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Carolyn O'Neil and Densie Webb bring common sense to helping people customize a diet.
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Bethanne Patrick: Why do we need to write this book? There are a lot of diet books out there.
Carolyn O'Neil: You are absolutely right. There have been diets of course in human kind since the time before Herpocroties but everyone needs personal attention. What we are learning today is that it is all about you. I wrote 'The Dish: On Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous' with my co-author, Densie Webb, who is also a registered dietitian. We reported on food and nutrition for about twenty years. I was at CNN and Densie was at the New York Times.
Bethanne Patrick: Excellent.
Carolyn O'Neil We decided to boil down a world of nutritional information. We’ve seen the good the bad and the ugly; what works and what doesn’t work. Dieters today -- people who are making health related changes to their diet -- say,'don’t tell me what is new, tell me what’s true.' That is what we use; a sort of wit and wisdom to get to the heart of.
Bethanne Patrick: What do you and Densie mean by being fabulous?
Carolyn O'Neil I am glad you asked that because I believe that you need a pay off. You need to know what is in it for [you]. Anytime we are making a change in our life and we have all read that eating healthy will help prevent heart disease, reduce the risk of cancer, osteoporosis and [etc.] years from now, that is so important. Women and men today want to know what is in it for 'me' -- NOW. When January hits, so many people say that [they are] going to eat healthier this year. A lot of times they make huge promises to themselves; setting themselves [up] for a lifestyle that is not them. So in 'The Dish: On Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous', what we want to say is look at you, your food likes, your food preferences, your lifestyle and then rather than having you fit into a diet, we want that healthy diet to fit you and your lifestyle. It is a customized approach.
Bethanne Patrick: In your life, what is the tip that you use most often?
Carolyn O'Neil We can't get away from learning nutrition basics. We have to learn. I believe, the more you know the more you can eat.
Bethanne Patrick: This is great news.
Carolyn O'Neil You know how nutrition has always been associated with the word 'no.' No fat, no salt, no sugar and in fact it should be associated with the word 'know.' We have a chapter, one of the first chapters in the book: 'The Dish On Diet Basics.' This is nutrition 101. We want everyone to read this chapter because we all have to be on the same page and then we launch off into the real life things. We do a refrigerator make over to tell you what you should have on hand but more realistically we need to learn strategies for dinning out, going to an airport, stopping at a convenience store, and being at a party. I read some kind of tip that said if you go to someone's party, that you should bring your own celery. Can you imagine?
Bethanne Patrick: No.
Carolyn O'Neil This is not fabulous people.
Bethanne Patrick: This is not fabulous, but I remember reading -- this is very interesting. Helen Gurly Brown said years ago when she wrote 'Having It All,' that every time she went somewhere she always brought little mozzarella cheese with her to make sure she had her protein.
Carolyn O'Neil Well I can see if you have your survival kit if you are in an airport or in a long car ride for work or if you are going to visit somebody because you have to plan and that is one of those little secrets.
Bethanne Patrick: Now for a particular kinds of women, are there women for whom 'The Dish' won’t work and why?
Carolyn O'Neil The Dish is a resource; it's a book. The reason I like it, it almost morphs to fit the lifestyle and the health goals of the women who read the book. The first chapter is [about] you and your diet. If you went to see a registered dietitian, he or she would ask you lots of questions about you and your health and I mentioned all that type of stuff. That first chapter is a quiz so that you can get a snapshot of yourself so that you know [where] to jump to [in the book].
A lot of times people forget about the liquid portion of portion control. Someone may have the lifestyle where they are doing a lot of entertaining. Or they are going out and they would like to drink wine. We have a nutrition chart that everybody needs. You see these nutrition charts in various diet books. Our chart shows you the calorie comparison between a peña colada to the glass of champagne. When you see the calories in a peña colada, you will think twice about that little umbrella drink.
Bethanne Patrick: How many glasses of champagne could you have for one peña colada?
Carolyn O'Neil I would say probably three and again it is interesting that the calories in a peña colada are for about four ounces or something. Hello, how many peña colada are ever four ounces? They are usually twelve or sixteen. In the book you will discover facts. And all of a sudden the light bulb will go off and you will say now I know why.
Bethanne Patrick: And another thing that I wanted to ask you about is your very simple ‘Mock Tale.’ And the reason that I love this is not just because it tastes good, but that you can get it anywhere. So tell us about it.
Carolyn O'Neil Can you imagine that you are out at a bar or restaurant and you are having a glass of water with friend and they are all living it up with their vodka-tonics or whatever the heck or their groovy Cosmo. This is not necessarily for people who are tea-totalers. For two reasons you wan to have a ‘Mock Tale:’ The ‘Mock Tale’ is a non-alcoholic beverage which is also not caloric[ly] dense - like a milk shake.
