CHEF’S DIET — The Certe’ Fad-Free Diet (30 Day Diary)

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Chef’s Diet (Before)

As a Chef, I have a love affair with food.  Tasting and um “quality control” makes it almost impossible to diet.  If you think managing your weight is tough, imagine if your job was to spend all day cooking, thinking about, and tasting food.  A chef’s lifestyle makes it difficult to eat well. “You’re never really off when you get to a certain level, especially when you own a restaurant, and especially one that specializes in high-volume catering. Over the past couple of years, I have packed on about 60 pounds stemming from tasting, cooking, late night eating after an 18 hour day, stress, and fatty foods with my kids.

I have beliefs on how people should eat to get the most of their food.  Unfortunately, I have not followed it myself whole heartedly.  When you are a “cook”, you tend to worry about others and forget yourself.  Now it is time to walk the talk.

My food philosophies are:

·        *  Forget low-fat and low-carb, but good fats and good carbs.

·         * Consuming food that I know where it comes from and what was done to it.

·        *  Mostly vegetables and fish with an occasional meat on celebratory occasions.

·        *  Alkaline, Alkaline, Alkaline (high).

·        *  My only beverage being water, infused waters (coffee & tea included), & watered down fruit juices.

·         * No processed food.  Period.

·        *  Chewing, chewing & more chewing (slow down!).

·         * 3 Meals, 2 Snacks.

·          * No eating past 7 pm (Ugh).

Thinking about sugar and fat consumption not in terms of calories but in terms of where and how it came about was key to making my decision and I invite you along to track my progress.   All feedback is welcome!

  Chef's Diet Scale (Before)

Current Stats:        Weight:        277

                             Waist:            44

 

Chef Edward Sylvia

 

From the Compost—Make Dirt, Not Waste!

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The Old Stone House

Located on the borders of the thriving Brooklyn neighborhoods of Park Slope and Gowanus, The Old Stone House, a Historic House Trust of New York City site, holds our Composting Bin.   The garden spaces at the Old Stone House and the neighboring middle school, MS 51 (Williams School) offer a natural setting of native and useful plants. 

It is here that Chef Edward drives 4 times a week to drop off Pizza by Certe’s compost  and mixes it with just the right amount of sawdust as instructed by Claudia, who is in charge of the Old Stone House Gardens, to ensure nothing goes in that is not appropriate.  Our bin is closely monitored and that means:

  

YES to:

  Coffee

  All Raw Vegetables

  Basil

  Onions

  Garlic

  NO to:

  Eggshells

  Meat

  Fish

  Bread

  What Is Composting?
Composting is the decomposition of plant remains and other once-living materials to make an earthy, dark, crumbly substance that is excellent for adding to houseplants or enriching garden soil. It is the way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes, and is a critical step in reducing the volume of garbage needlessly sent to landfills for disposal

  Why Compost?
New York City, on the whole, does not compost. Food comprises about 17% of NYC’s waste stream. When this material is sent to a landfill it contributes to NYC’s disposal costs and can create greenhouse gas emissions. When composted, food scraps and other organic waste become a useful product that adds nutrients and improves the quality of soil for street trees, gardens and more.

  A typical restaurant generates 100,000 pounds of garbage per location per year, the Green Restaurant Association estimates. However, 70% of wasted food is estimated to be organic and compostable.  This means that all of the nutrients taken out of the soil will never again return to it.

  How can I learn to compost at home?
Visit www.nyc.gov/wasteless/compost to find workshops and guides for setting up a composting bin in your apartment or managing an outdoor compost bin for your home or garden.