Cooking for Weight Loss

If this is your idea of cooking...you've got no hope

If weight loss is your goal, then the food you choose to eat is probably going to have to change to some degree. Although I believe you can lose weight eating whatever you like, there will be an easy and harder path to weight loss.

The base of it will always be a caloric deficit. After that it’s a matter of feeling satisfied with the food you eat while still maintaining this deficit.

Some people like simplicity and don’t want to even bother experimenting with new foods. These type of people stick with a simple rotation of the same 10-12 foods each week. They get used to the portion sizes and calorie counts of each food/meal and once they have a system that works they don’t deviate from it.

This is how most traditional bodybuilding diets are structured. It’s usually a matter of simplicity rather than variety or choice.

If this sounds like a sentence to hard labor then there is another way, BUT it requires you to be somewhat creative in the kitchen and know your way around the grocery store.

There is an endless amount of great meals that you could cook that will allow for weight loss and maintaining a caloric deficit AND taste awesome and leave you feeling satisfied…IF you know how to make them!

I personally have experimented with a few things but I am by no means a wizard in the kitchen…

Luckily a friend of mine who is also one of the models in the upcoming Venus Index workout system just happens to be such a wizard in the kitchen and she is always making me kick ass cookies and muffins, and all kinds of other items that are much lower calorie than the commercial counterpart but taste just as good.

I’ve manage to talk her into teaching me a few things and she’s also agreed to teach you a few things. In the coming weeks I’ll be posting some videos and recipies she has agreed to share.

John

Posted by johnbarban in Calories, food, Weight Loss

Tags: Lose weight, low calorie cooking, low calories |39 Comments

39 Responses to “Cooking for Weight Loss”

Alek Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 10:21 am
“Although I believe you can lose weight eating whatever you like, there will be an easy and harder path to weight loss.

The base of it will always be a caloric deficit. After that it’s a matter of feeling satisfied with the food you eat while still maintaining this deficit.”

There’s a third path/alternative. Something like the McKenna system or Gabriel Method. This is where you “enjoy” and chew the food so much, that you end up feeling full on much less food.

Right now I’m on about 1200-1500kcal a day, and am a big guy. But I eat whatever I want, and don’t put a limit of 1500. I just automatically end up eating in that range by following skinny-guy-eating, which is being super picky with your food, and eating super slow.

Except for the one chicken breast I add for protein, all my food would be deemed “100% junkfood”. What happens though is a “magic trick”. I buy a huge pizza… But I actually get full on eating just a few bites, and then throw away the rest.

I mean, I like your style of finding foods that “make you feel full” and having an eating plan. That plan though, assumes you have to manage meals, because the assumption is you have to finish the meal.

But there’s also this other option… Where you don’t have to actually finish the meal. Most meals, I buy something that has like 1000 calories, but get full on just a few bites (100kcal), and refrigerate the rest.
Alek Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 11:07 am
In other words… “low calorie cooking” is based on the assumption that you have to finish the meal.

Low-calorie-eating (retraining yourself to eat like a naturally skinny person)… is about eat few calories each time you eat. So in essence, why does it matter how many calories I cook, when I’m going to eat 100-200 calories anyway? Give me a 3000 calorie meal, I’ll still end up only eating 100-200 kcal before I stop eating.

Btw… I hope these 2 posts don’t sound like criticism, I just realized they might. I’m just adding another paradigm I haven’t seen tackled yet by your or Pilon. Basically, the 3 main ways of eating “whatever” and still losing weight I see so far are:

1) Intermittent fasting, where you eat whatever you want when you do eat, and then not eat anything for another set period
2) Low Calorie Cooking, where you eat whatever you want, provided it has fewer calories, fits a calorie limit
3) Skinny guy eating, where you retrain and recalibrate your senses and how you eat food, to where you end up eating like a naturally skinny guy
johnbarban Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Alek,

Yeah it’s just less, however you arrive at it. Some people can’t ‘retrain’ themselves to eat half of what is served. Some people need to avoid their fav foods cuz they’ll eat too much no matter what they know logically to be true.

