Chapter 10 - Tips On Reducing

Diets Can Be Deceptive | Weight Chart | Hunger Pangs | Eat Unlimited Amounts of These Foods | Watch Those Meals between Meals | Hints for Low-calorie Cookery | Low-calorie Eye Catchers | When You Reach Your Desirable Weight

A weight loss of about two pounds a week is your safest, surest method of reducing to your most desirable weight. Thus it should take you ten weeks to lose 20 pounds, fifteen weeks to lose 30 pounds, and twenty weeks to reduce by 40 pounds.

If you lose an average of less than 2 pounds a week, you are not sticking to your diet or you have not located yourself correctly in The Calories  You Work table on pages 58 and 60. If you lose an average of more than 2 pounds a week, you are not eating as much as your Safe and Sure Diet permits or you have not located yourself correctly in The Calories You Work table.

This does not mean that you should expect a 2-pound change every week. Before launching your diet you should become aware of some of the peculiarities of dieting.

Diets Can Be Deceptive

Some people, while reducing, lose fat and body tissue without showing any loss on the scale. That is because they are retaining water which replaces the lost tissue. It may take from a week to a month for their water balance to correct itself automatically. Medical journals have reported cases in which there was no weight loss for a month, followed by an 8- to 10-pound loss in a few days.

Don't be discouraged by the apparent failure of your diet—and don't be too delighted by a sudden loss of weight. Some people lose 8 to 10 pounds during the first week of dieting because of mild acidosis. This causes the loss of large amounts of water. As has been pointed out repeatedly, weight fluctuations because of the presence of water are unimportant.

If you weigh yourself after you perspire, you may think you have lost from 1 to 3 pounds. Then you drink a glass of water and gain back ½ pound immediately. Voiding the water enables you to lose the half pound. Ultimately your water balance will restore your weight to what it was before you perspired.

That is one of the reasons why it is suggested that you weigh yourself only once a week while dieting. First draw up a weight chart and pin it up near your bathroom scale— on the wall next to the make-up or shaving mirror is a good place. Don't tuck it in a drawer where it will promptly be forgotten. A sample chart is given below for your convenience. Now weigh yourself just before breakfast on the same day of each week and enter it on the chart. Your weight loss should average out to approximately two pounds per week.

The important point is this. If you follow the Safe and Sure Diet that applies to your daily calorie expenditure, you will lose 6 to 8 pounds a month regardless of the peculiar weight fluctuations caused by water in your body.

Weight Chart

My diet began 
I weighed                              1b.
My desirable weight is           lb.
I will lose                               lb.

My weighing-in day is  

My weight after

First week                                Eleventh week 
Second week                           Twelfth week   
Third week                               Thirteenth week
Fourth week                             Fourteenth week
Fifth week                                Fifteenth week 
Sixth week                               Sixteenth week
Seventh week                           Seventeenth week
Eighth week                              Eighteenth week
Ninth week                               Nineteenth week
Tenth week                              Twentieth week

Hunger Pangs

For the first ten days or so of your diet you may feel occasional hunger pangs. These will not be severe because you are eating three healthy meals each day. Nevertheless you may be concerned about them. Here are some of the things you can do for relief.

You can chew celery stalks and radishes between meals. These will help to fill you without adding a significant number of calories. If you are a candy eater, an occasional gum-drop will enable you to continue your habit without ruining your diet. That's because gum arabic has no calorie value and the few crystals of sugar are not sufficient to disrupt your descent to slimness.

A small portion of gelatin without milk or cream may be satisfying before bedtime and will help to take the place of the sandwich or cake which added calories in the past. Within ten days of the time you begin your Safe and Sure Diet, your hunger pangs will disappear. Your conditioned reflexes will have adjusted to your new and healthier way of living, and you will find that even the slight strain of the first days has vanished.

