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  #1   ^
Old Sat, Feb-18-12, 08:04
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
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Posts: 14,550
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
Default Newbie Tip #4: More Cooking

I can hear the wailing start already. Nooooooooo! I'd rather deal with a Zombie Apocalypse!

I used to be like that. I had every excuse in the book. For my first few years, I coped with a "apartment stove" which worked unreliably. I could only have one pan fitting on top and the oven would not accommodate a standard cookie sheet. Even now, my skills are not top-notch, my tools are only middling, my talent rather sparse, and my kitchen is tiny and has about as much counterspace as a Barbie dream home. But none of that matters.

Why do we persist in resisting this simple key to stunning success?

We don't understand convenience. When we don't cook, what do we eat? Cheap food, boxed food, frozen food, fast food, and takeout food; all based on the concept of Stretching. And right there is the problem. Just like Mom trying to feed hungry kids on a budget, companies that want to sell us food may have different motivations, but their methods are the same. It is based on streeeeeeeetching the real, more expensive, meat and vegetables with cheap carbs like noodles, rice, or bread. This path is closed on low carbing -- because it's what got us fat.

So we try to adapt these habits to low carb. We get takeout salads or explore the grocery store salad bar. We get a fast food burger and throw away the bun. We grab deli meat and cheese for rollups, we target every rotisserie chicken place in a ten mile radius and practice saying "No Thank You" to all the starchy-sugary sides. Sooner or later we get tired of being bored and hungry and broke and scream there's nothing to eat on this diet! and we give up.

Our attempts to cobble together an eating plan based on protein shakes, Frankenfoods, and the least bad three choices from a menu of hundreds wears us down and wears us out. Low carb is, right down at the base, a diet based on Real Food. If that's how you've been trying to Low Carb, you haven't been Low Carbing! You've been sticking your toe in the water and pretending you're swimming the English Channel.

We don't understand comfort. So this is where our Fear of Cooking has left us: dependent on Other People's Cooking. And unless it's our own Mum who loves Atkins and knows all the things we hate, Other People's Cooking is a compromise we make. This is not a situation we are in by choice. This is a situation we are in because we refuse to change. Grabbing dinner on the way home, or bringing a Lean Cuisine to work every day, or looking at the teenager in the paper hat as our own personal chef: we think we had already optimized our eating. Now we have to rethink the entire thing? Exactly.

We turned to low carbing because so much of our old way of eating wasn't working. We had digestive upsets, we went around in a tired, cranky, fog, we were always searching for food and we were always just at the edge of satisfaction… only never quite reaching it. And, of course, there's the size issue. Male or female, twenty pounds to lose or two hundred, we are just plain sick of shopping from specialized catalogs, never finding the right outfit, and avoiding mirrors as though we were bitten by Dracula himself. We got tired of waiting for our Real Life to arrive, and rightly so.

If we resist the CHANGE of eating differently, we will never arrive at our GOAL of living differently. There's absolutely no comfort in that.

We don't understand time. We tell ourselves we have to eat this prefab, boxed, standing-in-line kind of way because we don't have time to cook. I sympathize. I know what it's like to be a full-time student and a full-time worker, and/or we throw some kids into that mix; it's tough to find time for anything. What I discovered is that I can trade my standing-in-the-takeout line time, or my idling-in-the-drivethrough time, or my waiting-at-the-microwave time; into standing-in-my-own-kitchen time. This time-swap is a perspective switch that opens up incredible vistas to us.

The problem is that we view our time standing around waiting for our food to come to us as somehow, Still-Our-Time. But it's not! I discovered that if I spent that same time in the kitchen, grilling some meat and nuking some frozen veggies with butter on it, it took about the same amount of time… but it really was MY time in a way those standing around times was not.

If something needed to sit in the oven, I set the timer, and sat down at my own computer to cruise the web, check my email, Facebook my peeps: all those things I was trying to save time to get to. I learned it was fun to crank up the funky music and cook enough on a Sunday afternoon to feed me for a whole week; I make my own frozen dinners, my own work lunches. Sure, there will be rushed times: that's when we grab something from the deli counter or ditch the bun on the fast food burger. By keeping these procedures in reserve, we won't be tired of them when we really need them.

Spending time in my own home, with my guy and my cats and my stuff: that's so much more enjoyable than sitting in the drivethrough hoping they get it right. Cooking actually saves me time; and gives me more Me-Time.

We don't understand hunger. If we separated out any of those prefab meals into its components, there would be a big heap of flour, another of sugar, another of starch; and off to the side, a little mound of meat and vegetables and fat. Is it any wonder people keep coming back to fast food places, and cannot get enough? It's because... they are not getting enough! If the only thing that turns off our appetite is real food, and when we eat a "big meal" we only get doll-sized portions of real food, it is no wonder that we find ourselves hungry, later. From that big spaghetti meal with slabs of bread to Mom's favorite casserole, we gnaw our way through a mound of cheap carbs only to want to do it again a few hours later.

