Your Scale is Not an Instant Read Thermometer

That brownie you ate last night is not what caused the extra two pounds on the scale this morning. I promise you that the brownie did not actually WEIGH two pounds, nor did it transform its calorie load into two pounds of fat in some sort of marathon fat-creating session overnight. Nope. Those two pounds could have come from a whole host of things, but the brownie was not one of them.

If I had a dollar for every client who said to me, “Well, I was up a pound this morning but if I hadn’t had that candy bar last night I’m sure I would be fine,” I’d be a wealthy, wealthy woman. For some reason, our girl brains want to create a direct cause and effect between what we ate an hour ago and what the scale says right now. But it just doesn’t work that way.

Gaining a pound of fat requires you to consume 3500 calories more than you’ve burned. That’s about ten brownies, for perspective. I generally tell people to weigh themselves no more than once a week…and to look for trends in their body weight. A very normal week to week fluctuation might be +1, -2, +2, -1. Note this pattern actually maintains your weight over the course of the month. Conversely, if you start to see plus signs on your chart for too many weeks in a row, it’s time to examine what you are eating and make some changes. What the scale says the morning after an indulgence is far less important that the pattern you observe over time.

So please, don’t jump on the scale each morning looking for your reward or punishment for yesterday’s food choices – you won’t really see the effects show up for about 3 days when those calories have either been burned or converted into stored fat. It’s a scale, not an instant-read thermometer. And remember that what scales like most of all is balance…so look for yours!

The Secret to Eating More Fruits & Vegetables

If you want to eat more fruits and vegetables, pay attention to the secret experienced cooks swear by – it’s your knives! I shared this secret on Fox19 Cincinnati this morning so if you’d like to see the clip, here it is!

If you’re wondering what knives have to do with getting you to eat your veggies, my premise is that most healthy meals involve some sort of trimming, chopping, dicing, and slicing.  If you are attempting this with dull or cheap knives, or with underdeveloped knife skills, there are numerous obstacles between you and that salad! Upgrading to a decent set of knives, taking good care of them, and learning to use them properly has a host of benefits, but here are my top 3.

So what are my top 3 benefits of having and using good knives?

1) Faster
Good, sharp knives are faster. Plain and simple. Slicing a tomato with a dull, low quality knife is an exercise in Zen-like patience as you saw back and forth hoping to eventually break through the tomato skin. If you’ve never used quality knives, you will be AMAZED by how much more quickly you are able to complete the preparation for any recipe.

2) Better
Quality knives just do a better job. They cause less (aesthetic) damage to the food when it’s being prepared, leaving you with more beautiful slices or dices on the plate. And when you’re dealing with healthy food, presentation matters even more. Since better knives don’t mangle the tomato or bread or whatever it is you are trying to cut, there is also less waste.

3) Safer
Paradoxically, you are actually less likely to cut yourself with a sharp knife than with a dull one! And since good knives are often sold in knife blocks, you’ll keep your fingers (and any little fingers that roam your kitchen drawers) from being accidentally cut when digging for a knife.

Ready to buy? There are three basic knives that should be in your collection. For less than $200, you can get a top quality version of the essential knives you’ll need for daily meal preparation.  And the perfect complement to your knives is a good cutting board like the Epicurean ones I had on Fox today.

A 7-10″ Chef’s Knife – this is your basic kitchen workhorse. It makes me crazy when I see someone using a teensy paring knife to chop a potato or carrot or celery into her hand! A cutting board and a chef’s knife make quick work of most chopping and dicing. This knife will also slice meat (ham, turkey, beef, etc) beautifully.

A 3-4″ Paring Knife – This is your “precision” knife – great for peeling vegetables or fruits or for small jobs like garlic or strawberries.

A Serrated bread knife – You need to use a sawing motion when using a serrated knife vs. just pushing the knife straight through the food to be cut. The serrated edge thereby slices bread without mangling it, but it’s also super for tomatoes which tend to get crushed under the weight of a less-than-perfectly-sharp chef’s knife.

There are countless brands of quality knives out there. I swear by Wusthof because I grew up with them and have owned them personally for the last 15 years. J.A. Henckels is an other excellent brand and I often hear good things about Japanese brands like Shun and Global as well. You may want to go to a store and actually hold the knife before buying. You’ll want one that feels right in your hand. Not too big or too small, too heavy or too light. You’ll know it when you find it. And then you’re off and chopping!

 

No-Bake Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake

If, like me, you’re pretty much always in the mood for something sweet, here’s a delightful little number to try this weekend. This dessert blends ricotta and  cream cheese, lightly sweetened with honey, on top of a graham cracker crust for a no-bake dessert that  wants to be a cheesecake. (Which is lovely because my favorite-but-not-so-healthy cheesecake recipe bakes for THREE HOURS! Well worth the time and the calories though, for the right occasion, if I do say so myself.) This one is quick and simple and won’t leave you feeling like a bowling ball has been dropped into your stomach. And if you’re not into blueberries, feel free to top this with any fruit your little heart desires.  Individual servings in ramekins would be adorable, don’t you think?

No-Bake Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake

makes 10-12 servings

Ingredients:

1 sleeve of graham crackers (I like Trader Joe’s – no partially-hydrogenated oil) or about 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup ricotta cheese (pour off any liquid)

1-8 oz. package cream cheese (low-fat is fine here)

2 tablespoons honey

1 lemon, zested

pinch of salt

1 pint of blueberries

Directions:

1. Pound graham crackers in a bag with a mallet into a fine crumb (or blend in your food processor). Combine with 3 tablespoons melted butter. Press into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish.

2. Whisk or beat the ricotta, cream cheese, honey, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Carefully spread over graham cracker crust.

3. Wash and pat blueberries dry. Spread over ricotta mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour to set. Can be made a day in advance.