Out of control

Nowadays the constant availability of food makes it easier to get more for less and less money. Unfortunately, the primary goal of food manufacturers is to sell in vast quantities to increase their profits. The consequence is that they produce what sells the best. Hence, for them to produce healthy products, there has to be a demand for them.

Our taste buds get used to what we eat – that’s a fact. If we eat a lot of junk food, our tastes adapt to it, and as a result crave more of the same. The more sugary or salty the foods we eat, the blander they taste over time, which means that we have to eat increasingly more sugar or salt to get the same satisfaction.

Weight loss products claim to be healthier because they are low in sugar or fat, but if you think about it, the flavor still has to come from somewhere. If you study the ingredient list thoroughly, you will often find that the overall sugar content is disguised as different kinds of sugar, but in the end, they are still sugar.

Eating a sugar-rich diet will make us hungry again very quickly. The reason for that is the spike in blood glucose and the resulting spike in blood insulin, whose role is to let our bodies store the unused glucose as fat. After it is stored, the drop in insulin starts a chemical reaction that makes us crave for more food.

In control

A couple of years ago, I gradually reduced the amount of fast food and frozen (pre-cooked) meals I ate. Occasionally, I went to the big fast food chains for a bite, sometimes because it seemed more convenient and other times because of a craving for their wares. Surprisingly, it didn’t taste as good as I remembered any more. My tastes had adapted to the non-junk diet, making me realize that I only used to eat junk food because I was eating junk food.

This craving for food with unnecessarily high amounts of sugar, salt, and fat is reversible. Highly processed foods contain loads of these ‘natural’ taste enhancers. To regain control of what we eat, we have to be the ones to choose the ingredients, not the manufacturers. This means we have to prepare our meals ourselves.

We can find many reasons not to cook: no time, not being able to cook, too much effort, the people around us won’t like it. I want to show how easy and not necessarily time intensive it is to prepare our own food. I’m not talking about making a five-star meal. It’s enough to be able to fry some vegetables, boil pasta or potatoes, and to know the basics of how to make food tasty without resorting to heaps of salt, sugar and fat. Those of us who live with someone else can share the joy of cooking. Or just take turns – that way, it is less “labor” intensive!

Essential equipment for day-to-day use:

• Wok (massive cast iron, not a thin one)
• Sharp knife (chef’s knife)
• Cutting board (how to cut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlnOsnr94qM)
• Bowl (to make salads)
• Pressure cooker (will reduce cooking time)
• Two-liter pot

Essential spices:

• Salt
• Black pepper
• Red pepper

Sample dishes

Start off with a simple meal – like lentil soup. It is easy to prepare and doesn’t take much time.

Lentil soup

Ingredients (3 – 4 servings):

• 4 potatoes
• 2 leek
• 1 onion
• 4 carrots
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

Dice the vegetables and boil it in a pot with the lentils until they are soft.

That’s it. Use a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time.

This dish is high in protein and fiber.

White cabbage and potatoes

Ingredients (4 servings):

• 1 cabbage head
• 5 potatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons ground red pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Wash the potatoes and the cabbage. Cut the potatoes into 3 cm cubes. Put the potatoes and half a cup of water in a pot. Cover and boil for about 20 minutes until you can stick a fork in them with ease.

Cut the cabbage in half. Cut into half-centimeter slices and then each slice in half.

Dice the onion and fry in a wok over high heat. Add olive oil.

After a minute add cabbage. Add salt, black pepper and red pepper. Stir occasionally and fry for another 5 minutes until lightly and evenly browned.

Add half a cup of water, turn the stove down to low and cover. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Serve cabbage with potatoes.

Salad and Salmon

Ingredients (2 servings):

Salmon:

• 400 g salmon fillet
• A piece of aluminum foil
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 200°C. Rinse salmon, pat dry with a paper towel and lay on top of aluminum foil. Season both sides with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place foil on a baking sheet or rack and bake for 15-20 min, or until fish is evenly colored.

Salad:

• 6 pieces of lettuce
• 2 tomatoes
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 small onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Chop all the ingredients into little bite-sized pieces. Place in a large bowl. Mix the oil with the spices and drizzle over vegetables.
Best enjoyed with ciabatta or whole wheat bread/bun.

These three recipes should help get you started. Try to add other vegetables for variety. For example, you could use some of the cabbage for your next salad. Just chop it into finer slices.

Fluctuations in weight

Do you weigh yourself every day? Since our bodies’ physical condition changes every day, our weight can fluctuate a lot from one day to another. Sometimes the difference can be as much as a kilogram or two. What we can do to counter these daily fluctuations is to measure our weekly weight, three days in a row, and then take the average. Always weigh yourself under similar conditions! For example, weigh yourself on Monday through Wednesday first thing after getting up, before you go to the toilet or eat or drink anything. That way you can produce comparable results.