[sarahyu]

I should be on the DASH diet for high blood pressure and I still should lose more weight. My husband has high cholesterol but needs to gain weight. The last time I was serious about losing the weight, I lost 40 pounds and he lost 15 even though I was cooking separate meals-just changed his white bread to whole grain, with daily oatmeal and no added butter. Now I've changed his twice daily white rice to at least one meal of brown rice.


He refuses to go salt free, won't give up pork claims its "the other white meat" and believes it. At first I thought he was joking but no... He refuses to eat chicken or turkey and yells about me trimming the fat off meat because "that's where the flavor is" He doesn't think that my blood pressure is bad because the doctor isn't harrassing me any longer.

Any body else have a similar problem? He really needs to gain some weight because he gets bursitis in his <cough> sitting area. How do you fix meals that help some one gain weight and lower cholesterol? The things that I would usually do-add butter for flavoring and fry more pork are bad for both of us.

I've just been happy that I've maintained my weight loss and havent' gained it all back. But occasionally I think I should get back on the lossing weight journey again.

Sarah

[fiddler]

Modern pork is as low in calories as chicken, if you buy lean cuts. Bacon obviously doesn't qualify. I don't see any reason you would need to give up pork. Here's an article that gives a comparative nutritional analysis for pork vs. chicken: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...9/ai_105853400

Just because hubby wants salt doesn't mean you have to have it. Cook without salt, then let him salt it once it's on his plate. Buy unsalted butter, too.

If he likes fat on his meat for flavor (I do too) cook it with the fat on and you can trim it off yours after cooking, or only trim half the meat before cooking it.

Eating more vegetables, fish, garlic and chile peppers will tend to help with the cholesterol too.

[sarahyu]

So, it isn't just an advertising gimic? I didn't realize it was just as good as chicken in the fat area.

Well, that's one positive thing. I'll eventually get it worked out. He keeps telling me to stop trying to make him so healthy, he wants to go out with a smile on his face. I told him as soon as he gets a multimillion $ life insurance policy I'll load him up with all the crap he wants, but until then he's eating healthy.

My sister and her family went salt free many years ago and she hates to visit us, she said a few years ago we could choke a horse on the amount of salt we used. I think it comes from Chinese cooking, everything has so much sodium in the sauces. I've started getting the lower sodium soy sauces and condiments, stopped adding MSG to foods and dramtically reduced the amount of salt added when I cook.

Thanks,
Sarah

[isthatreallyme]

Originally Posted by sarahyu

I think it comes from Chinese cooking, everything has so much sodium in the sauces. I've started getting the lower sodium soy sauces and condiments, stopped adding MSG to foods and dramtically reduced the amount of salt added when I cook.

Ya, westernized chinese food is pretty bad all around...... but there are tons of ways to have healthy chinese food, and have it still taste good. Most of what you see here is modified southern chinese style (lots of starchy, floury battered things) and occasionally northern (szechuan). I cook a lot of chinese style foods, and loooooove them. They are great for the diet because you don't need much meat at all and there are lots of veggies, always taste great, and actually better tasting and better for me because i make them myself.

The chinese have been eating chinese food for hundreds of years and they're doing pretty good (a lot better than north america anyway)! There is also a big difference in the chinese food served in china and the chinese food that's eaten here. Also, societal differences are a big part of it, they have much smaller portions there, and feeling really full is something they are taught from childhood is a bad thing. There is also chinese food theory (5 elements theory), but I won't go into that (unless you want me to - it's quite interesting)

As far as cutting out salt completely, well I dunno, that's a hard one because of how important salt is in the vast majority of foods. reducing it is easy, it doesn't take much salt to do the job it needs to do. Salt is one of those things that you can tell when it is missing, but should never really know it's present when it is. I can see why he wouldn't want to cut out salt completely, but I've also heard there are a few good salt substitutes out there.

As far as getting more calories/fat, try adding more healthy oils to the diet, like olive oil, canola, sesame, or sunflower(there are others but cannot think of many for now). Just look for ones that are high in mono-unsaturated fats and low in saturated fats. They will give you more fat/calories and are good for you. Try eating fatty fish, they also have good fats in them, to help with the weight gain a bit.

[sarahyu]

I'm debating weather to delete this post, I don't want to offend anyone. Does it come across as offensive or just me, being overwhelmed by the in-laws?

Yes, Chinese food can be extremely healthy when prepared properly. Yes, portion sizes tend to be smaller then our American restaraunts.

I think that normal people aren't like my in-laws. (Do we all have strange in-law stories?)

(you might need it when I get really into my long rant):
My soapbox, (please don't think it's a personal attack at you-you are entirely correct I believe for the majority.)
My dh is from China, his whole family is still there. They do consume way too much sodium in general.

When his parents came to visit they were both adding more salt and MSG to everything. MSG comes in a big tub at the asian market and you just buy it by the scoop. And frying everything. They would buy big pieces of pork belly-you know bacon before it's smoked and sliced. They were so annoyed with me for serving them chicken breast and pork loin.

They started shopping and cooking while I was at work so their poor son would have good food. They always picked meet pieces that were more fat then muscle. You can say that's ok because they don't eat that much, they did! They'd buy a 5# chunck of fatty meat and between the 3 of them they'd eat most of it by the end of the meal, fat and all. Clicking their tongues at all the horrible foods I was making their baby eat. (whole grain, low saturated fats, steamed or lightly stir-fried veggies, low fat milk)


It's a big fat myth that Chinese people are healthy because they eat so much healthier then we do, yes, they tend not to eat the processed foods-chips, french fries, cookies, candy, no hydrogenated fats, no high glucose corn syrup. But they do eat a lot of saturated fat, the fry many vegetables before cooking it with a sauce, the sauces are loaded with sugar and msg/salt, even the stuff you get in China made by chinese people for chinese people. Chinese people do have high blood pressure and cholesterol problems, they tend not to have the obesity problems that we have.

They can get by with bad food choices because in general the majority of people haven't picked up the western habits of sitting and eating too much. They generally have to walk or ride bikes great distances-well at least we would conisider it a great distance.

, I need to chill, can you tell this is a touchy subject for me? <wiping foaming mouth> - Deep breath, calm down- think puppies, kittens, butterflies, rainbows. They went home and won't be back for another year.

It could be the vacation mentality when they visit us. But they eat more then I do and they don't gain weight-It's so not fair! Maybe that's why I'm so disgusted about the entire thing.

Things are changing in the big cities, they are getting western junk foods, cars, working in sedintary jobs for long hours. So the obesity rates are climbing and the diabetes rates are increasing. Dh's cousins are starting to have to battle the bulge now, they used to walk almost every where, now they drive and sit in traffic for so long they don't have time to exercise like they used to.

Disclaimer: I'm basing my rant on the few family members I've had the misfortune of trying to feed and the high blood pressure/high cholesterol problems of the many friends who are Chinese in our circle of friends who have the problems with blood pressure/cholesterol.

[fiddler]

I'm debating weather to delete this post, I don't want to offend anyone. Does it come across as offensive or just me, being overwhelmed by the in-laws?

Just you, overwhelmed by the in-laws.