Other people really don’t want to fast, but they’re fine with eating a bunch of different low cal/high volume food.

I can’t say that any one of them is the ‘right’ way…in fact the right way is the one that worked for each person.

JB
Brigitte Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Exactly guys,

Anyway is good as long as it works for you. Although I try to do like Alek and feel satisfied with smaller portions of whatever even junk food..I also like to tweak family favorites into low cals versions. Looking forward to get recipes from that friend of yours!

Brigitte
Cooper Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
“I can’t say that any one of them is the ‘right’ way…in fact the right way is the one that worked for each person.”

I like that quote. I tried the Paul McKenna method and I have no doubt it works if you stick to it. However, I never got used to putting my fork down after every bite and taking 30 minutes to eat a meal.

The 6 small meals per day never worked because of the time commitment, the size of the meals and how much it interfered in other areas of my life.

I realised I like big meals and I like to eat fast. This is why ESE works for me.

Cooper
Jordan D. Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Yeah, it’s all about the calorie deficit, and there are many ways to create and adhere to a deficit. So much useless dogma floating around in cyberspace. So unnecessary.

I like eating a mix of my favorite high-cal foods, complimented with low-cal foods to add volume (and I guess some nutrition, too, as a bonus lol.) A slice of pizza or pie combined with an apple, potato, green beans, strawberries, etc.

I get full so quickly since I started eating less. Especially since I’ve been eating one meal per day over the last three weeks or so. I’ll put together a meal of 1000-1100 calories, but it’s too much! I get full 2/3 of the way through it! It would be hard to eat too many calories this way. It’s just not comfortable to eat more. I haven’t done it yet, but I’m pretty sure I could drop my calories down to 800-900 if I really wanted to, and still get full!
Cooper Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Jordan,

Don’t you find it amazing how appetite adjusts to how often you eat. When I used to eat every 3 hours, I used to get hungry every 3 hours. Now that I eat once per day, I only get hungry once per day. And I used to believe in the 6 meals per day dogma because I got hungry every 3 hours. I never considered it was the other way round.

Cooper
Alexander Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Not related to the topic, but I honestly started laughing when I read the picture caption.

Cooking for weight loss should be kept simple in my opinion. The whole “eat a diverse variety of food” myth is so heavily pushed by conventional dieting, but it simply doesnt work.

Most people dont have time to buy a 50+ item grocery list of obscure fruits and vegetables and cuts of meat and natural dairy and different cheeses etc etc etc

One useful lesson that can be learning from bodybuilders is to keep it simple. My grocery list each month consists of 10 or 12 main foods, along with 3 or 4 different fruits and vegetables that change depending on season.
John Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
JB,

Would there be any problem to eating the same thing every day. I usually eat a breakfast burrito with eggs around bruch time and then whatever is for dinner.

Any problem with eating the breakfast burrito every day?
Jordan D. Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Cooper, I think people would be really surprised how easy it is. My stomach grumbles a little bit in the mid-afternoon, but it’s minor and manageable. I’ve also made gradual changes to my eating schedule that may have helped my body make the transition. At first, I ate two snacks and dinner, then two small meals, then a snack in the mid-afternoon and dinner, then I realized that I didn’t need the snack, so now I just eat dinner!

Alexander, I agree. If there’s any “variety” in my diet, it’s based purely on my pleasure and convenience! lol.
Tracey Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I have found that if I eat sugar,it makes me hunger and it harder to stay in a deficit. If I stick to protein,fat and veggies..I can eat a lot more volume for fewer calories. My favorite thing now is seasonal produce at my farmers market,lots of cherries,berries etc.
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I have found that chicken thighs really make me feel full. Chicken breast tenderloins don’t have the same effect on me. Maybe it’s the considerably higher fat content?
Robert Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Hell yea!!! What’s to hate about enjoying great foods on a regular basis?!!!