Eat Unlimited Amounts Of These Foods

If, for any reason, you feel the need for more food than your diet permits, here is a whole group of vegetables which can be eaten in unlimited amounts without disturbing your diet:

•Asparagus                                                                Leeks
Beans, string (green and wax)                                    Mustard greens
Beet greens                                                               Pepper, green
Broccoli                                                                    Poke shoots
Cabbage                                                                   Radishes
Cabbage, Chinese or celery                                       Romaine lettuce
Cauliflower                                                                Sauerkraut
Celery                                                                       Sea kale
Chard                                                                        Sorrell
Chicory leaves                                                           Spinach
Chives                                                                       Squash, summer
Collards                                                                    Tomato juice
Cucumbers                                                                Tomatoes
Dock                                                                         Turnip tops
Endive                                                                       Vegetable marrow
Fennel                                                                       Water cress

Watch Those Meals Between Meals

Your between-meal activities are as important to the success of your Safe and Sure Diet as your habits at the dining table. Peanuts and canapés, the hot dogs you nibble unconsciously as you watch a ball game, the snacks you munch before your TV set, and the sinister drinks at the nineteenth hole, these are the villains that are out to wreck your diet.

Sugar-rich soft drinks can also upset your pattern. Substitute tomato juice, not fruit juices .

Between-meal fruits, innocent as they sound, are also hazardous. There are more calories in a moderate-sized apple than in a slice of bread. And a handful of cherries, comprising 20 per cent sugar, supplies enough energy for a mile walk. Of course if you don't walk the mile, you store the energy as fat.

As the family cook, the wife plays a key role in her own and her husband's successful dieting. She should set aside portions of vegetables for those dieting before adding butter for the rest of the family. Portions of salad should be sepa- rated before adding the calorie-rich dressing. Put aside the boiled potatoes before saturating them in butter and milk. Gravy should be kept in its own boat instead of launching everyone on the sea of obesity.

As for apple pie, let the dieters scrape the apples from the crust. Piecrust is for folk without paunches, but everyone can enjoy the apples.

Safe and Sure Diets permit all members of the family to eat the same basic foods, whether they are dieting or not. Those who are slimming down just omit the rich accessories.

The housewife can help herself and her whole family by selecting lean meats and by broiling or roasting rather than frying them. The Calorie Counter  at the end of this book will help you to choose meats which do not abound in extra calories.

Hints For Low-Calorie Cookery

Calorie tables, such as the Calorie Counter  at the end of this book, list the number of calories contained in the food before cooking, unless they specify otherwise. Remember that for every teaspoonful of butter, oil, or fat added in the cooking you are adding 45 calories. For every teaspoonful of sugar used in cooking fruits you are adding 16 calories, and when you casually use one-half cup of flour to thicken your gravy you are adding 200 calories to thicken your physique.

To keep your calorie count low try not to add fats, oils, sugar, or flour. Let your bywords be broiling, boiling, stewing, steaming, pressure cooking, baking, or roasting.

Have you ever considered the difference between the various types of broiling?

If you pan broil meat, it reabsorbs its fat drippings to a large extent and maintains its original calorie value. If you have greased the pan you have more calories, of course.

But if you grill meat, the natural fats melt and drip into the pan, lessening the calorie content of the meat.

The double boiler can be an unsung hero in your reducing diet. It enables you to scramble eggs without using butter and hence to diversify your breakfast menus.

On the next pages you will find recipes for low-calorie eye catchers . These are made with the artificial sweeteners, Sweeta and Sucaryl . They have valuable functions when used with moderation, but their excessive use is not encouraged.

These dishes have the eye appeal of high-calorie desserts  and dressings. This does not mean, however, that they will satisfy you in the same way.

It is suggested that you reserve them for party and special occasions. If you are overweight, your eating habits need a reeducation. If the following preparations ease the strain of your reeducation they perform a valuable service —but the sooner you can discard them entirely the sooner you will reach and maintain your desirable weight.

Low-Calorie Eye Catchers

Vanilla Ice Cream

1½cup skim milk
1 tbsp. Sucaryl solution
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 tsp. Vanilla
Few grains salt

Mix Sucaryl with ¾ cup skim milk; scald; pour over beaten egg yolks. Sprinkle gelatin over remaining milk mixture; stir until dissolved. Cool. Add vanilla and salt. Pour into freezing tray; freeze firm. Remove from tray to chilled bowl. Break up with wooden spoon. Beat with electric mixer or rotary egg beater until free from lumps but crumbly. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Return to tray; freeze until firm.

