Losing Weight in the Kitchen

I never had a formal training of the culinary school nor am a chef. In fact, it will make me nervous to prepare a meal for a larger crowd. But based on my knowledge of nutrition, physiology and medicine, I believe I cook a healthy, nutritious and simple meal for my family. Here are some tips that I share with my patients. Adopt the habit of preparing meals at home
Eating out not only lose the control of the portion, ingredients, (money) but also fun of family eating at home together.
Prepare meal everyday fresh
Buy healthy version of the items
Prepare your kitchen with the plan for success
Plan for success Success always starts with a plan. Contingency is always part of the plan for success.  It is hard to prepare meals daily when you do not prepare in advance. This is how I prepare for it. I do major grocery shopping once a month. The same day, I prepare the meat in appropriate portion in containers before it is frozen. Cut, clean, wash, drain out water (as appropriate) and keep them in the reusable containers for the each meal. If you have family of four, you keep the packages made for four, no more than that. You do not store them as it is of what you bought from the store. Then it will lead you to a waste or excessive portion consumption. If you buy a tray of twenty pieces of chicken breast, and you have family of four, you will resize them in 5 containers with 4 pieces of chicken breast in each container. Since the beginning you do not give a chance of cooking more than what your portions should be. The portion control starts now. The same is true for vegetables. Resize them in a plastic bag with a portion that is appropriate for your family. For example, you have a regular size cauliflower bunch and you are preparing for two people, I would cut in half. Keep each half in the  zip lock bags for each meal. Then appropriately stored them in refrigerator or freezer. It will keep them fresh if you do it the same time as you buy them. I will prepare the major cooking ingredients every two weeks. The peel garlic, the ginger root, the onion, I  have them grounded on two separate containers for each of them. One to use for the first week, keep in refrigerator and one for the second week, kept in freezer. So I will have two containers full of grounded ginger: one for first week in refrigerator and the another for the second week in freezer. When you finish the first container, transfer out the second container from freezer to refrigerator. I suggest to use plenty of above three as appropriate. They not only make the flavor of the meal but also healthy ingredients. The other ingredient that I use a lot in the preparation of the meat and fish is the yellow powder (Turmeric powder) which is widely used in Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese cuisine. It takes away the fish and meat raw smell and does not alter the taste of the fish and meat. Most importantly, it has the multiple health benefits including anti inflammatory and digestive effects. Most of my cooking is done with garlic, ginger, onion, turmeric powder, salt and chili powder. I like the spicy food. Sometime I would use saffron, cinnamon sticks, basil leaves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, bay leaves, mint, cilantro, walnuts, almonds and soy sauce. I rarely or almost never use butter, ghee, margarine or alcohol in my cooking. So now the kitchen is ready to cook for simple daily meals!