FEED YOUT BODY RIGHT: SHE’S SLIMMER—AND SO ARE HER FAVORITE RECIPES

Posted by admin on April 22, 2009 under Weight Loss | Be the First to Comment

Teresa Tomeo grew up in a traditional Italian family that loves traditional Italian meals. Huge plates of spaghetti, bowls of meatballs, and thickly buttered bread are staples at family gatherings. And it shows: Many of Teresa’s relatives are overweight.

But not Teresa—not anymore. Her secret? She learned to make slimmer versions of her favorite Italian dishes.

Teresa’s weight-loss odyssey began in 1985. Then age 25 and a successful news reporter for a Detroit radio station, she was trying hard to break into television news, with no success. Finally, a friend laid it on the line: At 190 pounds, Teresa was too fat for TV.

The remark stung, but Teresa knew that her friend was right.

She wasn’t about to let her weight stop her from realizing her career | goals. So she enrolled in a medically supervised weight-loss pro- ^ gram that included a written eating plan and weekly weigh-ins. j ^ Within 7 months, she lost 60 pounds.

Teresa was thrilled with her new, trim figure, and she vowed ! ^ not to let those pounds come back. So, armed with the nutrition knowledge that she had gleaned from her weight-loss program, she 1 “* began experimenting with her favorite Italian recipes, looking for ways to lighten them. She reduced the amount of olive oil in her tomato sauce to just a drizzle. And she took out the meat completely, replacing it with vegetables. She used vegetable purees to thicken sauces as well as soups. She topped salads with a squeeze of lemon.

By turning her kitchen into a laboratory and reinventing her recipe collection, Teresa has managed to maintain her weight at a healthy 130 pounds for 14 years. Along the way, she realized her dream of working in television news, landing a job with a Detroit TV station. She stayed there for 10 years before returning to radio, which she calls her real love, in 1998.

WINNING ACTION

Create low-fat versions of your favorite foods. As Teresa discovered, you don’t have to give up your favorite dishes when trying to slim down. Just look for ways to make them slimmer. There are many excellent cookbooks on the market that will show you how to take the fat out of traditional recipes. One of my favorites is Healthy Homestyle Cooking by Evelyn Tribole, which is available in paperback in bookstores. Her Deep-Dish Turkey Pot Pie is fabulous!

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