Now that I am enjoying fresh, delicious, food on a regular basis, I realize how much my body was actually craving such meals. The fact that my body so rarely got what it was actually craving stands right beside the "blood sugar roller coaster" (caused by those stretcher carbs) in why I used to be so hungry, so much of the time.

Get it? I'm an "okay" cook: and what I make is so incredibly delicious I don't want that prefab junk anymore!

Get started with the Recipe Forums. Fantastic resource. And of course, there's the whole world wide web: just aching to run a video for you about sauteeing or mincing.

Learning something new to achieve our heartfelt goals. What a concept!

Last edited by WereBear : Sat, Feb-18-12 at 17:05.
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, Feb-18-12, 09:54
chermac chermac is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 890
 
Plan: Atkins Maintenance
Stats: 214/150.4/140 Female 66 inches
BF:
Progress: 86%
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
Default

Excellent post and a fantastic source of info and support for the newer LCers. Thanks for this.
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  #3   ^
Old Sat, Feb-18-12, 13:50
0Angel0's Avatar
0Angel0 0Angel0 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 447
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 278/215/180 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: 64%
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Another excellent post, WearBear. They are such a lifesaver for me and so many others! Thanks so much for taking the time to do them.

I'm lucky in that I've always loved to cook. But that doesn't mean I'm always in the mood to cook. I live by the "Cook once eat twice" saying. Or three or four times. And one of the most important take home messages of this post is that most of convenience foods are not real food. A burger cooked at home tastes far different from a quarter pounder. Why? Because they're not the same thing!!
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  #4   ^
Old Sat, Feb-18-12, 16:28
Buttoni's Avatar
Buttoni Buttoni is offline
Patience Personified
Posts: 3,234
 
Plan: LC/OMAD
Stats: 199/188/130 Female 5'3"
BF:5'5" tall
Progress: 16%
Location: Temple, Texas
Default

Ditto what Werebear said. Food boredom is the "kiss of death" for any eating plan IMO. If you plan and make your meals varied, you're more apt to stick with your plan and reach your goal. My motto is "Life's too short to eat the same old, same old". Spice it up with exciting food!

And I do my fair share of presenting you with endless recipes that are good and pretty simple, so do have a gander in the recipe forums. You'll be glad you did. Lots of good cooks here!
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  #5   ^
Old Sat, Feb-18-12, 17:04
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,550
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
Default

I heartily recommend Peggy's recipe site, above. Good stuff there. Treat yourself!
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  #6   ^
Old Sun, Feb-19-12, 09:27
Buttoni's Avatar
Buttoni Buttoni is offline
Patience Personified
Posts: 3,234
 
Plan: LC/OMAD
Stats: 199/188/130 Female 5'3"
BF:5'5" tall
Progress: 16%
Location: Temple, Texas
Default

Awww Thanks, Werebear. I HOPE what they find there is a treat for their palates.
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  #7   ^
Old Sun, Feb-26-12, 15:00
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,550
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
Default

Here's one of Peggy's recipes, which beautifully illustrates just how easy cooking can be:

Montreal Baked Chicken

Can you measure? Can you melt butter in the microwave? Can you set a timer?

And there you go! As much delicious chicken as you need, for about five minutes of actual cooking.
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  #8   ^
Old Sun, Feb-26-12, 16:15
LisaLC85's Avatar
LisaLC85 LisaLC85 is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 50
 
Plan: Mostly M/E
Stats: 197/186/120 Female 5'4
BF:
Progress: 14%
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I couldn't agree more!

The best thing this time around for me is that I have the time to cook. The biggest reasons I would fail before was because I didn't have time to cook, and it was more convenient to just grab and microwave something carb heavy and processed. Now that I'm out of the army, I have the time to cook again! I try and cook a few days worth of meals on Sundays. I work Mon-Fri and don't get home until 6:30PM and I'm usually in bed two hours later so it's easier for me to grab and eat.

Now I make boneless buffalo wings using crushed pork rinds and Parmesan cheese and spices, deviled eggs with coconut oil and spices, a variety of egg and meat quiches, and whatever else comes to mind on Sundays. And I find that "whipped" coconut bark is delicious for my sweet tooth!
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  #9   ^
Old Sun, Feb-26-12, 20:06
AnaBee2222 AnaBee2222 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 178
 
Plan: Paleo/Atkins
Stats: 206/179/130 Female 5'5.5''
BF:
Progress: 36%
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Thank you Werebear, these tips are fabulous.

I am not a good cook, nor do I like to cook. But I have discovered that adding butter make most things taste great. In the past "cooking" meant something plus steamed veges which on their own = blah blah deprivation. Now, steamed veges + a tiny bit of lemon juice = butter = yum! Butter makes everything better.

