Use Moderation and Common Sense in your Cooking

My Maman is a great cook and knows how to keep her French figure.

But before I get into this, I need to confess that I sometimes get in trouble with my readers. You hold me accountable for things I say (or don’t say!) and that’s the way it should be. My job is to help you make smart choices so that you can reach your weight loss goals. That’s my big responsibility.

So this week I kind of got in trouble when one of my readers asked:

“Chef, your cookbook and emails have too many convenience items; for example in the ‘hack fried chicken’ email this week, you recommend avoiding common modern oils, then you recommend using cooking spray. Aren’t the non-stick sprays worse than the modern oils?” – John

ANSWER:
John is right. They kind of are. And my “flip-flop” on the issue really looks like non-sense, right? How can I possibly say in one of my emails last week: Oils like canola, vegetable, or sunflower are really unhealthy and I do not recommend them.

… And then turn around and use a cooking spray.

Truth be told, you should never use unflavored oils like canola, vegetable, or sunflower. They’re nasty. It’s not an easy, natural process to extract oils from a vegetable or a flower. It takes heat, solvent, and a heavy process to do so, none of which is good for us. A good extra-virgin olive oil for instance is just cold pressed and that’s it. Much better.

You should also avoid using a cooking spray, for the same reasons.

Now, what you and I are really saying, is that we shouldn’t ever use these oils on a regular basis. That’s what it means.

It doesn’t mean, of course, that using a teaspoon of canola oil once in a blue moon is going to threaten your life in a drastic way.

Eat More, Burn More, is about a really positive outlook on the pleasures of eating. It means: Enjoy super tasty, really healthy food. Lots of it if you want to. Don’t bring your mood down with restrictive diets (Breaking News: They don’t work!). Enjoy Life!

But it also means: use moderation and common sense. Not one single food will make us fat. And no single ingredient will save us from an otherwise unhealthy lifestyle. (Not even grapefruit or broccoli! )

I’ll leave you with one thought today. My Maman used to say this… (Translated from French)

“One needs to be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance”

Kind of a counter-intuitive thought, but you and I know what she means.

If you agree to that, go ahead and share this email with your family and friends. They too can grab their copy of Eat More, Burn More, be a part of our community, and enjoy food the way we are meant to enjoy it.

Enjoy Great Food; Still Lose Weight!