Cooking Thin With Chef Kathleen: 200 Easy Recipes for Healthy Weight Loss

Another "cooking light for weight loss" cookbook? Upon first glance such a reaction is understandable, especially if you're not familiar with chef Kathleen Daelemans, who has been in the trenches of the weight-loss war and not only quickly commands attention with her writing but excites a mind and lifestyle change. Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen freely shares the author's own experiences and struggles with weight as a child and an adult, and explains how this trained chef went from a size 22 to a 6. Daelemans has what it takes to be an empathetic role model for those who need to make changes to their diets for physical or mental health reasons. Her advice and recipes are aimed at real people.

Her self-effacing stories are at times painful (such as babysitting the night she should have been going to the prom), but the road that led her to healthy cuisine and weight loss is almost comical (though she certainly didn't believe it to be too funny at the time). After the excitement of moving to Hawaii to launch an Italian bistro at a seaside resort, the author, then a robust 205 pounds, was deflated when she arrived to find she had been replaced and put in charge of the establishment's spa cuisine.

The 200 recipes, as expected, are a mixture of healthy ways to prepare beef, chicken, fish, and vegetables. She has even included some full-fat recipes, such as a rich Lemon and Pecan Loaf. These are accompanied with reminders that it is OK to indulge occasionally, but a trip to the gym or eating "light" during the other parts of the day are the necessary balances to achieve weight loss. Even if it is not weight loss, just a healthier approach to eating you seek, Daelemans's book will inspire and entertain. --Teresa Simanton