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Friday, March 29, 2024

A Delicious Diet

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I am probably the least credible person to discuss diets of any kind. Diet to me is like stairs to Po’s character in the movie Kung Fu Panda – an old enemy. There was never a phase in my life when I could consider myself remotely thin, thanks to my mother who would cook sumptuous meals every day.

However, there is one diet which, should I ever think about losing weight and getting more fit, might actually make the grade for me. The philosophy of letting food become your medicine is appealing. The fact that there is no need to exercise is a definite dealmaker. 

“Our body is not designed to store fat, and using natural food is the best way to burn those fats and become healthy,” said Regina Chuavon, director of Cohen’s Lifestyle Centre-Philippines CLC), during the first Cohen cook-off challenge last week at Nikko’s Baking Studio in Makati.

“What we offer is not a diet, but a lifestyle change that is scientific, safe, sensible and sustainable,” she added.

Clients of CLC’s Meals on Wheels get to enjoy tasty dishes like the zoodle pasta, which uses long strips of zucchini to replace traditional noodles.

Backed by years of scientific research that follows the work of its founder, Dr. Rami Cohen, CLC gives its clients a personalized and rapid weight-loss and wellness program based on one’s unique blood profile. The program works like a prescription. But instead of pills or injections, CLC prescribes food tested at the precise quantity that will allow one’s body to do what it is naturally designed to do – to burn fat.

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According to Chef Pixie Sevilla, a pastry chef who also went through the program, ingredients for Cohen dishes are readily available. 

“The dishes are not extraordinarily hard to prepare. The ingredients are those that can be easily found in wet markets and grocery stores. There are no special ingredients,” said Sevilla, who now leads the team of chefs who prepares Cohen Meals on Wheels – ready-to-eat packed meals that are tailor-made for each client, and with the ingredients weighed raw according to your prescribed quantity, down to the last slice of garlic.

Keftedes, a low-fat version of Greek meatballs

“Being in the Cohen diet doesn’t mean you have to suffer. The dishes are never bland. And if you don’t have the patience to measure your ingredients and cook these at home, we are extending this service of delivering your customized food,” Sevilla added.

Some of the dishes offered by CLC include asparagus mushroom rolls, zoodles—long strips of zucchini used to replace traditional pasta or noodles, Japanese chicken curry, and keftedes, the low-fat version of Greek meatballs. They also have Filipino dishes such as arroz caldo that uses cauliflower instead of rice, as well as Beef Steak Tagalog, which uses lean meat.

During the cook-off, 30-year-old Marian Remo bagged the top prize with her Beef Zucchini Boat. Remo, who has lost 16 lbs. to date since joining the program this year, bested Mary Ann Tangcangco and Carrie Luis who prepared apple cake and mushroom burger, respectively.

Asparagus wrapped in mushroom meat 

The voracious eater in me was pleasantly surprised that the dishes were delicious, unlike meals prescribed in other diet programs that are so bland they suck all the joy out of eating. 

Cohen-prescribed meals also have a home-cooked feel to them (since they can really be prepared from one’s kitchen). In fact, majority of CLC’s resident cooks are home makers who discovered their talent for cooking when they joined the Cohen program.

“Some believe that you can’t enjoy delicious food and lose weight at the same time. Cohen’s Lifestyle Centre showed that you can prepare healthy, easy-to-cook and appetizing Cohen meals that can be quickly prepared at home, and by doing so, lose weight safely and effectively,” Chuavon said.

Marian Remo and her winning dish: beef zucchini boat

“You don’t need to be a chef to be able to prepare healthy, delicious meals. With a little bit of creativity in preparing food, losing weight can actually be fun,” added Barbara Young, CLC’s chief executive officer and a certified life coach.

But while the meals-on-wheels service removed significant barriers that prevent most people from the eating healthy and losing weight – such as not knowing how to cook or having no time to prepare the dishes – the prices remain prohibitive at around P1,000 a day to cover three meals and free delivery. 

Despite this, those who have undergone the Cohen program swear by the lifestyle change that they have experienced. Perhaps, if one day I should decide that I want to lose weight the natural way and healthily (and that day may never come, but one can never be too sure), I would consider the Cohen program. For now, it is good to know there is that delicious option.

For feedback, send comments to joyce.panares@gmail.com

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