Dear Chef Kathleen,
 
I just found out I'm a type 2 diabetic. My doctor told me I need to eat better and lose weight. I like to cook but don't know how to make my recipes healthy. He also said I have to exercise. I used to run back in college but I feel so embarrassed that I've let myself go. How do you deal with learning how to exercise all over again?

Dolleen


Dear Dolleen,

Read through recipes in healthy cooking magazines and cookbooks to see how they've cut back on fats and sugars. Try to figure out why the recipes are lower in calories.

Pay attention to how they instruct you to get vegetables and meats cooked. Look at the quantities of food called for and the number of servings each recipe makes. I've found that any recipe can be made more healthful by following these guidelines:

1. Reduce the amount of high calorie ingredients in recipes
Pretend you'll get a check for $5 grand every time you cut back a high calorie ingredient. I always cut the sugar and fat in all recipes by 25 percent. I've never had a bomb yet. I make notes in the recipe margins about the outcome and whether or not I think I can cut out even more sugar and fat next time.

If a soup recipe calls for you to sauté a diced onion in a quarter cup of olive oil, think about whether or not you want to fit that quarter cup of olive oil into your jeans next week. Saute the onions in water or stock and save the calories for something else.

2. Portion control the high-calorie ingredients
If you're cooking for four and the recipe calls for 2 pounds of meat, scale it back to a pound or 4 ounces per person, so no one gets more than they need to eat. Or better, make 2 pounds and freeze the leftovers in individual containers so you've got a freezer full of portion-controlled healthy meals.

If a pasta primavera recipe for four calls for a pound of pasta, double up on the veggies and cut the pasta in half. If a soup recipe calls for a whole chicken, a pound of potatoes and 1 carrot, use a pound of boneless, skinless chicken, a half pound of potatoes and up the carrots to at least four (one per person).

3. Up the good calories
Double up on the good-for-you-stuff called for in recipes. I've found you can almost always double-up on veggies and get away with it in any recipe, especially when you're scaling back the protein portions to no more than 4 ounces per person.

Many recipes don't call for enough good-for-you ingredients. Veggie soups often have only one or two veggies listed in the ingredient list. Frozen veggies can pump up the nutritional volume in soups, stews, pastas, salsas and egg dishes in a hurry. Challenge yourself to come up with ways to work whole grains and legumes into your favorite recipes. Add brown rice, dried (or canned) beans and lentils to soups and stews.

4. Give your recipes a "Good, Better, Best" once-over
Scan through the ingredient lists and challenge yourself to increase the nutritional integrity of each and every thing possible. For instance, choose lean proteins instead of marbled meats, low fat and lean sausages instead of high fat sausages, 100 percent white meat ground chicken and turkey instead of ground chicken and turkey that has dark meat and fat ground into them.

Use 1 percent or skim milk, fat-free buttermilk, low-fat yogurts and sour cream, egg whites instead of whole eggs and dry-aged cheeses instead of creamy full-fat ones whenever possible.

5. Learn how to exercise from scratch
I'll make a deal with you. I'll train with you. I'm working on a series with "Dateline." We're following three Atlanta couples as they try to lose 50 pounds each and get in swell-enough shape to run the Peachtree 10K Road Race on July 4th.

I haven't run in 12 years because, well, I "hate" running and my knees are ricketier than Pinocchio's. The "Dateline" candidates started their running training back in October. I started mine this weekend when I was in Seattle working and had a morning free. Better late than never. Having eaten my way from stall to stall at the Pike Street Market the night before, I knew I had to get back on track.

It was so cold (34 degrees and foggy), I had to run just to stay warm. My knees hurt, my shins hurt, my ankles hurt. I was cold. It was damp and my choice of music stunk. My leggings were too tight, my sports bra was strangling me and my socks were slipping down.

Guess what? No one cared. As soon as I realized I could either have fun at this or spend an entire hour complaining, I relaxed and enjoyed the view. I took breaks when I needed them and challenged myself to rest for shorter lengths of time. I thought about how important the proper gear is and how I needed to follow through with my training.

I thought about how hard the candidates have been working and how four of them have them have lost more than 25 pounds since October.

I thought about how I don't want to look like a wildly panting dog on race day.

If the challengers can do it, I can do it.

And if I can do it, you can do it, Dolleen!

kd@chefkathleen.com