I used to be a member of the South Beach website and one thing I really liked was that they had cooking tips for complete beginners. Lessons on preparing, storing etc. So many people have NO idea.

I really need to check out Peggy's website, thanks for the link.
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  #10   ^
Old Sun, Feb-26-12, 23:18
Namaste!'s Avatar
Namaste! Namaste! is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 471
 
Plan: Atkins-ish :)
Stats: 365/243/165 Female 5'6"
BF:
Progress: 61%
Location: The Sticks of NC
Default

Awesome tip!!

Cooking is ESSENTIAL to my success. I wind up with some serious carb creep on weeks that I haven't cooked at home enough. I try to squeeze at least one day a week (or every other, depending) in where I can stay in the kitchen all day prepping meals for the rest of the week. Sometimes this involves freezing stuff that can be reheated later or just pre-chopping veggies to make quick work of tossing something together on the fly.
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  #11   ^
Old Sun, Feb-26-12, 23:48
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aamama aamama is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 591
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 216/186/140 Female 62"
BF:
Progress: 39%
Location: Alberta, Canada
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cooking has been my life-saver too! I plan my meals every Monday night for the next 7 days. For tuesday and wednesday's meals I always find recipes to use up all of the stuff I currently have. Wednesday is my shopping day (mostly because I get most of my produce from the local market that isn't open monday and tuesday), so I take my meal plans with me and buy everything I need according to my plans.

I've always cooked (well, since I got married!)...but somehow now its different. I think maybe the planning has changed it for me - I used to just come up with something every night based on what was in the fridge. Now it's pre-decided for me so the guess-work is removed. I dunno...but it's great!!!

Thanks for this!
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  #12   ^
Old Mon, Feb-27-12, 10:08
TeresaTX's Avatar
TeresaTX TeresaTX is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 3,905
 
Plan: whole food
Stats: 178.2/155/149 Female 5'10.5
BF:
Progress: 79%
Location: Austin, TX
Default

Great post WereBear! I always loved to cook and I'm having fun with all the lovely fat fat fat I get to use with no guilt! It's amazing and I can't imagine every getting "bored" with low carb.

I used to eat out at least once a day - now I do find that boring or at least a lot more narrow than anything I might make at home...I would have a hard time seeing this as my forever way to eat if I were limited to what I could safely eat out.
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  #13   ^
Old Thu, Mar-22-12, 11:22
Brinethery's Avatar
Brinethery Brinethery is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,387
 
Plan: 160g animal protein/day
Stats: 185/167/165 Female 5'10
BF:35
Progress: 90%
Location: Algona, WA, US
Default

Werebear, have you ever considered writing your own ebook? You have such a knack for writing. Whenever I read your posts, I get thousands of "she-took-the-words-out-of-my-mouth" moments.

Anyway, I'm just stopping by to say how much I appreciate what you do on here :-)
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  #14   ^
Old Thu, Mar-22-12, 11:26
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 14,550
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brinethery
Werebear, have you ever considered writing your own ebook?


I have! And encouragement like yours will get me there. Thanks!
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  #15   ^
Old Sun, Mar-25-12, 15:44
Brinethery's Avatar
Brinethery Brinethery is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,387
 
Plan: 160g animal protein/day
Stats: 185/167/165 Female 5'10
BF:35
Progress: 90%
Location: Algona, WA, US
Default

Oh boy, I have to keep coming back to this thread. Today, it's to share an experience I had from yesterday (Saturday). My bf (overweight, but non low-carber) wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant for lunch to eat. As you all probably know, not only is the quality of the food bad, but everything, I MEAN everything is either loaded with carbs or if it's meat, then it's drenched in sauce that has corn starch added to it to thicken it up.

The lunch special came with a cup of soup (again, corn starch to thicken the liquid) and a choice from 12 carby foods. I ordered the garlic shrimp b/c it looked like the least worst option. Well when we get our food, I kid you not, there were 10 pieces of shrimp (covered in starchy sauce) on my plate with a ton of vegetables to make it look like there was more food than there really was. That meal was 8 bucks! I could have marinated/broiled a steak in the oven for that price and gone on all day without getting hungry.

Yesterday's experience was my breaking point. I am freaking sick of takeout. I'm disgusted with it. I'm tired of $5 bunless hamburgers from McDonald's that taste like crap, expensive dishes with a small amount of crappy quality meat, and having to pay top-dollar at a restaurant for REAL food like a steak or chunk of salmon. SICK OF IT!!!

If you're reading this and have low-carbed for a while, read all the books, watched all the documentaries/youtube vids on LC but have lost your way in the cooking department, it is time to pull out the training wheels, get back in the kitchen and start relearning the basic skills.

We must rebel against take-out!
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