Losing weight: debunking all the lies we tell ourselves

Two weeks ago I shared with you my story and my somewhat oscillating relationship with my weight. I thought I’d feel vulnerable and silly, but I felt empowered by all the feedback I received. Guys, we all have this questions at the backs of our minds, regardless whether we’re a XS, a M or a XL size. We all want to feel good and look good and be happy with ourselves. It is ironic that we’re our biggest enemies in the process of attaining all this, decent number of kilos included.
No more blah blah, let’s debunk together all the lies we tell ourselves. First of all, I would advise you to read this article on nutrition and get an overview on my food philosophy. If you do want to lose weight, you need to approach the change lightly, with an open mind and with an open heart. Not as a challenge, not as a chore, not as a thing you need to conquer. This will set you for failure. You need to think long term, you need to consider your overall energy and mood first and then the number of kilos. But, I’m not gonna be one of these zen-mindful-spiritual people and give you a bunch of bullshit about inner beauty, it is about losing your extra kilos, of course. But please, please!, think of this as a side-effect, not as the end-game alone. One by one, here we go: Read More

Losing weight: all the lies we fool ourselves to believe

I believe, without doubt, that most of us have had some weight-related questions or issues at some point in our lives. The relation between weight and other aspects is clear: health, self-esteem, relationship building, group dynamics. Weight has an impact even on our professional lives: overweight candidates are judged less competent than fit candidates. A halo effect and a recruitment bias. So yes, weight is front and center in our modern world. I’ve explored the relation between body image, external stimuli, perception and weight loss before. Us women are the harshest judges of weight in relation to beauty and we are also judged negatively by both men and other women for being overweight. I was a twiggy kid, grew up into a lanky adolescent and enter the adulthood as a skinny young woman. Some people complimented my figure, others raised their concerns and some were simply making fun. But I wasn’t meant to go through life with a slender body, not at all! I had a few challenges and road bumps. The first one was when I moved to the US and I put on weight. A lot of weight, enough said. I was in my early twenties, so I was able to quickly shove it off when I came back to Europe and to a normal diet. The second milestone was when I moved to Belgium. I discovered the Belgian beers, the fritjes, the bricky burger eaten at 3 in the morning to try to drench the alcohol vapors in fat. I was a (poor) Eastern European student, so I was not able to afford good foods, I ate a lot of crap. I cared more about partying and classes than I cared about what I ate. I lived in a student dorm and I shared a kitchen and a fridge with an entire floor. All kind of excuses associated with that stage of life. The road to FAT-Ville also continued after I graduated, got a well-paid job and wasn’t poor anymore. I wanted to compensate and I started eating a lot. Good foods, all cooked by me, but LOTS. And I put on weight again. 10 kilos, to be precise. That’s when I started being heavily interested in nutrition and it’s impact on our bodies, and not only in recipes and cooking amazing dishes. I went through different stages, questioning, reading, doing research…the works. That was 7 years ago. I realized that we are our biggest enemies in the process of losing weight. All our preconceived ideas about losing weight. All the crap we tell ourselves.

