Food Critic Sheds Pounds and Old Bad Habits

I am pleased to report that as of Dec 31st of 2010, I have dropped 78 pounds and almost ten pants sizes. My shirts have gone from 5x to 2x and best of all, my blood tests reveal that cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose levels are all well within normal ranges.

I did this without benefit of any supervised medical fasts or programmed diets. And I continued to dine out and review restaurants through the entire process.

Many readers who have seen the difference since my first TV review back in March on KVUE Ch. 24 and the last one on December 31st have written in to ask how I did it. The answer is actually fairly simple: lots of exercise, cutting back on carbohydrates, increasing whole grains, vegetables and fruits, and not feeling like I had to finish every thing on my plate.

OK. Well, maybe not quite that simple. In truth, every one of the items mentioned above was initially very difficult. I was a horrible carb junkie: cakes, pies, cookies, gourmet ice creams, Cape Cod potato chips, and virtually anything from Sweetish Hill or Chez Zee’s baked goods sections. I also liked bagels, French bread, blueberry muffins and those amazing Hoe Cakes at Hoover’s Cooking. I never met a Crème Brulee that I didn’t like and the Rugula (or Rugelach) at Whole Foods or Manny Hattan’s was impossible for me to resist. I was a Culver’s ice cream junkie along with visits to Sandy’s on Barton Springs for their marvelous custard. I enjoyed baked potatoes and pommes frittes, and of course, white pasta. Corn on the cob was also a favorite. Problem was, eating any or all of the above is tantamount to simply ingesting sugar directing into your blood stream. These simple carbs break down within minutes into sugar and well, you do the math.

So the first few weeks were excruciating. My sugar cravings were constant and intense. I substituted with sugar free Jello topped with whip cream and a little fresh fruit. Whole wheat pasta replaced white pasta and brown rice replaced white rice. I found this wonderful low carb whole grain bread at Great Harvest which actually had some taste. Of course, my dining out was limited during this period to places like Zen and Koriente and Madam Mam’s where I could actually eat without guilt. Then, I began to venture back to high-end restaurants with some modifications: forget the bread basket, substitute veggies for the starch course, and have tastes of everything else but not eat ALL of everything. Pretty soon I was dining at all restaurants, enjoying the food, but still maintaining my lowered carb approach along with smaller portions.

At home, I noted with great joy the sugar cravings had begun to abate and that I was actually looking forward to a Granny Smith apple or a Fredricksburg peach. At the same time, I had a sign on the stationary bike in my bedroom that said “exercise is nonnegotiable.” And the weight began to melt away. I averaged 2-3 pounds per week weight loss and all of a sudden, I was down 30 pounds, and then 50, and then 70…

I slowed down over the holidays but did not gain anything back. Since I have the metabolism of a long, unbroken line of metabolically challenged forbears, there’s no easy way for me to shed pounds. Hard work and discipline are the keys: but NOT deprivation. I have not been hungry during this lifestyle change (notice I did not use the word diet). I’ve learned that there are lots of wonderful foods and tastes and I’m excited about the future.

I have lost and gained hundreds of pounds during my adult lifetime. But this is the last time. Because the word diet is no longer in my vocabulary. This is a lifestyle modification. I can still have the occasional dessert or simple carb or even a plate of Moonshine’s mac and cheese. Nobody gets fat in a day. But the next day, I emphasize more salads and whole grains. And it’s working.

We dined out New Year’s Eve at McCormick and Schmick’s at the Domain. I had one of the lump crab cakes, several potstickers, and an ample taste of my wife’s bruschetta. I also had a glass of a nice Califorina Cabernet Sauvignon. Then I had a dozen Candadian oysters on the half shell. My entrée was a sizzling Atlantic salmon over veggies with an Asian Black Bean sauce. My wife and daughter ordered desserts and I had seveal small bites of both of theirs. I left feeling satisfied, without that bloated feeling that so often accompanied my dining out ventures in the past. The scale the next day did not lie: no harm done and no weight gained.

So that’s my new life as a food critic. Nothing is off limits but I’m conscious of what and, more importantly, how much I put in my mouth. I don’t need to eat the whole dish of linguine with white clam sauce to tell if I enjoy it or not. And if I do have a slip-up, the bike always awaits!

Wish me luck fellow foodies. And feel free to email me if you’re on the same path and want to share your story.