Five Tips to Prevent Weekend Weight Gain

Let’s say a person (perhaps you) develops a stellar eating routine that involves cooking, hydrating and eating lots of green things. By Friday that person (perhaps you) feels accomplished, clothes are looser, energy is through the roof- you get the picture. Then, person (you?) goes to Connecticut or Fire Island or stays put, after all it’s summer and things are carefree wherever you are. Person enjoys the weekend (a little too much) with extra cocktails and barbeques and fun, fun, fun. What’s the big deal you say? No big deal if your weight loss from Monday to Friday is erased and you’re good with bloat and more.

OK have a good day you’re screwed. No, no of course there’s a way to balance cocktails with consciousness, even a way to make progress over the summer. Truthfully, sure it’s nice out now but weekends are tricky all year round let’s sort them out.

Make room for the weekend

There are 52 weekends a year so what goes on from Friday to Sunday shouldn’t be all that shocking. Use Thursday to your advantage. Thursday is a day where you skip your grains and skip your cocktails so that your weekends can be slightly (I said slightly) looser.

Pre-eat

It’s not only the alcohol calories (that your body burns before it gets to any love handle or back fat), it’s the food we consume once we’ve had the drink and sadly the food we may think makes us feel better the next day. You must pre-eat. Have asparagus (breaks down alcohol and debloats you, how’s that for a twofer?) or a little good fat (walnuts or olives work well) before you imbibe. Alcohol will affect you 3x slower if you do this and that’s a good thing.

Meals Matter

There’s much more winging it on the weekends. Instead of defined meals, more time around the house often leads to grazing or what I like to call pupu platter eating. Pupu platter eating isn’t pretty. I suggest a “walk through” on weekend mornings. Take a minute to think about where you’re going to be and what you will eat. Think in terms of distinct meals and snacks. Even if your day starts later I’d suggest 3 meals. This is better than two meals and ten snacks.

Move it (not just for workout)

Maybe you went to a spin class, that’s awesome. But sitting on the beach, by the pool or at brunch (grrrr) for hours isn’t in your best interest. I’ve written about my fitbit. A tracker is a great thing on the weekends. You’re not chained to a desk; let’s see what you got.

Make sure you’re set up

Be super careful if you do go away on the weekends that you’re set up for the week. Food shop on your way home or have groceries delivered. You need your tools and a menu for the week ahead.

So if you’re feeling puffier today than on Friday, put your plan in place. There are 13 more weekends until Labor Day.

Do you eat differently on the weekends? What’s you’re biggest challenge? What do you do to keep things clean? What’s your favorite thing you did (or ate) this past weekend?

Can Hot Dogs be Healthy?

We were recently asked this question by a writer. Carolyn did some hot dog digging and she’s here with some hot dog help before the long weekend.

Fourth of July weekend is a time to celebrate all things American. What’s more American than firing up the grill for some burgers and hot dogs? We’ve discussed burgers (grass fed is key) and Lauren has given us some delicious ideas (pesto turkey burger: yes please) in BBQ greatest hits. So today, it’s time to talk hot dogs. I promise, it’s not all bad but let's get the bad out of the way...

The Downside of Dogs

Hot dogs are one of those foods that people love but really don’t want to know about. No, they’re not made from pig butt or lips or anything else your older siblings told you the second you finished eating one. But “mystery meat” might still be accurate for some brands on the shelves, which can be up to 15% “variety meats” such as like heart, liver and kidney. Then there are other issues: high in fat, high in sodium, lots of processing and additives.

I'm not suggesting you take up hot dog making but consider that a homemade beef frank would contain beef, water, egg whites and spices. Compare that to a Ball Park hot dog:

Beef, Water, Corn Syrup, Salt, Potassium Lactate, Sodium Phosphate, Flavorings, Sodium Diacetate, Sodium Nitrite, Extractives of Paprika.

Gross, right? Why is there corn syrup in your hot dog? I’ll save the sweet for dessert, thank you very much. Even more concerning are nitrites. They are responsible for extending shelf life, and research shows they also may be carcinogenic. 

Hot Dog Help

You can avoid nitrites by buying uncured hot dogs. They don't use any chemically preservatives.  Just like when it comes to the burgers, you want to go organic with meat whenever possible, and better yet, grass fed. Grass fed cows have less total and saturated fat (and are less miserable) compared to factory-farmed cows. Look for brands like Applegate Farms, Lets Be Frank, Colemann’s, Niman Ranch, or Organic Prairie.

If you’re at a game or relative’s house, chances are you don't have much say over nitrite content of your hot dog. Before you start a fight over frankfurters, there's a semi-remedy. Piling on antioxidant rich condiments like sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), and whole grain mustard counteracts some of the nastiness from nitrites.

And while you’re making better decisions with the dog, do the same with the bun. Skip the white squishy type. Lisa talked about the benefits of sprouted grains recently, and turns out, Food For Life (Ezekiel 4.9) and Alvarado St. both make the ideal buns for your barbeque. Udi’s, the gluten free gods, also make a delicious gluten free hot dog bun.

