The Upside of a Weight-Loss Plateau

It’s December 31st, 2015. You hop on the scale and you weigh the exact same amount you did on January 1st, 2015. How would you feel?

Happy? Sad?

What if I told you that the average American gains 1 pound every year? And that by not gaining a pound in the year, you’re actually doing well above average!

Most people lose a little bit of weight, hit a plateau, then immediately give up when things aren’t going as quickly as they were before. Most people gain that weight back and then some. This whole phenomenon of quitting when things are going more slowly is a bit like hitting traffic on your way home from work, and abandoning your car on the side of the road because you’re not driving as fast as you wanted. Or getting a flat tire and slashing the other three.

There’s a mantra in Zen: “the obstacles are the path.”

Plateaus happen. We know they’re going to happen. In fact, when we plateau, it means that we’ve made progress! It’s the perfect time to look back and see how far you’ve come because no human endeavor is linear. Learning a language, a musical instrument, how do date, or how to write well all takes time, with improvements coming in waves of easy progress, then stagnation, followed by bursts of more progress.

Diane Fu is a weight lifting coach in San Francisco who tells her athletes, “When you hit that first plateau and you’re not improving as fast as you were before, congratulations! You’re no longer a beginner!”

The same is true with fat loss. Weight loss can be fast in the beginning because the more weight you have to lose, the faster it comes off. The closer you get to your goal weight, the slower things get. So it’s not a sign you’re doing something wrong; it’s a sign you’ve done things right! It’s a sign that you’re completely normal and have hit a point that everyone hits on their weight-loss journey. A plateau is a mark on the road, letting you know you’re heading in the right direction, and that you’ve made a lot of progress.

So now it’s up to you. When most people hit a plateau, all they can think about is that things aren’t going as quickly as they were before, so they quit. The weight comes back on and they’re further away from their goal than they ever were. But plateaus are just part of the journey—a slight bend in the road that is still going to take you where you want to be. Do you turn around to go back? Or do you keep walking?

When you focus on the journey instead of the destination, the plateaus come and go. If you keep tracking, keep making little improvements to your diet, keep walking every day and getting some exercise, then the weeks when things aren’t going as quickly as you want them to will give way to the weeks when everything seems to fall into place.

And, before you know it, it will be December 31, 2015. The average American gains 1 pound a year. The average dieter gains back more weight than he or she loses. So all it takes to be better than average is to keep moving forward.

Football Snacks!!

Playoffs, Bowl Games and Ultimately the Superbowl are going to have more than a few of us doing the "couch potato slump" in front of our TVs for the next several weeks.

No need to succumb to the hideous snacks and pizza that will no doubt make the rounds.  Below I'm posting a few simple, delicious and LOW CARB snacks that you can have around to impress your friends AND maintain your healthy (well reasonably healthy) lifestyle.  And all that walking around the kitchen while you make these counts as CARDIO!

Stuffed Jalapenos

Healthy Jalapeno Poppers - Not something most of us can wrap our heads around, but here is a version that lights up your tastebuds as well as your imagination:

Ingredients:
1 lb jalapenos halved and seeded
1 lb sausage browned (the cheap tube, need the grease)
8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
6-8 oz grated Parmesan

Instructions:
Cook sausage into crumbles and drain off about 3/4 of the grease
Mix the sausage and cheeses together,
Once the cheese melts stuff the jalapeno halves
Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes


Cook's Notes:
Good quality, name brand sausage is too lean. Get the cheap stuff. Sorry, but turkey sausage is too lean too.
WEAR GLOVES when dealing with chillies. You can't just wash the capsacin off your hands. Everything you touch for days will burn - and I mean EVERYTHING!!!
Optional: Buy some of that thin cheap pre-packaged bacon and wrap each in a 1/2 slice - cook until bacon crisps - because BACON!
I HIGHLY recommend doubling, tripling or even QUADRUPLING this recipe.
Make it dinner!  Wrap the stuffed jalapenos in prosciutto, wrap that in chicken breast cutlets and wrap THAT in bacon!! - Be still my heart!


Queso Covered Bacon "Chip" Nachos

Who doesn't a huge pile of tortilla chips smothered in melted cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa? Well it loves you too! It'll gladly hang around your body for YEARS after you've forgotten who won the game that day. BUT... If you eliminate those chips and their carbs and you've got a fighting chance! MAKE BACON CHIPS!!