Yield: six servings; no calories per serving.

Apricot "Ice Cream"

1 cup water
⅛ cup nonfat dry milk   ¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup cooked dried apricots, about 28 halves
⅛ tsp. Sweeta

Blend water and dry milk together until smooth, using rotary beater or electric blender. Puree apricots, along with the liquid in which they were cooked, in a food mill, or blend to puree consistency in an electric blender. Combine milk, apricot puree, Sweeta, and lemon juice. Mix well. Pour into freezing tray. Freeze as quickly as possible. When about half frozen, place in a mixing bowl and beat with rotary beater until the consistency of mashed potatoes. Do not overbeat. Continue freezing until firm but not hard.

Yield: about two cups, or four servings; 105 calories per serving.

Baked Custard

10 Sucaryl tablets
2 cups skim milk
2 eggs
¼ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
Nutmeg

Crush Sucaryl tablets; dissolve in 2 tbsp. of the milk. Scald remaining milk in top of double boiler over simmering water. Beat eggs frothy. Stir in salt, vanilla, and dissolved Sucaryl tablets. Add hot milk and mix well. Strain into individual custard cups; sprinkle with nutmeg. Set filled cups in pan of hot water, having water within ½ in. of top of cups. Bake in slow oven (300°F.) 1 hr., or until knife inserted comes out clean. Serve cold.

Yield: five servings; 100 calories per serving.

Barbecue Sauce

1 tbsp. butter                                     9 drops Sweeta
1 small clove garlic, minced                1 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet
1 tbsp. minced onion                          ½ tsp. dry mustard
2 tbsp. wine vinegar                           ½ tsp. salt
1/4 cup catsup

Melt butter over moderate heat. Add garlic and onion. Let cook about 3 min. Add vinegar, catsup, Sweeta, Kitchen Bouquet, and seasonings. Stir to mix well. Bring just to boil and remove from heat.

Yield: ½ cup; 5 calories per serving.

Herb Salad Dressing

1 egg                                              1½ cups water
2 tbsp. flour                                    ½ cup vinegar
1 tbsp. mustard                               l½ tsp. Sucaryl solution or
1/4 tsp. marjoram                           12 tablets
1/4 tsp. rosemary

Beat eggs thoroughly; combine dry ingredients; add to beaten egg. Add water, vinegar, and Sucaryl solution (or Sucaryl tablets which have been dissolved in a portion of the liquid), beating well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; cool.

Yield: 32 tbsp.; 10 calories per tablespoon.

Lemon Milk Sherbet

1 tbsp. unflavored gelatin                         Yellow rind of 1 lemon
1½ cups water                                         ½ cup lemon juice
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk                            1/4, tsp. Sweeta
 
Soften gelatin in ¼ cup of the water and dissolve over low heat or hot water. Blend remaining water and dry milk together until smooth, using rotary beater or electric blender. Carefully grate only the yellow rind from the lemon and combine with lemon juice and Sweeta. Stir in dissolved gelatin. Stir milk mixture into gelatin and lemon juice and mix well. Pour into freezing tray and freeze as quickly as possible. When mixture has frozen about 1 in. from edge, remove to a bowl and whip  with rotary beater until about the consistency of mashed potatoes. Do not overbeat. Return to freezer and freeze until firm.

Yield: about two cups, or four servings; 5 calories per serving.

Apple Betty

10 Sucaryl tablets or 11/4 tsp.              2 cups soft coarse bread crumbs
solution                                                 (2 slices bread)
¼ cup water                                         ½ tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. lemon juice                                ½ tsp. salt
4 medium apples, sliced thin

Mix or dissolve Sucaryl with water and lemon juice. Toss together bread crumbs, cinnamon, and salt until well mixed. Spread about one-third of the crumbs in greased 1½ qt. casserole; cover with half of the apple slices. Add layer of crumbs; add remaining apple slices; finish with layer of crumbs. Spoon Sucaryl mixture over top layer. Cover; bake in a moderate oven (375°F.) 20 min. Remove cover; continue baking 30 to 35 min. longer. Serve warm or cold.

