In Eating Healthy to Lose Weight, I talked about how my cooking has changed over the past 16 months. The initial goal was not to lose weight, but to add variety to our meals. I was stuck in a rut of preparing the same meals over and over. So I started learning more about cooking.
The change was slow. I had to re-learn the way I thought about meal planning and cooking. I had to learn some new techniques and methods, both for preparation and cooking. I watched food shows, did internet research, and read food blogs (my favorites are listed in the right hand column).
Come summer, some things started clicking into place, and I had an “AHA!!” moment, or epiphany, if you prefer. Part of our weight problem stemmed from my (pre-change) style of cooking and a dependence on ready-to-eat and prepared foods and “ingredients”. These foods are higher in fat, sodium and/or sugar, and usually contain a number of ingredients (the artificial ones included to add color and/or flavor) that we don’t need.
Once I realized this, I started thinking about changes in my cooking to address the issue. At that point, the goal started to shift toward weight loss, but my primary focus was to change what foods and ingredients I used, and how I prepared them. I then developed a “plan”, which looked like this:
- Little to no "prepared" ingredients (i.e. Cream of Mushroom Soup)
- Little to no "prepared", ready-to-eat or heat-&-eat meals (i.e. frozen lasagna)
- Absolutely no box dinners or sides (i.e. Hamburger Helper or Rice-A-Roni)
- More whole grains, fruits & veggies
- Reduce use of fats in cooking as much as possible without sacrificing too much flavor or otherwise affecting the cook
- Experiment with international and ethnic cuisines
- Experiment with different cooking methods and techniques
- Add flavor with:
- herbs and spices
- judicious use of condiments (i.e. Hoisin Sauce, Soy Sauce)
- judicious use of flavored oils (i.e. Sesame when making a stir fry)
- use of flavor ingredients (onions, garlic, citrus, etc)
My plan was not to count calories but rather being more aware of what goes into the food I prepare (and eat). I was looking to make healthier calorie choices and not worry so much about numbers. I knew we would start losing weight, albeit slowly. From last summer through mid-March of this year, I followed this plan.
In mid-March, after discussing Weight Watchers with Michael, I joined. I started reading all the information on the WW site about the Momentum plan, filling foods, etc. I scanned through a lot of recipes to get a feel for what to cook and how to prepare it. I also purchased the two food companion books that give you the point values of different foods as well as serving size.
Counting points instead of calories aside, I can’t say that the Momentum plan is much different from what I was already doing. Having read through the WW site, many of the recipes on said site, plus having purchased one of the WW recipe collection magazines, I realized that I was already doing a lot of what the plan was all about … less fat and high calorie foods, and more fiber and filling foods, as well as cooking methods that don’t add unnecessary fat and calories.
Portion control is probably the area my new way of cooking has been weakest in. Part of it is habit from feeding a hungry teenage athlete. The larger part of it though is from not thinking about how much food I’m putting on a plate. I’ve gotten a lot better with that thanks to the Momentum plan.
It has worked for us. Whether you follow the Momentum plan, or something along the lines of what I initially planned out, becoming more aware of what is in the food you eat, which foods you eat, and how much food you’re eating, is a key to weight loss.
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