I'll not tell you how to stack your nachos, but I'll gladly teach you the secret of making bacon chips - which are perfect for snacking ANY time.

Ingredients:
12 strips of thin presliced grocery store bacon

Instructions:
 Preheat oven to 400 F.
 On a baking sheet covered in foil (but don’t grease it or bacon won’t crisp!) lay six strips of bacon next to each other vertically. 
 Weave the remaining strip of bacon horizontally between the vertical strips, creating a “lattice” pattern. 
 Bake bacon lattice for 10 minutes.

During this time assemble all the magnificent topping you will use to smother these heavenly chips

 Remove bacon from oven. Allow to cool
 Use scissors to cut bacon lattice into six “chips” and return to oven for additional five to seven minutes, or until crispy.

Transfer "chips" to plates and top each with your most decadent nacho fixin's.  

Cook's Notes:
Each chip will be 3 strips of bacon wide and 2 high, so you're going to want to make a gazillion of them for a real football party - Don't be shy!
These are also perfect for "Breakfast Nachos" - layered with scrambled eggs, qheso, some guacamole, etc...

Bacon Cheesecake Cups

Rich, smooth, savory, spicy, cheesy filling...  WRAPPED IN BACON!!

Ingredients:
13 slices thick cut bacon
1 lb cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp minced dried onion
1 tbsp minced jalapeno 

Instructions:
Place slices of bacon on a cookie sheet. 
Place into a cold oven. 
Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. 
Cook bacon for about 20 minutes. or until it is cooked but not crisp. 
Remove from oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes. 
Wrap one strip around the bottom inside edges of each of 12 standard muffin cups. 
Crumble the remaining strip. 
Place a drop or two of the bacon grease in the base of each muffin cup.

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to combine cream cheese, eggs, onion and seasoning. 
Divide the batter among the muffin cups, taking care to stay inside the bacon ring. 
Bake for 20 minutes. 
The cheesecake will puff, but fall after the cups cool. 

Garnish with crumbled bacon.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse

Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse

The idea here has always been "Flavor First!" If I can't make it taste as good (or better) than the original , then I shouldn't be making it.  This creamy pumpkin cheesecake has flavor but with a light and fluffy texture that is irresistible! It doesn’t hurt that this fabulous dessert is also low in carbs either does it?

Ingredients

16 ounces softened cream cheese

1- 15 ounce can pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 cups heavy cream

pinch salt

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 cup Splenda Granular or equivalent sweetener of choice 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sugar Free Ginger Snaps
Whipped cream

Instructions

• In a stand mixer blend cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until whipped and fluffy about 5 minutes.
• Taste and adjust sweetener to your liking if needed.
• Crush ginger snaps and put a small amount in the bottom of each serving glass
• Pipe into serving glasses and top with whipped cream and crumbled ginger snaps if desired.
• Keep refrigerated until ready to serve

Cook's Notes:
Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas I hit up Trader Joe's for Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Their's is not only delicious, it is 4 times the size of the little bottles in the grocery and half the price!

Sweet Potato Latkes

Sweet Potato Latkes  makes 12

These aren't your bubbe's latkes.  When I was a kid my neighbor's Jewish grandmother would fry up grated potatoes w/ onion, egg, salt & pepper.  Served with apple sauce and sour cream. That's a latke. A traditional Hanukkah side dish.  In plain English: potato pancakes. 

Suddenly, this simple tasty dish has been elevated to gourmet status and latkes are the latest food craze. These are simple and delicious.  I just made them with good ol' North Carolina sweet potatoes instead of the white carb laden pride of Idaho.  Well, I got a LITTLE fancy with the cilantro and harissa, but you'll forgive me the indulgence when you taste them.

1 1/2 pounds orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (about 2 medium)
1 medium onion
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black or white pepper
5 tablespoons flour
about 1/2 cup oil (I used vegetable oil)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional and fancy)

Peel sweet potatoes, then grate them and onion, using grating disc of food processor or large holes of grater.

Transfer to a large bowl. Beat eggs with salt and pepper and add to potato mixture. Add flour and mix well. I used my hands.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet, preferably well seasoned cast iron or non-stick.

