Ship Shape Cruising

Dateline: Somewhere in the North Atlantic sailing on the Cunard liner QM2 from Southampton to New York.

It really was a trip of a lifetime; well the second trip of a lifetime. I was born in Scotland and when I was six months old I sailed with my mom, Jessie Maclean Robertson O'Neil, on the original Queen Mary from England to New York. Now, 50-uh- something years later I followed the same trans Atlantic itinerary on the QM2. This was a historic voyage for Cunard as well since this trip marked the 100th Atlantic crossing for the QM2. All that and plenty of Champagne, too!

Passengers, it's interesting to note, have always been into fitness when they travelled. Old photos from the Queen Mary boasted a small gymnasium and circa 1950's menus touted the chef's ability to create dishes for special diet requests. On board the QM2 today, fitness is a big focus with a Canyon Ranch Spa and fitness center complete with professional trainers. The menus for every dining room included light and healthy choices and always an array of deliciously unique salads.

Deck 7 was a popular spot. That's where you can run or walk or stroll around the ship on a promenade deck. Three trips around the QM2 and you've completed 1.1 miles. So you can decide how many laps to take based on how many laps you want to do at the breakfast buffet. But, the biggest fitness boost comes from taking the stairs and not the elevator to get around the ship. Up and down, down and up from deck 2 to deck 12- that's a cardio workout.

Yes, you can stay ship shape on your cruise!

Savor Foods with the Slim Set

JCT Kitchen in Atlanta

They’re slim. They’re trim and they love to dine. How do they do it? Well, it turns out that fit folks really are different from their bulge-challenged friends. Sure, there are genetic physiological differences in all of us that predetermine our metabolic rates and the way our bodies store fat. But, it’s the power of mind (read: willpower and motivation) that keeps those skinny people skinny. Dr. John Foreyt, professor of psychiatry and behavioral Sciences Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, says studies have identified what makes them different, “They are eternally vigilant with daily or weekly weighing, they monitor calorie intake and they’re highly active exercising at least 60 minutes a day.” And according to Dr. Jim Hill’s research from the National Weight Control Registry (a database of more than 5,000 people who've lost more than 30 pounds and kept the weight off for at least a year) their exercise of choice is not marathon running- it’s walking but walking enough to burn 400 calories a day, “The good news is small changes for all of us, things that take very little time and effort, like walking an extra 2,000 steps a day about 15 minutes can burn 100 calories.”
What else does the slim set do to maintain their weight? Here’s a menu of healthy behaviors.

They Eat Until Satisfied Not Stuffed - Try putting your fork down halfway through a meal and ask yourself using a 1 to 10 scale, how full are you? Take a sip of water and think about it some more. Talk to your dining companions. You’ll give yourself time to gauge how hungry you really are and by eating slowly it allows the stomach time to trigger the brain’s sensation of fullness.

They Eat More Fruit and Vegetables - Bet you’re not surprised by this one! According to a 2006 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association healthy weight women eat one more serving of fruit and eat more fiber and less fat per day than overweight people. And even though many people associate weight loss with high protein intake, the statistics from the successful dieters in the National Weight Control Registry don’t support the eat-all-the-steak-you-want diet. Their diets were on average 20% protein, 24% fat and 56% carbohydrates. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are the best source of healthy carbs.

They Have a Plan and Stick to It - 78% of successful dieters in National Weight Control Registry ate breakfast every day. And- sorry to tell you this- they consistently monitor their food intake. According to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine conducted by Dr. Rena Wing of Brown University, folks who lost weight and kept it off continued to be careful about consumption of lower calorie menu options and moderated their fat intake.

So how does all of this work in the real world? Here’s an example of putting these slim strategies to work at a place you might not think would fit into lifelong fitness. But it does! JCT Kitchen, an Atlanta restaurant famous for “Southern Farmstead Cooking” serves up some of the city’s best fried chicken and baked macaroni and cheese.
But look more closely at Executive Chef Ford Fry’s menu of seasonal fresh and local ingredients and you’ll find plenty of healthy choices. His Sunday Suppers menu offers nine vegetables and the meal starts with a salad of mixed lettuces and vegetables fresh from the Westside Farm Stand. The Meat & 3 suppers are a great way to enjoy a just-right portion of protein surrounded by the vegetables you’re supposed to be eating. I’d get the Roast Chicken with natural jus, collard greens or pole beans and sliced tomatoes drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil. I’d also hope that someone at the table orders the baked macaroni with Benton’s ham and cheddar so I could have a bite!

