This time of year it is very typical to read the calorie count
of traditional holiday meals. The Thanksgiving Day Turkey Feast
easily comes in at 1,400 calories and the Christmas Day Prime Rib
Extravaganza packs in a whopping 1,800 calories. Experts warn us
that weight gain from holiday eating is inevitable. But I dare say
that, especially for those of us who have undergone gastric surgery
for weight management, it is not the big meals that do us in: it is
the
BLT's: Bites, Licks, and Tastes. I wish I knew
which diet program or person coined the BLT's so I could give them
credit, it has been in my diet-talk for as long as I can remember.
You have probably heard it it too.
The Bites, Licks, and Tastes will do us more harm than any big meal
because even with our little tummy pouches there is always room for
another Bite, Lick or Taste. When we sit down to a big meal our
pouch fills quickly and when we are full discomfort occurs and
further eating adds to that discomfort, so we stop eating. That is
how the pouch is supposed to work. But standing in the kitchen
stirring a sauce or baking cookies it seems we always have room for
little Bites, Licks and Tastes. I've talked to many people who are
in the BLT boat with me, maybe you are there too. So here are a few
tricks I've learned to help me avoid caloric uptick and weight gain
that comes from unchecked BLTs:
Eating vs. Tasting: A skinny professional chef
taught me this trick. When preparing sauces, reductions and gravies
it is necessary he taste-test the mixture for seasoning and
texture. As a home cook my inclination is to use a soup spoon to
take full spoonful of the sauce for my culinary taste taste.
"You are using the wrong end of the spoon!" he scolded.
The skinny chef demonstrated that by using the handle end of the
spoon and just dipping the tip in the gravy for a taste on the
tongue he could quickly discern any seasoning adjustments required
at the cost of very few calories. "
The objective is to taste
mindfully and deliberately in order to make an informed decision
about the sauce. You, on the other hand," he said,
"were
eating, not tasting." What an awakening moment! He was
correct. In fact, I am certain that in many cases I have eaten a
meal's worth of calories in the guise of "testing" while I
cook.
Picky Taster: Some things simply do not require a
taste test like pasta, rice, potatoes or other starchy side-dishes.
Face it: we already know how pasta or rice taste so when we
taste-test pasta or rice we are either tasting to check doneness or
we are eating. For me, most of the time I am eating. Skinny chef
said he learned to test pasta and rice for doneness by taking two
samples: one he would chew and the other he would cut with a fork
on a cutting board. The simultaneous action of chewing and cutting
taught him the feel of doneness with utensils so he no longer needs
to taste for doneness. Now he only tests doneness with the fork and
cutting board method. As he told me,
"I'm in the kitchen for 10
or 12 hours a day. If I tasted a sample from every pot of pasta
this kitchen puts out it would add up to hundreds of calories a day
eating something that I already know how it tastes. Why take on
those calories?"
Spit like a lady. One of the most elegant
sophisticated women I know has a job that requires her to taste
test food for a commercial retailer. On a given day she may be
required to taste 12 cheesecakes and a dozen different cupcakes.
Some job for a person recovering from morbid obesity with weight
loss surgery! This classy woman has no qualms about tasting and
spitting. She tastes, chews and spits. And then offers her
informed, low-calorie opinion on the products at hand. There is no
shame in spitting, she has taught me. If you must taste but do not
have it in your caloric budget or dietary plan then spit: just spit
like a lady and carry-on.
Do the Twist! One danger that befalls us this time
of year is indulgent eating that leads to corrective eating. By
that I mean indulging in sweet offerings leads us to correct the
flavor balance by eating something salty and a cycle of corrective
eating begins. Sweet-Salty, Sweet-Salty. Are you familiar with this
cycle? It took me a very long time to figure this out and I can
recall that as a child my dad would often say he needed something
sweet to chase the salty taste away. After gastric surgery this
eating cycle can be damaging to our sensitive system throwing our
blood-glucose levels out of balance, possibly causing
dumping syndrome. As well as I
understand our nutritional needs following weight loss surgery
occasionally I find myself caught-up in this cycle. It happens
easily this time of year. Recently I have taken a lesson from the
French who for generations have relied upon the palate cleanser
between menu courses to remove lingering flavors in the mouth and
improve digestion. A palate cleanser effectively stops a
sweet-salty cycle of corrective eating. It is a simple and
effective fix. Try iced water with a pinch of lemon zest and a
squeeze of lemon juice stirred in with a little honey for
sweetness. Or try green tea or mint tea, warm or iced, to break an
eating cycle. For a sophisticated treat try lemon ice cubes blended
in a slushie as a reset when your holiday eating feels out of
control.
(See the recipe in the sidebar.)