A doctor gave a photocopy of this document to my wife re treatment for her gestational diabetes some years ago...


American Dietetic Association: Cooking Tips for Weight Management

Carbohydrates

- Choose whole grains.
- Reduce the amount of sugar in recipes; it can often be cut in half
- Use noncaloric sweeteners in drinks.
- Substitute sucralose (Splenda) for sugar when baking.
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits - they are high in fiber.
- Add vegetables when stir-frying or to soups.
- Dried peas, beans, and lentils are rich in fiber and are a good meat substitute.

Proteins

- Choose fish and lean meats often. Meats labeled "loin" or "round" are leaner.
- Cut away fat and remove skin from chicken and other poultry.
- Choose reduced-fat cheeses.
- When scrambling eggs, throw away some of the yolks. All the fat and most of the calories are in the yolks. Add a drop or two of yellow food coloring to whites.
- Have some meatless meals - substitute beans, egg whites, tofu or texturized soy protein products for meat.

Fats

- All fats and oils are high in calories. Use less when possible.
- Cut oil in half and substitute applesauce or fruit puree for the other half of the fat.
- Select reduced fat cheese and skim or 1% milk products.
- Flavor with lemon juice or herbs instead of butter, margarine, or oil.
- Choose reduced-fat salad dressings and limit portion size. Instead of salad dressing, use vinegar or lemon juice with just a small amount of oil.
- Use fat-free evaporated skim milk to replace whole milk in sauces.
- Use a reduced fat margarine spread instead of regular butter, margarine, or oil.

Cooking Methods

- Saute foods in a small amount of wine, broth or juice instead of using fat or oil.
- Bake, broil, grill, roast, or stew instead of frying in fat.
- Place meat on a rack while cooking so grease will drain off.
- Remove fat from cooked ground meat by draining on a rack or using a paper towel to soak up grease.
- When making stews or soups, refrigerate the broth and skim hardened fat off the top before reheating and serving.
- Use a nonstick cooking spray instead of butter, margarine, oil, or shortening.
- Use a nonstick skillet - less or no oil is required to prevent sticking.


Can you think of any good alternate titles for this document?

I could almost recite these instructions, because it's what I and other earnest weight watchers tried to do for so many years. We failed, so the problem was "our fault." These guidelines just seemed so "healthy" when you figure in fear of over-eating (calories) and fear of eating fat.

With a few exceptions (grains, margarine, egg whites only, reduced fat dairy, to name a few) this diet is perfectly fine compared to the S.A.D. It's just not very palatable and is very hard to sustain.

Fat good.
Sugar bad.
Forget about grain.

How's that for a revision?

My boyfriend's been carb-creeping too much lately - a piece of bread here, ice cream there. I've threatened to start cooking low-fat if he doesn't stop. This menu would be a good deterrent.

I thought the parts about adding yellow food coloring to egg whites & chilling soups so you can skim the fat off were just plain mean.

Oh yeah. Yellow food coloring to make the eggs look good? Yuck!

The elderly among us remember the early years of margarine. The natural color is apparently whitish. Thanks to heavy lobbying from the butter industry, margarine manufacturers were not permitted to color the margarine product prior to retail. The solution? Include a packet of yellow coloring for the consumer to use. Ask your grandmother (or great-grandmother) if she remembers as a child being responsible for kneading the color into the margarine.

Pretty good. I'd offer these suggestions:

• Animals and their fat are good.
• Processed foods are bad.
• Forget about grain.

I used to do both of these & then I'd give the fat to the chickens! They don't get near as much healthful fat as they used to.

We used to eat meatless, vegetarian meals several times a week. I thought they were healthful. Now when I have a meatless day, I have eggs and fish.