Label Lingo

A few other frankfurter facts, don’t be wooed by “reduced fat”, “turkey” “chicken” or “veggie” dogs.  Reduced fat dogs often add ever more chemicals to make up for the mouth feel of fat. With Turkey and chicken, you still need to read the ingredients. It’s the quality of the meat, not just the source. Veggie dogs are TVP-based concoctions; veggies are not supposed to taste like hot dogs.

 While it’s a meat minefield out there, hot dogs can be healthy (or healthier). Look for the brands we mentioned, be clever with condiments and enjoy your hot dog on a wholesome bun. Most of all  we wish you a happy and a healthy 4^th of July.

PS. There is nothing American about bacon or chili cheese dogs. 

Don't Let Summer Make You Loosey-Goosey (or just "Loosey")

For the last 9 or so months Friday morning for me went something like this. Wake up at 5:00am, finish up the day’s blog post, return emails, hop on a phone session with a client in Taiwan, get the kids up, take them to school and go for a run. Today is a little different and not only because I “slept in” until 5:30. Today is different because there is no school. Our family is in that post school year purgatory period where academics are over but camp has not started. I was reminded of this when I read a post on Vicarious Chelsea aptly titled “routine” where she expressed excitement in all that comes with summertime but also fear that her productivity would cease with the school year.

Regardless of whether or not you have kids, most of us find our routine changing. One of our interns (the best part about summer) told me she enjoyed a recent post on weekend eating. She was a little concerned because “now that I graduated every day, over the summer, is like a weekend.”  Summer invites us to relax, to spend more time outside, to go to barbeques and out after work. In the summer we go away more and we (ok I) drink more. You know

“There'll be music everywhere

There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin” 

but I digress. It’s just so easy to get charmed by summer and all its perks but Chelsea was fearful for a reason, summer has a dark side.

You see in my world and my client’s worlds routine is good. It’s good to know what and when you’ll eat and when you will exercise. In the summer you’re at the mercy of other people’s schedules and menus and margaritas. In the summer we often wing it. Winging it and weight loss don’t go together. If this is all sounding fatalistic, don’t worry. Once you identify a potential (3 month) pitfall you can take steps around it.

• Summer is a great time to train for a race. Whether a 5K or a sprint triathlon, a training schedule can be a great way to organize your workouts.
• Instead of ice cream, experiment with DIY popsicles, we’ll be featuring some in our June newsletter so be sure to sign up.
• Healthy BBQ- not everyone wants a giant burger and nitrate-filled hot dogs when they come to your house.  I wrote about Hardwick beef and my favorite turkey burger and tuna burger, branch out a bit.
• Use the additional hours of daylight to do something active after dinner-a walk or a bike ride is a great way to end the day.

In many ways, over the summer, you’ll do best if you make a new routine versus being loosey-goosey (or just loosey).

Do you find summer is less rigid or routinized? Do you like loosey goosey? Do you gain weight or lose weight over the summer? What are your slimming summer strategies?

BBQ Greatest Hits Vol 1

Outside my apartment cars are double parked, 6am yoga was more crowded than usual and manicure places are bustling with pre-weekend primping. Who doesn’t love a long weekend? Well, actually I don’t love parts of them. There's pressure to beat the traffic, when we end up sitting in traffic anyway, there are expectations…it’s sort of like a mini New Years Eve but at least it’s an extra day off, right? So many of you will be barbecuing on this inaugural summer weekend, I thought I’d share 2 of my BBQ greatest hits. Undoubtedly there will be more as the summer wears on….but here’s a little taste.

Pesto turkey burgers
Combine 1 1b organic ground turkey, 2 tbsp pesto, 1/8 shredded parmesan, 1 clove finely minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Grill 10-13 min turning once. Serve over arugula or on an Ezekiel English Muffin.

Tip Top Tuna Burgers
These burgers are a Sally Schneider (The New Way to Cook is a worthwhile purchase) recipe and worth the extra chopping and effort.

3-inch piece of ginger peeled cut in 3 pieces, 1 ½ pounds tuna steak, 3 Tbs minced scallions, 1Tbs finely chopped cilantro, ¼ tsp minced garlic, 1 ½ tsp minced jalapeno, Pinch sugar, ¼ tsp kosher salt, Fresh pepper, 1 ½ tsp low sodium soy sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil, 2 Tbs sesame seeds (can omit)

Finely chop the tuna. Press ginger in a garlic press or finely grate. Add 1 tsp ginger, scallions, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, sugar, salt, pepper to taste, soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil to tuna. With wet hands shape into 4 equal patties, place on cookie sheet and freeze 10 min to firm up. Brush patties with remaining 1 tsp sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds on both sides. Can pan fry in very hot pan 2 min each side (brown outside, pink inside) or grill 1 ½ to 2 min per side.

Enjoy the weekend and if you make either of these burgers, report back!
Are you a fan of 3-day weekends? Will you be barbecuing this weekend? What’s on your menu?