Posts by Tom Johnston

Stews and Curries If you stop and examine closely the contents of many of our favourites, the ingredients by themselves aren’t all that sinful. There are two things which hike up the calorie count. Firstly, in this comparatively affluent age, we are likely to include a much higher proportion of meat, chicken or whatever than…

Well, the final instalment. At last, I hear you cry. One of the main purposes of this section has been to try to ensure you don’t die of ignorance, in other words to point out the truly horrendous number of calories to be found in processed food. Takeaway See also under Curry and Pizza. This…

Well, the food A – Z is (gently, I hope) suggesting that pasta and pizza shouldn’t feature on your regular menu. Here are a couple of lower calorie options which may fool the brain slightly. Spiralised Courgettes All’ Amatriciana Now when spiralisers hit the market, I was right up there voicing my contempt at this…

This is the penultimate in the A – Z series. Some of this may be no more than stating the obvious, but there may be a few surprises. Meat Lean meat is better for dieters, but if your meat has fat it on it, don’t remove it before cooking. Just don’t eat it. Beef is…

I used my May sabbatical to get a few articles in the can, as it were, to be able to roar back as fresh as, well… a very fresh thing. At the time of writing I was fairly unsure what the rules would be about entertaining, but it surely can’t be too long before we…

The thing, said Kenny, is that everyone who wants to lose weight will tell you that they hate salads. Until I started going to France regularly, I was probably among their number. Remember the Scottish attempt at a “salad”? A piece of cold meat, or worse. Possibly a birstled three day old Scotch egg whose…

After a couple of weeks of depressing you with lots of foodstuffs best avoided, there’s some more positive news this week. A lot of people say they give up on diets because the food is boring. You just have to look at your fridge or store cupboard from a slightly different angle to realise that…

Now please don’t write in to complain about the selection for today’s combo. Yes, I know that everyone can make a stir fry.  But what I’m looking to illustrate is a way you can take a dish you have made many times, and reduce its calorie count by upping the ratio of veg to protein.…

After Part 1 was published, one of my daughters took me to task that it was terribly negative, containing things you really shouldn’t touch. While I’m not sure that was entirely fair – I did after all extol the virtues of bread – it certainly can be applied to today’s warnings. Never mind, there’s some…

Should The Wee Fat Lawyer’s Diet Book ever see the light of day as a complete volume, it will contain this A – Z, a random compendium of some foods and thoughts on where, if at all, they can fit into your dieting programme. Recipe names in Italics will feature in Tom Cooks! Once the…

As I mention in the book, for all calorie counting I refer to the My Fitness Pal app. If I am cooking something substantial, such as a piece of meat or fish, or using an ingredient with a very high calorie count such as butter, then I will weigh it. Otherwise it’s an approximation; however,…