Nutritional Tidbits

Our "Biggest Loser" group met with a nutritonist about what foods we should be eating and vice versa. I am the only male in the group. No surprise there. However, I was very surprised to learn some things about nutrition that I had not known before. For instance, taking vitamins supplements every day in very much de rigueur and at least one of them must be a multi-vitamin. Vitamins should always be taken with some sort of food item to help transport them through the system. I knew that already. But what surprised me was a one hour window before or after taking vitamins for coffee drinking. Apparently, caffeine cancels out the restorative effects of the vitamins if taken in close proxmity. I don't eat eggs that often, but if I eat two eggs, I must get rid of one of the yokes. If I eat a sandwich, I must lose one of the pieces of bread or the top of the bun and I'm allowed only one-half a bagel. Also, I am only permitted to eat red meat once a week. That means turkey, chicken and veal are in, hamburger and steaks are out. That will be a problem, but I will deal with it. This diet is complicated by the fact that I keep kosher in my home. This puts me at a distinct disadvantage because many of the items that I need to keep, such as whole wheat bread, tuna or salmon steaks, are only available through kosher locations. Fish that is fresh, but not cut with my own kosher knives would not be considered acceptable. So, if I want to continue to keep kosher and to lose weight, I must now eat mostly frozen foods purchased from the local kosher market. I am looking for alternatives, but it is vexing. Ironically, the local Chabad Rabbi Zelig Rivkin and his family kindly sent over kosher candies and hamantaschen as shalach manos (traditional food basket) offerings for Purim. It was literally a very sweet gesture. Unfortunately, I would be completely off the diet were I to enjoy the little morsels with the high calories and off-the-scale sugar content. Meanwhile, more exercise is the way I am attempting to deal with all of the new rules. Steady and slow goes the course.