“Some people like simplicity and don’t want to even bother experimenting with new foods. These type of people stick with a simple rotation of the same 10-12 foods each week. They get used to the portion sizes and calorie counts of each food/meal and once they have a system that works they don’t deviate from it.

This is how most traditional bodybuilding diets are structured. It’s usually a matter of simplicity rather than variety or choice.”
Tracey Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
I agree about chicken thighs!
Al Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
Coopr and Jordan D,

This “one meal a day” idea has me intrigued. I have one question for both of you. With your one meal a day, do you tend to gorge or do you eat until you are full? Thanks!
Alek Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
“Some people can’t ‘retrain’ themselves to eat half of what is served. ”

I think its more preferences. Because its just a habit. Some people just might find fasting or low-cal cooking an easier habit to adopt. I doubt either is something you “can’t” do.

Otherwise I agree 100%, ya, its about what works for you. I’m sensing more and more the “paradigm” is changing, as there are more and more diets/bestsellers based on the concept that its all about find a way to just eat less. And people keep coming up with fancy new ways to do it.
Alek Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
“I realised I like big meals and I like to eat fast. This is why ESE works for me.”

The big meal preference is valid. I had it too. But over time, with coming back to mckenna after a few failed ESE attempts, I figured out that the “I like big meals” thing was purely a rationalization for psychological eating on my part. So, you might want to think if you really do like “big meals” for the physical feeling (if it does actually feel better to be fuller), or if its just psychological.

As for speed… I don’t think there are any valid physiological reasons or benefits to eating fast. And time isn’t an issue either, because you don’t actually take 30 minutes per meal if you eat slow. That’s just psychological defense, your mind going “woooah, I’m losing time being this slow”.

In truth, 2 bites at 30 seconds per bite, take the same overall time as 4 bites at 15 seconds per bite. If you eat twice as slow, you end up eating two times less food, so no, you don’t actually waste all your day eating.
Cooper Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Al,

I think it depends on how you define gorge. I probably do eat until I’m full or a bit beyond. It’s definitely beyond the point of just being satisfied. However, when you compare that to what I used to eat for a “cheat” meal, it’s not much. In a typical “cheat” meal, I would have had a 16″ pizza, a tub of Haagen Dazs ice-cream, a large bar of chocolate and a litre of coke! Those days are long gone.

I just find the “one meal a day” approach to be a very easy way to control calories without counting them. Unless you completely stuff yourself, it’s very difficult to eat at or above BMR on one meal a day.

I only plan on doing this while I plan to lose fat. To maintain, I’ll probably switch to two meals. I doubt I’ll ever go back to three. I was never really hungry at breakfast time anyway. I on’y used to eat breakfast because I thought it was the most important meal of the day.

Cooper
Cooper Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Al,

You may well be right regarding the psychology but I tried the McKenna method and I couldn’t stick to it. There was definitely a huge reduction in speed so your example of doubling the speed but halving the amount is completely underestimating the speed my friends and I eat. I know this because I eat out for at least 50% of my meals and when I was doing the McKenna method, my friends always had to wait a while for me to finish.

I also felt quite strange putting my fork down after every bite and chewing my food so much. Maybe it wasn’t noticeable to the others but it felt like it was. I always felt uncomfortable eating that way. Now I can eat the same way as my friends when I’m out and stay much thinner than them because I eat less at the other times.

I think you make the mistake of assuming that because the McKenna method works for you, it will work for everyone.

Cooper
Cooper Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Last comment was meant for Alek.
Al Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Cooper,

You talk about your “cheat meals” and what you typically eat for them, BUT what to do you eat normally? If your normal one meal a day consists of eating whole foods (meat, fruit, and/or veggies only) then yes it is easy to eat below your BMR. Or do you eat literally whatever you want in you normal meals? Thanks!
Al Says:
June 29th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Cooper,

Before you answer my questions you need to know that my biggest gripe with all of this “diet/weight loss stuff” is if weight loss is all about “what” you eat instead of “how much” you eat. There is a big difference. This is a dilemma that I can not get a hold of. Thanks!
Cooper Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 12:18 am
Al,

When I was talking about cheat meals, I meant a long time ago before I discovered eat stop eat. Basically, I would attempt a bodybuilding type diet and make a mistake by not following one of the rules, then that would send me on a guilt binge. That was what I meant by cheat meal. I haven’t done that since ESE.

