The Most Decadent Diet Ever!: The cookbook that reveals the secrets to cooking your favorites in a healthier way [Paperback]

Devin Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2008

Devin Alexander, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Biggest Loser Cookbook, lets you have your cake and lose weight, too, with sinfully tempting — yet amazingly healthy — recipes for America’s all-time favorite foods.

Chef and former L.A. caterer Devin Alexander has maintained a fifty-five-pound weight loss for over sixteen years by transforming the dishes she and millions of other Americans love best into guilt-free (yet still outrageously mouth-watering) indulgences--Rigatoni with Meat Sauce, BBQ Bacon Cheeseburgers, Eggplant Parmesan, Sinless Yet Sinful Sticky Buns, and even Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

These simple-to-prepare recipes for the kind of delectable dishes people crave but feel they can’t eat when trying to be healthy and trim, actually can be the basis of a personal weight-loss plan. They can also be a way to add “off-limit” foods back into an already successful diet. Or they can simply be part of an exciting new way to eat healthfully — and with pleasure.

In The Most Decadent Diet Ever! Devin Alexander proves that even the most decadent dishes — Chipotle Chili with Blue Cheese Crumbles, "Fried" Jumbo Shrimp, Super-Stuffed Steak Soft Tacos, Fettu-Skinny Alfredo, Godiva Brownie Sundaes, and Chocolate Chip Pancakes — can lead to weight loss, good health, and carefree enjoyment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The first step to getting in shape is finding a nutrition plan that you can stick with, and you've just found it! Devin is the master of creating healthy recipes that won't sabotage your weight loss goals!" —Kim Lyons, Red Team trainer, NBC’s The Biggest Loser

About the Author

DEVIN ALEXANDER is the author of Fast-Food Fix and The Biggest Loser Cookbook. In addition to Healthy Decadence and The Biggest Loser, she has appeared on Good Morning America, The View, and other television shows. She writes a monthly column for Women’s Health magazine, and lives in Los Angeles.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (April 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767928814
• ISBN-13: 978-0767928816
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times Bestselling Author, Devin Alexander, is a veteran in the fight against obesity and she's winning the war with her unique approach to healthy cooking . Having maintained a 55 pound weight loss for over 15 years, she lives and eats her message: you don't have to deprive yourself to be fit and healthy.

Devin has shared her secrets for unbelievably decadent, yet healthy foods through frequent appearances on Good Morning America, The View, The Biggest Loser, Discovery Health, HGTV, USA, Style Network and others, and through over 100 magazine features including Prevention, Women's Health, Shape, and Healthy Cooking, to name a few. She has served as Culinary Advisor to Men's Fitness Magazine and is currently The Cooking Expert to Women's Health Magazine.

Her recently released cookbook, Fast Food Fix (April 2006) was featured as an editor's top pick in USA Today. And she just released The Biggest Loser Cookbook (October 2006), which accompanies the hit NBC show.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

172 of 174 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes it easy to eat well, April 26, 2008

By 

Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Most Decadent Diet Ever!: The cookbook that reveals the secrets to cooking your favorites in a healthier way (Paperback)

I buy a lot of recipe books, but most I don't use much. This one is different. I'll be cooking with it all the time.

A collection of 125 recipes, it is not meant to represent an entire diet. Instead, it's a cookbook of especially yummy dishes that just happen to be healthy, too. The recipes can be the foundation of a new way of eating, or serve as treats if you have already reached a healthy weight.

Author Devin Alexander makes it easy. Each recipe is either 100, 200, 300, 400 or 500 calories (within 10 calories), so it's easy to track your calories without a calculator. The dishes are, for the most part, healthy versions of your old favorite fattening ones. So, for example, instead of the typical 746-calorie, 38-grams-of-fat slice of chocolate cake, you can have a slice of Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Buttercream Frosting for 294 calories and 6 grams of fat.

Each recipe also includes how many grams it contains of carbohydrates, cholesterol, fat, saturated fat, fiber, protein and sodium. Most also have this data for the traditional recipe, so you can easily see what you're "missing."

As someone who has managed a 55-pound weight loss for 16 years, Alexander knows her stuff. At the beginning of the book, she gives you options: Do you want to count calories or not? The author details a simple diet plan either way (based on your gender, age and activity level), shows you how to put together a weekly meal plan, and covers the importance of exercise.

The book itself is beautifully produced, with glossy paper, lush color photos and color-coded text.

Here's the chapter list:

1. What you need to get started
2. Breakfasts
3. Burgers, sandwiches and wraps
4. Salads
5. Entrees
6. Starchy sides
7. Veggie sides
8. Savory snacks
9. Sweet snacks

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars diet food for people who enjoy cooking!, April 29, 2008

By 

Janelle "Janelle" (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Most Decadent Diet Ever!: The cookbook that reveals the secrets to cooking your favorites in a healthier way (Paperback)

This is a great cook book for people who are dieting and really enjoy cooking! All of the recipes are 300 calories or less and the portion sizes are normal/reasonable.

The recipes are fairly simple, but there is actual cooking involved--no microwaving. I enjoy cooking, but am not a gourmet and this cook book is perfect for my ability level.

These recipes are also great for a family. My husband and daughter (age 4) enjoy the food and don't know that it's "light."

Some of the items are a little hard to find--you need access to a natural foods grocery store with a large selection, like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or a regular grocery store with a large selection of natural foods or specialty items. If you don't have that available in your area, this cookbook could be a little frustrating, as so many of those ingredients are used.

Also, be prepared to make an investment in your pantry if you plan to do a lot of cooking from this cook book. I have a fairly well-stocked kitchen and found myself needing to add several spices, sauces, and types of flour, which were a little on the expensive side.

On the whole, this is an outstanding cook book with great tasting food!

58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should have been called...., April 25, 2008

By 

S. Inman (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Most Decadent Diet Ever!: The cookbook that reveals the secrets to cooking your favorites in a healthier way (Paperback)

...how to eat with your boyfriend without packing on the pounds! The best thing about the recipes in this book is that no one (including your boyfriend or mine) will know that they are "good for you." I love being able to make satisfying (and quite easy) meals so the urge to just eat out or get take-out doesn't raise it's ugly, expensive head 3 or 4 times each week! And I think this would be awesome party food as well - I'm thinking I could do my next party entirely from this book.