Post from TFT Chef Ambassador Andrea Oschetti: "Dieting Demystified"

Note from the Editor: this article first appeared in the South China Morning Post on 23 October, 2012.

DIETING DEMYSTIFIED

Forget dieting: it slows your metabolism, reduces your lean mass and you accumulate toxins, soon enough you put back what you lost.

Forget counting calories: quality calories are full of nutrients, while poor calories increase our appetite. Cooking techniques are much more important than the calorie count, a chef can heal or poison by the way he cooks. Cook your food simply and quickly.

Forget the complexity of the commercially driven diet industry. The key principles for healthiness are few and simple. The goal of losing weight is already misplaced; you want to lose body fat, not just weight. Don’t relay on scales, look at the mirror. In terms of body aesthetic, toned is beautiful, skinny is not.

There are three simple rules if you aim at losing excess body fat or maintain your ideal weight: eat well, keep the metabolism active and do physical exercise.

On eating well Michel Pollan put it as simple as one’s can: "Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food". Avoid industrial food and deep fried and you are 80% on the right track.

Food Hero Tuesday: Melanie White of Genie!

Note from the Editor: Every Tuesday, TFT HK will bring you a post or article from/about one of our local or global food heroes. These are people who inspire us, and whose visions align with the values that TFT espouses and promotes. This week's post is from Melanie White, co-creator (with Cara Grogan) of Genie Concepts, the new and already extremely popular juice cleanse supplier that also has a lovely cafe in Sheung Wan (G/F, 5-13 New Street). Before creating Genie, Melanie worked in fashion and owned her own line of shoes and handbags. Now, her focus is helping Genie's clients be their best, healthiest selves. Melanie, we at TFT HK salute you!

Hey Melanie! Thanks so much for being a TFT HK food hero. Tell us a bit about yourself!

Well, I moved to HK 5 years ago. I work in fashion, and had my own brand of shoes and handbags that I produced in China, so naturally, I decided to base myself here for business. I also had good friends living in the city (i.e. my business partner Cara!) so it was a really easy move. I wanted to get more experience in the international market, so from there I started working for a swimwear brand which is sold across the globe in over 17 countries.

Food Hero Tuesday: Interview with Peggy Chan of Grassroots Pantry

Note from the Editor: Every Tuesday, TFT HK will bring you a post or article from/about one of our local or global food heroes. These are people who inspire us, and whose visions align with the values that TFT espouses and promotes. This week's post is an interview with Peggy Chan, rising star of the Hong Kong dining scene and sustainable food system champion. Chan, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Institute, Hotel Institute of Montreux, and Swiss Hotel Management School, is the founder, director, and chef manager of Grassroots Pantry--a new cafe and workshop that focuses on health through eating; green values; local and sustainable food systems; and plant-based cooking and eating--in Sai Ying Pun. Peggy, we at TFT HK salute you!

Chef Chan in the kitchen