A delicious end of summer drink that recalls lazy days in Ibiza and Sitges. (more…)

I LOVE A MARGARITA, and this guilt-free recipe contains only 2 grams net carbs (if made with bottled lime juice) or 2.5 grams carbs (if using fresh lime juice). Cheers!

1.5 oz tequila — a jigger-full
1 oz lime juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
1 TB liquid artificial sweetener
Handful ice
Kosher salt

Wet glass rim, dip into salt. Combine all ingredients and shake in a cocktail shaker, or mix in the glass. Serve over ice, strained into the glass (or blended).

Here’s what Bronson and I will be making this weekend. (BTW, this recipe makes 25 brownies and takes about 30 minutes of preparation time, plus 35 minutes bake time).

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons wheat bran, or oat bran
• 1 1/4 cups plus 1/2 tablespoon soy flour
• 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar substitute (recommended: Splenda)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon no sugar added vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• Low carb chocolate frosting, (directions & recipe follows) (more…)

Friends are always amazed at how much food I can put away. And by put away, I don’t mean into cupboards and refrigerators, I mean eat. I’ve always had what I thought of as a “healthy appetite,” and as a kid I was regularly encouraged (weren’t we all?) to “finish everything on your plate” after all, there are “people starving in Africa.”

Only recently, I’ve made the startling realization that I’m an emotional eater.  I eat sometimes because I want to be comforted, or feel safe. I eat because it “feels good.”  Until recently, I’d drink caffeine for a similar reason: the energy it provided was great “fuel” for my afternoon workouts when I feel sluggish or tired.  Upon quitting caffeine, I’ve observed a new tendency toward sugar emerge.

“Any person who is trying to lose weight really has no business eating sugar,” one of my clients mused bluntly today.  I think he’s right. Other people do, too: After years of unsuccessful dieting, the no-sugar approach is what Jerry O’Connell attributes to his transformation. (more…)