I don't know that eating in your car is all that bad. The french fries on the floor represent calories you didn't consume.
My grandmother likely ate a lot of rancid food not having grown up with butylated hydroxytoluene -- violations of rules #1 and #2.
I will however endorse #5. Slowing down, enjoying what you're eating, stopping not while you're still hungry but before you feel full (by then you've eaten too much), even eating off smaller plates will all help with portion control.
Quote from the food & food industry writer Michael Pollan: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."
"Eat food" means eat "real" food -- vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish and meat. Avoid packaged foods far from their natural state (cheese-filled Ritz crackers, ready-made chicken-ham-cheese patties, etc. You get the idea.).
Here are Pollan's 7 rules for healthier eating. (You have to love #7.)
1, Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. "When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?" Pollan says.
2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.
3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.
4. Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot. "There are exceptions -- honey -- but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad aren't food," Pollan says.
5. It is not just what you eat but how you eat. "Always leave the table a little hungry," Pollan says. "Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full.'"
6. Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. "Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?" Pollan asks.
7. Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car.
ChefOno, sorry to disagree. If you get a Big Mac Set Menu and throw the top bun away, is it low calorie? I don't think so. Hate to say it, but no fried foods, heavy cream sauces, need to eat lots of veggies because they have fiber and are lower calorie. But don't cover them in heavy sauces or, sadly, blue cheese dressing.
I respectfully insist, you do not have to forgo the food you love to reduce your caloric intake. I don't know McDonalds lingo but to continue with your example: A Whopper meal at Burger King is 1200 calories, a Whopper Jr. meal comes in at 870 -- a 27% reduction in calories by simply uttering the word "junior"……...
I agree with you about most heavy sauces, but not from a caloric perspective. I simply think they often overwhelm the main ingredient. But a little beurre blanc over a fillet of fish can turn mere sustenance into an extraordinary dish. I would gladly trade a 7-ounce portion of plain fish for 4 ounces of properly sauced heaven -- the same number of calories but a huge boost in flavor, plus the saturated fat triggers the body into feeling full and satisfied much longer………
Enjoy a little blue cheese in your salad and take two or three fewer bites of something else during the meal or day. Life is too short to feel sad about what you eat.
6 Comments
I don't know that eating in your car is all that bad. The french fries on the floor represent calories you didn't consume.
My grandmother likely ate a lot of rancid food not having grown up with butylated hydroxytoluene -- violations of rules #1 and #2.
I will however endorse #5. Slowing down, enjoying what you're eating, stopping not while you're still hungry but before you feel full (by then you've eaten too much), even eating off smaller plates will all help with portion control.
Quote from the food & food industry writer Michael Pollan: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."
"Eat food" means eat "real" food -- vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish and meat. Avoid packaged foods far from their natural state (cheese-filled Ritz crackers, ready-made chicken-ham-cheese patties, etc. You get the idea.).
Here are Pollan's 7 rules for healthier eating. (You have to love #7.)
1, Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. "When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?" Pollan says.
2. Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.
3. Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.
4. Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot. "There are exceptions -- honey -- but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad aren't food," Pollan says.
5. It is not just what you eat but how you eat. "Always leave the table a little hungry," Pollan says. "Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full.'"
6. Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. "Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?" Pollan asks.
7. Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car.
I agree with you about most heavy sauces, but not from a caloric perspective. I simply think they often overwhelm the main ingredient. But a little beurre blanc over a fillet of fish can turn mere sustenance into an extraordinary dish. I would gladly trade a 7-ounce portion of plain fish for 4 ounces of properly sauced heaven -- the same number of calories but a huge boost in flavor, plus the saturated fat triggers the body into feeling full and satisfied much longer………
Enjoy a little blue cheese in your salad and take two or three fewer bites of something else during the meal or day. Life is too short to feel sad about what you eat.
It's whatever you want, just less of it than you'd normally eat.