“Eat a piece of broccoli every Tuesday at 4:32 PM- you’ll lose ten kilos in month and live to be 100 years old“. How many times have you read similar statements online or even in print magazines? I say “even” because I think, maybe a bit unwary, that print should still offer a certain level of guarantee or quality. We are being flooded with reports, break-throughs, scientific discoveries, all kinds of findings coming from the elusively famous “British scientists”. One can find these articles in a variety of places, from social media, different platforms, blogs and even academic forums. So much stuff, so much contradictory stuff. Fat is bad, wait!, fat is actually not that bad, afterall. Coconut oil is everything! Blueberries are life! Your level of cholesterol is driven by what you eat, so put down that piece of bacon! Also, bacon gives you cancer! Flax-seeds are full of Omega-3! Goji berries will make you immortal! Adopt a Mediterranean diet and you’ll never have heart problems! Gluten is killing! Lactose is the devil! Probiotics will save your life! And on and on and on!
Now, let’s be honest and think about how much time we spend reading these or, for that matter, any other articles. The title and a quick diagonal? The title and the first few sentences? Most of the times we only skim through an article and we (almost) never bother to verify the facts presented. We simply take all info at face value. I find it rather naive that we trust the so-called journalists and we make big choices- from the food we eat to the votes we cast- based on what is, most of the time, bluff info. Pseudo-science is everywhere, these days anyone with a WiFi can pretend to be a learned scholar, add a pretty picture, praise the next-big-thing, covert hoards of well-intended people and call it a day. Say hello to the modern internet-health-charlatan, the one that drinks beers with your long-lost Nigerian cousin who insists he wires you your one million dollars inheritance. And even when this info comes from what should be more trustworthy sources, we find ourselves at a loss. Do you remember this study , lead by Professor Peter Rogers from the University of Bristol? Yes, this infamous study claims that, essentially, people who consume diet drinks could be more likely to lose weight than those who drink water. What comes out? The study is sponsored by International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), whose members include Coca-Cola & Pepsi.co. The funding from these biased actors didn’t appear in the paper for “lack of space”, argued the officials from Bristol University, when challenged. Click here if you’re curious to go into the details. I have a few academics in my close circle and family, and I can tell you the resorts of academic research and scientific publication are not always crystal-clear; they can be money-driven and dubious, to say the least.
So what to do in this grimm situation, when fact and fiction mingle into pseudo-science?

Food hacks, ep. 4: The art of scrum in the kitchen. Run your kitchen like a professional one

dishes

I don’t know if I ever told you I used to work in a gourmet restaurant. It was the best school I had in cooking, pairing and serving food. It was the first time in my life I tasted mozzarella (not at all what I expected), carpaccio, piccata, lobster, elk and so, so many other things. It was my self-discovery journey, almost an initiation ritual which channeled and reinforced my love of food and cooking. And I learned a thing or two along the way!
My boss, the chef and proud owner, was a Texas music teacher and avid jazz lover. His wife, who became one of my dearest friends, was a Polish university professor of English. They felt in love and opened a restaurant in the heart of Montana. I was 21 at that time, new to the US and looking to discover and learn as much as I could. I ended up in the restaurant by pure chance, for a dishwasher job. My boss didn’t want to hire me at first, because he didn’t like girls in the kitchen (more on that later)…especially a very skinny creature (oh boy, those were the days!) with a shaved head, blue painted nails and huge earrings (21, I told you). He thought there’s no way in hell I could manage. But I asked for a chance and I did manage: I put in place a system and became the best damn dishwasher! Once you’ve done dishes for 150 people one evening, you don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. I worked my way to different other jobs in the kitchen and outside it and I was soon to understand why my boss was weary of girls in the kitchen. More precisely when I tried to work behind the line, which is at the stoves. The heat, the constant sweating, the heavy lifting, the burns and the clock-work routine were just too much for me. The silly feminist I was then revolted, but the wiser 31 years old woman fully understands now. Guys, kitchen work is freaking tough! There are not a lot of women who can take the physical stuff, my hat’s off to those who can!
But along with stuffing my face with all the goodies I could get my hands on, I also observed the restaurant business. Fascinating stuff! I learned the very precious lesson of running my home kitchen like a professional one. Think about it: the main purpose of restaurants is to make money and serve good food, keeping lots people happy. Well, one approach to making money is, strangely enough, not wasting away money. Which I bet you can relate to when it comes to managing your own stuff at home. So, to summarize: not wasting money and making delicious food in a limited amount of time. Here’s what I learned; you can do this too, in your own kitchen.

Food Hacks, ep. 3: The true superheroes in your kitchen

kitchen-superheroes

Take any magazine and flip through it: you’ll see that, 9 out of 10 times, you’ll find at least one reference to superfoods. These miraculous things that give you glowy skin, perfect hair, good energy, feed your brain, burn your fat, keep you young, make you smart(er) and,eventually, make you immortal. Enter the SUPERFOODS. Starting with the grapefruit (first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, as grandmas all over the world say), passing through broccoli and avocado and finally ending (?) with cauliflower. Btw, dear cauliflower pushers, there’s not such thing as “cauliflower steak”. Look it up, “steak” is, by definition, a piece of meat. While eating these foods is not bad at all, don’t buy into the lie that is propagated through every channel available. These are not the superheroes you need to look for. The real superheroes in your kitchen are pretty basic stuff, faithful staples, that come to rescue whenever you’re in trouble. You know them all too well! Read More

