Who Took My Muffin Tops? How A Food Blogger Lost 19 Lbs In 12 Weeks

(Not Photoshopped, I swear!)

Twelve weeks ago, I couldn't button up half of the jeans I own without major muffin top spillage over the waistband. Twelve weeks ago, I committed myself to losing as much weight as I could without doing anything drastic so that I wouldn't have to throw out half of my wardrobe. Of course I had the possibility of winning a little cash to keep me motivated, and even though I didn't win the Biggest Loser competition I entered, I came in second having lost 19.2 pounds, 15.3% of my original weigh-in weight. I wasn't the Biggest Loser, but in my book, I definitely came out a winner.

I've received several emails and messages from readers and friends asking me what I'd done to take the weight off, so I thought I'd write this post to share what I felt were the things I did that helped the most.

1) I ate a high-protein, low-fat breakfast every day. No, your mother wasn't talking out of her ass when she nagged that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skip breakfast and you're likely to overeat at lunch or reach for "quick-fix" snacks like the MSG-laden Calbee Shrimp Chips for an energy boost. And speaking of energy, eating a high-protein, low-fat breakfast will keep you energized and full for a longer amount of time. My breakfast of choice is Trader Joe's Nonfat Greek Yogurt with a little honey and fresh fruit. A cup of that stuff has zero fat, only 120 calories and 6 grams of sugar, and get this--22 grams of protein! Compare that with a serving of Yoplait yogurt which is 170 calories but has 27 grams of sugar and only 5 grams of protein. Even when adding in the honey and fresh fruit, I still come out ahead of the flavored stuff. It's really a win-win situation.

2) I watched my caloric intake. For my weight, height and activity level, this website suggested I eat about 1450 calories a day for "normal" weight loss so I budgeted my meals for a given week to come out to a daily average of that number. As I've mentioned before, I think this is where being a food enthusiast really helped because it allowed me to get creative and experimental with different healthy foods and have fun doing it. Bibim-quinoa? C'mon, who else but a foodie would have thought of that?

3) I cheated. I allowed myself one cheat day a week where I'd let myself eat what I wanted to eat. Which meant fried, chili-oily goodness at Shufeng Garden, a bacon cheeseburger and fries, or a nice, hot, salty bowl of pho. This way, I had something to look forward to and work toward every week and it kept me on track enough to keep me from eating a tub of butter in one sitting. I've also read that varying your calorie intake from day to day helps to boost your metabolism by keeping your body guessing. So go ahead, cheat a little!

4) I exercised five days a week. And guess what else? I did not set foot in a gym once. The crowded, wait-for-a-machine, meatmarket atmosphere of the gym totally turns me off so I worked out in front of the TV doing a different workout video each day or kickboxing/strength moves while watching Bourdain devour a pig on No Reservations. I became a big fan of the Jillian Michaels/Biggest Loser workout library because those people sure know how to push your body to the limit, but there are certainly days that I don't feel like being yelled at by a drill sergeant so on those days, I do an easier workout. The important thing is to keep moving and vary your workouts to avoid plateaus; some of my favorite workouts are cheesy aerobics videos from the 90's where the people are literally sporting mullets, leotards and scrunchies. Remember Tae-Bo where you could almost see Billy Blanks' package under that electric blue unitard? Umm yeah, I work out to that video sometimes. Laugh all you want. It works.

5) I drank plenty of water. You know how you get that feeling of overall puffiness where you feel like your insides are literally pushing your waistline out? It's called water weight, yo. The more water you drink, the less likely your body is going to retain it. I had to pee alot, but I figured all the trips to the bathroom helped to burn extra calories.

6) I had a support group. If people around you have the same mindset as you, you're more likely to stay on track. For me and my coworkers, it totally helped to talk about how we were doing, what we were eating, a new workout we tried, or that we'd give anything to be able to devour a cupcake. No one in your office or social circles want to start a Biggest Loser contest or wants to lose weight? Join an online support group like the one on peertrainer or sparkpeople. Or blog/tweet/post on Facebook about your progress. Oh c'mon, you know that you now have more cyber-friends than you do friends you met outside the web anyways. Speaking of which, I'd like to give a big "Thank You" to all my readers, Twitter followers, and Facebook friends who sent their support and kind words over the last three months.