Bethanne Patrick: So it is not like having a Virgin Peña Colada.
Carolyn O'Neil I kinda’ discovered this actually for a couple of different reasons. I was in Aspen, and when you are in high altitude you know you really need to make sure that you are getting hydrated. [I was] out at night with friends -- living it up -- and I decided to start mixing in club soda, splash of cranberry and a twist of lime. I was doing several things for myself: A. Hydrating, at altitude; B. Still looking kind of cute with a drink that everybody thought maybe she is having...
Bethanne Patrick: A Cape Code....
Carolyn O'Neil ...Vodka Cranberry. It was sexy looking, still. What was the outcome? [I had] less calories going in, felt much better, [and] your skin looks better because you are keeping hydrated. And there are many different kinds of ‘mock tales’ that you could make.
Bethanne Patrick: You write that cheaters can win at loosing weight. We definitely want to hear about that because it is a notion that is counter intuitive for many women.
Carolyn O'Neil Cheating on your diet, what? This is like the wily ways of the desperate house wives here. In fact, we wanted to write about moderation and as everyone knows the three words in nutrition are moderation, verity, and balance. There is no word more boring than moderation in the English language. In fact, we recommend when you go to a restaurant ask to see the dessert menu first. If you’re a dessert lover, see the dessert menu first.
In fact, research has shown that there is a national weight registry that they keep track of and it is short of fun because what they are doing is that they are looking at the lifestyle and the pattern of people who have lost weight and who have kept it off over a lift time. These are the folks who do not deny themselves a taste of this or a taste of that. They do know how to splurge and again it is back to knowledge --- even fried food. If you fry the food correctly, frying can actually reduce the total amount of calories.
Bethanne Patrick: That is a whole new thing to think about. I think [this] makes 'The Dish' so much fun to read and so much fun to implement into your own life. Thank you Carolyn for being with us today. We really do appreciate it.
Carolyn O'Neil Oh, you’re welcome. Enjoy! Remember to incorporate fat, cheese and calories further into your diet, think of them as accessories. Too many accessories can absolutely ruin an outfit as Coco Channel taught us.
Bethanne Patrick: Excellent, I going to accessorize with care. Thanks once again.
Carolyn O'Neil: You are absolutely right. There have been diets of course in human kind since the time before Herpocroties but everyone needs personal attention. What we are learning today is that it is all about you. I wrote 'The Dish: On Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous' with my co-author, Densie Webb, who is also a registered dietitian. We reported on food and nutrition for about twenty years. I was at CNN and Densie was at the New York Times.
Bethanne Patrick: Excellent.
Carolyn O'Neil We decided to boil down a world of nutritional information. We’ve seen the good the bad and the ugly; what works and what doesn’t work. Dieters today -- people who are making health related changes to their diet -- say,'don’t tell me what is new, tell me what’s true.' That is what we use; a sort of wit and wisdom to get to the heart of.
Bethanne Patrick: What do you and Densie mean by being fabulous?
Carolyn O'Neil I am glad you asked that because I believe that you need a pay off. You need to know what is in it for [you]. Anytime we are making a change in our life and we have all read that eating healthy will help prevent heart disease, reduce the risk of cancer, osteoporosis and [etc.] years from now, that is so important. Women and men today want to know what is in it for 'me' -- NOW. When January hits, so many people say that [they are] going to eat healthier this year. A lot of times they make huge promises to themselves; setting themselves [up] for a lifestyle that is not them. So in 'The Dish: On Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous', what we want to say is look at you, your food likes, your food preferences, your lifestyle and then rather than having you fit into a diet, we want that healthy diet to fit you and your lifestyle. It is a customized approach.
Bethanne Patrick: In your life, what is the tip that you use most often?
Carolyn O'Neil We can't get away from learning nutrition basics. We have to learn. I believe, the more you know the more you can eat.
Bethanne Patrick: This is great news.
Carolyn O'Neil You know how nutrition has always been associated with the word 'no.' No fat, no salt, no sugar and in fact it should be associated with the word 'know.' We have a chapter, one of the first chapters in the book: 'The Dish On Diet Basics.' This is nutrition 101. We want everyone to read this chapter because we all have to be on the same page and then we launch off into the real life things. We do a refrigerator make over to tell you what you should have on hand but more realistically we need to learn strategies for dinning out, going to an airport, stopping at a convenience store, and being at a party. I read some kind of tip that said if you go to someone's party, that you should bring your own celery. Can you imagine?
