Posts by piedmontq1

I will also be taking a long flight with Singapore Airlines in a few weeks so I am interested in hearing how you find your low fat meal.

Enjoy your trip!

If you enjoyed the meal, another idea would be to ask the cook for the recipe.  This is also a real compliment for the chef!  Although sometimes this can be scary like the time a friend's recipe for a delicious curry included 1.5 cups of peanut oil for 8 servings!

I understand this dilemma as I too adore a good drop of wine.  I also regularly cook with wine and traditionally sipped a glass or two while cooking before sitting down to dinner and another couple of glasses........

Over the last few months I have learnt to limit my wine intake to a single glass of wine on no more than 3 nights a week (I will allow two glasses tonight as it is my birthday).  I have also decreased the number of dishes I cook with wine to "special" meals.

What I have done to make the decrease in consumption easier, is increased the quality of the wine I drink to the best I can afford so it really is worth enjoying.

I forgot to mention a few glasses of good red wine.  I agree Cheshirekitty, lets not count calories and enjoy!

Sadly I think this is too common.  I suffered anorexia as a teen and bulimia in my early twenties.  Although my weight was stable and within the normal range during my mid twenties I kept my unhealthy obsession with food, calories, fat content, carbohydrate content, glycaemic index etc etc.  This eventually led to significant overeating and weight gain as the years progressed.

In my case, I probably didn't fully recover from my early eating disorders.  Once my weight was "normal" treatment was ceased so the disordered thinking could continue unchecked.  I suspect this is the case with many eating disorder sufferers.  Society needs to realise that eating disorders are far bigger than simply an issue of body weight.

Good to hear you are feeling better Kittiekee.

I adore cheese, and pre February 2009 I enjoyed cheese every day (the more exotic, smelly and expensive the better).  Unfortunately my love of cheese (together with dark chocolate and red wine) eventually caught up with me leading to not only obesity but gall bladder disease.

Sadly, I can no longer enjoy cheese or chocolate without significant pain.  The fear of this pain is enough to keep me away from these beloved treats.  I still enjoy visiting my local cheese provedore and simply looking at (and inhaling) the wonderful products (I clearly have a problem!).

As a cheese lover (and victim), I would recommend you limit your cheese consumption to the occasional small portion of the best cheese you can afford.

Good luck!

I make burgers (rissoles in my family) the way my mother taught me using rolled oats (oatmeal).

The basic ingredients for these burgers is:

500 grams extra lean ground beef
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 grated carrot
1 cup rolled oats (oatmeal)
0.5 cups barbecue sauce
1 egg (lightly beaten)

Mix all ingredients together and make into balls before cooking on the barbecue or in a lightly oiled fry pan.

I love str fries and with a good non-stick pan over a high heat, they can be cooked with very little (or even no) oil.

My favourite stirfries always contain fresh grated ginger, onion and garlic plus a little sesame oil.  The sesame oil could be excluded if you don't like it or want to minimise fat.

One example stirfry to try if you like beef that will easily serve 6 and is just 242 calories per serve is below.  You could substitute just about any vegetables or lean meat if you prefer:

1 medium onion
1 garlic clove (crushed)
1 tsp grated ginger
350 grams extra lean beef (cut finely across the grain)
1 medium carrot
0.5 red bell pepper
1 cup broccoli
1 cup celery
1 medium zucchini
400 grams noodles (I use hokkein noodles)
1 tbsp soy sauce
0.5 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp olive oil

Slice all vegetables evenly.
Heat olive oil in wok over high heat.
Cook beef until brown, remove from pan.
Cook onions, garlic and ginger for 3 minutes in same pan.
Add remaining vegetables, sesame oil and soy sauce and cook 5 minutes until just soft.
Stir through noodles and beef and heat through.
Serve and enjoy.......

Don't give up coffee if you enjoy it.  I start every day with a skim milk cappucino and usually have 1 or 2 skim cappucinos each morning and an espresso (short black) or two  each evening.

If it wasn't for my cappucinos I wouldn't get nearly enough calcium in my diet. I would probably also struggle to get out of bed and onto my exercise bike so in my case coffee is definitely a weight loss tool!

I agree with Stephanie Piro's sentiment "Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee".