Weight watchers and ayurveda? Together?

Last week I surrendered and re-joined Weight Watchers.  There is a part of my brain that rejects the Weight Watchers approach.  My, experience, however, is that Weight Watchers works really well for me for about three months of steady weight loss. Typically, after this, I can maintain my weight for a while until I face a change in my schedule that impacts my ability to exercise. 

What I suspect works well for me is surrendering to constant measurement -- at least for a while.  I measure my weight weekly, and track my food intake and activity daily.  Weight is an outcome measure, and food and activity are process measures.  If I don't stay on top of the PROCESSES, I can't expect the OUTCOME to change.  This time I've chosen to do the online version because my last time in 2007 I HATED the meetings. 

The current version of weight watchers tracks food and activity with "Points."  Every food and activity has a point value.  People are assigned a point "budget" for food each day with some extra flexible points available each week.  Points are spent by eating and earned through exercise.  Points earned through exercise can be spent on eating more food.   There are a bunch of fruits and vegetables that have no points -- creating an incentive to eat more of them and save points for other food. 

I started last Sunday (8/16/2014).  This Tuesday I was down a couple of pounds since I started.

This is not my first time at this Weight Watchers game.  In fact, it is my fourth time.  Each time the program has been slightly different.  My first time was almost 20 years ago.  I gained a bunch of weight in my first two years of college.  I packed on 50 lbs of beer, booze, late night pizza and the glorious Tuscany Bread from EBA's.  Think: Fresh baby spinach, basil & garlic marinated tuscan tomatoes, muenster cheese on homemade bread, served with lemon....yum.  In my college town, EBA's would deliver until 2am.  

In 1995, after my sophomore year of college, I followed a guy out to Los Angeles.  He was attending film school, and I was doing an internship in the entertainment industry.  The internship and job I later landed confirmed the entertainment industry was NOT for me.  Shortly after arriving in LA, I joined Weight Watchers.  Over the next several month, I lost the 50 lbs I'd gained.  Like many people I didn't keep it off permanently.  By the time I got pregnant in 2001, I had gained back a few pounds.  My breeding years were challenging to my weight management.  I did Weight Watchers again on my own in 2003 between my pregnancies, and lost about 30 lbs.  Then I did it again in 2007 and lost about 25 lbs. 

Other than pregnancy, working a full-time office job or going to school full-time is my biggest challenge to maintaining my weight.  Over the past 15 years, all four of my periods of gaining weight (1993-1995, 2002-2003, 2005-2007, 2012-2014) have been times when I was working or going to school full-time+.  The key to both weight management and weight loss for me is getting enough exercise.  With enough exercise, my food intake seems to (mostly) self regulate to maintain my weight.  I actually love to exercise, but juggling two young kids and school or work does not leave me a lot of time to exercise.  At this point, I'm determined to do work that still allows me to take care of my physical body. 

To be fair, I have pretty bad genetics for this fight.  Many (if not most?) people in my family of origin are overweight.

Last week, getting on the scale for the first time in a while, I saw the same number as when I started losing weight in 2007.  I don't want to maintain THAT weight.  I was ready to keep close track of what I'm eating and doing again....at least for a while.

My yogic journey introduced me to Ayurveda via a beautiful and tasty book my yoga teacher recommended called Eat, Taste, Heal.

 

I really WANT this to be the whole solution for me, but I seem to respond effectively to measurement.  

I use Weight Watchers for guidance on how much to eat to slowly and steadily lose weight and Ayurveda for guidance on WHAT to eat to balance my body.  It is turning out to be a nice pairing.  Many foods encouraged by an ayurvedic approach are fairly low in points (lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, and lean protein).  

Still a work in progress...Did I mention that I am not, generally, in favor of dieting?  I am not.  I am in favor of balancing how much I eat with how much I do.  Sometimes, I need a little help with this....just like sometimes I need a clock to know what time it is.  Maybe one day I will live a life that requires only intuitive time-telling with no real schedule and eating delicious and satisfying foods in the right amounts to nourish my body.  It's not today.  My kids get off the bus at 3:37. 

