Wolfgang Puck - Wolfgang Puck Makes It Healthy: Light, Delicious Recipes and Easy Exercises for a Better Life

I never, ever expected to write this book. If you had suggested to me ten years ago, or even five, that my next book would focus on healthy recipes and fitness, I wouldve said you didnt know me very well.

Im a chef, not a doctor or a research scientist or a registered dietitian. Of course, I read a lot about food, cooking, and eating, and I combine that with a lifetime of experience that comes from working in the kitchen, running restaurants, and seeing what people want and how they like to eat. But in recent years Ive become more and more vitally concerned with ways to eat that will improve my own health and energy, as well as that of my family, my friends, and the many guests in my restaurants.

It all began to change for me in 2009. Wanting to feel healthier, I started adjusting my eating habits in simple wayslike emphasizing more fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, reducing fat while maximizing flavor, and practicing moderationthat Ill explain in more detail throughout this book. And I began working with my trainer, Chad Waterbury. I was fifty-nine at the time. I had recently had a hip replacement, and I was in constant pain from an inflamed nerve in my lower back. My biggest fear was that I would have to give up skiing. That may not seem like much of a sacrifice to you, but I grew up in Austria. Skiing is what we do. Every kid skis. But lately, when I skied with my friends, I had to stop in the middle of the hill to catch my breath. Tennis is my favorite warm-weather sport, but because Im a competitive person and I like to play with people who are better than me, it involves a lot of running, and I found I would have to sit down to rest every fifteen minutes.

Its not that Id never tried to get in shape before. Id tried just about everything, and most of what I did made me feel worse instead of better. The first time I exercised with a professional trainer, when I was in my thirties, I passed out. They had to carry me out of the gym. After that, I tried gym workouts, home workouts, running. I exercised with a trainer and without a trainer. The results were almost never what I hoped for. Even if I managed to lose some weight, get a little stronger, or build my endurance, the success never lasted long.

But Chads workouts were different from any Id tried before. During our first workout, we jumped rope, which I could only do for forty-five seconds at a stretch; did a circuit of basic calisthenics including jumping jacks, push-ups, and squats; did some boxing, with me wearing gloves and Chad holding up pads; and finished with stretching my warmed muscles. Thats it. We did the entire routine in my living room, where we still work out to this day. More important, we started with a program I could realistically do, instead of a program Chad thought I should be able to do. He shared with me a simple piece of wisdom that Id never heard before: You cant start with an hour of training if your body is only ready for fifteen minutes. And then we built up from where I was. A few months later, I could jump rope for ten minutes straightand the only reason I stopped at ten was because we had to move on to another part of the workout.