In this video, I’ll show you how to make a healthier version of one of my favorite appetizers, tuna tartare.

It’s part of my new Healthy Cheats video series on the Livestrong Woman channel on Youtube. Every Tuesday, I’ll show you the healthier version of the good life, taking your favorite indulgent recipes and remaking them into healthy and fulfilling dishes.

So, with that introduction: What delicious appetizer would you like to see made the Healthy Cheats way? Leave your questions, comments and video responses below.

Rich and indulgent, chocolate is often at the top of everyone’s list of decadent treats. In this video, I’ll show you how to make a healthier version of a creamy chocolate mousse.

It’s part of my new Healthy Cheats video series on the Livestrong Woman channel on Youtube. Every Tuesday, I’ll show you the healthier version of the good life, taking your favorite indulgent recipes and remaking them into healthy and fulfilling dishes.

So, with that introduction: What decadent treat would you like to see made the Healthy Cheats way? Leave your questions, comments and video responses below.

Regardless of which team wins this year’s Superbowl, here’s how you can be a winner: Check out this step-by-step video on how to make healthy, home-made cheese nachos that will have everyone raving! It’s part of my regular video blogs for Prevention.com.

• 1. Oatmeal: A fast breakfast food, full of B vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium. Old-fashioned oatmeal offers plenty of carbohydrate for quick energy and high fiber. Add berries and honey to make it a delicious, perfect food for those fast-paced school-day mornings. Skip the packaged flavored oats that can be very high in sugar, artificial colorings, and artificial flavoring. Plain instant oats in the round carton cook just as fast as the flavored packets.
• 2. Yogurt is a tasty way to kick your child’s dairy consumption up a notch and include yogurt on the menu. A great source of calcium, yogurt is easier to digest than regular milk, and the cultures (check the label to make sure they’re in there!) are very beneficial to good colon health. Pass on the “kids” yogurt and just buy low-fat plain yogurt. Sweeten it yourself with fresh or frozen fruit and just one teaspoon of honey or granulated sugar.
• 3. Broccoli is one of the best vegetables for anyone, especially growing kids. It has loads of vitamin C, folate, and contains calcium along with good levels of variety of the B vitamins. Most kids like the taste of broccoli, just be sure not to overcook — it can have a sulfurous odor when over-steamed and lose its vital nutrients. Serve it with one tablespoon of their favorite dipping sauce like ketchup, BBQ sauce, or marinara sauce.
• 4. Beans and legumes are a great source of protein. Protein requirements change based on how old your child is. Toddler’s requirements are anywhere from 13 to 16 grams, and 4 to 10 years range from 24 to 28 grams. The fact is that growing kids need protein to keep muscle mass growing. Black beans have always been a hit when I cook for kids. Try black bean tacos or black bean quesadillas. Chick peas may also hit the mark with your kids, try adding them to soups or enjoy them in the form of hummus.
• 5. Whole grains deliver vital nutrients like minerals and fiber. Try to go for actual whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, farro, oats — instead of packaged whole grain products that can contain a lot of sugar and preservatives like breads, cereals, crackers, and snack bars. If you are going to packaged whole grain items, choose grain products with the words “whole”, “unbleached” and “intact” or “ground” in the ingredient list. Learn more on how to get kids to love whole grains.
• 6. Nuts and nut butters contain good fats and plenty of protein, both important for growth. Peanut butter, almond butter, and other nut butters are great fast-and-easy foods for kids. Kids need fat for brain development and to cushion organs — just remember to give them the good kind of fat (poly and monounsaturated like you find in nuts and nut butter). Try spreading almond or peanut butter on crackers, toast or celery sticks for a quick and nutritious snack. A handful of toasted almonds and raisins make a great travel snack or after practice snack.
• 7. Fresh fruit is a low-cal way to satisfy your child’s natural sugar-craving. Craving sugar is normal and natural, but using whole fruits instead of fruit juices, candy and sodas is a lower-cal way for kids to have a sweet treat and get vitamins like C and A, minerals, and fiber (that will help with healthy digestion). My picks are fresh berries (high in fiber and anti-oxidants), papaya (very high in vitamin A), and kiwi (a vitamin C powerhouse).

There are two different types of iron in foods — heme iron and non-heme iron. Heme iron is much better absorbed and utilized than non-heme iron, which makes it a superior source.

Heme iron is found in animal foods like meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish. Non-heme iron is found in vegetarian sources like molasses, leafy green vegetables, cocoa, and dried fruits.

Vegetarians can easily get enough iron in their diets, but they may need to be a little more careful about it and get their levels checked more regularly by their doctors. Pregnant women, menstruating women (particularly teens), people with certain digestive disorders and kidney dialysis patients can also be susceptible to low iron.

While calcium supplements have been found to interfere with iron absorption and it’s often stated that high calcium foods do the same, a French study stated the contrary: dairy products did not interfere much at all. So, while there are other reasons to avoid dairy consumption, interfering with iron absorption does not appear to be one of them.

