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| Billie's Special Smoked Rib Roast, USDA Prime |
So, I have a question for that spiral notebook, “Why does a gram of fat have nine calories?” I guess as cosmic questions go, this isn’t a headliner. But for a binge eating, food addicted, compulsive overeater who would rather have a Double-Double than Oxycodone, it’s at least significant.
A gram of protein has four calories as does a gram of carbohydrate, but fat has more than twice the calories in every gram. What makes this significant for me, perhaps even for all Americans, is that most of the food I really like is loaded with fat. I have developed a palate that prefers the smell, the feel and the taste of fat. ‘Tis a cruel irony that with every forkful of my favorite eats, those fat grams I love so much double up the calorie count and all too quickly, my weight!
It may be God Himself that started this love affair with fat. In the book of Leviticus we find this tidbit, “He shall remove all the fat…and the priest shall burn it on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.” (Emphasis mine.)
I ask you, what’s not to like about obtaining Divine forgiveness by charring a rib eye on the backyard grill? As religious rituals go, I’m behind this one 100%. Do you suppose this means there is barbeque in heaven? Another question for the spiral notebook.
Travelling the country in my mind’s eye, I wonder how many folks celebrated the 4th of July by grilling turkey burgers or skinless chicken breast. Oh, they are out there, but they are not enjoying themselves nearly as much as those filling the neighborhood with the aroma of burning fat as it drips down on hot coals. T-bones, prime rib, country-style pork ribs, and the favorites, hot dogs and thick juicy beef burgers. Add a loaded baked potato, or better yet french fries, fried mushrooms and corn on the cob swimming in real butter and laden with salt. In the words of Jimmy Buffet, “Good God Almighty.” That’s my idea of eats and that’s also how I got to weigh 416 pounds.
In a recent nutrition class at Scottsdale Weight Loss Center, we were given a simple red, yellow, green model to help discern the good foods from the bad. (Our instructor, Franne D. Wilk, RD was quick to point out there are no “bad” foods. Just foods we should eat more of and foods we should eat less of.) Anything out of the ground and unprocessed is “green;” i.e. whole grains and vegetables. “Just eat them,” Franne said. She elaborated that in all her years as a Dietician, she had never told a client the reason they were struggling with their weight was because they were eating too many vegetables.
Yellow foods add a layer of processing, white breads and white rice, vegetable and fruit juices instead the whole fruit or vegetable and the lean meats show up here. According to the chart, these foods are OK; they’re just not the healthiest.
Red foods are the stuff my dreams are made of; full-fat ice-cream, whole milk, well-marbled red meat, fruit canned in syrup, Tunnel of Fudge Cake and anything fried, particularly deep fried. Five-and-a-half ounces of a plain baked potato, a green food, will set you back 143 calories and only .15 grams of fat. (That’s less than a single gram.) A large fry at McDonald’s weighs the same 5.5 ounces, but costs you 500 calories and 25 grams of fat. It takes good ol’ American know-how to turn a green food red and into a fat lover’s delight! (Nutrition info is from the USDA database and McDonald’s website.)
Today I celebrate 26 weeks at Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. I am down 87 pounds, more than halfway to my goal. This is the fourth time I’ve been on Optifast; it has to be my last. Not only is chemistry against me, (or is it physics) but so is an entire industrialized food system geared toward fast, fat food, urging me to eat whatever I want and as much as I want. Do you think we will ever see a Super Bowl commercial for Arugula?
The day I fear the most is the day I start to eat again. Will the classes, the dieticians, the trainers and my own study of our food system drive me to choose the green and yellow foods most of the time and the red ones only on the rare occasion? It helps to know that no food is forbidden, but I still fear that first bite. Will I keep those fat calories in check?
For now, I remain in the safe confines of the “Full-Meal Replacement Program,” watched over by Dr. Ziltzer, Franne, the staff at Scottsdale Weight Loss Center, and supported by my friends and family. My undying gratitude, and I mean that literally, to each and every one of you.
Billie