That's it. No gimmick diets. No fancy workout program. No heroin or methamphetamines. No TrimSpa, baby. I simply ate less (and healthier) and exercised more. I'm hoping that it's a simple enough program that I'll be able to keep it up. If not, I'll have to post pics of my muffin tops again on this blog. That should be motivation enough.

Bibimbapquinoa: A Healthy Twist on a Korean Favorite

Although Korean food purists will probably write me off after reading this post, I don't really care. Why? 'Cause I've lost 18 effin' pounds since embarking on this Biggest Loser journey and none of it could have been possible without creative modifications on some of my favorite dishes.

With some inspiration from some of those bougie healthy food places, I came up with a healthier twist on a Korean favorite and made bibimbap with quinoa. If whatever little knowledge I have of the Korean language is correct, I guess it would then be called "bibimquinoa" since I took out the bap (rice), but whatever you decide to call it, it still rocks. Although the caloric content of quinoa is about the same as rice and although both provide all the health benefits that whole grains offer, quinoa (unlike rice) contains all nine amino acids making its protein content complete. And more protein means more muscle maintenance. More muscle means more fat and calories burned even while you're sitting on your fat ass watching Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane on the Style Network. As an added bonus, for the price you pay for a "health-conscious" bibim bap at M Cafe De Chaya, you can make 3 of these at home. This dish turned out to be such a hit with me that I sneaked a container of it into Alice in Wonderland in 3D IMAX and ate it for dinner. No joke.

All you need is one cup of cooked quinoa, prepared bibimbap veggies (*see below), about a tablespoon (more or less depending on your personal tolerance for spiciness) of gochujang/korean pepper paste, a tiny swig of sesame oil and if you can spare the extra calories, a fried egg. I've personally been using fried quail eggs as of late because they have less calories than chicken eggs, make for a much prettier presentation than without an egg, and are so damn cute. Squee!

Prepare your bibimbapquinoa vegetable toppings according to this recipe, or if you're feeling particularly lazy, go the prepared foods section of your local korean market and buy some assorted seasoned vegetables such as spinach, daikon, beansprouts, carrots, fern brakes, and shiitake mushrooms. Sometimes they even sell all the vegetables together in a special "bibimbap pack" because they know that people like myself are too busy to get themselves involved in the ingredient- and labor-intensive job of cooking 5 different vegetables separately.

Put the quinoa in a bowl and arrange the vegetables on top.

If adding an egg, fry the thing up so that the yolk's still a little runny and put that on top of the quinoa and vegetables. If you want to be cute and use quail egg like I do, be aware that quail eggshells are a little more difficult to crack open cleanly than those on chicken eggs. I always have to use my fingers to pull that shell-membrane-thingy apart so the egg drops cleanly into the pan.

Take a picture or a good look at your pretty bowl of colorful veggie- and egg-topped quinoa because in a second you're going to mess it all up.

Add the sesame oil and gochujang, mix the shit up really well and you've got yourself a healthy, delicious meal that you, too, will love so much you'll want to take it into the movies with you.


Enjoy!

Nice Package: Sake Steamed Mushrooms En Papillote

If you're ever in the mood for a bunch of 'shrooms (the legal kind), give them a nice sake steam bath en papillote for a dish that's full of earthy and slightly sweet flavors plus health benefits to boot. Research has shown that mushrooms have anti-cancer properties, help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and boost your immune system. Plus some of you who have had enoki mushrooms might already know that they are like nature's loofah and quite excellent at cleaning up the digestive tract. Hey, any additional weight I can lose between now and my final Biggest Loser weigh-in is a good thing if you catch my drift!

