Girl about diet.

Cowgirl. Surfchick. Listens to Faction and the Highway. Knows a lot about styrofoam. Chief at Fatty Pontoon. Marketing fluffer @SF data start-up. Eats a lot.

[girlaboutdiet]

125 gram-butter tart.

This photo doesn't do my 'leek and bacon tart' much justice.

Most importantly, it doesn't demonstrate how much butter, sour cream and cheese make this calorfic bomb. Yes, I take my diet very seriously

[girlaboutdiet]

Just do it yourself already.

I went out for lunch today. Having lunch on a Sunday in San Francisco is a true feat. Because it is all about the brunch, you know. Fried chicken and churros? Sure. An above average burger? Umm...

We went to West of Pecos, on Valencia. There was a buttermilk burger on the menu. Yay. But whenever you see that something is served with home fries, you just know. It will be small.

So I decided on the Dungeness crab and avocado tostadas which were rather tasty. But miniature.

Then I saw someone having the said buttermilk burger. And I was starving all over again.

So I went home, made me some biscuits. Not bad for a first attempt ever.

And I had them with Sicilian meatballs from Bi-Rite.

The moral of this story is: if you want a thing done well, do it yourself :)

[girlaboutdiet]

Dungeness crab tostadas. At West of Pecos.

[girlaboutdiet]

The Most Delicious Sandwich Ever. Now with sauerkraut. Go to Cloverdale, peeps!

[girlaboutdiet]

Yummilicious. ilfornaiorestaurants in San Jose.

[girlaboutdiet]

My first Cioppino. @CatchSF

[girlaboutdiet]

I used to be the world's largest burger.

October 8, 2013. That momentous day when I achieved the weight of the world's biggest burger!

I'm pleased to report that as of this week, I weigh only as much as an average American woman.

Next on Girl about Diet - how I discovered that I am not addicted to any food or drink at all.

[girlaboutdiet]

Keeping my breakfast simple.

[girlaboutdiet]

Screw diets, just cook something.

The last time I'd lost a considerable amount of weight I ate the same meal every night for a month or so.

I'd cook 3.5 oz of penne pasta, add ridiculous amounts of vegetables including onions, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and spinach and sprinkle it with a miniscule pinch of Grana Padano. Monotony didn't bother me nor the lack of meat. It was a perfectly satisfying, home-cooked meal that made me feel happy and reasonably full every time. Weight Watchers worked for me then. They haven't yet unleashed their Pro Points that lets you eat as much fruit as you want - and I can eat a lot of fruit. Their ready-made meals were still limited and trying to figure out Points when dining out was a true feat.

Since then I've tried quite a few other diets - Evolutionary Fitness Diet, Slow Carb Diet, Paleo Diet, 8 Hour Diet and The Fast Diet (5:2). And all of them worked, better or worse, as long as I didn't eat out.

It seems that in a controlled environment - home - I could control myself. But once exposed to a menu, all hell would break loose. Surely this single dish of pasta won't make me fat?

This is the problem with going out for food - you really don't know what a calorific bomb a chef concocted in the kitchen. Or maybe you suspect, but you still polish it off with gusto. After all, you're paying for it, you don't want to leave $10 on a plate.

New York Times put together a great list of what 2,000 calories look like at various food chains and popular restaurants. Compare it with what you could cook at home to the tune of 2k of kcal - a banquet. I know which one I'd rather have.

So tonight I had a grilled pork loin, spaghetti squash with tuna and anchovies, roasted root vegetables and apple sauce. Doesn't it just look yummy?

[girlaboutdiet]

WTF is wrong with carrots?

I don't know what other couples argue about, but my husband and I had a mild altercation this week on the subject of root vegetables. Specifically, my growing affinity for tubers (hurray for the roasted veg period from Thanksgiving to Christmas) and a lack of interest in consuming anything remotely green.

Sure, spinach with garlic is tasty and grilled asparagus dipped in butter is nothing to sniff at, but I believe I am well within my rights not to get excited about kale or collard greens for dinner.

For someone who'd believed for a large chuk of her life that the below is a perfectable acceptable vegetable, I've come a long way anyway, don't you think?

