Tag Archives: Cheryl Forberg

10 Recipes from Registered Dietitians that Prove Eating Right Can Taste Great

Enjoying the taste of eating right is something we do every day at DietsInReview, so we were thrilled to discover “Enjoy the Taste of Eating Right” was this year’s theme for National Nutrition Month!

cooking

Every year, March is set aside to celebrate health, especially nutrition. With a theme like this year’s, we knew we had to do something more than share nutrition tips. Instead we reached out to some of our favorite Registered Dietitians and asked them to share their recipes that are the perfect combination of eating right and eating well.

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Biggest Loser Nutritionist Cheryl Forberg, RD Approves Rachel’s Dramatic Weight Loss

Nutritionist Cheryl Forberg, RD, has worked with contestants on “The Biggest Loser” since day 1. The James Beard–award winning chef and educator has been a behind-the-scenes fixture for almost all of the 15 seasons, coaching contestants on all things food—from portion control, to nutrient content, to to healthy recipes. In fact, she was in almost constant contact with season 15’s controversial winner, Rachel Frederickson, according to an article Forberg just penned for the Huffington Post.

cheryl-forberg

Here’s what she had to say about Frederickson:

I am always asked if I’ve had favorite contestants over the years. Naturally I do, but I haven’t singled anyone out. Rachel Frederickson would definitely be high on this list. From the beginning of the season, she has been positive, inquisitive and focused, in terms of learning and living the eating plan I teach. 

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A Very Biggest Loser Thanksgiving: 7 Fat-Trimming Tips from the Ranch and a Pumpkin Flan Recipe

Tune in to Biggest Loser tonight for a special Thanksgiving on the ranch. We’ll see the contestants gather ’round the kitchen for all of the traditional favorites like turkey, dressing, gravy, and of course a pumpkin dessert. But a few things will be missing – loads of fat, calories, and processed ingredients.

Don’t feel too bad for the contestants missing their families, though. By our calculations, this Thanksgiving episode would have filmed in mid August; meaning most or all of them are home with their families for the real holiday this week.

cheryl forberg

Cheryl Forberg, RD, the show’s dietitian and a James Beard award-winning chef, showed the contestants how to craft a Thanksgiving meal so out of this world they no doubt forgot how good it was for them, and you, too! Using fresh, wholesome ingredients, and what she calls flavor agents, all explained in her cookbook Flavor First, Cheryl was able to give the contestants a holiday meal to remember (and one their waistlines will soon forget!). Her best have-a-healthy-Thanksgiving tips are shared exclusively here.

biggest loser thanksgiving

Let’s start with the turkey. Low in fat and high in protein, it’s an inexpensive source of B vitamins, iron, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. Cheryl served a non-traditional take on the bird, with her Turkey Roulade.

Baste your bird with flavorful fat-free broth (instead of butter). You’ll have lots of delicious juices to serve without breaking your calorie bank. (more…)

Super Famous Pumpkin Recipes from 5 Celebrity Chefs

Our society is obsessed with the flavor of an orange, ribbed, and often homely looking squash. And thanks in large part to a certain spiced latte, pumpkin flavoring has been used in everything from M&M’s to chili and hummus.

A flavor that’s become so ubiquitous can be downright annoying, but it’s not the pumpkins’ fault. The fact is, the ugly squash is a bona fide super food, high in fiber, potassium, and vitamins C and E. The pumpkin is also full of carotenoid, an antioxidant shown to reduce the risk of cancer. So, when done right, a pumpkin treat can be a relatively healthy diet extravagance.

We’ve compiled some delectable recipes by five celebrity chefs to give you a little pumpkin-spiration. When you decide to whip up a pumpkin dessert, remember that pumpkin pie filling and pumpkin filling are two totally different things. And you must never discard the seeds within, as they are full of healthy fats, zinc, fiber, iron, and manganese and make a pretty killer snack on their own.