Yummy Terms and Fatty Truths

Menu descriptions of dishes are written to entice diners to say, "That sounds good!"
I can't wait to try the grilled tenderloin of beef with crispy potato-leek cake, caviar and red wine reduction on the menu at Dogwood restaurant in Atlanta. The grilled cobia with summer vegetable cous cous and charred pepper vinaigrette sounds awesome, too.
And since many chefs today — including Shane Touhy of Dogwood - reveal just about every ingredient and cooking method in menu descriptions, it's easier to read between the lines to find the food facts you need to help decode the nutrition content.
In general, red-flag words for dishes high in fat and calories include cream, butter, fried, sauteed and cheese sauce. Green lights for choices lower in fat and calories include grilled, broiled, primavera, salsa and broth.
So, first look at how the dish is prepared. Is it deep-fat fried or charbroiled? Does it come with a butter sauce or a fresh fruit salsa? Is it a broth-based soup or made with heavy cream? OK, these are some of the obvious clues. Now you're ready for some advanced menu sleuthing.
What if the word "fried" is nowhere to be seen? "Crispy" can be a code word for fried. And "silky sauce" a sign that butter is lurking. Even "poached" isn't always the light way to go. Some chefs actually poach seafood in butter or oil, not the usual water-based broths.
That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the occasional tempura-battered fried shrimp or side of creamed spinach. It just means that when you see them on the menu, you know it's time to take pause. You can choose to either limit portions, or limit the number of times you order these higher fat choices.
Even "grilled" or "broiled" aren't always innocent because the chicken or fish can be slathered in oil or butter while it's on the fire. Make sure to request that your item be broiled "dry" or "lightly brushed with oil." The server is your conduit to the kitchen.
While restaurants such as Applebee's offer menu selections from Weight Watchers that are clearly marked with calorie counts, lighter choices are not always highlighted.
Healthy dishes such as gazpacho, poached salmon and pasta primavera have become part of mainstream dining. And you don't have to settle for less fun, because now chefs borrow interesting ingredients from Asian and Mediterranean cuisines to add bold flavors to dishes without adding additional fats. So, thanks to globe-trotting chefs these lighter dishes taste better than ever!

Soup's On.Weight's Off.

This gorgeous gigante white bean soup served with a glass of Spanish Rioja was presented to me at Meson de Candido Restaurant in Segovia, Spain. 200 year old Meson de Candido is famous for their roasted suckling piglets...so you can guess where this soup gets its flavor! Actually the recipe calls for one pig's ear and one pig's foot along with chorizo sausage and some cured Serrano ham. Soups are the very essence of comfort and flavor and I've always loved them.
Steaming hot vegetable soups to warm you in winter and icy cold fresh gazpachos to cool things down in summer.
Besides being a time honored way of coaxing the flavors from foods, soups are nutrient rich and because of their high liquid content.....soups are coming into focus as an important and tasty tool in weight control. They fill you up without filling you out. Now obviously, a tomato based Manhattan Clam Chowder will have less calories and fat than a cream based New England Clam Chowder but soups in general are important to add satiety to a meal. And we all know how important controlling hunger is when we're trying to eat less to weigh less. Weight management research shows that starting your meal with a bowl of soup will help you eat fewer calories at that meal. Add to that a two hour walking tour of Segovia's magical sights after lunch at Meson de Candido and you've got the perfect recipe for food, fitness and fun.

Spice it up!

It turns out that a pinch of this and a dash of that not only boosts flavor in foods it can add a heap of health benefits to recipes, too. Nutrition research supports new reasons to season dishes with commonly used culinary herbs and spices including cinnamon, ginger, oregano, red pepper and yellow curry powder.

Blueberries, pomegranates and other deeply colored fruits may be famous for their high antioxidant content; but it turns out that some spices rank really high, too. One teaspoon of cinnamon has the disease fighting antioxidant power of a full cup of pomegranate juice or half cup of blueberries.