Yield: five servings; 90 calories per serving.

Snow Pudding

1 envelope unflavored gelatin                      1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 cup cold water                                      1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp. Sweeta                                          3 egg whites
Pinch salt                                                    1 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 cup hot water
 
Soften gelatin in cold water for 5 min. Add Sweeta, salt, and hot water. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add lemon rind and juice and stir until well blended. Chill until mixture begins to thicken. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, gradually beating in the sugar. Continue beating until egg whites stand in peaks. Then add to gelatin mixture, folding gently until thoroughly combined. Pour into a lightly oiled l-qt. mold or eight 6-oz. molds. Chill until firm. Unmold and serve plain or with crushed berries.

Yield: eight servings; 20 calories per serving.

Coffee Whip

1 tbsp. unflavored gelatin                2 tsp. Sucaryl solution or
1/4 cup cold water                          16 tablets
2 cups strong, hot coffee

Soften gelatin in cold water; dissolve in hot coffee, with Sucaryl. Pour about one-fourth of this mixture into small, shallow pan to depth of ½ in.; chill until firm; cut into ½ -in. cubes. Chill remaining mixture until sirupy. Beat with rotary egg beater until light and fluffy. Spoon into sherbet glasses; chill until firm; garnish with the ½ -in. cubes of coffee jelly.

Yield: six servings; 6 calories per serving.
Special Fruit Punch

½ tsp. Sweeta                                4 cups cold strong tea
1 cup water                                    Ice
½ cup lemon juice                           Angostura bitters
No. 2 can unsweetened pineapple juice

Combine Sweeta, water, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and tea. Chill. Serve over ice and add a dash of angostura in each glass.

Yield: about 8½ cups before adding ice, or ten servings; 30 calories per serving.

Cranberry Relish

6 Sucaryl tablets                                      1 orange, unpeeled
1 lb. cranberries                                       l apple, unpeeled

Crush Sucaryl tablets. Grind all the fruit together, add the Sucaryl, and mix thoroughly. Serve on crisp lettuce or on water cress as a salad, or serve as a sauce to garnish holiday meals.

Yield: 8⅓ cup servings; 53 calories per serving.

Savory Dressing For Salad Greens

1/2 cup lemon juice                                     1 tsp. onion juice
2 tbsp. tomato puree                                   ½, tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tbsp. salt                                               3 drops Tabasco sauce
⅛ tsp. paprika                                            ½ tsp. Sweeta (24 drops)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Chill. Shake well before pouring over salad greens.

Yield: about ⅝ cup or 10 tbsp., five servings of 2 tbsp. each; 10 calories per serving.

Lemonade

Put a scant ½ tsp. Sucaryl solution, or 3 tablets, in 2 tbsp. fresh, strained lemon juice; add enough water to make 8 oz. Add ice as desired, garnish with a slice of lemon.

Yield: one serving, 8 calories.

Molded Citrus Salad
2 cups grapefruit sections,                     2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
coarsely diced                                      ½ tsp. Sweeta
¼ cup lime juice or lemon                     ½ tsp. salt or celery salt
juice                                                     2 cups finely shredded carrots
Unsweetened grapefruit juice,
about 2½ cups

After preparing fresh grapefruit sections, allow them to stand in refrigerator for 30 min., then drain juice into quart measure. Add lime juice and enough unsweetened grapefruit juice to make 3½ cups. Soften gelatin in ½ cup of the fruit juice and dissolve over low heat or hot water. Add Sweeta and salt and stir until dissolved. Add remaining fruit juice. Chill until consistency of unbeaten egg whites. Stir in grapefruit sections and shredded carrots. Turn into eight lightly oiled 6-oz. molds or l-qt. ring mold. Chill until firm. Unmold, garnish with salad greens, and serve. Yield: eight servings; 70 calories per serving.