But apparently I am wrong.

According to a healthy-eating organization Food Day, a humble potato (with skin) has only 64 points versus bloody kale with its smug superstar score of 1,392 points. Food Day calculates the score based on:

- Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) or Adequate Intake (AI) for 7 nutrients - Daily Value (DV) for fiber - Daily targets for lutein (plus zeaxanthin) and carotenoids other than lutein

Yeah, yeah, the greens rule.

1. Kale - 1,392

2. Spinach, raw  - 968

3. Collard greens - 737

4. Swiss chard - 717

5. Turnip greens - 714

6. Pumpkin, canned - 577

7. Mustard greens - 550

8. Sweet potato, with skin - 492

9. Radicchio, raw - 467

10. Carrots - 399

And here's the full shebang. At the moment, I'm just glad that my carrots made the top 10.

[girlaboutdiet]

Post-SoulCycle treat. Look at this 24th Street roll!

[girlaboutdiet]

If you eat burgers you will die of cancer.

According to 'Forks Over Knives' documentary that I am currently in a process of watching - 'in a process' because despite being only 1h 36m it's so badly edited that it put me to sleep after 36 minutes - this piece of beautiful pork belly is going to give you cancer.

So will the eggs and cheese.

Yes, if you eat meat and dairy, you will die a slow and painful death while your cancer cells multiple with every bite of a burger you take.

Bull-shit.

I am all for innovative diet propaganda, I'm a sucker for it, but no one stands between me and a steak. Thankfully, the China study that forms a backbone of said documentary had been already debunked. I am not arguing that if you give up meat and dairy, you will lose weight. There's only so much fruit, veg, whole grains and legume one can eat. Plus I fully support anyone who chooses not to eat other living beings, whatever their personal reasons. But I'm very disappointed that a documentary with a potential to teach people how to eat better (it mentions sugar and processed food, but focuses mostly on the evils of meat, at least in its first 36 minutes) fails to convey what 'Fed Up' managed to deliver in 1h 32m.

I'll keep watching tonight, you never know.

[girlaboutdiet]

Those who can't eat, watch documentaries

I find that the very first day you decide to pay attention what you put in your belly is the easiest. You're focused, you're determined, full of hope.

But it's always good to have some additional re-enforcement. And that's why I'm watching food and diet documentaries.

Here's my watchlist for coming weeks.

1. Fed Up. Or - Sugar is evil.

2. Forks Over Knives. Or - Sugar, dairy and meat are evil.

3. Food, Inc. Or - Monsanto is evil.

4. Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Or - Green juice is good.

5. Hungry For Change. Or - Jamie Oliver with a wheelbarrow of sugar.

[girlaboutdiet]

The weirdest diet trends for 2015

[girlaboutdiet]

California, you owe me 27 pounds.

When I started writing this blog in a bid to lose weight, Posterous still existed, I lived in London and believed that Tim Ferriss' 'splurging' worked.

200 posts and 4 years later, I'm short of hitting 200 lbs, (ok, short by 24 pounds), permanently residing in the land of the best pastrami sandwiches, world class wines and OMG IPAs.

Since moving to California, I've ballooned by additional 27 lbs. And still, I'm writing this post while gorging on Pretzel Crisps. At least my lunch was on a healthier side.

It's complicated You can say that my relationship with food is somewhat complicated.

For instance, I am addicted to bread, but I've pretty much given up on sugar last year and haven't missed it much. I'm as likely to forget to eat all day long as I'm to devour two In-N-Out Double Doubles Animal Style in a single sitting.

And despite this blog being called 'Girl about diet', it's been mainly, primarily, completely dedicated to all the delicious dishes I've been consuming.

2015 grand resolution But when you're about to hit 40 and your BMI of 30.3 means you're a 0.3 point into obesity, it's time to clean house.

So in 2015, I'm looking forward to balancing my food pics with writing about diet and exercise. Wish me luck.

And now, I'm off to roast some pork belly and then deep fry in coconut oil for even more flavor and crispiness.

[girlaboutdiet]

The best sandwich in the world.

[girlaboutdiet]

Angry fish. But oh how delicious!