STYLEOK! Loves: Weight Loss Meal Delivery Service 'Loss Arts'
April 25 2013, Published 3:03 p.m. ET
As part OK!'s 12 Week Countdown to Summer, I was very interested in looking into ways that would help me lose weight and get in shape in time for the warmer months ahead.
And I've found a meal delivery service that is totally changing my life. No joke.
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Loss Arts, which uses culinary arts to aid in weight loss (hence the name), is a near daily delivery service of amazing fresh food that is customized to your own dietary requirements.
All the meals comply to the Zone method and you can either have the regular meals or eat Paleo which means having no gluten, dairy or sugar. It may sound restrictive but it really isn't as the daily menu designed by Chef Patrick Fagan is phenomenal and makes you feel like you're really not on a diet at all. It really is the boost I needed for a total lifestyle change rather than just another diet for a few weeks.
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Every night, I receive a bag with my food for the next day which consists of three meals and two snacks controlled at 1200 calories. Chef Patrick is literally a genius for coming up with recipe ideas that comply to zone, taste fantastic and helps shed the weight too. And let's not talk about how he makes incredible healthy versions of comfort food favorites!
What makes Loss Arts different to other meal delivery service is the amazing freshness of their food which they source from local farms and purveyors, their flexible schedule and the fact that the meals are never frozen—just delivered from their kitchens straight to your doorstep.
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I had the great opportunity to speak to Chef Patrick who shared how he gets inspired to create the wonderful, tasty and filling meals for Loss Arts and how the service helps people to lose weight in a healthy way.
OK!: How did you become a part of Loss Arts?
Chef Patrick Fagan: I come from a fine dining background but developed a taste for healthy cooking, first for my own health. I rounded the corner of 30 and realized I could no longer eat whatever I wanted to. I discovered that if I wanted to stay and healthy and stay trim I had to do something about it. So I got into healthy cooking and healthy living, just from a personal standpoint and brought the skills I had from my career into that.
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OK!: Where do you get inspiration for the meals?
PF: Seasonality of food is a big factor with how I get inspired to create the menus. I do enjoy going out to local farmer’s markets. I have contact with farmer, fishmongers and people who can tell me what’s fresh and what’s available right now. I come from fine dining so I don’t get my inspiration from diet food but from actual meals people love to eat and figure out how I can make it healthier and still keep the flavor and keep the fun in it. And it comes from loving food.
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OK!: How important is eating zone in weight loss?
PF: I’m a firm believer in it. The regular menu and paleo menu both keep within the zone guidelines which is 40:30:30 ratio of calories from carbohydrates, proteins and fats respectively. What the zone really is is a healthy balanced diet of good food. All you really have to do is eat a healthy, balanced diet and get some exercise. It’s about keeping the variety going, keep a proper balance of some nice lean protein, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and have some fats in there but not so much that it’s going affect the balance. And that’s what we do at Loss Arts.
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OK!: What are the benefits of eating Paleo?
PF: Eating paleo is a wonderful diet especially if you want to correct some bad habits. It takes out food items that makes you crave bad food. When you’re on paleo for a while you find yourself not wanting ice cream that you did before or not wanting a piece of cake. It takes that out of the equation. Eating this way, especially when you stick to it and you don’t cheat, the fact that you don’t desire to cheat much anymore and the way you feel as far as not getting the crazy cravings, you don’t have the energy swings, you keep a nice healthy level of energy and appetite throughout the entire day.
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OK!: The food on the delivery service is varied and there are sometimes some sweet treats in there – if you can’t use sugar for the Paleo meals how do you sweeten food?
PF: I use a lot of pureed fruits and for the zone meals there are things like quinoa syrup and brown rice syrup which are just extracts from the plant. But for Paleo recipes are usually fruit sweetened using apple juice or fresh pressed apple cider. And also pears, pineapple, coconut milk and things like that are also great that way too. It gives a general sweet overall flavor, it doesn’t punch you in the face with sweetness but it does satisfy that need. And a lot of the natural nut butters are great too and takes away any need for sugar. I always keep in mind that we may be feeding the same people every day so I want them to have variety, not just variety of ingredients but variety in flavors too.
To find out more or to try Loss Arts go to www.lossarts.com
What changes have you made to get fit for summer? Share your story with us below or tweet us @OKMagazine!