 

Broccoli and Cauliflower and Beets, oh my!

It will be hard to keep up with the farm share this week.  This assortment of broccoli and beautiful purple and green cauliflower appeared in the box this week.

  I still have two heads of broccoli from last week!  I haven't decided what to do with the cauliflower yet.  Broccoli is a staple in our home. 

We also have an abundance of beets. Beets often get roasted in our house.  I rinse them off and wrap them in aluminum foil.  Large ones I wrap individually, but little ones get wrapped in groups.  I throw them in the oven and turn it on.  I've used a variety of temps from 325ish to 425ish depending on how much time I have.  I roast them from 45 minutes to a few hours.  Sometimes I forget about them.  Sometimes, I turn the oven off just before leaving the house if they are not done.  When I return I have cool, roasted, whole beets.  The skins slide off cooled beets easily under cool running water (gloves help avoid hands turning pink if beets are dark in color).  I slice them and often throw them into a sweet and sour marinade to become quickly pickled beets.  Yum. 

The Anadama bread is already almost gone.  Our seven year old was bouncing up and down to try the bread as soon as the box arrived last night.  "Can I try the bread?  Can I try the bread?"

Baked eggplant parmesean medallions

I love eggplant parmesean, but prefer not to notice how much oil eggplant absorbs when fried.  For a long time, this was something I would not cook myself, but frequently ordered in restaurants.  This method of baking limits the oil in the recipe.  The stewed tomatoes on top eliminate the sogginess that sauce sometimes creates in eggplant parm.  I've now made a version of this recipe twice.  It quickly became my favorite way to consume the farmshare eggplants.  

Baked eggplant parmesean medallions
two medium sized eggplants, peeled with a vegetable peeler
8 plum tomatoes skins removed* and halved
3 cloves of Garlic pressed
Water
Fresh basil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
plain bread crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper
Olive oil
salt
grated cheese (this week I used a combo of fresh mozzarella and parmesean -- about 6 oz combined)

slice the eggplant into mediallions that are approximately 1/4 inch thick.  Salt both sides of the medallions and allow to sit for 20-ish minutes.  In the meantime, prepare the tomatoes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Coat a medium skillet with olive oil.  Add halved tomatoes and saute over medium-high heat.  Add three cloves of garlic through garlic press.  Once garlic starts to turn golden, add about a cup of water to the pan.  Continue to stir frequently over medium heat.  Add a handful of fresh basil, and salt to taste.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until tomatoes are all soft.  Add a bit more water if needed. 

Rinse salt off eggplant and pat dry.  Dip medallions in egg and dredge in seasoned breadcrumbs.  Place on baking sheet greased with 3 Tbs of olive oil.  Place sheet with eggpplant medallions in oven for 10 minutes.

Remove eggplant medallions from oven and flip over using a spatula.  Bottoms should be lightly golden.  Place part of a tomato on top of each medallion.  Use the remaining sauce in the pan for the smallest medallions. Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Each will look like a very small pizza. 

Return to oven for 10 more minutes, or until cheese is slightly golden and eggplant is fully cooked.   

Serve with french bread (recipe from Joy of Cooking, a favorite cookbook.  Mine is now held together with duct tape.)

*I remove remove skins from plum tomatoes by scoring the skins in an X shape on the bottom.  I remove the stem and area around the stem.  I plunge them for two minutes in boiling water and then remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water.  After a few minutes, the skins peel off easily with just fingers or a small paring knife.  

samadhi means bliss

Samadhi is the aspirational goal of my yoga practice.  Yoga, for me, extends beyond the practice of asanas (poses) to include eating well, living well, loving well, sleeping well, playing well, breathing well, working well and meditating.  It is practiced, but not perfected.  Each of these pursuits can increase or decrease my balance in the world.  

'chasing' is ironic.  I suspect chasing is one way one could never find samadhi. Nonetheless, chasing is the way I have often pursued things. It is a reminder to me that my intuitive approach is not always the best way to go. Though sometimes it is. 

