so….I’m not exactly a food geek, though I love reading cookbooks and I am pretty picky about my food

For me giving up chips and most fizzy drinks really helped (and they just don’t taste as good once you’ve not had them for a while) and also cutting wheat products fairly drastically

Other than that – buying local and organic whenever I can (including meats), reading labels, avoiding HFCS, and trying to remember to give myself less than the big eater in the house
(one caveat to the non-stick pan – avoid Teflon. It off-gasses nasty stuff when it gets really hot)

Mostly though I firmly believe that the goodness of the food is a huge factor – smaller amounts of good ingredients will always taste better, be more satisfying, and be better for you than larger amounts of mediocre ingredients – even when it’s lovely and rich and screams ‘calories’ at you

As for resisting temptation? I don’t. I don’t keep it in the house, but if I have a craving for something for more than a day then I go out, get that thing, and eat it. I finally figured out that I make really bad food decisions when I’m feeling deprived so I just go for it and move on (yes I have eaten a box of mini-donuts at one sitting and now I’m good on those for the next 10 years or so )

and walk. We’re built for it so we might as well

These are all standard dinner plates, but it’s amazing how the size of the plate increased over time. The modern plates are enormous compared to the 50s set. I don’t use the 50s set all that much b/c I’m concerned about lead content, but if I’m eating something like pasta, I stick with the next smallest, 70s set. The pasta “fills up” the plate more, and I take less.

I think that’s the best opening I’ve ever had to pimp my own blog. I utterly despise all forms of Mac & Cheese. Not sure why, but luckily healthy, cheap pasta dishes are easy to make: http://www.gamesofstate.net/2008/10/gamer-grub-chicken-pesto/ (I normally use Tofu instead of chicken bringing the cost for two meals to around $8. Great way to get all 5 of your five-a-day).

Essential food reading:

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
A Good (probably state published) Hygiene Guide
A selection of good cookbooks. I could recommend some, but most of mine are British and don’t have US measurements. Student cookbooks are good, especially if it’s “real food, fast” kind of stuff.

Other tips:

Olive oil is your low cholesterol friend, but you only need a few drops to actually fry with. (If you don’t own one, a non-stick frying pan is also your friend).
Don’t add salt to anything, ever at any time in the cooking process.
A really good chefs knife is the best investment you’ll ever make.

At the end of the day, it’s not necessary to geek over food. Investing in loads of foodie books will just furnish you with the same information in different forms.

The main thing is to get into the kitchen, get stuck in to the cooking and have fun. It all comes down to common sense about what you eat (Celeb chefs just don’t want you to realise this because then they sell fewer books )
.-= Hammer (Not a Food Geek, jut a damned good Chef)´s last blog ..It’s How I Roll =-.

I try to eat as much fresh food as possible, and avoid overly processed foods, staying away from HFCS. I also try to hit the gym at least once a week, if not more. To avoid temptation, I usually say, “I know I can make this better at home” or “This is far too expensive for what it is.”

http://howchow.blogspot.com/

Looking forward to following your journey!!

p.s. Love the opening sentence
.-= Darya´s last blog ..How to raise your HDL cholesterol =-.

I find I gain weight pretty much immediately when I get into the processed junk foods. My way to battle this in tiniest baby step possible is to learn to make my own desserts. Not only does the sheer amount of work cause me to eat sweets much less frequently; I like knowing that if I’m going to eat a cinnamon roll, or pancakes, that they’re ONLY milk, eggs, butter, etc, not all that and crazy chemicals too. Oh, and my milk and eggs are a cool local product that I love.

Alton Brown has been a great help in my learning to cook. He’s like Sesame Street in the kitchen.