David Zinczenko - Cook This, Not That! Skinny Comfort Foods: 125 quick & healthy meals that can save you 10, 20, 30 pounds--or more!

Remember how simple and comforting food used to be? When you were a kid, there was nothing better than waking up to a thick slice of French toast, maple syrup and butter running over the edges, filling the kitchen with the smell of autumnal goodness. Or coming home from school to a thick wedge of lasagna, the tangy sauce tickling your tongue and the melted mozzarella stringing little spider webs between your plate and fork. Or taking a break from ice skating to linger over a mug of hot chocolate, its little marshmallows floating on top, keeping you warm on a cold winters day.

Of course, that was then. You were a kid. You didnt know any better. Now youre a grown-up, and when you hear French toast, lasagna, and hot chocolate, you think, Egads! Carbs! Saturated fats! Sugar! I cant eat that! Being a grown-up sucks, doesnt it? Well, this book is about to change all that. Eat This, Not That! Skinny Comfort Foods is like a high school reunion where only the kids you really liked show up. Steamed Broccoli? Couldnt make it.

Tofu? Not invited. Lima Beans? Serving a 6-month prison term for DWIFDining Without Intoxicating Flavor. You wont find any of those bullies and bums in here. But Fettuccine with Turkey Bolognese, Molten Chocolate Cake, and those old jokers, Mac and Cheese? Theyre all waiting for you inside. My goal is to get you reacquainted with your very best friends from child-hoodsome close buddies that maybe you grew a little wary of over the years, but you never stopped missing, never stopped thinking about. Sounds great, youre thinking.

But Im a grown-up now, and I have grown-up concerns, like the refined carbs and the trans fats and the sugars and the glycemic index andahhhhh! Well, yes, we are grown-ups now, and watching our weight is more important than ever before. Thats why Skinny Comfort Foods is here, to make all your favorites a lot less scaryand to help you lose weight, eat great, and start enjoying the company of some wonderful old friends. Stop Stressing, Start Indulging In reality, a lot of the foods we remember from childhood werent necessarily all that bad for usat least, back when we were kids. Whats happened is that food processors and chain restaurants decided that the foods we already loved needed to be improved, and so starting in the 70s and increasingly through the 80s, they started improving them by adding new kinds of sugars and other chemicals, turning misdemeanor indulgences into nutritional felonies. CONSIDER THIS:How much high fructose corn syrup did you eat today?YOUR ANSWER:Uh, none?CORRECT ANSWER:If youre an average American, you ate 12 teaspoons worth. That would be just today.

It was probably in the sauce you tossed with your spaghetti, the ketchup you spread on your burger (and the bun as well), the bread your turkey sandwich came on, and the iced tea you washed it down with. But you dont need to be downing a chemical cocktail of bad-for-you stuff every time you crave the comfort of your old food friends. And you dont have to live on a diet of romaine lettuce and kidney beans to start dropping pounds and keep them off forever. In fact, you can run for comfort any time you wantand still lose 10, 20, 30 pounds or more. All you need are a few smart swaps, and a quiver of simple recipes. Once you know a handful of secrets, youll be indulging in all your favorite comfort foods, and watching the pounds disappear. Before we get started, however, its worth answering one question: What exactly is comfort food? The first thing you might think of is that creamy tomato soup Grandma made for you when you came in with a chill from building a snowman in the backyard; the mac and cheese Mom cooked up when you got the mumps in fourth grade; the chocolate brownie sundaes that you and your friends shared after you got dumped by that loser they all warned you about.

Comfort food is about memories, right? In part, yes. The taste of melting American cheese on your tongue, the smell of apple pie cooling on the counter, the sound of Mom clanking the pots and pans in the kitchen while Dad sits in the living room, cursing the Red Soxthey trigger our memories, and when we recall happier, more innocent times, we cant help but feel more at peace. Its the reason you can still hear Casey Kasem count down the hits on the 70s stations every Sunday. But theres actually a science to comfort food, and to why we crave what we crave when were stressed or blue, that has nothing to do with Moms cooking or Dads scatological references to Fenway Park. Let me tell you what happens, in part, when we eat comfort foods, and the biological reason why your college room-mates tofu and lentil stew never quite satisfied those emotional needs. The Science of Comfort Food I dont know about you, but I could pretty much use some comforting all the time.

If its sweet, fatty, greasy, chewy, or just plain yummy, Im ready to run into its arms. Thats because, like you and everyone else living in the USA right now, Im chronically stressed. I probably manage about 500 emails a day, several dozen phone calls, and a few dozen texts. Then there are the Tweets, the friend requests, and the myriad other social media coming at me with the intensity of a 4-year-old on a Butterfinger bingeand thats before I even walk to my mailbox. That stress triggers the release of several hormones, starting with two main ones, adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline you knowits the stuff that gets your heart racing and your blood pumping and your wallet opening for yet another stupid Saw movie.

Nothing wrong with that: The occasional adrenaline rush is what makes life worth living, after all. But the other hormone, cortisol, is the real problem. What its supposed to do is release fat and sugar into your bloodstream, so you can run away from the snarling sabertooth or the attacking alligator or the uncaged Kardashian or whatever other primitive man-eating predator is on your tail. But when stress becomes chronicwhen the untamed tiger is replaced by a daily onslaught of rising bills, mindless tasks, and disheartening remarks from the boss cortisol can actually signal your cells to store as much fat as possible and inhibit the body from releasing fat to burn as energy. Whats worse, that fat tends to accumulate in the abdominal region, because visceral fat, which resides behind the abdominal muscles, has more cortisol receptors than fat below the skin. I know what youre thinking: What does this have to do with Grandmas creamy tomato soup? Well, our hormonal reactions to stress help explain why we develop cravings for fried chicken, chocolate chip cookies, grilled cheese, chicken soup, apple pie, and the like whenever were feeling like we need a hug.