As for your question. No, I don’t watch what I ate. I eat anything I want as long as it tastes good. I’ve lost 60 lbs doing exactly what John says. It’s all about how much you eat.

I doubt what you eat makes much of a difference, if any. True, it’s harder to overeat meat and veggies but if I’m eating meat and veggies all day, I’m far more likely to get bored and end up binging on all the foods I’m missing out on at other times.

Cooper
norwegianette Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 4:53 am
Hey,

Sounds exciting. Personally I find more than worrying too much what I eat (because I typically eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the office at least 4 days a week and so can’t always control it), eating slowly and not doing anything else while you eat (besides talking to your the people you’re dining with) makes it a lot easier to eat less. Also, if I’ve overeaten a few days in a row I feel really hungry all the time when I start eating smaller amounts again (even though I know I’ve eaten as much as I need to), and I find a 24 hr fast really helps “reset” my feelings of hunger.

On a not entirely related note, do you have a release date set for the venus index? Really excited for it
Jaxon Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 6:18 am
I think Norwegianette had a good point about using a fast to “reset” the eating habits and fullness threshold, which I also find works for me.
Al Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 8:27 am
Cooper,

You say that you eat one meal per day BUT you just said that you use ESE. Which one is it? How can you eat one meal a day everyday and still us ESE? I am confused. Thanks!
Cooper Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Al,

When I say “before ESE” I mean before I discovered Brad and John’s work. John openly says that ESE is one way but the bottom line is to eat less.

Sometimes I still throw in ESE fasts on the days where I don’t have only one meal. For example, on a Saturday, it’s typical for me to go out to eat for two meals and drink in the evening. I’m not going to refuse going out with friends because of some diet rule. I’d rather throw in a fast the day before or the day after and have a light meal instead of a big meal.

The bottom line is that I’ve found a way of eating for fat loss that doesn’t interfere with any other aspect of my life, and I think that’s the key.

Cooper
Al Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 9:06 am
Cooper,

I don’t think you answered my question. Throughout the week do you just eat one meal per day? If you put in a ESE fast every now and then isn’t that the same as what you was already doing, daily 24-hour fasting? Isn’t that the definiton of one meal a day = daily 24-hour fasting? I hate to twist your words around; I am just trying to figure out how you lost your 60 lbs (which is what I need to lose lol). Thanks!
Al Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Cooper,

Okay I think I understand:

1) On normal days you eat just one meal a day

2) On days where you know you will eat more than one meal you like to throw in a ESE fast

The thing that confuses me is in my mind a ESE fast is the same as eating one meal a day. Hopefully you can clarify this. Thanks!
Cooper Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Al,

Yeah, you’ve got it. The only difference is during the week, my one meal is big, like 1500 cals – 2000 cals. When I do an ESE fast, the one meal is a normal meal, probably 400 – 600 cals. Sometimes I even take the ESE a step further and extend the fast to an entire day without eating rather than a 24 hour period. I might have my one big meal on a Thursday evening and then not eat until Saturday morning.

All I really do is alter my diet around my lifestyle rather than the other way around.

Cooper
Cooper Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 10:31 am
I’d just like to stress that the way I do it is probably not the way for everyone. I think the best way to do this is to assess your lifestyle and write down the eating events that you don’t want to give up, then just alter your eating habits for the other times.

It just so happens that I have a few groups of friends who like to go out to eat during the week. When we go out, we typically have 3 course meals and a glass of wine. That doesn’t leave room for anything else during the day.

I work from home so I’m not missing out on anything by not eating during the day. Since I get pretty bored working from home, it’s good for me to get out in the evenings.