Garden Salad Ring

1 envelope unflavored gelatine            Green food coloring
¼ cup cold water                               1 cup diced, peeled cucumber
2 cups boiling water                           1 cup sliced radishes
1 tsp. salt                                           ¼ cup sliced scallions
¼ cup lime juice
1½ tsp. Sucaryl solution or 12 tablets

Sprinkle gelatin on cold water. Dissolve in boiling water. Add salt, lime juice, Sucaryl, and enough food coloring to tint mint-green. Chill to consistency of unbeaten egg white. Fold in remaining ingredients. Spoon into lightly oiled 5-cup ring mold. Chill until set. Unmold. Fill center with crisp salad greens.

Yield: six servings; 16 calories per serving.

Low-Calorie Chocolate Sauce

1 cup water                                       ½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup cocoa                                     2 drops almond extract
1 tbsp. cornstarch                              ¼ tsp. Sweeta

Slowly add ¾ cup water to the cocoa, blending well. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 2 to 3 min. Combine and add remaining ¼ cup water and corn-starch. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, almond, and Sweeta.

Yield: 1 cup, or eight servings of 2 tbsp. each; 15 calories per serving.

Here are some cheese recipes for special occasions. Note that their calorie content is higher than that of the usual foods permitted during your reducing diet. Use these recipes with caution and at rare intervals.

Cheese Soup

Stir ¼ cup pot cheese into clear, skimmed, warm bouillon.

When medium-fat cheeses are permissible, grated Parmesan or Emmentaler can be used. Cheese may be added to all soups; an especially good combination is the addition of cheese to vegetable soup. 120 calories

Cheese Dumpling

3 tbsp. pot cheese                             1 tbsp. mineral oil
2 tbsp. flour                                       ½ egg yolk

1. Mix ingredients and let stand for ½ hr.
2. Knead into a ball or dumpling.
3. Cook in salted water about 15 min.
4. Serve with cinnamon and 1 tsp. sugar.
150 calories (five dumplings)

Cheese Cake

Make a dough of:
2 tbsp. pot cheese                       l⅓ tbsp. mineral oil
4 tbsp. flour                                 2 tsp. sugar
1 egg yolk
Place ⅔ of dough on mold, place in oven for short time.

Make a filling of:

½ cup pot cheese                        1 stiffly beaten egg white
2 tbsp. sugar                                Grated lemon rind
2 tbsp. mineral oil
 
1. Spread filling on dough in pan.
2. Place remaining dough over it.
3. Bake in oven 3000 about 1 hr.
550 calories (two portions)

Cheese Slices
4 tbsp. flour                                       1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. mineral oil                              Pinch of salt

1. Prepare a stiff dough.
2. Roll out flat and let stand.
155 calories

Divide the above into two parts and fill with the following mixture:

½ cup pot cheese, strained and mixed with 1 egg yolk, sugar or saccharine, grated lemon rind, and the stiffly beaten white of 1 egg.

1. Grease a small pan with mineral oil.
2. Fill one part with the mixture and place the other part over it.
3. Bake for ½ hr.
4. Cut in slices.
300 calories

When You Reach Your Desirable Weight

Once you have reached your desirable weight you will want to maintain it without slipping back to overweight. What you have learned while following Your Safe and Sure Diet will stand you in good stead.

After you have lost your excess weight locate yourself again in The Calories  You Work table on pages 58 to 60. Then select the diet which corresponds to the figure you obtain. Do not subtract the 1000 calories as you did when you wanted to lose weight. We are now trying to balance calorie intake and energy output. But remember, the figure is based partly on the energy you expend in your occupation. If your activities have changed since you began your diet, be sure to look up your calorie expenditure in the proper table.

If you lose weight on your new maintenance diet, pick a higher-calorie diet; if you gain weight, choose a lower-calorie level.

As long as you keep weighing yourself once a week, you should be able to detect changes in your weight pattern. For convenient additions and subtractions to your maintenance diet see Appendix B, 100-calorie Portions of Foods .

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