Cook Yourself Thin features a former Top Chef Contestant

Do you want to have your cake and eat it, too? Lifetime Television premieres Cook Yourself Thin, an all-new series that offers viewers the skills and the confidence to give their favorite indulgent meals a healthy makeover by cutting the calories and doubling the flavor! Culinary experts Harry Eastwood, Allison Fishman and Candice Kumai show guests how to lose their unwanted inches by replacing extreme dieting with clever cooking. The twenty-episode, half-hour series premieres with back-to-back episodes on Monday, May 4 at 5:00 and 5:30 pm (ET/PT). For the remainder of the week, Cook Yourself Thin will air new episodes Monday through Friday at 5:00 and 5:30 pm (ET/PT). Starting Monday, May 11, new episodes will air Monday through Friday at 5:00 pm (ET/PT).

Based on the successful, British series and popular cookbook, Cook Yourself Thin encourages women to lose weight by changing their eating habits. Each half-hour episode follows one guest as she learns simple ways to transform her favorite high calorie meals into delicious, healthier fare. Hosts Eastwood, Fishman and Kumai use their sharp culinary know-how to tailor a specific menu for each participant. In the premiere episode, show participant Rachel trades in her typical lunch of traditional lasagna (858 calories per serving) and dinner of ribeye steak and mashed potatoes (1,040 calories per serving) for a spinach and mushroom veggie lasagna (343 calories per serving) and steak with cauliflower mashed potatoes (389 calories per serving).

The meals are prepared step-by-step, comparing the calorie count of the original recipe to those of the Cook Yourself Thin version. The guest is then sent home with the ingredients, tools and tips necessary to make healthy changes in the kitchen. After six weeks of living the Cook Yourself Thin lifestyle, the hosts visit each participant at home to check on her progress.

Visitors to myLifetime.com will be able to view full episodes of the series the day after they premiere on Lifetime Television. Additionally, site visitors will have access to recipes featured on the show and step-by-step cooking instructions. For each episode, there will be five exclusive webisodes featuring behind-the-scenes information about show participants including an inside look at the contents of their refrigerators and a video blog recorded by one of the hosts offering cooking tips and additional strategies for Cook Yourself Thin.

Fans of the series can also log on to the Cook Yourself Thin subscription-based online club at cookyourselfthin.tv for exclusive access to features, tips and tools that will help users drop their unwanted pounds.

ABOUT THE CAST

Food writer and cookbook author Harry Eastwood is an expert baker. She prides herself on being able to cut the calorie count of delicious desserts by substituting healthy alternatives for the high fat ingredients typically found in baked goods. Eastwood starred in the British version of the series and co-authored the cookbook Cook Yourself Thin: The Delicious Way to Drop a Dress Size.

Chef Allison Fishman honed her culinary skills while working for Martha Stewart and Food Network as a recipe developer and food stylist. Additionally, Fishman served as co-host of TLCs Home Made Simple. She currently writes a weekly food column for www.thestreet.com and her recipes and writings have been featured in national magazines and newspapers across the nation.

Candice Kumai, a contestant on season one of Bravo’s Top Chef, was professionally trained at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu. Kumai is currently a special events chef at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Laguna Beach, CA and runs her own catering company, Stiletto Chef LA. She has been featured as a cooking expert on KNBC’s Your LA and participates in high profile cooking demonstrations across the country.

-From Lifetime TV