Sake Steamed Mushrooms En Papillote

-2 cups of assorted fresh mushrooms, trimmed (I usually use shiitake, enoki, shimeji, and oyster)
-1 tsp vegetable oil
-1 tsp soy sauce (preferably the light kind)
-2 tbsp sake or mirin

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
*Tear off a piece of parchment paper 12-15" in length.
*Brush or spread a thin layer of vegetable oil on to the center of the parchment paper and arrange mushrooms on a single layer over the oil.
*Sprinkle soy sauce and sake evenly over the mushrooms.
*Bring up two ends of the parchment paper and fold over a few times about 1/3-1/2 inch.
*Fold in the two open ends. The package should look something like the photo below. Use pins or staples to secure if needed. (You can also do the fancier, more traditional en papillote pouch by cutting a heart out of the parchment paper, folding up the middle and crimping the edges like a dumpling. I don't do this because I am too lazy to cut out the heart. Suit yourself.)

*Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes. The package should puff up a bit.
*Let cool for a couple of minutes, carefully cut or tear open the package, and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Cheaters are Losers: A Spicy, Oily Indulgence at Shufeng Garden, Rowland Heights

I've been good.

I've pretty much kept my daily caloric intake to about 1400 a day.

I've been working out 5 days a week, some days at a pretty high intensity.

And I've lost 15 pounds since I've started this Biggest Loser challenge about 6 weeks ago. Not too shabby, eh?

But that 15 pounds lost hasn't all been a result of me being good. It is also, in my opinion, a result of me being very, very bad.

No matter how many tasty and healthy recipes I have up my sleeve, day after day of low calorie, low fat, low sodium, low carb, mayo-less, bacon-less, whole grain, high-fiber, sugar-free, dressing-on-the-side bullshit makes me want to eat the couch. So if I didn't allow myself to cheat on my diet once a week, I would literally consume upholstery. Topped with cheese and butter, of course.

One of my most recent cheat meals involved an oil-laden, fried, fatty, carbo-loaded feast at Shufeng Garden. And yes, this Rowland Heights mini-mall Sichuan did indeed do its job of fending off those late night upholstery cravings as well as punishing this unfaithful dieter with red-hot, spicy pain that hurt so much I liked it.

I'd remembered photos of an oil-slathered fatty pork dish on some local blogs and knew right away that this was exactly what I needed. Thanks to a Mandarin Chinese speaking coworker, printouts of photos of the dish from local blogs' jaunts to the restaurant's second location in San Gabriel, as well as an email from SinoSoul with the names of recommended dishes in Chinese, my non-Mandarin speaking, non-Chinese reading, Chinese self was able to get some Pork Butt in Garlic Mud into my now-smaller belly.

The cool, thin slices of half meat/half fat stripes bathed in spicy chili oil definitely satisfied my fat-covered-in-more-fat craving. I'd imagined them to be a little thicker and served warmer, but the dish was good nonetheless.

The large pot of Water Boiled Fish we ordered looked like something out a movie: a virtual sea of orangey-red angry with red pepper flakes, like a vast body of fluid over which you'd be rowing a decrepid boat in hell. The cauldron of white fish fillets and assorted vegetables soaked in a spicy red bath wasn't as spicy as I thought it was going to be, which is either good or bad depending on your tolerance for spice. I personally would have liked it to be spicier and perhaps a little more tangy, but it was still a nice accompaniment for a hot bowl of steamed rice.

Zhong's Dumplings were al dente pillows of pork-filled goodness served with a healthy dose of (you guessed it) chili oil. A sprinkling of sesame seeds added a nutty bite to these smoky and spicy little pouches.

It was perhaps the restaurant's Dan Dan Mian that put Shufeng Garden on LA's foodie map to begin with--what with having made Jonathan Gold's Best Dishes of 2009 list--and for good reason. It looks like a none-too-exciting small bowl of noodles topped with ground pork and spinach upon first glance, but after mixing the al dente noodles up with all that's in that bowl and taking a slurp, it's a multi-dimensional flavor experience that will both enlighten and numb your tastebuds. It's spicy, acidic, herbal and smoky all at the same time, with flavors that work together but that are distinguishable separately as well.

