10 Questions You Need to Answer Before Going on a Diet

1. What is your goal? Many diets fail because the target is uncertain. If you are not sure what your ideal weight should be, you will never be satisfied with the results, as you can always lose "just a few pounds more".

2. When has the problem started? It is possible that you started to overeat in response to an emotional trauma or a significant life event. If so, careful examination of the situation will help you deal with the real reason behind your overeating.

3. What is your "dieting history"? If you already have an experience of a failed diet, try to describe it in great detail. If you will be able to spot when and why do you normally get stuck, you will avoid similar problems in the future.

4. In what situations do you normally overeat? Perhaps, you reach out for chocolate when you are stressed or start eating more when you feel tired? In that case, you need a rest or an emotional support, not an extra slice of pizza.

5. Where do you overeat? Do you snack at work or are you hiding crisps in the car and eat them when no one is watching? Knowing your eating patterns will help you avoid the "risky" situations.

6. What are you saying to yourself when you overeat? Quite possibly, you are feeling guilty or blaming yourself. Constant self-criticism will not help you lose weight, but might well push you into more "comfort eating".

7. Do you like yourself? Have a good look in the mirror and give a honest answer. Do you like yourself right now, not when you will be 10 kg lighter? In your quest for a perfect body you will need an ally and that ally is you!

8. What was the attitude towards thin/fat people in your family of origin? Perhaps you are just replicating old statements, mentally repeating that "In our family people are big" or believing that "thin people are unhealthy".

9. Could you describe a typical mealtime in your family of origin? Were you told to eat up everything on your plate even if you did not like the food? Perhaps in your mind you are still listening to your parents and feel obliged to finish your meal, rather than listen to your body.

10. And the last question - can you imagine yourself in the future, having achieved your target weight? Try to picture yourself: What are you wearing? How are you feeling? How are people reacting to the "new you"? If you feel uncomfortable doing this visualization, you might have a few psychological barriers to overcome before starting on a diet.

The easier and more pleasant the visualization will become, the more ready you will be to lose weight for good.

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The Dal Before the Storm

Right about now youre probably thinking to yourself, “Wait I thought this was a blog about some crazy French diet and French cooking. What happened to the complicated French recipes, lady?” To which I would tell you a woman has needs. In this case the need for spices, specifically the need to sniffle in joyful pain over a bowl of stew perfectly seasoned with curry and cayenne. Therefore Ive taken a break from insane French recipes that have me online translating ingredients like courgettes, aubergines and fresh coriander into plain English in order to cook. (Zucchini, eggplant and cilantro, in case you were wondering.) I just cant take it right now. Sorry, Boulud its not you, its me.

Also Im a little scared about Sunday. Its Easter and Ive invited my family over for a feast. Ive never had a family holiday dinner at my house before so Im entitled to a tiny dose of freaking out, right? Rather than doing something simple like roasting a chicken I had to go and make things as complex as possible by promising Boeuf En Daube. Five pounds of beef, a bottle of Burgundy, and a pound of shallots cooked for eight hours, this couldnt possibly go wrong. There is nothing to be anxious about at all. Oh no. There is also a complicated torte involved for dessert, I should add. It will be fine, really. Did I mention I have to work on Easter morning? There really need to be more hours in a day and less yuppies needing to by wine and lattes.

Thankfully I thrive in stressful situations, they turn off the part of my brain that over thinks and is busy keeping track of all of the people Im currently holding a grudge against in chronological order. Take that out of the picture and suddenly the genius part of my brain kicks into gear and amazing things happen. However I need to rest that part of my brain until Sunday so until then Im going anti-Emeril and taking things down several notches. Bam.

Dal surprisingly enough is one of the easiest things in the world to cook. I would have never thought it after the many highly flavored satisfying bowls of it Ive cooed over in ethnic restaurants certain that it was too complex for me to ever try my hand at. This is why I need the fella around (okay one of about a million reasons, he is also useful for reaching things on high shelves) he gets in the mood for things and insists we make then regardless of their difficulty. He is either very brave or very silly because weve made some nutty stuff on the spur of the moment to curb a craving. This particular craving worked out very well because I will now being making Dal quite often.

The original recipe calls for split peas and requires an hour of cooking. The heck with that I say. We used lentils. Unfortunately in the excitement of buying $30 worth of organic boeuf we forgot the lentils. The good news is we had red lentils hiding in the back of the cupboard and they were lovely not to mention they cut down the cooking time even more. They are the tenderest lentil so only need about 10 minutes or less to absorb water. So we sat down to Dal while waiting for the vegetable curry to takes its sweet time cooking. During which time the fella asks, “Is this what it means to eat in courses?”

