) has a few carbs in it, and you can compare for the lowest, but you don't need much really. The crust has virtually no net carbs in it, according to my flaxseed meal's nutritional information. Meats have nothing. Cheese has a little, but not too much. Just to be safe, be really good all day, and then use this to round out your carbs for the day!

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 C flax seed meal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Sweetener to equal about 1 Tablespoon of sugar
• 3 Tablespoons of oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 C water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 F.

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. Add wet ingredients, and mix very well.
3. Let sit for about 5 minutes to thicken.
4. Spread on pan (I put it on a silicon mat or greased parchment paper).
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through, then add toppings* and cook until they are done.

Nutritional Analysis: Whole crust has 7 grams of effective carbohydrate, plus 52 grams fiber, 47 grams protein, 130 grams healthy fat, and 1525 calories.

SOURCE: About.com

*My toppings included Kroger pizza sauce (not too much, just enough to spread around), pepperoni (two layers!), plenty of shredded mozzarella, a little shredded sharp cheddar, some shredded ham, crumbled bacon and more pepperoncini slices. My cook time after adding the toppings was about 15 minutes, with the convection on.