A cheat day can't be called a cheat day without something fried, so infidelity in the form of the restaurant's Shufeng Spicy Chicken and Intestines in Chili & Wild Pepper were pure guilty, spicy perfection. Fried meat morsels are fun, but not as fun as when they're fried with as much chilis and pepper as there were pieces of meat. I especially liked the fried intestine which were fried to a beautiful golden crisp on the outside which gave way to a slightly bouncy funkiness on the inside--a funkiness that only offal enthusiasts can appreciate.


After having inhaled three bowls of hot, steamy rice and five tongue-tingly good dishes with enough chili oil to grease up my newly toned biceps, I was more than ready to go back to 400 calorie a meal "budget." Until the next cheat day, that is. Sometimes you just have to be bad to be good.

Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 839-7589

Sunomono: Another Foodie-On-A-Diet-Friendly Food

So what do you know, I've lost almost nine pounds since starting this Biggest Loser challenge! Not bad for a food blogger on a diet, eh?

I guess trying to lose weight while being a food enthusiast has its disadvantages as well as its advantages. It's pretty clear what the disadvantages are. It's even worse when you're so tied in to what other food perverts are up to; it takes a lot of self control not to want to eat everything in sight after reading about every one else's food adventures via blogs or Twitter. The advantage of being a food enthusiast trying to lose weight is that I can use my knowledge of food to come up with a wider variety of healthy yet delicious things to shove down my gullet.

Take that salad that I featured in the last post, for example. Now you just bought all this wakame seaweed and shaved bonito, but as tasty as it is, you're not going to eat that salad everyday, right? So what to do with all those ingredients? Luckily, this food lover can tell you right away that you can use both to make sunomono--a light, refreshing Japanese cucumber salad that (you guessed it!) tastes good and is good for you!

The best cucumbers to use for sunomono are Japanese cucumbers because of their minimal seeds and thinner and less watery makeup. Japanese cucumbers can be found at Japanese or other Asian markets, but if you can't find these, you can always substitute English or Persian cucumbers; just keep in mind that your salad may turn out a little less crisp.

For a little extra protein and pizazz, I added some octopus/tako (available already boiled at most Japanese markets) to my sunomono, but if you can't get your hands on any or if tentacles gross you out, the salad is just as good without.



Sunomono
(makes about 4 servings)

-4-5 Japanese cucumbers (use 2 English or Persian ones if you can't find Japanese ones, but really, Japanese ones are the way to go; find them at a Japanese or other Asian market)
-A few pinches of salt
-2 teaspoons dried wakame seaweed
-1/2 cup rice vinegar
-1/2 cup dashi (see below) or water
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-1 tablespoon sugar
-A few slices of boiled octopus or other seafood (optional)
-Sliced lemon wedges for garnish (optional)
-A pinch of sesame seeds (optional)

*Use a mandoline or knife to cut the cucumber into ultra thin slices.
*Toss with a couple of pinches of salt and let sit for about 15 minutes.
*Soak the dried wakame seaweed in enough hot water to cover. Let sit a few minutes to rehydrate.
*Meanwhile, mix rice vinegar, dashi, soy sauce and sugar together until well blended.
*Quickly rinse cucumbers and wakame with cold water and squeeze out excess water.
*Arrange cucumbers and wakame in small bowl or dish, add octopus if using.
*Spoon a couple spoonfuls of vinegar dressing onto the salad, adjusting quantity to your liking.
*Garnish with lemon & sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

*Since this post isn't about making dashi (a post for another day), here's a quick down and dirty version with no pics. Put a 4" square of kombu/kelp in 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and remove kelp as soon as water boils. Remove from heat. Now remember that shaved bonito you used for your tofu salad? Well take a cup of that and put it in the kelp water and wait until it sinks. Strain, and you've got yourself some dashi stock! (You can also buy the instant kind, but you needed something to make with that leftover bonito, right?)

