Come on, when it comes to food, eat classic French.
Best ways to eat vegetables, packed with taste, minimal nutrition and flavor lost in preparation. Decent meat portions, can use low cost cuts of meat and braise them - same thing, more flavor, more nutrition. Sauces are not nearly as bad a people think - they make the meal. Soups !
Portions are automatically smaller because they are flavorful and satisfying.
They literally wrote the book on food.
And... back in the day - people here in America used many of the basic techniques and approaches to food !!!
We’ve just lost it all cuz we’re eating at junky chain restaurants and buying stuff in a box instead of raw ingredients. Many times grandma was the last in her line to cook anything real. When she says “stock” she’s not talking about shares.
Anyone can do it - I’m an idiot and I can make a decent meal in 20 minutes.
Nothing better, it works. Cuz you’re completely satisfied with only a reasonable amount of calories.
Have a cigar/smoke now and then to top it off.
Virtually limitless variation, easy once you get the hang of it.
You’ll get to your “right” weight (not anorexic) and be overflowing with ENERGY, cuz yer eatin’ right !
Just do a little strenuous exercise that makes your muscles sore now and then and your fat burning machine will get turned back on. Give it a go, it’s a whole new world.
Jacques Pepin’s fast food series shows you things that are real easy just to ease into the idea and get started and get some success.
Then find the cookbook La Bonne Cuisine. It explains a bit about the “restaurant” way of preparing, but basically explains things from the point of view of a home cook. Written by a home cook. Gives you the virtually every technique, i.e., knife, what pans to use and why (please stainless or cast iron cooking surfaces IYKWGFY), different cooking processes. It’s like a cooking course that you can just work your way through and use as a reference. It’s detailed so just expect to take your time (years) and have fun.
God put all the delicious and nutritous food all around us - we just have to get up and get it.
IMHO.
>>Have a cigar/smoke now and then to top it off.<<
That part is the problem.
Trust me, for a regular smoker, a single PUFF, much less an entire cigarette, is the path back to smoking.
If I sound like an AA person, it is because I am THAT afraid of going back to smoking. It took 30 years to get hooked and I have been off them over 10. I can’t take the chance — nor can most “ex-”smokers (we are all smokers — we just won’t do it now)