Foods that definitely interfere with iron absorption are coffee, black tea, sugar, wheat bran and egg yolk; so if you have iron problems you may want to either avoid these foods altogether or eat them away from your iron-rich foods. It’s also a good idea to avoid beer, candy bars, ice cream and soft drinks as the additives in these foods interfere with iron absorption by playing havoc with digestion.

But there are a few things that are universally true. So here are some great basic principles that can help you to lose weight or help you maintain your fit figure once you’ve lost the weight.

Basic Principle #1

When it comes to weight loss, I’ve tried the low-carb diet, diet shakes, really the whole gamut as a teenager — but in my experience, it’s all about the numbers. Weight loss happens when you burn more calories than you take in. You shouldn’t find it difficult to apply this in some aspect of your life. Adjust your diet by cutting down on high-fat food, and high-sugar foods — these usually come in the form of packaged or pre-prepared items, like fast food, gourmet juice and coffee drinks, chain restaurant dishes, and packaged snack foods. Adding more veggies is a great place to start, because they are naturally super low in fat, low in calories and high in nutrients that you need every day.

Basic Principle #2

Take five minutes to think about what you drink on a daily basis. If it’s soda, sweetened coffee, diet drinks, or juices — change your drinks to only unsweetened tea, unsweetened coffee, and water. It may seem extreme at first, but my cousin did this and lost 30 pounds in 6 months. You’ll get used to drinking beverage without sweetener and chop calories quickly. If you use artificial sweetener, stop — because they can set you up for hunger pangs that lead to unhealthy snacking and excess calories. As RD Annemarie Colbin says, “artificial sweeteners can increase appetite because as the sweet taste hits the mouth, a message is passed on to the body that carbohydrates are coming in, then the pancreas swings into action and sends insulin into the bloodstream.”

Basic Principle #3

Going to see a professional nutritionist or dietitian can pay off big time — if only to understand how your current food choices affect your health and weight. If you go it alone — and you can — you will need to put in some serious research and build a folder of favorite go-to healthy recipes that are both high in nutrients and low in calories. Getting the advice and inspiration can help you power through to your weight loss goal!

Basic Principle #4

Find a friend to train or cook with. If you and a friend are both free at the same time of day or several days weekly, you can cheer each other on! Having someone to motivate you works great and when the improvement suddenly appears, you can celebrate together. Having a social aspect to your exercise or cooking routine can also help you look forward to it as well.

Basic Principle #5

Your attitude counts! Smile and always keep a positive attitude. Studies show that people who stay positive have a much easier time achieving their goals, and heck, they just have more fun along the way! Take a gracious attitude about it all. Isn’t it wonderful that we have the freedom and opportunity to live the way we want and learn how to improve and enjoy life more?

Health & Wellness Channel is North America’s only one-stop-shop cable network for all things life, love and longevity to begin airing on cable first quarter 2012. So stay tuned to find out when and where it airs by subscribing to my Stay In The Loop newsletter or LIKE my Facebook page.

Press Release

St. Petersburg, FL (BUSINESS WIRE)- The only cable television outlet for life, love and longevity™, Health & Wellness Channel, is pleased to announce the selection of Skinny Chef Jennifer Iserloh as host of the new show “MOMMA’S RECIPE MAKEOVER” to begin airing first quarter 2012 in conjunction with the network’s launch. The show will focus on delicious (yet supremely unhealthy) old-school family recipes that viewers submit to be ‘made-over’ with the help of America’s ‘Skinny Chef.’ The studio audience show includes competition, instruction, entertainment and education and is one of the many shows developed exclusively in-house at Health & Wellness Channel.

“We cannot be more excited to have Jennifer as part of the team. Her extensive media platform gained from working with authors like Jessica Seinfeld and her own development of the very successful ‘Skinny Chef’ brand positions Jennifer to be a break-out sensation for our first season and many to follow. We’re delighted to have made this deal,” said HWC founder Drew Nederpelt.

SELF magazine’s editor-in-chief Lucy Danziger labeled Jennifer’s recipes “A must-have in every healthy woman’s kitchen” and Jessica Seinfeld boasts “Jennifer is a wonderful chef who really knows how to simplify home cooking.”

Jennifer herself says, “I cannot be more excited about HWC’s “MOMMA’S RECIPE MAKEOVER.” It’s such a wonderful idea that men and women from all walks of life can use to improve their health while still eating those fabulous dishes that they loved from their childhood. It’s a win-win-win and I can’t wait to share it with America.”

