Even baby steps can bring dieters to healthy weight
By Wanda A. Adams for the Honolulu Advertiser

Here's an interesting nutritional news bite: The average person slathers about 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise on a lunch sandwich—adding 200 calories, 22 grams of fat. If you eat a sandwich every workday, even with two weeks' vacation, you're talking 50,000 mayonnaise calories a year. Or about 14 pounds of potential annual weight gain, assuming you're not also running a marathon at lunchtime.

For Kathleen Daelemans, that's not depressing news. It's an opportunity.

"Those are easy calories to cut," she says. Or, if life without mayonnaise just isn't worth living, cut something else.

The point is, says Daelemans, only you can decide which techniques work for you in carrying out dietary change.

Daelemans is a former Maui resident whose appointment to a job as spa chef at the Grand Wailea resort some years ago forced her to look at her size (22 at the time), her eating habits (fueled by Pepperidge Farm cookies and handfuls of chips) and her cooking style (better with butter).

The story of her gradual—and so far, lasting—body resculpting, and the many ideas and recipes she picked up along the way, were the impetus for her TV Food Network series "Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen," now in its third season, and a companion cookbook of the same name from Houghton Mifflin, released last year.

Nurse Sue Yamashita of Aiea is a Daelemans fan. "I started watching her on TV because of the Hawaii connection, and then I bought the book, and I've lost 25 pounds with her. I took her advice about snacking on things that have nutritional value, like her homemade granola. I just like her sense of humor."

"As a nurse, I am supposed to be an example for health, but I had gotten heavy through some bad habits," Yamashita said. "She inspired me to make the small changes, and I lost the weight over time. I know this isn't the popular way to do it, but I have kept that weight off for over a year, and my boyfriend likes the recipes, like her meat sauce for spaghetti that's made with baby back ribs. Works for me!"

Daelemans, who lives in Sylvan Lake, Mich., where it was 33 degrees the day we spoke with her on the telephone, misses the Islands and hopes to come back someday. Meanwhile, she's kept on the Mainland by family responsibilities and work on her second book, "Getting Thin and Loving Food: 200 Easy Recipes to Take You Where You Want to Be," coming out March 1.

The witty, wisecracking chef admits that she yo-yos—"but I used to yo-yo like 50, 60, 70 pounds. Now, in the winter, I'm a firm size 8, and in the summer, when I can get out and go for long bike rides and mow the lawn and garden, I'm a firm size 6—so it's about 5, 6 or 7 pounds up and down."

As we talk, she can be heard following one of her own bits of advice—walking briskly up and down while she's on the phone. The conversation is packed tightly with ideas.

"Challenge the high-calorie ingredient." Will the flavor be worth the fat? If a recipe calls for half a cup of vegetable oil, for example, you're not buying any flavor. You can probably cut back or even eliminate the fat; surf the Web for alternatives. Using highly flavored oils—extra-virgin olive oil, peanut oil, sesame oil or roasted peanut oil—allows you to use less in dressings or for sautéing, for example. In baking, study techniques for reducing fat.

"Add calories by taste." Combine all the low-fat or nonfat ingredients in a recipe, taste, then add oils, butter, mayonnaise, cheese or other fats only as needed for acceptable flavor or texture.

"Take baby steps." Make gradual, low-pain changes. Drink half the can of Coke—that's 100 calories less. Leave five fries on the plate. "It's not that hard, but it's slow. You're not going to see results in two weeks, but you'll feel the results in that time. Your body is going to start feeling better, and emotionally, that's the reward," she said.

"There's a lot to be said for just going for what you really want." If you're craving chocolate and nothing else will do, have a single-ounce square of the best you can afford. Just stop there. (You might have to give the rest of the bar to someone else to hold for you.)

"Take stock when you blow it." If you give in to cravings or go nuts at the office food table, ask yourself where that came from. Stress or lack of sleep can cause the rise of hormones that act on your body in a way that seems to signal hunger. We react by seeking out those "happy hormones" that you get from refined carbohydrates. So get enough rest, take stress-busting 10-minute walks during work and try to sort out the real hunger from the hormones.

"Figure out why you can't and won't." What's keeping you from making changes? It might not be major issues; it may be small annoyances or ingrained prejudices. Can't stand your kitchen? Analyze why—not enough light, too messy, too isolated from the rest of the house? "We can't all afford to remodel our kitchens, but you can go to Home Depot and get a stick-up light or you can spend a Saturday cleaning out cupboards." (See Food for Thought column for more ideas.)

"You'll lose weight just by cooking at home more." As a chef, Daelemans knows that restaurant cooks tend to have a heavy hand with fats. But home cooks can control such ingredients, and they have a concern for their own health and that of their families.

Daelemans' philosophy of gradual change and moderation doesn't fit the fad mentality. But she doesn't care. This approach has worked for her for almost half a decade now. A primary reason it works is that it's personal and practical, and there is no sense of deprivation. "Our minds shouldn't be consumed with thoughts of things we wish we could eat," she writes. "Rather, our lives should be filled with foods we love to eat."

Two famously good recipes help you keep the weight off
Author and cooking-show host Kathleen Daelemans' granola has become legendary among her friends. She's not allowed to visit without bringing some along.

It brought her to the attention of Quaker Oats, and she's now a spokesman for that company. This is the plain version, but she often adds dried fruit and sometimes handfuls of other healthful dry cereals (such as those made by Kashi). You can also replace nuts with pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
It's the first recipe in her "Cooking Thin" book for a reason: It was the snack that saved her life as she lost 80 pounds. It isn't a particularly low-calorie snack, she notes, but it's healthier than chips and such, and fills you up more quickly. You have to spend some time chewing it. If you prefer clumpier granola, use 1 1/2 cups brown sugar.

Crunchy Granola

Here's Daelemans' recipe for a pasta or polenta sauce that scores high on the "guyometer" (she rates recipes by their appeal to men throughout her book). It's a Saturday sort of recipe—one that cooks slowly while you do other things. This recipe makes four servings but freezes well, so she suggests you double or triple it and freeze it for future use. It's surprisingly easy but offers a smoky, deep flavor like the sauces you get in some Italian restaurants. It doesn't taste at all low-calorie!

Baby Back Rib Sauce