DiSpirito - Now eat this!: 150 of Americas favorite comfort foods, all under 350 calories

Its a good question that youve probably asked yourself again and again. For many people, the answer is surrender. They make no attempt at all to eat healthfully. The consequence of this type of eating, however, is weight gain and oftentimes heart disease, diabetes, or other health problems, as well as a compromised quality of life, and even premature death.

For others, the answer is self-denial. They eat only vegetables, or fish, or soy, or chicken, or restrict their diets to low-fat, low-carb, or high-protein foods. They give up pasta, red meat, pork, cheese, fast food, slow food, pizza, or alcohol. For some its desperation. They take diet pills, vitamins, nutritional supplements, or drugs. They try the Hollywood Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Atkins Diet, the banana diet, the grapefruit diet, or the cabbage diet.

Recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the number of overweight or obese Americans at more than 60 percent. Weve all heard the stories, read the magazine articles, and watched the talk shows. America is seriously fat and seriously unhealthy. As crazy as it all sounds, youor someone you knowhave probably tried at least one of the aforementioned tactics in an effort to lose weight, get healthy, and look and feel good. I say: Stop the madness.

Its not madness to want to look and feel goodand we should all want to be healthybut I believe the way were going about it is colossally wrong. The real answer to that eternal question about eating healthy is to eat the foods you like, but eat healthful versions of them. Thats what this book is all about.

So why did I write this book? I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or physical trainer. I am a chef. To author most cookbooks, this qualification would be more than enough, as it was for me in writing my previous books. But Now Eat This! differs from my prior cookbooks because its informed by my quest to live a healthier lifestyle. And while I dont make medical claims or offer specific health advice here, I do explore healthful eating within these 150 recipes.

More specifically, I take on Americas favorite bad boysthose foods that we desperately love but that really arent good for us. I call them downfall dishes because these are the foods that weaken your resolve to the point of breakdown. No matter what diet youre on or how healthy you hope to be, you just cant resist them. For me, its fried chicken, mac n cheese, and pizza. I am guessing that many of your biggest downfall dishes can also be found in this book.

I used social networking sites to research what Americans considered to be their favorite foods, and from this data I compiled a list of Americas top 150 downfall dishesthings like burgers, pizza, pasta, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and ice creamwhich I then set out to reinvent with much less fat, far fewer calories, and zero sugar. My goal wasnt to merely hang on to some sliver of flavor but to bust the code entirely and make over these favorite dishes so that above all, they tasted greatbut had a calorie count of 350 or fewer for a main-dish serving and much less fat. In fact, if you look at the traditional fat and calories listed for each dish, youll see that I was able to reduce the fat by an average of 66 percent and reduce the calories by an average of 83 percentand still have it taste delicious.

This has not been accomplished by employing the kind of crazy food science that results in yogurt that contains omega-3 fish oils, or peanut butter boosted with antioxidants, but by using real, fresh ingredientsand by swapping high-calorie and high-fat ingredients and cooking methods for far more healthful yet flavorful ones. Nor was it accomplished by making the portion sizes minuscule. The serving sizes here are generous but reasonable. Youll push away from the table feeling thoroughly satisfied and guilt-free.