I’m currently a lump of chocolate and cheese, but once the new year hits, I’m determined to make 2026 the year I finally get back to a healthy weight (I’ve lost about 20 pounds, with about 80-100 to go). I’m pretty good about exercising regularly, but, as they say, abs are made in the kitchen. Those who have successfully lost weight, is there anything you particularly recommend for maintaining a calorie deficit to lose the weight, and then avoiding gaining it back later on?
I once lost some weight not by focusing on what not to eat, but by making myself eat a large salad for lunch. I forget what order things went in, but at one point I was eating a lot of home made fermented vegetables (cabbage mostly with others things in the mix, so basically kraut) mixed with romaine to dilute the sourness. At another point I would buy the sort of thing I previously ate for lunch (like a sandwich) and eat only half of it, chopping it up and mixing it with my salad. I ate whatever for dinner.
I wasn’t trying to lose as much weight as you, I realize. But I think for some people, not focusing of deprivation / but focusing on something I like “I will eat this quantity of these vegetables” and letting the fullness from that reduce the amount of more caloric stuff you eat, can work better.
I love fermented veggies! I never thought to make them at home. What’s the process like?
Basically stuff chopped cabbage (I like to add some carrot, onion, maybe some herbs… garlic, ginger and chillis can make a kimchee-like flavor) and salt into a jar or crock and leave it for a few days. It will naturally ferment and acidify. The salt favors desirable beasties, as does the acidic pH that will develop.
The only tricky bit is you need to keep the veggies submerged in liquid to keep things anaerobic. The salt will usually draw enough liquid from the cabbage, but you can add water if necessary. There are various devices people use to keep air out: glass weights to put on top, airlocks like used in beer brewing. IMO the easiest thing is a fido jar: the kind of thing with a gasket and metal clamp on the lid. The fermentation produces CO2 and that will force the O2 out through the gasket, and a blanket of CO2 will keep the veggies safely anaerobic.
Thank you so much ❤️