Fill 1/4-cup measure with sweet potato mixture, pressing down to compact.

Turn out and mound into skillet. Quickly form 3 more mounds. Flatten each with back of spoon so each latke is about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter, pressing down with a spatula.

Cook 3 minutes on the first side, then carefully flip. 2 minutes on the second side.
Cook 4 pancakes at a time, adding more oil after each fry. Makes kind of a mess, but worth it.

Transfer to paper towels to blot.

I held mine in a warm oven, so they were all nice and hot at the same time.

Serve w/ Greek yogurt mixed with some harissa paste.

Cook's Notes: 
No harissa in the house?  Try a little Sriracha or several dashes of your favorite hot sauce.

Bariatric Surgery WILL KILL YOU!!!

Yes, I said that out in the open, where everyone can see it.  Why? Because it's TRUE!

I'm mad..  This is my rant:

I got a text this morning from a friend who's aunt is a non-compliant bariatric patient.  One of the people that give this surgery a bad name.  She entered the hospital with malfunctioning kidneys, for which they medicated her - which kicked off a heart attack.  

So why was she having kidney issues?  She drinks about 16 ounces of water a day....

After being several years post-surgery she complains that she can't drink when she has been eating 'real food' (her words) - and can only drink if she is eating sweets. 

Yeah...  right...  I'm going to stop typing now and let you re-read those opening paragraphs.  When you realize how stupid they are I'll continue...

Bariatric surgery saved my life.  I'm 5 years out of surgery and maintaining a 200+ lb weight loss - and can attest to the success of many others.  So WHY do I say bariatric surgery can kill you when there are so many successes?  Because the successes FOLLOW THE RULES and the failures make up excuses.

If you can't  dedicate yourself to making the lifestyle changes required for the surgery to be successful, please DON'T  HAVE THE PROCEDURE!!!!  

BARIATRIC SURGERY IS NOT MAGIC!!

I got fat because of my bad food choices and bad habits.  Bariatric surgery is a ONE TIME DO-OVER that allowed me to correct all those bad habits and live a healthy lifestyle.  If you refuse to make those changes you will not only get fat again, but because of the radical internal changes you could well DIE!!

The rules are pretty simple:

• Take your vitamins and supplements everyday as directed
• Avoid simple carbohydrates (sugar) and limit the complex ones.  Remember that "Nothing tastes as good as slim feels."
• Drink a MINIMUM of 64 oz of water a day - recommended amount is the number of ounces that is half your weight in pounds.  200 lbs = 100 oz of water
• EAT PROTEIN FIRST with every meal - supplement with shakes if you can't eat enough.  Shakes count as protein AND water!
• 30-30-30  - Stop drinking 30 minutes prior to eating, chew each bite 30 times, wait 30 minutes after eating to resume drinking.  DO NOT drink with your meals!
• Plan your meals  - Avoid 'grazing' - don't nibble your way through the day

You can choose to follow the rules for a successful post-surgery voyage - or ignore them and play Russian-roulette.

end rant:

Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip

Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip


Sweet, spicy, tart and creamy  with a satisfying crunch.  This is SO good and easy to make that you'll be hoarding cranberries in your freezer so you can serve this at your summer soirees! 


INGREDIENTS

12 ounces fresh cranberries
4-5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup Splenda Granular or equivalent (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
1/8 teaspoon salt
16 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened


DIRECTIONS

Pulse the cranberries in a food processor or blender until coarsely chopped (alternately, you can do this task by hand).
Add the green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, sugar, cumin, lemon juice and salt and pulse until the ingredients are well combined and finely chopped.
Transfer the mixture to a covered bowl or tupperware and refrigerate for 4 hours (or up to overnight) so the flavors have time to develop and the cranberries lose a bit of their tartness.

When ready to serve, spread the cream cheese in an even layer on a serving plate or 9-inch pie dish.
Top with the cranberry-jalapeno mixture, spreading evenly over the top of the cream cheese.
Refrigerate for up to an hour before serving.

Serve with crudites, crackers or tortilla chips.

Cook's Notes: Sprinkle the top liberally with Pomegranate seeds for a festive (and unexpected) pop of sweetness