Cooper
Al Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Cooper, Thanks for the advice, especially the “alter my diet around my lifestyle rather than the other way around” part.
johnbarban Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Norwegianette,

The release date for the Venus Index will be Aug 30th.

JB
Jordan D. Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Al, I definitely don’t gorge. My meal is typically around 1000-1100 calories (rough estimate, definitely no more than 1200-1300.) I typically get full before the end of the meal. So, like Cooper, I tend to eat past fullness. There are certain foods that I want to eat, so I’ll eat them anyway! lol. I could probably eat less and be satisfied, but my calorie intake is pretty low as it is.

Like Cooper, I’ll go back to two meals when I’m done with my weight loss. My one meal is clearly too little food for a maintenance diet! lol.
Jordan D. Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Cooper, congrats on the 60 pound weight loss! I’m down about the same amount, 58-59 pounds, doing the same thing: eating what I want, just less of it. It’s amazing how many people truly believe that it’s impossible to lose weight this way. But we know better.
Alek Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
“I think you make the mistake of assuming that because the McKenna method works for you, it will work for everyone.”

Not really, I am not making that mistake. As it didn’t work for me either for months on end, lol. It actually takes a while to get it right. Everyone is different in terms of priorities and preferences, so I’m not saying its the best for everyone. I’m just calling out rationalizations when I see them.

For example, to me the following is valid: “I actually like using food right now as a way to feel good, so I don’t mind eating fast, since I find it easier to fast than to master my emotions… And right now its not a priority”.

This however sounds like pure rationalization (sorry): I eat fast, because it feels weird not to, and my friends have to wait for me. Anything feels weird before its a habit. It took me 6 months before I internalized it. Right now to me it feels weird not to be slow.

The emotion of “it feels weird” is something we all get, when we do something that’s not usual (a habit) for us. Its not objectively weird. Naturally skinny people don’t seem to have a problem of people having to wait for them or losing out on friendships

**Again** I don’t want to be mistaken for a McKenna evangelist. I’m not saying everyone must use that. I just don’t tend to accept rationalizations that aren’t objective objections.

“I Prefer to fast instead of to remove emotional eating” is a fine reason. Something like “its weird to eat slower” and “people will wait for me to finish”, you know that’s just a backwards rationalization.
Jason Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Hi John,
Do you think a natural sweetener like Stevia, since it contains essentially zero calories, can be helpful as a weight loss tool if helps a person control calories?

Jason
johnbarban Says:
June 30th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Jason,

Yes, if you can replace some sugar calories with a sweetener then that will help with weight loss…provided you are removing calories you would have otherwise consumed as part of your regular routine.

JB
Lillea Says:
July 7th, 2010 at 1:21 am
I’m looking forward to the recipes on the site! LOL for the Pop Tarts picture. Even when I was a kid Pop Tarts tasted vile to me.

I’ve followed different dietary systems in my life, but always kept calories in check. I had various ‘tricks’ with each system so I wouldn’t be plagued by hunger. For example, when I was on a low fat, high carb diet, I ate lots of fiber. Too much fiber really. lol

I enjoy reading what other people do to keep calorie levels low.

I find that for satiety and good energy levels, a Paleo type diet works best for me combined with intermittent fasting (I love to eat at night, so I time things that way). But if I don’t count calories in between my fasts, my weight will start to climb because I end up eating a bit too much.

I imagine that I’ve had great success counting calories (meaning I’ve managed to stay at or close to my ideal weight for most of my life) because I eat foods that are easier to calculate and I prepare almost everything from scratch, or close. I use the most accurate digital scale that I can afford. Plus I do all of the things that most people don’t when it comes to counting, including weighing any packaged foods that I eat and rounding up because I learned many years ago not to trust the labels. Some people might see this as a chore, but I don’t. I enjoy it. I’ve stayed close to my ideal weight for most of my life doing this, which is great. But most people don’t want to do it.

39 Responses to “Cooking for Weight Loss”

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