Bethanne Patrick: No.
Carolyn O'Neil This is not fabulous people.
Bethanne Patrick: This is not fabulous, but I remember reading -- this is very interesting. Helen Gurly Brown said years ago when she wrote 'Having It All,' that every time she went somewhere she always brought little mozzarella cheese with her to make sure she had her protein.
Carolyn O'Neil Well I can see if you have your survival kit if you are in an airport or in a long car ride for work or if you are going to visit somebody because you have to plan and that is one of those little secrets.
Bethanne Patrick: Now for a particular kinds of women, are there women for whom 'The Dish' won’t work and why?
Carolyn O'Neil The Dish is a resource; it's a book. The reason I like it, it almost morphs to fit the lifestyle and the health goals of the women who read the book. The first chapter is [about] you and your diet. If you went to see a registered dietitian, he or she would ask you lots of questions about you and your health and I mentioned all that type of stuff. That first chapter is a quiz so that you can get a snapshot of yourself so that you know [where] to jump to [in the book].
A lot of times people forget about the liquid portion of portion control. Someone may have the lifestyle where they are doing a lot of entertaining. Or they are going out and they would like to drink wine. We have a nutrition chart that everybody needs. You see these nutrition charts in various diet books. Our chart shows you the calorie comparison between a peña colada to the glass of champagne. When you see the calories in a peña colada, you will think twice about that little umbrella drink.
Bethanne Patrick: How many glasses of champagne could you have for one peña colada?
Carolyn O'Neil I would say probably three and again it is interesting that the calories in a peña colada are for about four ounces or something. Hello, how many peña colada are ever four ounces? They are usually twelve or sixteen. In the book you will discover facts. And all of a sudden the light bulb will go off and you will say now I know why.
Bethanne Patrick: And another thing that I wanted to ask you about is your very simple ‘Mock Tale.’ And the reason that I love this is not just because it tastes good, but that you can get it anywhere. So tell us about it.
Carolyn O'Neil Can you imagine that you are out at a bar or restaurant and you are having a glass of water with friend and they are all living it up with their vodka-tonics or whatever the heck or their groovy Cosmo. This is not necessarily for people who are tea-totalers. For two reasons you wan to have a ‘Mock Tale:’ The ‘Mock Tale’ is a non-alcoholic beverage which is also not caloric[ly] dense - like a milk shake.
Bethanne Patrick: So it is not like having a Virgin Peña Colada.
Carolyn O'Neil I kinda’ discovered this actually for a couple of different reasons. I was in Aspen, and when you are in high altitude you know you really need to make sure that you are getting hydrated. [I was] out at night with friends -- living it up -- and I decided to start mixing in club soda, splash of cranberry and a twist of lime. I was doing several things for myself: A. Hydrating, at altitude; B. Still looking kind of cute with a drink that everybody thought maybe she is having...
Bethanne Patrick: A Cape Code....
Carolyn O'Neil ...Vodka Cranberry. It was sexy looking, still. What was the outcome? [I had] less calories going in, felt much better, [and] your skin looks better because you are keeping hydrated. And there are many different kinds of ‘mock tales’ that you could make.
Bethanne Patrick: You write that cheaters can win at loosing weight. We definitely want to hear about that because it is a notion that is counter intuitive for many women.
Carolyn O'Neil Cheating on your diet, what? This is like the wily ways of the desperate house wives here. In fact, we wanted to write about moderation and as everyone knows the three words in nutrition are moderation, verity, and balance. There is no word more boring than moderation in the English language. In fact, we recommend when you go to a restaurant ask to see the dessert menu first. If you’re a dessert lover, see the dessert menu first.
In fact, research has shown that there is a national weight registry that they keep track of and it is short of fun because what they are doing is that they are looking at the lifestyle and the pattern of people who have lost weight and who have kept it off over a lift time. These are the folks who do not deny themselves a taste of this or a taste of that. They do know how to splurge and again it is back to knowledge --- even fried food. If you fry the food correctly, frying can actually reduce the total amount of calories.
Bethanne Patrick: That is a whole new thing to think about. I think [this] makes 'The Dish' so much fun to read and so much fun to implement into your own life. Thank you Carolyn for being with us today. We really do appreciate it.
Carolyn O'Neil Oh, you’re welcome. Enjoy! Remember to incorporate fat, cheese and calories further into your diet, think of them as accessories. Too many accessories can absolutely ruin an outfit as Coco Channel taught us.
Bethanne Patrick: Excellent, I going to accessorize with care. Thanks once again.
