Restricting calories is boring?

Well, it need not be and it need not be difficult either. Here are some simple little gems to brighten up your fish, your salad and your day. Please excuse the blur. After one day of working just fine, my camera is back to refusing to focus on anything except faces and it doesn't even have facial recognition. You may see strange amp things every time I use &amp and notice that the pesto is skew-wiff.  This is because blogger.com is effing useless.


Mango Salsa .

1 red pepper, roasted, peeled & diced
1 ripe mango peeled & diced
1/4 C spring onions chopped
1/4 C cilantro chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 lime juiced

Nanami Togarashi

Mix together. 
You can also add chili but my tummy doesn't do this well so I leave it out and if I feel like some, add some Japanese chili & citrus sprinkle. 
Note that barely a drop of fat goes anywhere near this. Still, it's not for pigging out on as mango is not a dieter's best friend.


Pesto

2 C fresh basil leaves, packed

1/4 C fresh grated parmesan

1/2 C extra virgin olive oil

1/3 C pinenuts

3 garlic cloves minced

salt & pepper to taste
In a food processor, combine basil & pinenuts & pulse a few times. Add garlic & pulse some more. Slowly add olive oil in a constant stream, scraping down the sides as needed. Add cheese & pulse until blended. Season to taste. 

Now this is not exactly how I did it as I don't have a food processor at the mo. I used a blender and tried to follow the order but it really wasn't happening so I tossed the whole lot in and pulsed the hell out of it. Not nearly as delicate a recipe as it's made out to be. Next time, I will tweek the ingredients a little; a little less oil, cheese & nuts, & a little more garlic and basil would suit my taste better. I don't like the flavour of olive oil much so would love to try making it with avocado oil but alas it's not available here. I count pesto as part of my daily fat allowance as with the next sauce.


Last, but certainly not least in the flavour stakes...

Roasted Red Capsicum Sauce

4 red capsicums
1 corm garlic (whole head)
2 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste


Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Put capsicums &amgarlic on baking tray and cook for 45 minutes, turning once. Sweat the capsicums off in a plastic bag for 30 minutes to make removal of skin easier. Peel, de-seed, drain & save excess liquid.
Put capsicums & liquid in a food processor & squeeze in roasted garlic pulp. Add oil & vinegar & process until smooth. Season.
Again, I adopted the chuck-it-all-in-the-blender-and-go-like-crazy approach with no harm done. Next time I make this, I will use less oil and more balsamic. A variation is to add a few chopped Kalamata olives. Note that 8 olives = 1 fat serve.


Enjoy!

the basic diet plan...

You don't find a lot of diet books in the shops in Ho Chi Minh City. People are more likely to be worried about how to fatten their sons than loose their rolls of belly fat. So, in this vacuum, Dr Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution was a brightly shining beacon and the only choice. 
The basic 2 week starter plan is protein 3x a day, dairy 2x a day, fruit 2x a day, carbs 1x a day and as much vege matter as I can handle. And water, water, water. 
PROTEIN = 4 ounces (114grams) for lunch and dinner, 1/2 that for breakfast. Use high quality, low fat protein. Red meat once a week and fish once a day for quicker weight loss. Eggs are OK, 2 eggs make 1 protein serve. Eye-ball guide for main meal protein serve is about the size of the palm of your hand.
DAIRY = low fat milk, low fat cottage cheese etc in sensible serve sizes. According to Dr Phil, dairy is essential for weight loss as there is some kind of enzyme or thing in it that if our bodies don't get, they won't lose weight. I find that if I skip dairy, the weight loss slows.
FRUIT = sensible portions. Choose mostly low glycemic fruits. Unfortunately, a lot of the gorgeous tropical fruits, like mangoes and melons, are not good for losing weight, but there are some that make up for this. Pomelo is the dieter's best friend. It's a mild citrus that I can have even with an active ulcer, although shouldn't be over done. It's huge so contains 3 fruit serves in one fruit. I'm allergic to apples but there are some great apple alternatives like the crispy, juicy, rose apples and jujubes which I'm addicted to.
CARBS = wholegrain, whole wheat, whole whatever. There are no good quality whole grain breads like Burgen or Vogels to be had. There are plenty of so-called 'whole grain breads' but they are poor imitators. There are some Russian dark breads and a heavy rye-style available but they don't have grains. I usually end up with whatever bread that's available that I can get my hands on, 1 small slice at a time. I also have some untoasted muesli inn the cupboard to deal with the errr, slow movements one experiences as a result of a lot of vege matter. 
VEGE MATTER = Limit high glycemic veg. I run into problems here as I have a couple of other restrictions. I have Hashimoto's so brassicas need to be kept to a minimum as they can affect the thyroid. Yay, no broccoli or cabbage for me, although I never say no to a mustard leaf or 5 at Wrap'n'roll. Also unfermented soya products are totally out - nature's little N'bomb for the thyroid. I also have a problem with oesophageal  spasms that lead to choking issues so I don't eat cooked leafy greens. They are instant trouble. I've tried the meds but they are absolutely horrific - very nasty side effects and only made it worse anyway. Never, never, never, never, never again...
FAT = olive oil, cooking spray, butter - I get the little pre-portioned packets which helps control the amount. I also count avocado as fat at this point. You must have about 3 teaspoons a day of fats or you miss out on really important fat-soluble vitamins that you can't get any other way. Also, your adrenal glands need cholesterol. I've often heard stories from vegetarian friends who find themselves scarfing down beef burgers & blocks of cheese because they've had an uncontrollable craving. Maybe it's their adrenals shouting, 'for god's sake feed us!' 
DRINK = bucket loads but not wine unfortunately. Being overweight you need more than 'normal' and living in the tropics means drinking more water. When my total daily fluid intake is about 5 litres, I loose weight quite easily. This would consist of about 4 litres of water and the rest in coffee and jasmine tea - iced is nice. It also keeps the metabolism ticking over at a higher rate to space it out during the day. No juice. Soda water with a squeeze of lemon is good & if necessary use some Equal.
EAT = 5-6 times a day. Again, keeps the metabolism chugging along at a better rate.
EXERCISE = ha, ha, ha, ha, ha - I don't - more on that at a later date.


So, during the first two weeks a regular day looks like this:

• Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 small piece toast
• Snack: fruit & low fat yoghurt
• Lunch: fish & salad followed by a latte
• Snack: fruit
• Dinner: chicken and salad/veges
• Snack: vege stuff, carrots etc

Various condiments, herbs and spices & lemon juice are fine and help to create variety.