Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Ultimate Tea Diet (Now We're Cooking with Tea)

Ehm, so I've gained weight again.  It is quite depressing to think that just a few short months ago I was thirty pounds lighter (and looking fairly decent, I might add).  Although I needed to lose another, say, 20 lbs to be at an "ideal" weight, I went the other direction and pigged out with a passion.  I don't know why, really.  Because I was feeling really good, I was in shape - exercising daily, eating anti-oxidant packed nutritious foods - and I loved the way I was looking.  But anyway, here I am.  And it's time to get that scale needle to budge downwards again.

What better way than to get my beloved beverage on board?  I have no idea if tea can help someone lose weight, although there are many who believe that it can.  I'm not talking about swallowing "green tea extract" pills (I think that might be dangerous, actually).  Besides, that just takes out all the enjoyment of drinking it, n'est-ce-pas?

I do believe that tea can play an important role in a healthy lifestyle, however, so I'm going to ramp up my use of Camellia Sinensis leaves in my day-to-day diet.  I'm going to drink more cups during the day, and I'm going to start cooking with it as well.  I've already started, in fact!  Today I made my newest and neatest culinary experience - Chai Oatmeal.  I prepare the masala brew minus the milk, and add quick-cooking oatmeal to the pot for 5 minutes.  It's really, really good.  And good for you.

I've also ordered a really cheap book from Chapters.  It's called The Ultimate Tea Diet, and although I have some misgivings (I'm hoping that this book doesn't condone tea fasting or anything), I've heard that this book contains recipes that include tea.  That makes me excited.  I'll let you know what I think when I receive it in 4-8 days.

So while this is not a weight-loss blog, I'll be chiming in from time to time about my progress and what I find works when it comes to tea.  Who knows, maybe I'll start a project a la Julie Powell, testing out tea recipes.  We'll see. 

In the mean time, I'm open to suggestion - if you have any favorite tea recipes or ideas of how to incorporate tea into a weight-loss diet that you'd like to share, please let me know!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think tea does help! I'm on the uber shake diet right now, but once I'm back on food I plan to not have any snacks. At all. Not even an apple. Instead? I shall have tea. :)

Anonymous said...

Setzen, sechs!