Keeping up with the farm

Week two of the fall farm share...

Three years ago I subscribed to my first farm share at Edgewater, a wonderful local farm in Plainfield, NH.  I picked Edgewater because they deliver their summer shares to the community where I live each Tuesday.  I love the surprise each week of opening the box to find out what's there.  I started with a small summer share.  Last year, I extended into a fall share for six weeks.  This year, I had both.  The contents consistently challenge and reward me in the kitchen.  Three years ago, I discovered my first garlic scapes in my summer share, a delightful treat that I used in all sorts of delicious places:

However, the box sometimes contains more challenging ingredients that I work harder to prepare in a way that my family will eat.

Today, I am still working on some week one vegetables.  Trying to keep up because I know another box arrives on Wednesday.  I was very proud of myself for using four eggplants in one day this week, and getting four members of my family (including two kids) to help cook that meal.  It included baked egglplant parmesean medallions topped with garlicky stewed tomatoes and mozzarella and parmesean.  We also made a modified rattatouile (which I apparently can't spell) with eggplant, onions, sweet peppers, garlic, fresh basil and parsley and more tomatoes.  Both delicious.  At least one kid ate both. 

My challenge this week is two fennel bulbs like this one:

They are celery-like in consistency, but the problem is that they taste like licorice.  Having once had a memorable and unpleasant experience with Sambuca, a licorice flavored liquor, the licorice flavor is ruined for me.  Possibly for life.  This was more than 20 years ago.  I placed the fennel in my onion bowl this week, so I would be reminded repeatedly to find a use for them.  First, I offered them in an email to the five other families that create our fall farm share carpool group.  The farm doesn't deliver the fall farm share to our community, so several families banded together to share the 45 minute drive to the farm each week.   We each pick up all the shares one week and deliver to five other houses.   No takers from them on the offer of more free fennel.  I'm thinking fennel is not well loved. 

This morning I was inspired by a memory of my father.  One of the things he cooked in his later years was a red cabbage dish he often served with saurbraten, a german pot roast.  A large head of red cabbage from last week's box remained in my fridge. I remembered that he sometimes put fennel seeds in his red cabbage.  This might have been an accident because I think his recipe actually calls for caraway seeds.  In any case, I decided to try slow-cooked fennel and red cabbage.  Plus beer.  My father liked beer.  There are a few rare beers in my fridge this week.  Since I no longer drink them, they are also part of my cooking challenge for the week.  I used two today. 

I love the challenge of cooking with what's available.  I rarely follow recipes exactly (except when I bake).  Here is what I conjured up today inspired by the fennel, red cabbage, and beer:

Red cabbage with fennel and ale
~1 Tbs Butter
1 small onion sliced on my mandolin
2 bulbs fennel sliced thin on my mandolin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red cabbage, cut in thin slices
1 bottle of ale
splash of white vinegar
handful of light brown sugar
~1 tsp salt
a dash or three of ground black pepper

Saute the onion and fennel in the butter in a large pot until limp.  Add the garlic and saute a few more minutes.  Add cabbage and a bottle of ale.  Bring liquid to boil and cover.  Add a splash of white vinegar (maybe 1/4 cup-ish) and a handful of brown sugar (maybe 1/3 cup).  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Reduce heat to low.  Stir occasionally.  Cook over low heat for 90 minutes to 2 hours. 

For the second bottle of beer I started a beef stew in my crock pot.  My crock pot gets lots of use this time of year.  In the past few weeks I have made meatballs and marinara, pulled pork, and chicken thighs and potatoes. 

Beef stew with ale
1 onion, choped in 1 inch pieces
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
handful of carrots
handful of white mushrooms, quartered
2 lbs of cubed stew beef
5 red potatoes cut in 1 inch pieces
1 bottle of ale
2 cups of beef broth, heated up
handful of flour mixed into beef broth
dash or three of black pepper
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in crock pot.  Set to high.  Wait. 

The garlic, onion, and potatoes are from the farm share.