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Insider secrets to healthy cooking

Cooking teacher, author offers tips at The Kitchen Shoppe demonstration

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By Andrea Ciccocioppo, Sentinel Reporter, March 31, 2008

Last updated: Monday, March 31, 2008 10:20 AM EDT

Pamela Anderson is surrounded by food most of the time as a cooking teacher, cookbook author and USA Weekend columnist.

“I love to eat both professionally and personally,” Anderson said. But when she realized her mid-40, 5-foot 4-inch frame was pushing 200 pounds, she knew she had to do something.

In eight months, she was able to lose nearly 50 pounds.

Anderson shared her secrets for healthy eating with area residents who attended her cooking demonstration last Wednesday at The Kitchen Shoppe in Middlesex Township.

“If I can do it, anybody can do it,” she told a group of about 40 people, as she made recipes from her latest book, “The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great.”

Anderson’s wake-up call came during a women’s retreat when she attended an exercise class that put her in a room with mirrors on all four walls. “I looked in the mirror and said that’s not me,” she recalled. “It was both depressing and hopeful. I could see the person I could become again.”

In Focus

• Always be thinking about the next meal. Having your ingredients stocked and at your disposal makes it easy to eat right.

• It’s easy these days to make a salad. Use packaged greens and rotisserie chicken.

• Use seasonal fruit and change it up day after day so you’re eating different things.

• Punch up the flavor with herbs, spices and zests. I think when we’re dieting, we try to play it safe and eat it plain. We need to find things that make food pleasurable and taste good.

• Salt or acid corrects almost any recipe problem. If something tastes off, add lemon juice or vinegar.

• In restaurants, order the lesser amount. If you want more, you can go back and get it; Start thinking ‘split’. Share dinners with a companion.

• Once you become conscious of what you’re eating and how much, you can get by with eating less.

Source: Pamela Anderson

She said she made a vow to herself that she was going to be proud of her body again.

But losing the weight wasn’t easy. “I had tried almost every diet,” she said. “I realized any diet was calorie control in disguise.” Then she vowed to never diet again.

Anderson said she also realized it wasn’t just about what was going into her mouth. It was also about what was going on in her life. “I realized I was shouldering too much,” she recalled. “I think a lot of women of my generation do that.”

She tried psychotherapy and acupuncture to deal with some of her emotional issues and then looked for a way to diet and exercise that she could stick with, but that, too, was challenging. “I didn’t know how to change my life,” she said. “If knowledge was enough, we’d all be thin.”

She started watching the calories she consumed. Her target: 1,800-2,000 calories a day through a healthy eating pattern that didn’t leave her feeling deprived.

Anderson chose a pre-breakfast snack (usually a banana and hot tea) to get herself going, then breakfast, lunch, tea time, pre-dinner nibble and dinner, sometimes with dessert.

She figured this plan would be something she could realistically stick to. “I figured out a way I could eat what I wanted to for the rest of my life,” she said. “Diets are all about deprivation. This approach is all about taking care of yourself.”

She also added 45 minutes of exercise six days a week — usually a walk/run before each meal. “I never run more than a mile without walking a minute,” she explained.

Starting the morning with exercise is key. “I get up and do something,” Anderson said. “I rarely let anything get in the way.”

Anderson said her “diet” plan is simply real life. “It’s just about calories in versus calories burned,” she said. “There is no magic machine or drink or plan.”

For Anderson, the plan worked. She lost 45 pounds in about eight months.

As Anderson prepared a few of her favorite recipes for her guests at The Kitchen Shoppe, she explained that it’s important to come up with your own plan for healthy living.

“This is not a strict plan you’re supposed to follow,” she said. “When you’re following someone else’s plan, it’s their plan. Come up with your own plan and what works in your life.”

She said it’s up to each individual to take care of themselves. “Over time, I’m into a routine that works for me,” she said. “There is something inside me now that kicks in and I know when I’ve had too much. I stop when I’m satisfied.”

And a healthy body doesn’t just happen. “Anytime you look at anybody who’s fit they are that way for a reason,” she said. “They work at it.”

Jeannine Weiser of Harrisburg has come to several of the cooking classes and demonstrations at The Kitchen Shoppe. “Some of the recipes I have gone home and tried to see what I can come up with,” she said. “This is all learning. Watching and learning. It’s a great class.”

Harold Hartman of York Haven, enjoyed Anderson’s demonstration. “I love her cookbooks,” said Hartman, who said he cooks at home for himself and his wife. “She’s very down to earth, easy to follow. She does the hard work of testing variations to come up with the perfect recipe.”

Anderson urged the group to pay attention to the way they think about eating. “It’s never too late to make a change in your life,” she said. “It can be scary. Things have to change. You will only lose what you don’t need.”

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The next guest chef at The Kitchen Shoppe will be Diane Phillips (“the diva of do-ahead”). She will offer a class on April 4 and 5. For more information visit www.kitchenshoppe.com or call 243-0906.