Its a fair question considering we usually sit down and eat our various dishes in one frenzied swoop as Im not very good at planning out cooking times in order to eat any other way. This was a nice change of pace. And we even got to eat while the sun was out.

Dal

8 ounces lentils
2 1/2 cups water (more if you want a thinner soup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, or 2 medium fresh, skinned and diced
1 medium onion, diced

2 tablespoons oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon mustard seed

cilantro for garnish


Combine lentils, water, salt, curry powder, tomatoes, and onions in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer to cook covered until lentils are tender, time will depend on variety of lentils being used. Add more water to adjust the consistency of the soup as the lentils absorb the liquid.

Add the oil, garlic, and mustard seed and simmer another 5 to 10 minutes, until garlic is tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste and top with cilantro if you like.

Original recipe from The New York Times Cook Book by Craig Claiborne.

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How to Speed Up Your Metabolism Without Exercise

There are a few things that are proven to boost the metabolism without working out. I will go over a few of the most popular ones.

 1. Intermittent fasting - This is an eating schedule where you eat all of your meals in a short period of time and fast during the rest of the day.
I have my clients finish eating dinner at 6pm and drink water for the remainder of the evening. They wake up and drink cold water and skip breakfast.

The eating phase begins at lunch time. It takes a while to get used to this, but you will see great results such as fat loss without working out.

2. Water - speeds up digestion and burns calories. Drinking cold water is even better because your body has to burn calories to heat it up.

3. Green tea - speeds up resting metabolic rate, is calorie-free, and packed with antioxidants. There is an added bonus of fighting cancer cells that makes green tea a no-brainer.

4. Coffee - Caffeine has been shown to boost short-term metabolism and fat burning in your body. Drink coffees that are highest in chlorogenic acid for the added benefit of blood sugar control. This can ultimately lead to weight loss and body fat reduction.

5. Pepper - The active ingredient called capsaicin is scientifically proven to boost your metabolism. Experiment with the different types of peppers in your food for added flavor.

6. Celery - It takes more calories to digest celery than it contains. For example, a stalk of celery contains 6 calories, but takes 7 calories in order for your body to process it. Therefore, it is a negative calorie food.

7. Protein - The building blocks of muscle also boosts your metabolism. Some great tasting options are whey protein, free-range eggs, free-range chicken, and grass-fed beef.

8. Sleep - Research shows that sleep deprivation causes your body to store fat and slows down your metabolism. This makes getting a good nights rest invaluable. Try adding an extra hour of sleep and night by going to bed an hour earlier or waking up an hour later. You will feel the difference in less than a week.

9. Minimize chronic stress - Chronic stress has been shown to slow down digestion, put your body in fat-storing mode, and slows down your metabolism. Manage your stress levels with self-affirmations, yoga, therapy, running, weight training, etc.

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Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds

The end of CSA season meant Ive had seemingly one of every kind of squash in existence sitting in my kitchen waiting for me to be inspired to do something with them. Then the chef brought over a couple more squash just to mock me the other day. At that point there was no point in delaying it any longer, I took a knife to every squash in the kitchen and roasted them. This will force me to find something to do with their various roasted flesh as every time I open the fridge there they are tempting me. Tonight I simply warmed the acorn squash in some butter in a frying pan and was very happy with it.

However Im very much my mothers daughter (no worries, I mean it in a good way mom) and the thought of all those squash seeds going to waste was unthinkable, I had to do something with them. Ive never made roasted squash seeds before so it was fun to grab the first spice that came to me out of the spice cupboard. Cinnamon with salt sounded divine and it was. I was very pleasantly surprised with the results and made this same combination twice since then.

Even better than the cinnamony seeds themselves is that they are awesome in a salad. Ive been hooked on throwing them in mixed greens and spinach with feta cheese and a vinaigrette of olive oil and fig vinegar. Its tastes way too good to be that simple.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Seeds

pumpkin seeds
olive oil
salt
cinnamon

Reserve however many seeds you get from pumpkins and other random squashes you have around for cooking. Toss the slimy pits from around the seeds. Rinse the seeds then spread them over a baking sheet.

Heat oven to 350. Put just enough oil over the seeds so that they are coated. Sprinkle with salt and cinnamon to suit your taste.

Bake for 20 minutes or until well toasted.

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