Can you really drop a dress size cooking these foods? (Cook Yourself Thin - Harry Eastwood)

Member Name: KLockwood75

Product:	Cook Yourself Thin - Harry Eastwood
Date:	18/05/09 (275 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good nutritional advice, healthier versions of classic recipes

Disadvantages: Not as diet-friendly as it claims, too many ingredients

'Cook Yourself Thin' was a TV series aired on Channel 4 a few years ago. The basic premise of this series was that making a few tweaks to your every day diet could help you lose weight. These 'tweaks' are the things that deep down we know we 'should' be doing - things like switching from full-fat to semi-skimmed milk, eating less cheese and more vegetables, watching your fat intake - not exactly rocket-science, but I know I need a little reminder every now and then. I bought the book when embarking on yet another weight loss mission - I can't even remember which one it was one, but I can never resist a cook book and I always start off my diets with fabulous intentions, even though I don't stick to them for very long.

The book starts with a lot of information and a few very scary facts. OK, so a little part of me knew that my Starbucks addiction wasn't really good for me, but is a large latte and a blueberry muffin really 765 calories? And I was choosing the blueberry muffin because it wasn't chocolate and therefore it couldn't be 'that' bad for me... it's now skinny lattes and NO muffins all the way for me! Apart from those days where I really need a little treat of course... The book encourages you to make a list of everything you eat in a day - and they really do mean everything. Again, this was a scary concept for me and made me realise the full extent of my snacking habit - a biscuit here, a few bites of my toddler's leftovers there, a handful of crisps leftover from client lunches at work - it all adds up. There is also a Food Personality Quiz - apparently I am a 'Sweet Toothed Fairy', so that would explain the chocolate obsession then.

Once the book has finished freaking you out about the calories that you didn't realise you were eating, there is a great list of essentials to transform your junk-filled kitchen cupboards into a healthy, balanced store cupboard with all the ingredients to enable you to create the food that you 'should' be eating. I really liked this section of the book - the list is very comprehensive and, although some of the ingredients are expensive and difficult to find in my local Tesco, it's good for giving you an idea of the things that you should have in your cupboards. There is also a section on the kitchen equipment you should and shouldn't have - as a kitchen-gadget obsessive I had most of it already, but there's always the temptation to add to my collection!

The next section is all about food swaps - this concentrates on how to replace the things that you usually eat with healthier alternatives, and how many calories you would save by doing that. A lot of the suggestions that they make are recipes which are featured later in the book and some are really obvious - i.e. swapping a can of full-fat Coke for a can of Diet Coke! They also suggest some healthy alternatives for each of the Food Personality types identified earlier in the book - apparently I need to ditch the biscuits! Following this, there is a short section on Exercise outlining how long you need to do various forms of exercise to burn 100 calories - 10 minutes for swimming breaststroke, 15 minutes of jogging, 30 minutes for walking and 20 minutes for having sex!

Finally, we move on to the Recipes section of the book. Obviously, as this is a cook book, the recipes are the important bit. The opening sections, interesting as they may be, are things that we all either know for ourselves or are accessible in other places. The Recipes section is split into nine sections - these are Breakfasts; Light Lunches; Lunch on the Go; Soups; Main Meals; Food for Friends; Super Sides; Desserts and Drinks. I haven't actually cooked a huge amount of the recipes from this book - I have a few personal favourites, but mostly I've just used it for ideas and inspiration. Therefore, this part of the review will focus on my impressions of the recipes, rather than actual recommendations.

The recipes in the Breakfast section mostly look very appetising. There is a healthier take on the traditional fried breakfast, featuring Parma ham instead of bacon which I'm definitely planning to try at some point, some delicious looking smoothie recipes and a few suggestions for egg-based meals. I wasn't that impressed with the Light Lunches section - most of the recipes just didn't appeal to me that much, although that is probably just because I'm not really a salad lover. 'Lunch on the Run' is a better section, although I'm not entirely sure I need a recipe to make an egg mayonnaise sandwich! I have tried the Tuna Nicoise Wrap and the Lentil Salad with Mediterranean Vegetables and Goats Cheese though and they are both delicious.

Moving on to the Soups section, I have only made the Tomato, Chilli and Basil soup which had a good flavour but ended up being a very watery texture. After that, I got put off and didn't try any more of the Soup Recipes. My favourite section is the Main Meals section. This focuses mainly on healthier versions of favourite dishes, such as Fish and Chips with Mushy Peas, Chicken Tikka Masala, Roast Dinner, Lasagne, Carbonara and Risotto. I don't think any of the recipes are as diet-friendly as they claim - when I was doing Weight Watchers the points content was higher than I wanted it to be, but if you're just trying to reduce your calorie intake and make sensible choices then this section is really good. My absolute favourite recipe in the book is the Risotto with Prawn, Lemon, Spring Onion and Basil which has become something I make frequently and always enjoy eating.

The Food for Friends section is also good - I can recommend the Luxury Fish Pie and the Lamb and Butternut Squash Tagine. I haven't cooked anything from the 'Super Sides' section or, more surprisingly, the Desserts. Actually, maybe that isn't so suprising - there's something kind of scary about a Chocolate Fudge Cake containing beetroot and, if I'm having dessert, it tends to be the full-fat version anyway.

Overall, this is a relatively good cookery book but it might not be something that you use all the time. I have a lot of books that I use much more often - 'Nigella Express' and 'Jamie's Ministry of Food' spring immediately to mind, and I don't pick this one up much. I do make the risotto a lot but it's not a book that I find myself flicking through in search of inspiration that often. I think it's because the recipes mostly have long lists of ingredients and it always ends up costing me a lot of money to make them - maybe my store cupboards aren't as well-stocked as they need to be, but unless I'm actually cooking to impress, I do get a bit put off by long ingredient lists.

I don't think the recipes are as healthy as they claim to be either - if you're looking for diet food, you'd be better off buying a book that is specifically focused on low-fat cookery. This is good to give you ideas about lower fat alternatives but I don't think it will help you lose significant amounts of weight. It's more aimed at maintaining an already healthy weight or shedding about half a stone than proper weight loss. I'm even thinking of selling this because I should rationalise my cook book collection a bit before the precariously sagging shelf in the kitchen does what it's been threatening to do and falls down!

Summary: A good read, but not sure it's one that will get used all the time