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Health Female Adda
1 year ago
Pretty Delicious!
Foodies rejoice! And stop feeling guilty that you actually enjoy eating. Chef Candice Kumai has found a whole new way to get lean, energized, and healthy—with food!

Her first cookbook, Pretty Delicious: Lean and Lovely Recipes for a Healthy, Happy New You is a beautiful, mouthwatering, and healthy collection of satisfying breakfasts, elegant apps, and hearty comfort foods, all low in calories and "bad" fats and loaded with good-for-you FWBs (Foods with Benefits) that make every bite count toward a healthier you.

A former fit model-turned chef, Kumai has figured out how to satisfy her love for delicious, flavorful food while taking it easy on her waistline and wallet. Previously co-hosting Lifetime’s Cook Yourself Thin, and currently appearing on TLC’s Home Made Simple and the Cooking Channel’s Unique Eats, she now serves up her deliciously slim secrets to fellow foodies full-time! And trust us, we’ve served up plenty of dishes from Perfectly Delicious around the Women’s Health office! Since we are always up for healthy seconds, we chatted with Kumai about her food philosophy—and how you can make it (and every bite) work for you:

Why is it important for women to put the comfort back in their food?
I definitely believe that comfort and joy are two feelings that we should always associate with food! It's all about those memories that we create through the real, simple, and delicious foods that we cook. Somewhere along the spectrum of "conventional foods" and our insanely packed schedules, we lost touch with what real food is and, my goodness, we forgot how to enjoy food and each others’ company. We are so accustomed to nuking up a frozen meal, heating a toaster pastry, opening a bag of chips, that we don’t think twice about all of the additives, chemicals, preservatives, and extra nonsense we are consuming. It's not good for us or our health. It’s time to get back to cooking. It's time to get that warm joy that crisp white pizza with mushrooms and artichokes and those freshly baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. It's time to get your family, your health, and your food back to the table.

What’s your favorite comfort food?
Oh wow, so much to choose from. Honestly? I'm so San Diego at heart, I'm going to have to say an indulgent large breakfast burrito with eggs, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed bell peppers, slow cooked onions, breakfast hash potatoes, topped with a little cheese, fresh salsa, and avocado. Don't forget the hot sauce! Okay, now that is heaven in a tortilla and I’ll be the first one to admit all things in moderation are so worth it! A little splurge after a long surf or a good run is always a nice treat to stay well balanced and realistic.
Check out page 29 of Pretty Delicious to learn how to make "El Ultimo Brekkie Burrito Bar" for you and all of your fabulous friends!

‘Fess up! Do you count calories?
I actually am totally against calorie counting. I think it defeats the purpose of enjoying your food and creates this restrictive, unrealistic approach to eating and living a healthy lifestyle. If we constantly have to count, it makes food seem like a mathematical equation. And I absolutely hated math class. Now, I completely comprehend that a balanced lifestyle is actually a mathematical equation, but who wants to be constantly tortured to live their life off of points, numbers, and equations forever?

What ingredients do you avoid at all costs?
I try to stay away from anything that's heavily processed and chemical-laden. I'm not a fan of processed junk that claims to be fat free, low-fat, low-carb, no-carb, sugar-free, diet...you get the pattern here. I am always amazed at how clever marketing has become. It's like 100 calories of processed foods are a better solution!? No way! My rule of thumb? If you can't pronounce it, don't buy it!

What’s your number-one tip for women who adore food and still want to lose weight?
Keep it real. Get back into cooking, eating, loving, and indulging in real foods again! We all tend to slip up when we are put on restrictive, unrealistic, and money-wasting diets. And the diet industry will have you running on a hamster wheel forever. Turn to real foods again; clear out your pantry, your fridge, get rid of the processed junk, and buy some real delicious fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, dried fruit, chocolate, and red vino—yes, I said chocolate and red vino! And indulge!

Want more? Check our our WH cooking videos with Candice!

Pretty Delicious: Lean and Lovely Recipes for a Healthy, Happy New You is available at prettydeliciouscookbook.com

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