You Can't Out Train A Crappy Diet

How many times have you heard?  "It's not at diet, it's a lifestyle!” if you're like me you have probably heard it one time too many. The first time I heard it I thought it was cleaver way of looking at diet changes, but it also seems to infer, at least to me, that part of the lifestyle change is saying goodbye to all my favorite foods. As you might have guessed, I love food! I love cooking, baking, and I love eating out. Fine dining to a hole in the wall taqueria, if good chow can be found, I've probably been there. As a child I use to watch the Julia Child and Yan Can Cook on PBS.


I want to get healthy, but not at the expense of my love for food. So this is my plan:

• 800 Calories a day
• No more simple carbs, lean meats and no refined sugar.
• 40% Complex Carbs, 30% Protein, 30% Fat,
• 3 meals (approx 400 Calorie Each) and 3 snacks a day (approx 200 Calories Each).
• Finally to enjoy every bite I eat.

Healthy food can taste just as good as unhealthy food. One of the tips that I’ve found usefully is to make to most of spices, because most have very few calories. Below is one of my new favorite recipes for Chicken Jalfrezi, which is an Indian or Pakistani curry, with green peppers and a hot and spicy dry sauce. This recipe makes 4 Servings and is about 300 Calories per Serving and if I add a ½ cooked brown rice at 107 calories. It is the perfect meal for me.

Chicken Jalfrezi

Chicken Jalfrezi

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 2 Cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 Green chilli, deseeded and chopped
• 3 cm of fresh root ginger, grated
• 2 Chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
• 2 tsp Mild to medium curry powder or paste
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Tomato purée
• 4 ¼ fl oz Water
• 1 Green pepper, chopped

1. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a low to medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of Olive oil.
2. When it's hot, add the chopped onion, garlic and chilli. Fry for about four minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally.
3. Now add 2 teaspoons of curry powder or paste, 1 teaspoon of tomato purée, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir everything for about 30 seconds
4. Add the chopped chicken to the pan, and cook for 3 minutes in the pan, until it's almost cooked. Stir continuously to stop it sticking.
5. 4 1/2 fl oz of cold water to the pan. Turn the heat down to a lower temperature, and simmer for 5 minutes. It should bubble gently. If you'd prefer a thinner sauce, you can add another 4oz of water and cook for 3 minutes longer.
6. Finally add the grated ginger and chopped pepper, and cook for another minute.
7. Serve over Brown Rice