Body image, health trends and weight loss. And women laughing at salads, ofc.

woman-laughing-collage

Let’s be honest here! Food trends come and go, but there’s one component that was always part of the game: looking good…which, in our western culture, translates into being slim. Or skinny. There was a subtle shift a couple of years ago, when all women magazines (yes, that’s my hidden pleasure, put it to rest now!) have started moving from advice on losing weight and being slim to being “in shape” and “glowy” and, finally, to being “healthy”. And it’s not just women, men face the same issues. They are more and more interested in the way they look (some have even started plucking their eyebrows…WHY? OH WHY???)(Sorry, couldn’t help it!). We’re all in the same fucked-up boat!

Food hacks, ep.2: Stuff people buy…but, of course, they shouldn’t

home-made

Food hacks is back!!! I’m thrilled to share this new episode about all the crap we shouldn’t be buying…let alone eating. Hope you enjoy!

People ask me the strangest questions and most of the times I can come up with a cheeky answer in a heart beat. Other-times, I’m dumbstruck and I blankly stare at them like cat stares at a calendar (literal translation of a Romanian saying)(because cats can’t read calendars and they just staaaaare). Most of these questions are food-related: where did you buy the……….. -insert one of the following: dough for a tart, hummus, pesto, croquettes, etc., etc., etc.. My bewilderment comes from the fact that I don’t really grasp the question: I mean, why would I buy such stuff? And then enlightenment: people ARE actually buying these things…but, of course, they shouldn’t.

So here’s a non-exhaustive list of crap people buy. I’m not including all the frozen meals, powder soups, bullions, silly desserts- I hope we’re well past that already. Let’s focus on the very practical side of things: ingredients, money and time. I’m gonna do an analysis of ingredients, price, time & effort involved and the recipes to make these at home. The prices come from various supermarkets in Brussels, but my (educated) guess is that these proportions apply pretty much wherever you are.

A story with pasta, but not about pasta

pasta

I was never pasta-crazy, maybe because in my family we don’t do pasta. And if we do, we do it very badly. I would never order it in a resto (come on, for sure they have something better) and I very rarely suggest making pasta at home. BUT my man used to live in Italy and he is the definition of a pasta lover.

Over the years I learned how to become friends with it. I learned not to boil it to a mush, I learned not to drench it in Parmesan and garlic (well…) and I learned that even I have a favorite pasta dish (butter, sour-cream, smoked salmon, parsley & black pepper, in case anyone’s wondering). But today’s story is not really about pasta, it’s about making the best with what you have.

Food hacks, ep.1: One chicken goes a long way

pot

Today I’m starting a new series called Food Hacks because when we’re aiming at simplifying our lives, we need to learn some optimization techniques. These are some of the things I do to keep a smooth flow of life, to avoid unnecessary shopping trips, to save time and money, too. To become the queen of zen (don’t ask how far along the way I’ve got on this one).

So I decided to talk about chicken, one of the most wonderful birds that have walked this earth. Truth is, one chicken goes a long way; I’ve been brought up in a tradition that celebrates the creative usage of every bit & piece. I know the best meat is on the bone (only emperors eat this, as per my grandpa), I know the carcass is the best thing to make soup of and I know the (roasted) butt of the chicken is absolutely the ambrosia of gods- by the way, when was the last time anyone had a chicken butt?

What’s next?

Transform your leftovers

Leftovers are probably the best thing that can happen to us. While most people are scared of leftovers, I always plan for some when cooking. And, most of the times, I like to give them a new life.

The leftover part of these lunch-boxes are the bits of chicken and the baked potato. It took me about 10 minutes to transform the chicken and it was totally worth it. I chopped and fried a box of brown champignons in a little bit of butter, just added some garlic, thyme, salt & pepper. I dumped in the chicken pieces and 2 full spoons of sour cream (like all Eastern Europeans, I know sour cream is amazing in almost any dish). And that was it, some chopped parsley to top! Next to it a half baked potato with a lump of blue cheese and green salad with cherry tomatoes, pepper, feta cheese and green onions. Don’t be afraid of the green onion at the office, the parsley takes away the oniony breath. Yep, that’s the trick of today.

the pickled spruit.

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Category: Nutrition