CAN’T STAND THE HEAT?

 fire up the grill!

**An Encouraging Word, Vol. 12**

an occasional note from Jean Fain

 Harvard Medical School psychotherapist & hypnosis instructor

 Published July 21, 2007

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Read on if you’re interested in losing weight without the deprivation associated with dieting. Feel free to forward “An Encouraging Word” to a friend. If you didn’t receive this note directly from Jean Fain and you’d like to subscribe, send an email to the address above with the word “subscribe” in the subject field. If you’d rather not receive future announcements, send an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject field.

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Celebrate Summer’s Bounty…

This time of year, I make it a point to remind my weight-management clients to delight in summer’s bounty. They’re so busy “being good,” trying to satisfy themselves with supermarket grapefruits and apples, they forget to notice that local markets are overflowing with farm-fresh strawberries and rhubarb.  These are the same folks who, rather than bicycling on the most glorious June day, try to force themselves into the dank gym to lift weights. They’re educated people, yet they haven’t a clue why they can’t stick to their diet and exercise regimen. Maybe it’s metabolic malfunction, they tell me, a chemical imbalance or something worse. They find it nearly inconceivable that their skimpy, tasteless diets are inviting their tastebuds to binge on the very treats they’re trying to avoid.

My answer to these veteran dieters is, to them, a most radical question: What pleases your palate?  Or as my colleague Alice Rosen likes to ask: “What are you humming for?” On long summer days and warm lazy evenings, Americans typically “hum” for lighter, simpler meals al fresco – picnics at the beach, backyard grills… featuring farm fresh produce and home-grown herbs. We’ve emerged from the dark of winter hibernation into longer, lighter days, craving lower fat, lower calorie foods -- juicy ripe cherries, just-picked sweet corn, sweet basil -- and a more active lifestyle. We’re hard-wired to lose weight naturally right about now.

A cookbook – actually two cookbooks in one -- that inspires me to seize the season is “Summer•Winter Chicken” by Lori Longbotham, food editor emeritus of Gourmet Magazine.  The Winter cover beckons with hearty roasted chicken and root vegetables. Flip the book over and suddenly it’s summer with chicken salad and raspberries.  Longbotham’s chicken souvlaki recipe tastes just like the shish kebab dinner special served at my favorite Greek restaurant. I always wondered how to make such moist, tasty chicken.

The recipe below is my easier, quicker version:

chicken souvlaki

SERVES 4

Tzatziki, if you can find it, or any quality cucumber-yogurt dip

¼ cup each olive oil & red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons each minced fresh oregano & thyme

Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into ½-inch wide diagonal strips

Four 7-inch pita breads

2 cups shredded romaine lettuce

½ small red onion, thinly sliced

1 tomato cut into 8 wedges

1. In a small bowl, combine the marinade: oil, vinegar, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.

2. Coat chicken in marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

3. Preheat a grill to hot.

4. Thread the chicken onto four 8- to 10-inch metal skewers.

5. Grill the chicken 3-5 minutes. Spray or baste with olive oil as needed to keep moist. Turn and cook for another 3-5 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

6. Serve chicken in pita bread with lettuce, onion, tomato and tzatziki.

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Isn’t It Entrancing…

This summer, to help you eat more mindfully -- with more pleasure, more satisfaction, and consequently, with more control --  you might want to check out my new YouTube video: “Mindful Eating Trance.” Watch this culinary slide show every day and you’ll find yourself inexplicably drawn to lean cuisine – fresh fruits and vegetables, nutritious meats, whole grain breads -- and generally disinterested in heavier, fatty fare. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROltyC6-Glw

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Food For Thought…

“Whenever you restrict certain foods from the diet for long periods, the body will naturally begin to crave what it is not getting, and that begins the cycle of binge eating, weight gain, guilt, and depression, followed by yet another heroic attempt to stick to a new restrictive diet.”

--John Douillard, The 3-Season Diet

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In addition to seeing clients in private practice, Jean Fain teaches hypnosis at Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and she writes for O, The Oprah Magazine, among other women's magazines. More information about Jean Fain’s services and weight-loss CDs is available on her website (www.jeanfain.com).

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(Click the Newsletter link below to read other volumes of "An Encouraging Word.")

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