Here’s a list of the diet tools that will help you achieve weight-loss success: Buy them anywhere or conveniently order them through Amazon.com.
Kitchen knives
There are many good knives available for sale. I like the Chicago Cutlery brand knives that I’ve been using for years. I couldn’t do without the 102S 3" paring knife, BT7 bread knife, 42S Chef knife, and a sharpening steel. While I like my Chicago Cutlery and the large Henckels’ chef’s knife that I use a lot, my nephew, a food scientist and avid cook, is fond of the Wüstoff brand. They are pricey but if you can afford it, go for it. I always try to buy the best quality product I can afford.
Hand grater
I have several different graters with different hole sizes. I used to use my microplane grater for grating raw carrot for my yummy breakfast omelet but the last few times I’ve made the omelet, I’ve used a large hole grater. The carrot shreds are larger and more identifiable that way. I also like to use it for shredding cabbage if I want a fine shred. I like the graters with a good, firm grip the best. If I have the time, I hand-cut the cabbage with a French knife. That’s part of the fun of cooking and gives me a sense of satisfaction I don’t get when I use my Cuisinart, though I certainly wouldn’t want to be without my Cuisinart or some other kind of food processor.
Bathroom scale
A scale is a friend and a necessity to keep track of our progress. I have no particular favorite style or manufacturer’s brand. I have a good, old fashioned, non-digital scale that still serves me well. I wasn’t getting on it regularly. I knew I was gaining weight. My clothes were getting tighter but with my major flare of rheumatoid arthritis, I wasn’t able to hold a full-time job so I wasn’t getting dressed to go anyplace. The last thing on my mind was getting on a scale. I was spending my days and nights dressed in a flowing afghan or muumuu, hobbling between my bed and my living room recliner, trying to cope with the pain. Thankfully, as time went on, doctors were able to find medications that helped me and I was able to go back to living a close to normal life. With weight loss in mind, I get on the scale about once a week to check my progress.
Small calculator
How would we manage now days without a handheld calculator? I use mine every day. It’s getting a lot of extra use now days as I calculate the calorie count on my favorite recipes and keep track of my daily calorie count in my food diary. It’s so much easier (though less of a mental exercise) to divide up servings with my calculator than to divide it up the old long-hand method. The brand of the calculator isn’t important. Any simple calculator will do.
Small kitchen scale
I actually have two kitchen scales. One is a very small one capable of weighing items up to one pound (16 ounces) and the other capable of weighing things to 25 pounds. I use the smaller one most often especially when I’m weighing dry pasta or weighing cuts of meat, poultry or seafood. It has worked well, but one of these days, I’m going to treat myself and buy a small digital scale. It will certainly be more accurate. I’ve decided that when I do buy another scale it should be capable of weighing food up to five pounds. I can always use my older large scale for things weighing more than that. There are so many kinds of scales available I know it won’t be an easy choice.
A set of metal measuring cups
I suppose you could use plastic or glass measuring cups, but I like the metal best for the reason that they are durable, and I can dip safely right into bubbling hot sauces and other hot liquids with them. My experience with plastic is that after a period of time, the cups start to have an odd, oily look to them in the bottom of the cup, as if I didn’t clean them properly. I clean them again but the look remains. Maybe it has to do with the way I clean them, I don’t know. I don’t put them in the dishwasher like I do the metal measuring cups.
A set of metal measuring spoons
Although I have some plastic measuring spoons in the drawer where I keep my miscellaneous cooking utensils, I keep the metal measuring spoons on top of the counter on the folded terry cloth kitchen towel where I keep the measuring cups, the microplane grater, and the Fiskars office scissors and the other miscellaneous utensils I use every day. I like the body and strength of the metal measuring spoons. I can easily press them against the side of a box when I’m measuring such things as baking soda, corn starch, brown sugar, and the like. I also take my spoons off the ring that they usually come on. I simply don’t like having all the sizes hanging together when I’m only interested in using one size at a time.
A microplane grater
The microplane grater I’d recommend is one with a good handle grip of some kind. I use this grater for many things. It is wonderful for grating parmesan and other hard cheeses. Microplane-grated cheese gives you the illusion you are eating far more than you are. I use the microplane for zesting the rinds of lemons, oranges, limes, and grapefruit. The way I do it is the opposite of what I see most people on the TV food shows do. I run the grater against the fruit instead of run the fruit against the grater. Doing it the way I do, I have a good view of the rind and move it efficiently from spot to spot without going too deeply into the white pith. Try my way and see if you don’t agree.
A notebook
A notebook (for recording everything you eat along with your thoughts, calorie-counting information, new recipes, etc.) Might as well pick out a beautiful one in which to record your thoughts on life and food. It is something you’ll refer back to every time you want to make a recipe on which you’ve already calculated the calorie count - no sense doing it more than once. My notebook is turning out to be something of a journal. I jot down comments about significant things that may have happened that day. For instance, if I’ve gone to lunch with a friend, or was on a trip out of town. I also like the spiral bound notebooks the best because you can lay them flat on the table as you write or fold them back on itself.
A calorie counting book
I prefer Corinne T. Netzer’s book The Complete Book of Food Counts. As an alternative, you may also check calorie counts on Calorie-Count.com and Calorie Lab. I find the calorie counter sponsored by the Calorie Control Council difficult, at best, to use. I find it easiest to use the Corinne Netzer book because I can take it with me wherever I take my food diary.
I keep the measuring cups, measuring spoons, and microplane grater on a folded towel next to the kitchen sink. That way they are available for me to use when I need them and I won’t be tempted to guess what constitutes 1/2 cup or 1 cup. The kitchen scale is also kept in a cupboard close by. I don’t use it every day but I don’t want to hunt for it when I need it to weigh pasta, meat, or other cooking ingredients.
