Posted on: April 30, 2007
Eating in the Comfort Zone
Our love affair with food boils down to one simple thing: What makes us feel good. But can we have comfort food without the calories? TV chef G. Garvin shows the way
By J. Jewell Bates
CTW Features
Image courtesy Getty Images
The problem with eating healthy is giving up the truly good stuff – like comfort food.
But guess what? You don’t have to give all that up, says TV chef, G. Garvin, star of cable network TV One’s “Turn Up the Heat With G. Garvin” and author of the same-titled cookbook. With the L.A. restaurateur’s help, you can live life in the comfort zone by making over your menu with the likes of bourbon chicken wings and white bean spinach ragu, while changing the way you view food.
Garvin knows the challenges of loving food and staying healthy. Dubbed “The Big Sexy,” by friends and fans, the L.L. Cool J-look-alike was forced to take steps to stay healthy by virtue of being around food all day. As some celebrity chefs’ weight balloon up and down, Garvin makes time to work out and not let his relationship with food take over.
“Teach yourself to understand the foods you’re eating, like you teach yourself how to do anything else,” Garvin says. He manages his love of food by economizing his meals. He eats a small breakfast and lunch, then splurges on dinner, when his resistance to calories and layered flavors is lowest. Otherwise, he says, he’d drive himself crazy micromanaging every meal.
“There’s a whole other nutritional intellect that you have to have for that and most of us don’t want to spend that much time [micromanaging],” Garvin says. “So, for example, I’ll eat egg whites in the morning with maybe a piece of fish or chicken breast. For lunch I’ll have a good salad, a nice hearty salad with maybe some soy cheese, chicken, shrimp, some protein and vinaigrette as opposed to a ranch or a blue cheese. Then for dinner I’ll go ahead and have something with a little sauce on it.”
Making good choices on the front end help control eating habits daylong, Garvin says. But, of course, you’ve got to have access to healthy food to eat it in the first place. Have you checked your cabinets lately?
“When you purchase smarter, you cook and eat smarter,” he says. “I would get boneless, skinless chicken breast; so now I’m not going to fry it, I’m going to grill it or sauté it. I’m going to skip the aisle where they got the cupcakes and the ice cream: I’m just not going down that aisle. I’m going to go off and get water, juices or organic juices.”
Another one of Garvin’s common sense-cooking philosophies is to cut back, but not out. Seriously, can you imagine life without butter? Garvin can’t and he says we don’t have to, either.
“Nothing is ever going to take the place of butter,” he says, “So you have stop trying to figure out how to cut butter out, but [instead, think of] how to use less of it. That’s just how it is.”
So, what’s Garvin’s idea of a common sense, comfort meal that won’t double your chin overnight?
“I would sauté a piece of salmon,” he says. “I would put together some iceberg [lettuce], some butter and a little romaine heart [lettuce]. I would throw in some fresh corn. I would throw in some tomatoes. I would put a little blue cheese in there and I would make a citrus vinaigrette — maybe with some lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, some fresh basil. I’d toss that; eat that with salmon. That’s quick and it’s good for you.”
G. Garvin’s quick-change menu
If you’re food shy, just try: If you fry, try sautéing. Test several healthy cooking techniques until you find one that’s to your liking. You’ll have fun tasting new flavors and expanding your horizons.
Re-evaluate your shopping habits: If you like dessert, buy one thing, not a whole basket full of goodies that will tempt you to gobble them up once you get home.
Get wait staff on your side: Look for heart-healthy symbols on menus and tell waiters you’re trying to change your eating habits. Maybe they can recommend a heart-healthy, calorie friendly dish.
Recruit friends and colleagues: Tell them “I want to eat a little healthier and I want a support system because I want to live longer.”