Brittle

Pumpkin Seed Brittle

Martha Stewart, the unofficial queen of Halloween craftiness, came up with this super easy recipe. You need less butter and brown sugar than you might think, plus honey, and pumpkin seeds. This recipe has all the decadence and crunch of old school peanut brittle, but the pumpkin seeds give it a nice seasonal, healthy kick. (more…)

Kentucky Man’s Raw Meat Diet Sounds Insane and Dangerous

When the benefits of a raw diet started being lauded more frequently and becoming just a smidge more mainstream, this is not what anyone had in mind. Derek Nance has been consuming raw meat exclusively for five years, and the kicker is that he told Vice.com he’s never been healthier. We can’t even wrap our heads around this.

Every time we think we’ve seen it all, some stunt like this pops up and we’re educated all over again.

raw meat diet

Apparently he had some health problems and did what a lot of people do – yo-yo diet. While he wasn’t trying to lose weight, that was happening without any control of his own, he was trying to improve his health. He bounced from giving up wheat and dairy, to the Mediterranean diet, and then going, shockingly, to a vegan diet. Like most people who diet hop, he wasn’t finding anything that worked. Then someone suggested a carnivorous take on the ever-popular Paleo diet, and here we are. We’ve got a dude in Kentucky who subsists on raw meat, and even brushes his teeth with animal fat.

“This is really really hard to believe for so many reasons,” said Cheryl Forberg, RD, nutrition expert for The Biggest Loser and author of Flavor First. She claims there is nothing positive that could come from a raw meat diet. And quite pointedly shares the negatives. (more…)

Still Not Satisfried – Burger King Debuts a Lower Fat French Fry That isn’t Any Healthier

  • On Tuesday, Burger King debuted their new “Satisfries,” which have 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than their traditional french fries.
  • It took Burger King 10 years to engineer a special batter that would absorb less oil while still maintaining a crispy exterior. Operative word – engineered. Cheryl Forberg, RD, the nutrition expert for Biggest Loser, told us, “The new fry appears to be more processed, more of a potato product with some type of batter that absorbs less oil.”
  • A regular sized order of the crinkle cut “Satisfries” contains 340 calories, 14g of fat, and 370mg of sodium, so these fries are healthyishnot healthy. A medium order of their standard fries has 403 calories, 17g of fat, and 572mg of sodium.
  • One out of every two Burger King guests orders our classic French fries and we know our guests are hungry for options that are better for them,” said Burger King president Alex Macedo.
  • While these fries may be healthier than their fast food counterparts, taste tests have proved people prefer the greasy, hi-fat old standbys. However, BK must be doing something right, their stock rose 0.2 percent yesterday.

Get More Information: The Daily Beast, Bloomberg

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PBJ Quinoa Donuts: A Really Indulgent Breakfast for the Food Sensitive

What happens when peanut butter and jelly, breakfast, and donuts all collide? The atmospheric pressure changes and what you thought you knew about breakfast goes out the window. OK, only fifty percent of that is mostly true. But what does happen is something truly delicious that makes breakfast better than ever!

quinoa donuts

This recipe for the PBJ Quinoa Donut was born out of a friend’s request over dinner. “I want a quinoa donut,” was her simple request. I haven’t really been challenged in the kitchen in a while, so this was a task I enthusiastically took on. Her goal was something more low-carb, but I knew it would also satisfy so many people out there living by the gluten-free code. (more…)

Biggest Loser Cures Diabetes Ahead of What Standard Medicine Can Achieve

Isn’t it a little bold to say you’re curing diabetes, was my first question for Biggest Loser’s Dr. Robert Huizenga, better known as Dr. H. He asserted that not only can it be done, but Biggest Loser is blazing the trail where curing diabetes is concerned. Yes, a reality show is doing more than his standard medical peers.

We spoke this morning in preparation for tonight’s episode in which the contestants will spend their last week on the ranch. As everyone says their farewells, they’ll meet with Dr. H one more time to find out, aside from their scale weight, how they’ve changed their bodies and their health. For Gina, she’s leaving the ranch without the type 2 diabetes she arrived with.

“If we can keep Gina at the levels she’s at tonight for the next 2-5 years, we’ll say we cured her diabetes,” said Dr. Huizenga.

How is that so? Right now, Gina’s diabetes has been reversed, or is in remission. As Dr. Huizenga explained, they’ve returned all the indicators to normal. To achieve cure, they have to stay that way for the next several years.

