Navigating social events

by | Feb 21, 2013 | Food Choices, Low carb diet, Sensible Eating | 0 comments

Whenever I’m invited out I always let my host and hostess know about what I can eat well ahead of time. It saves embarrassment and many do pick it up as a challenge. It certainly provides something to talk about during the meal as many a host will actually look out for something that they’ve never cooked before and  we eating low carb gives them just the excuse they need to try something new often getting out of their comfort zone.

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If I’m going to the restaurant I’ve not been to before I found the best way of dealing with that is to either get hold of the menu to make sure there is something tasty and low carbly nutritious or following that ring up the restaurant and tell them that you will be coming and you have a low carb preference, can they do anything to help you.

I have yet to have a refusal for that as again there are very few restaurants who wish to turn down business. As far as going to something that revolves around the buffet, if the host or the hostess does not seem to be fruitful then I found the easiest way is to take a Tupperware box with food that I can eat and I eat it with everybody else I have to say. Again it does provide an exceptionally good topic of conversation as people not only ask what you’re eating but why are you eating it as well.

The bottom line is to take charge of any situation where you are eating with others. By taking charge of the situation you know you’re going to enjoy the food that you eat, you know that your host or hostess is not going to be embarrassed in front of others because they’ve had time to plan ahead and the net result is everybody feels good and enjoys their time together which is after all why we do come together to eat in the first place.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Here is a copy of the comment I made on a forum post about food preferences on social events

Omega 3 Feedlot Beef

by | Feb 8, 2013 | Food Choices, Low carb diet, Meat Products, Natural food | 0 comments

 

130049385391lWrOAs far as buying beef goes I prefer my beef to be naturally raised without any additives and in fact the same criteria hold true for eggs.

The first criterium I have is that the farmer has raised them on natural food because if you think about it in both cases, not so long ago farmers didn’t have the choice or the need even to put additives in their food because the food they were giving their animals was better quality.

For my mind the whole thing about Omega-fed beef, Omega 3 eggs or Omega 3 anything is really a moot point. What’s far more important is that the diet the animal received during its life was as close to 100% natural as possible because let’s face it, if we are short of Omega 3 or anything like that we can take the supplements directly far more effectively and that means that we won’t have to pay stupid prices just because the egg or the beef or the whatever has got Omega 3 all over the label.

Cheers,

Mark

A copy of the comment I did on a forum post about Omega 3

Drinking tea

by | Feb 8, 2013 | Food Choices, Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

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Yes I’m a confirmed tea addict as well although for the last few years my first cup of the day is  normally coffee which I have with cream so no problems there but for mid morning onward it’s tea.

For me the best way to drink tea is nice strong tea with milk counted towards my daily carb content or wheat tea without milk. Then of course you’ve got all the different flavored teas and don’t forget infusions as well, one of my favorite is mint and licorice.

The bottom line is there’s no problem drinking any type of tea virtually, it’ what’s you have with it that can make the huge difference in the long run.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Here is the copy of the comment I made on the forum post about tea

Indian Food

by | Feb 8, 2013 | Food Choices, Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

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I love Indian food but many of you are right.  Chefs do add quite add a lot of sugar in order to get the taste that their customers like.  Anglo-Saxons do have an undeniable ability to gain a sweet tooth very quickly.

The best way of getting a safe carb count on any dish like that is to make it yourself from fresh ingredients. Most Indian dishes are not hard to do although they may require a bit more time than many because meats in particular require marinating in the sauce but of course the great thing about making it yourself is you can swap in and swap out anything that’s not on your particular permitted list.

If you do want to eat out then it might be best to find a restaurant that you like and then have a chat with the chef and ask him to make the dish as close as he can as possible but without including any of the high carb ingredients.

We actually got to know the proprietor and the chef of our local restaurant who has it happened were husband and wife to the point where we were invited to their own home sociably. It was noticeable that the food they cook for themselves was vastly different to the food that they cook in the restaurant simply because they were cooking to traditional taste rather than commercial taste.

The good thing of course is to my mind anyway, the traditional taste was actually much nicer. But what that did mean is that when we ate in the restaurant as we would do so with other friends from time to time that I at least could have the dishes I like made in a way that didn’t cause me any problems whatsoever.

You will find most chefs of most restaurants will be open to the challenge of getting a unique taste from a more basic set of ingredients. Don’t be shy about asking them if they’re willing to do it for you.  Many of them will be that is of course if you don’t want to make it at home.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Here is a copy of another post I made on a forum post about Indian food

New study

by | Feb 5, 2013 | Food Choices, Low carb diet, Sensible Eating, Weight Loss | 0 comments

Another comment  I made on a forum post about a study on how a vegetarian diet can cut the risk of a heart disease

 

Hi Helena,

Thank you for the super post!

It does bring out one of the most glaring admission by people who do studies like this.

The simple fact is that vegetarians have made a conscious decision to control what they eat which often goes hand in hand with deciding to look after their health. For them that obviously involves not eating meat to a greater or lesser extent. But because they’re doing it to look after their health, they are probably taking other measures as well.

Most of the vegetarians that I know have given up smoking, drink in moderation, many of them though not all take vitamin and mineral supplements but an even larger number try and eat organic which means they’re not getting the whole raft of poisons in the form of hormones, drugs, pest control chemicals and so on that people who don’t make the decision to do something with their health will continue to get.

I genuinely think this is one of those cases where the unmeasured factors that I have just mentioned probably play a far greater role in the improved health of the ones who decided to look after their health than many people think.

Cheers,

Mark

 

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Link to the Oxford Study

 

Mayonnaise?

by | Feb 5, 2013 | Food Choices, High Fat Diet, Low carb diet | 0 comments

Here is a copy of the comment I made on a forum post about mayonnaise

 

Hi Jay,

I also agree with “nette and Buttoni as well. Home made mayonnaise can be done quickly and easily and you don’t even need a blender. I do it the old fashioned way. I just take a big bowl, crack into it 1 egg yolk then with a whisk whisk that up thoroughly and then as I’m whisking I slowly drizzle in ground nut oil as I find that gives  a lovely taste. Keep on adding oil until no more will mix in and then add 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of cider vinegar and voila…. you have a typically French mayonnaise!

You can also use lemon juice if you want to change the flavor slightly and I have to say it’s much better than shop-bought, oh yes and it keeps well as well but only if people don’t see it sat in the fridge then it doesn’t keep at all.

Hope that helps,

Mark