Greggy was the first one who lost a tremendous amount of weight. Then came Bengy. Greg and Benj lost about 30 lbs each. I was very curious how they did it.

It’s called the Cohen Diet. This has become the most popular diet these days. People are feeling a lot better, health concerns have been addressed, and people are feeling a whole lot of confidence.

Our very own Pinoy chef, the winner of “Biggest Loser,” told me he lost about a hundred pounds as a result of participating in the show, and his health just made a turnaround.

I had a look at the program. I am told they get your blood and pattern a diet according to what suits your blood type. Reading a book on blood type, I learned that not all types of food suit everyone.

I, for example, am a type O, and pork does not suit my type; beef does. It’s about controlling the intake. I looked at a friend’s diet and it was basically portion control: 120 grams of fish or white meat chicken, and another 120 g of dark green veggies. No oil, no sugar, if I remember correctly.

I copied that diet and tried my best to stay with it for a week and lost about 8 lbs. Not bad. I would cheat once in a while, but still was quite successful.

I guess it becomes a lifestyle change. On days when I am not food-tasting, I try to have healthy nonfattening food. I had to turn to what’s available in the grocery. I found quite a few.

In my everyday drive on Edsa, I would see a billboard showing a new product of Century Tuna—hotdog.

I love hotdogs. So, for breakfast, I have three pieces of Century Tuna Hotdog with three pieces of green Skyflakes crackers with whole grain in them. I must say, I was very impressed with the taste of the hotdog.

Of course the real hotdog tastes better. But considering this is not 70-percent saturated fat, I will take this version any day.

Another I tried was the Century Tuna Vienna sausage. Also good, but I still prefer the hotdog. It tastes like a real hotdog and one can hardly taste or smell the aroma of the tuna. With some catsup or the Thai fried chicken chili sauce that you can find in the grocery, this is a winner. This is a guilt-free snack whether morning, evening or late night.

Another I found interesting is Spam. I also love Spam. Anything with pork fat, sad to say, tastes good. Spam is a classic example. In place of Spam, I tried a product a few years back but promised myself never to have it again: Spam’s version of Turkey spam. It tasted horrible then.

But I guess they have changed the formula, because now it tastes almost the same as the real Spam, without the fat that tastes so good but causes so much problems. I sear this without oil in a nonstick pan. I love it.

After a game of badminton at Valle Country Club, I sometimes call Good Burger for a Persian Veggie Burger (tel. 636 4663). Taste is far from their real chicken burger, but considering you want to eat healthy, pwede na rin.

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