Gina’s not the only one turning back time on this disease. Young Lindsay, one of the teen ambassadors featured this season, is celebrating a complete reversal of her pre-diabetes. Doing so at such a young age is better and easier than trying to go back when she’s forty, explained the doctor.

“It’s like putting the toothpaste back in the tube,” he analogized. (more…)

Get Back to Diet Basics in 2024 with Low-Fat, Low-Carb, Low-Sodium, and High-Fiber Diets

With a new year comes tons of resolutions. Most people vow to lose weight with lots of exercising, but they forget to change their diet to accommodate their workouts. While a healthy diet can help shed pounds effectively, eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself. A healthy diet should leave you feeling energized and stabilize your mood, not to mention satisfied. With thousands of diets out on the market we recommend choosing from one of the four diets: low-fat diet, low-carb diet, low-sodium diet, and high-fiber diet.


When you combine the primary principles of each of these very basic diet ideals, you get a pretty well-rounded healthful approach to eating that can be summarized as “Paleo-ish,” according to Biggest Loser dietitian Cheryl Forberg, RD. Since you are eating no grains (low carb), no dairy (lower fat), nothing processed (no added sodium), and unlimited fruits and vegetables (high fiber) it becomes strikingly similar to the Paleo, or caveman, diet.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, author of Read It Before You Eat It and nutrition expert in New York, also commented on how all four diets could work well together if one chooses to eat a lowfat, low-carb, low-sodium, and high-fiber diet.

“We have a diabetes epidemic and a high-fiber and low-carb diet can help control blood sugar levels. There is a large percentage of people with diabetes who should keep an eye on sodium and fat intake because eating a low-fat and -sodium diet can control heart disease and blood pressure.”

Learn more about each of these diets and see how one or some might suit your health and weight loss goals. (more…)

Biggest Loser 14 Official Trailer Reveals New Contestants, New Logo, and New Theme

They’re back and not necessarily bigger than ever, but definitely younger! NBC’s Biggest Loser will return to prime time on January 6 for the much-anticipated season premier of the show’s 14th season. A season off has allowed the producers to refocus and (we hope) select a cast as inspiring and motivated as some of the show’s most popular contestants ever. In this official trailer released by NBC, we have a feeling we got just what we asked for!

Jillian Michaels returns to Biggest Loser this season, joining forces in the gym with Dolvett and Bob, as they “Challenge America,” the new theme for this year. We’ve seen the biggest contestants before, but this time they’re introducing us to their youngest contestants – three teens under the age of 18. The show has been a force in impacting the obesity epidemic in our country, but now they’re going to show how we can all impact childhood obesity, too. (more…)

Dietitian Cheryl Forberg Returns to Biggest Loser in Season 14

One of the most important people behind the scenes at Biggest Loser left at the end of season 12. Changing directions at the show and within her own life lead Cheryl Forberg, RD away from the ranch for the first time since the show’s inception. But when NBC called her out of the blue last month and asked her to return, Cheryl says, “I said yes in about three minutes.”

“Yes, Cheryl is back and we’re looking forward to a great season,” said an NBC spokesperson, confirming the dietitian’s return.

It’s obvious that Biggest Loser is a place this renowned dietitian and chef can call home. When she announced her departure last November there was a lot of shock. She told us then that the seven-plus years she’d worked on the show, helping to co-author the contestants’ nutrition program, was the longest working relationship she’d ever had. Apparently, the “enriching” and “unique” experience she had couldn’t keep her away. The contestants are likely better off for it.

“She’s a very warm lady who is always there to help us even to this day,” said Mark Pinhasovich, the season 10 at-home winner, upon learning of Cheryl’s return.

Cheryl has already been out to the ranch to meet the newest batch of contestants, who will debut in season 14 this upcoming January. With a week or two of filming and training already under their shrinking belts, they’ve no doubt already gotten a heavy dose of Cheryl’s medicine. Early impressions are good from her viewpoint.

“I just spent a few days with the new cast and I love them all,” she told us. “Their positive energy and enthusiasm is contagious and I’m certain you’ll feel it when you watch the first episode.” (more…)