Manufacturers have clear business reasons for every additive that they add to their processed food products. Here’s a general run-down of the most prevalent ones, along with specific examples of how they are listed on food labels:

• Preservatives help improve shelf-life of products so that products can be sold longer and don’t spoil as fast. Common examples include sodium benzoate, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sulfites, BHA and BHT.
• Food coloring can make foods look tastier, or make food look like other products that consumers are already used to. Currently, the FDA has approved several artificial colorings, identified by their code including E133 (blue), E129 (red), E110 (orange), E102 (yellow), and E143 (bluish-green)
• Saturated fats oftentimes enhance texture and hold foods together – such as in pie crusts and baked goods. These fats are more resistant to oxidation, making it the preferred shelf-stable replacement for polyunsaturated fats. With the invention of the plant oil hydrogenation process, industrially-produced shortenings have become even cheaper – though this process also generates harmful transfats.
  Typical examples of saturated fats are palm oil, palm kernel oil, and cotton seed oil.
• Flavor enhancers such as salt and MSG (aka monosodium glutamate) can overcome weak taste profiles of frozen or fat-free foods. Check the food label for other enhancers such as diglutamates and guanylates.
• Artificial sweeteners are key ingredients of low-cal foods that substitute table sugar (sucrose) or high-fructose corn syrup with unnatural compounds that taste sweet but aren’t recognized and processed by the body. Saccharin, aspartame (NutraSweet), sucralose (Splenda), and more recently stevia are examples that you may be familiar with.
• High-fructose corn syrup is added to sweeten virtually all processed foods not designated as low-carb, or low-cal, because of its comparatively low price and favorable properties for blending and transport.
• Fillers – for example those made from ground corn cobs – increase the portion bulk, making meals look bigger without adding additional expense. The downside is that they don’t add any minerals and vitamins so essential for our bodies.

Are processed foods and fast-foods a precursor to disease?

When it comes to disease management, many people claim that heredity is to blame. However, many experts point out that lifestyle choices – especially what and how much we eat – plays an important role in the development of many diseases.

So, is it true that Fast Food and Processed Food = Bad Food? As my husband, who co-authored this blog with me, likes to point out, it all depends on the ingredients and the portion size. Here’s what he means by that:

• The main concept behind “Fast Foods” is that they can be mass-produced, and are cheaply, readily and quickly available when you walk into that burger joint or reach for that prepared food in the supermarket isle. In order to deliver on that promise of affordability, food manufacturers have to make certain – as it turns out unhealthy – choices: preservatives, food coloring, saturated fats, flavor enhancers, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup, or fillers. All ingredients you would not encounter in a home-cooked meal.
• In addition to those additives, the second culprit that makes fast foods bad for you is portion size. Most people have gotten accustomed to bigger-sized meals and soft drinks, consuming excessive amounts of calories. By comparison to home-cooked meals, many fast food meals contain way too many calories for their size – in other words, they are calorie-dense foods. After you wolf down that little double-pound burger, your stomach still doesn’t feel full, so you reach for more food.

Taken together, there is little doubt that consuming fast foods on a regular basis presents serious health challenges, and makes it so much harder to maintain a stable weight.

In addition, the link between a diet high in junk food and high levels of blood sugar has been solidly established. Persistently elevated blood sugar levels will lead to Type 2 diabetes – sometimes called adult onset diabetes – which occurs when the body becomes desensitized to the sugar-regulating hormone insulin.

Best Foods to Fight Obesity and Promote Health

So, what to do if you want to escape the negative consequences of a lifestyle centered around fast foods and processed foods? The most powerful approach is to cook more at home, lowering your exposure to the aforementioned preservatives, food coloring, saturated fats, flavor enhancers, artificial sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup and fillers. Remember, it’s what you eat that has a powerful impact on your overall health.

It’s not that difficult, as I explain in my free Ditch The Diet course:

• Vegetables are by far the best foods to protect and promote your health. They have almost all the nutrients our bodies need, and are low in calories, low in fat, as well as low in sugar and sodium. Plus, their fiber content makes them less calorie-dense, so you feel full faster.
• Organic veggies and fruits are best if they are in your budget. Alternatively, you can opt to wash and or peel non-organics. Local produce is always a good option since it is more likely to be in season and many local farmers use less pesticides than commercial growers.
• Low fat, high quality proteins that are minimally processed – like skinless chicken breast and turkey – and low-fat fresh diary (like skim milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese). Again, organic is best.
• Choose whole grains because fiber is your friend. Why? It helps you to feel full, keeps your blood sugar steady, and helps clear and maintain the intestinal tract. Whole grains also have nutrients that “white” processed grains simply don’t have, such as vital minerals and vitamins that are responsible for heart health and many other functions in the body.
• Homemade meals, prepared with fresh, whole foods that are low in fat and sugar.

Related Posts

• Is Fast Food a potential risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease?
• Get more healthy eating tips from nutritionist Leslie Dantchik.
• Can liver damage from eating fast food be reversed?
• Learn more about the amazing health properties of vegetables and fruits.
• Find out why you should be eating whole grains every day.

The site has grown tremendously and I can’t wait to share some exciting new developments over the next weeks that I believe will make 2012 a true blow-out year.

But, I want to tailor the site more to what you’re looking for – so I want to hear your input on the direction that you think Skinny Chef should be heading in 2012.

I would be grateful if you could fill out a quick 6-question multiple-choice survey below – a number have already responded but I am looking for about 100 more responses.

Thanks in advance,
Jennifer