The specific kind of antioxidant compounds found in cinnamon called polyphenols have been shown to help regulate blood sugar levels and fight inflammation which can increase risk for heart disease and diabetes. Feel even better about the cinnamon sprinkled on your oatmeal? Just don’t use this spicy news to help justify downing one of those huge cinnamon buns at the mall. Controlling total fat and calories in your diet still reigns supreme as the most important rule in good nutrition. With that in mind, it’s interesting to note that spices might come to rescue there, too. Other studies suggest that some seasonings such as cayenne pepper, chili powder and paprika may help curb hunger pangs and boost the metabolism making it a bit easier to stick to a weight control diet.
Ginger has long been used as a natural remedy to sooth stomach upset. Now research focusing on one of its active ingredients called gingerol suggests it may work like anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen. Is your mouth burning from the wasabi served with sushi? Pick up that piece of fresh ginger on the plate.
Oregano has the highest antioxidant levels of the dried herbs because of its rosmarinic acid content. Used heavily in Mediterranean cuisines oregano has antimicrobial powers that can help fight bacterial growth and may help inhibit the bacteria associated with ulcers.
Red Peppers get their heat from a powerful antioxidant compound called capsaicin. Spicing up your meal may also help increase satiety so you eat less and other studies found red peppers even milder sweet red peppers boost your metabolism so you burn more calories.
Yellow curry powder is a blend of tumeric and other spices. Curcumin, the bright yellow pigment in tumeric helps fight heart disease and may boost brain health, possibly protecting against Alzheimer’s disease.

More Spice, Less Fat, Sugar and Salt.
Of course one of the best ways that spices can contribute to the enjoyment of a healthy diet is by taking the place of other seasonings that are high in fat, sugar or salt. Herbs and spices are classified as calorie free and salt free. At Spice Market restaurant in midtown Atlanta, executive chef Ian Winslade dips into a world of exciting and healthy spices used in the cooking of Southeast Asia to create dishes such as Steamed Red Snapper with Ginger, Scallion and Tarragon or Grilled Strip Steak with Garlic, Coriander and Sesame. Since each spice offers its own individual health benefits it’s a bonus to find so many used in Spice Market recipes and in the capable hands of Windslade they blend beautifully, “The dishes themselves are quite complex, using a multitude of ingredients in preparation. But when you taste the food, the nuances of all the different ingredients linger on the palate, creating a lot of memorable food.”

So the coriander in Southeast Asian foods, oregano in Greek dishes, cinnamon in the recipes of Morocco and tumeric in the curries of India and Thailand not only enhance the fragrance and flavor of foods, these seasonings are playing a small and potentially important role in the overall nutrition of your meals.

5 Fattest Ways to Eat

Illustration by Laura Coyle from The Dish on Cheating, Chapter 6 of The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!!

Five Fattest Ways to Eat: Maybe it's not what you're eating, but HOW you're eating!!

1. Mindless Munching: You can lose track of how many you gobbled when you eat directly out of a bag of chips or package of cookies. Same goes with nuts. Sure, they’re full of heart healthy fats but enjoy a handful not a can full. When dining out at a Mexican place count out three or four tortilla chips and place on your side plate for better chip control. Use the same tactic with the restaurant bread basket. And if your favorite restaurant is famous for serving huge portions ask for half of your meal to be placed in a take out container before it comes to the table. You won’t be tempted to eat the whole thing and you’ll have lunch for tomorrow.

2. Over Accessorizing: Whether it’s a salad or a steak dinner often times it’s the add-ons that pile on the pounds not the foundation. Watch the little extras that can add up to big calories blown on garnishes that you could easily skip. Limit the fried croutons, bacon bits, blue cheese crumbles and creamy dressing on salads. Enjoy a small steak without the gravy boat filled with Béarnaise sauce or onion rings on the side.

3. Super-sizing Snacks: Snacking between meals can be a healthy habit if you're consuming them in snack sized portions. Enjoying a cup of creamy cold lemon gelato during an afternoon stroll is OK. Wolfing down a giant triple scoop bowl of ice cream with chocolate and chunks of candy on top is not. Same goes for chips, cookies and crackers as snacks. Choose the 100 calorie packs to keep track and savor them slowly.


4. Gonzo Guzzling: Don't forget the liquid portion of portion control. Maybe what's making you gain weight is not on your plate. It could be what’s in your car cup holder. Watch intake of sodas, presweetened teas, fruit flavored beverages and remember that alcoholic beverages pack a caloric wallop too.

5. Silly Splurging: Be smart about eating splurge foods you crave whether it’s chocolate brownies, French fries or lasagna. Realize you love these foods and allow yourself to enjoy them in sensible portions. Feel the textures and smell the aromas to help you feel more satisfied with a smaller portion. That’s what the women in the Rhode Island University study did that helped them to feel more satisfied with fewer calories.

What color do you crave?

Add beauty to your plate with the many colors found in fruits in vegetables. The pigments are an indication of the kind of nutrients that lie within.
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