<p>Oil does not add too many calories to stir-fried veggies if you use it judiciously, but the sauces do, because they contain sugars and other carbs. The simple sauce my H likes has 70 calories per 2 tbsp serving - :eek: And while you can cut down on oil, cutting down on sauce is not that easy without affecting the taste.</p>
<p>I like Greek salads without feta (H hates it) - just cut up tomatoes, cukes, onions and a few olives drizzled with oil and vinegar. I make veggie stews which I serve as side dishes.</p>
<p>hmom, I’ve also heard that the sweet potato is the “perfect food”. </p>
<p>I cook most of my vegetable with olive oil and garlic. it is quick and very tasty. All kinds of greens can be sauteed this way. For green beans, brocolli, etc. you can steam them first then do a quick pan-fry with olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper. If you have fresh herbs like basil or tarragon, sprinkle them on – delicious. Red pepper flakes too. I also like to add pignoli nuts, or slivered almonds(cheaper) or walnuts. If you use walnuts, you can drizzle some walnut oil on top. You don’t need much olive or walnut oil --just a tablespoon should be enough unless you have a huge bunch of greens.</p>
<p>OK… was at the grocery store today and ran into a friend who works at a health food store and we had a nice long conversation (we also belong to the same gym). She drew my attention to a magazine called Clean eating I glanced through hers (she had it with her to pick up ingredients for dinner tonight) and was so impressed I bought a copy. I’d encourage you all to check it out next time you’re looking at magazines. Looks promising.</p>
<p>The other thing we talked about was stevia. I bought some the other day (along with some unsweetened shredded wheat to see if it will fulfill my Frosted Mini Wheats craving every morning) but haven’t used it yet. She had great things to say about the stevia, but did say her sister had a bad reaction to it (she actually called it an allergic reaction, but I don’t think of stomach cramps as an allergic reaction) … lots of bad stomach cramps. Anyone else hear anything about this kind of effect?</p>
<p>I didn’t get to the gym this weekend, so I used my elliptical at home for 45 minutes each day. However, I’ve come to believe that the heart rate monitor on my machine is waaaay off, so I’m looking at purchasing a heart rate monitor. I know there have been suggestions on other threads, but technology changes so quickly, I thought there might be new options. And it also made me wonder how accurate the monitors are on the machines I use at the gym.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner,
If you are concerned with calories in oil, just use olive oil. We are going thru gallons of it just like honey, calories from either of these products seems not to stick. Lately, I rely more on my own experience than calories on a labels. It seems to work better. I am lucky - I hate butter, cannot stand smell of it and never use it. Some people say the same about olive oil. We literally soak our vegies in olive oil if we cook them (mostly my H., I do not like cooking), even if we bake them instead of frying on top. Butter stays in freezer for visitors (mostly kids / grandkids).</p>
<p>Re: stevia – I’ve been using “Stevia in the Raw” for several months with no problems. Mainly I use it in my steel cut oats in the morning. It’s all natural and no calories. Back in post #445 mousegray said sugar was better because it’s all natural. So is stevia, so how is sugar better?</p>
<p>For those of you looking for veggie recipes, the new issue of Martha Stewart Food features a number of vegetable side dishes, including quite a few cooked in parchment paper. Looked interesting and very low fat- easy clean up, too! It is their “Light” issue and had quite a few recipes that looked appealing.</p>
<p>However, I believe that using sweetener substitutes like Stevia (which is REALLY sweet) can train your body to want more sweets. I am slowly reducing the amount of sweetener I use in yogurt, oatmeal and tea. I moved away from sweetened coffee years ago.<br>
My biggest weakness is chocolate. I LOVE dark chocolate but I like the kind that is sweetened. Hard to give up and I have no plans to! Just want to reduce consumption.</p>
<p>The Clean Foods mag sounds good…I’ll look it up.</p>
<p>Anyway, I browsed other online recipes on this site and they look mostly interesting. But…I’m not sure about the “clean Foods” label. Striped bass is absolutely delicious but has pretty high mercury levels. I have a pocket guide reference to mercury in fish to ensure I don’t eat too much of the offenders in any given month (we eat lots of fish!). You wont to completely avoid fish like Grouper, Bluefish, and Albacore Tuna (IMO). If you like canned tuna, go with the chunk light (much lower in mercury).</p>
<p>^^^lol, the hunting and crawling fitness stuff seems a bit much.
But really, this diet is not much different than an extreme Zone diet. Meat, fresh veggies and fruit. Honestly, the research I have read indicates that tribes in this world who are hunter/gatherers are remarkably healthy…even those who consume loads of meat. Turns the vegetarian argument on its head.</p>
<p>Miami - true, olive oil calories do not stick to me either, although it is very high in them! That’s the oil we use in all of our dishes. Olive oil and rice vinegar make very tasty salad dressing. I just mixe them using my favorite Eva Solo shaker. Good stuff!</p>
<p>Butter, on the other hand, is a dangerous substance. White bread + butter = wasteline expander. I think H and I used about one third of a stick of butter in the past month (not counting the stuff that went into my Christmas Nanaimo bars, of course :)), and that’s because DD was home. DD used to spread it on her morning toast, but lately she has developed addiction to spreadable stinky cheeses (hmmm, they are usualy a part of cheese and fruit platters served with fine wine, so that gives me hope she is not binging on cheap boose at her school :D).</p>
<p>^^^I’m with you HMom. Olive oil, while a “good” fat is still fat. 100% of its calories come from fat. Fat contains more than twice as many calories per gram than carbohydrates. If you eat enough of it, it will definitely “stick.”</p>
<p>You’ve got to burn more calories than you take in if you want to lose. That’s a law of nature none of us can get around. Some people have a raging metabolism and they can consume a lot more calories than another, but the law still holds true for them as well. At some point if they consume more calories than they burn, they are gaining weight.</p>
<p>hmom5, I think it does not stick because it looks like I lost 2 more pounds. I do not use gallons of it, but the half-gallon jug we bought two months ago looks half-empty (or half-full :)) I eat close to 2000 calories, and all of my checkups have shown no problems. The calorie tracker website says I have to eat 2150 calories to maintain my weight. Hmmm…</p>
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