Tofu Salad With Wakame Seaweed and Shaved Bonito: A Meal That Won't Break My 1400 Calorie-A-Day Budget

Ohmyfackinggawd watching calorie intake is hard work!

According to a bunch of those health websites out there, I'm supposed to keep my calorie intake to about 1400 a day if I want to lose weight, and that's with three to five days of exercise a week.

1400 calories a day???

One medium apple is 95 calories, and one medium banana is 105 calories. Could I eat only 13-14 apples or bananas a day and be satisfied? Hell to the no.

Even three Altoid mints are 10 calories. You know how all those little breath mints add up over the course of a day!

This first week of my Biggest Loser challenge hasn't been an easy one. I've had to cut out or cut back on alot of foods that were, up until this point, staples in my diet. Over 200 calories and 15% of your daily recommended carb intake for one measly cup of plain rice or pasta? Ouch. I had to find ways to make salads and vegetables tasty, filling and somewhat nutritious, so of course I resorted to an old favorite of mine: tofu salad with wakame seaweed and shaved bonito.

After having been to numerous Japanese restaurants and loving the salads, whether it be Mishima's tofu salad, various sushi bars' sashimi salads, or even the gratis side salad that one usually gets with a bento, I created my own version that's exceptionally simple to make at home.

Using mixed greens, firm tofu, wakame seaweed, shaved bonito and some Japanese dressing, you get a delicious, filling meal that takes up an entire plate and that's only a little more than 200 calories. And not only does your body benefit from all the great vitamins in the greens, but it also gets protein from the tofu and calcium from both the tofu and wakame.

The best thing about a filling, 200 calorie meal is that leaves room for lots of other stuff like an ice cream craving later on in the day.

Tofu Salad With Wakame Seaweed and Shaved Bonito
1 tablespoon dried wakame seaweed*
3 cups mixed greens (any mixed lettuces will do--I like to add arugula for a peppery bite!)
2-3 tablespoons of your favorite Japanese dressing (I usually use a combo of JFC's Ginger Dressing and McCormick Sesame/Goma Dressing because they're tasty and MSG-free unlike many bottled Japanese salad dressings. Or you could make your own!)
1/4 block of firm tofu, cut into squares
1/2 cup dried shaved bonito*

-Soak wakame in hot water to rehydrate, drain & rinse in cold water.
-Toss salad dressing with greens and seaweed.
-Top with tofu slices and bonito and violà!

*Note: Wakame seaweed and shaved bonito are definitely available at Japanese markets such as Mitsuwa, Marukai or Nijiya. They're probably also available at other Asian markets or the Asian aisle of bougie Western markets, but I could be wrong.

A Failproof Recipe For Muffin Tops

Ingredients:
Yourself

Instructions:
Have a baby sometime in your mid-30's, and then after you stop nursing, think that you can eat like a pig and not gain weight.

Because my weight has recently crossed over into a territory that's technically considered overweight for my height, I decided to participate in a Biggest Loser contest at my office. In two months, the person who loses the highest percentage to their original weight wins a bunch of cash. Excellent! Rich and skinny...just like the jeans I can hardly fit into right now. *sigh*

Now I'm not going to jump on the Lean Cuisine bandwagon or anything like that; I love food too much to subject myself to that kind of torture. Nor do I plan on going on the cocaine and cigarettes diet. (Although the prize money would definitely help cover the cost of said chemical aides) My strategy, rather, is to reduce portion sizes and refined carb intake and seek out lower calorie, healthy and tasty foods while making a commitment to work out 4-5 days a week. Which basically means no more chocolate-covered foie gras binges whilst sprawled out on the couch watching Jersey Shore. It's going to be a tough adjustment, especially being a food blogger and all, but hopefully one that will pay off in more ways than one.

Please share any weight loss/get fit success stories as well as any favorite healthy but tasty recipes...I'd love to hear them! Wish me luck!