So, I watched the first episode of the new TV show, Hungry Girl (with Lisa Lillien) on the Cooking Channel, and I admit, some parts might be helpful to someone trying to lose weight, but most of it was pure Hungry Girl, suggesting unhealthy processed foods, instead of fresh whole ingredients.
This first episode was all about pizza, and she power-promoted Turkey Pepperoni, which by the way is full of dangerous chemicals and tons of sodium. Her recipe calls for only 4 little pepperoni pieces, so truthfully, why bother!? Why temp yourself with the stuff you shouldn’t be eating, like processed meat? Wouldn’t it be better to load up the pizza full of yummy mushrooms, onions, peppers, garlic, and heart-healthy olives.
Since the show is geared toward those that want to lose weight, her recipes typically yield only one individual serving, but you could probably double or quadruple them if feeding more.
My main gripe is that her portions appear unrealistically small. 200 calories for one small crispy tortilla pizza? 200 calories for lunch or dinner would never fill me up! And sorry, if I am splurging at the pizza parlor, I am not going to just eat one slice, like she suggests.
But I do really like that she measures ingredients! I think using a kitchen scale and measuring cups/spoons is really an important part of long term weight loss, especially in the beginning.
Truthfully, her recipes are nothing special, but since she has so many adoring fans, my guess is the show will be a hit. Personally, I would rather watch a show highlighting fresh ingredients for a long term healthier lifestyle; instead, Hungry Girl endorses junk food replacements and swaps.
From her show’s main page: “Enjoy eating whatever you want — including Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes — without any of the guilt.” Hmm, maybe guilt is good when it comes to some foods! Ha!
Speaking of junk food, most of the recipes are listed for future shows on the cooking channel web site, except the show named Chocolate 911.
Chocoholics rejoice – Hungry Girl shows you how to enjoy your favorite indulgences guilt-free including Chocolate Marshmallow Mississippi Mug Pie, Madness Cupcakes, an over-the-top dessert drink, a Mounds Bar Martini, and to top it all off: a non-alcoholic Hot ‘N’ Nutty Liquid Brownie. In addition, Lisa searches for the dessert of her dreams!
Can you say S-P-L-E-N-D-A ? And that is when I really get discouraged!
I feel the same way as you, I walked away with nothing from the show. One big product plug.
Debbie, I agree. Not only have I not been impressed by her recipes, I actually found her to be kind of annoying. And Hungry *Girl*? Really? She looks a little long in the tooth to be calling herself a girl! ;)
I definitely won’t be watching Hungry Girl (add it to the list of Cooking Channel shows I just don’t like – including the French food show & the hideously awful Bitchin Kitchen).
I saw Hungry Girl on the Nate Berkus show this morning (he’s my new guilty pleasure!) and they had 2 people from the audience try to do a blind taste test with 2 of her recipes vs 2 “real” recipes, Red Velvet Cupcakes & Fettuccine Alfredo. It was too funny – both of the testers picked hers out as the low fat versions right away & the girl testing the cupcakes actually said she like the real ones better! I’m sorry to say that I really enjoyed how uncomfortable she looked, as she’d started out looking so smug!
oh you are baaaad, Melissa! Maybe she should change her show to hungry ole broad. LOL Now that wasn’t nice! *slaps wrist*
I tried to like the French show, but I always get sort of bored.
Haha, I hate to admit it to you, but I do sorta enjoy Bitchin’ Kitchen. LOL I found the characters totally annoying at first, but if I ignore them and her “acting”, I actually learn something from her! LOL.
She has a basic rustic cooking style that I love, and I know you love too!
I’ve never watched Nate’s show, but you always talk about him, I should check him out sometime! He does look very cute from what I’ve seen on his web site!
Anyway, it doesn’t surprise me that they picked out the low fat recipes, and what is so bad about fat anyway?
There’s just too much phobia about fat lately. Sure, it’s got more calories than carbs or protein, but you don’t need to use a lot of it, and fats like olive oil and coconut oil are good for you!
I found the video of Hungry Girl on Nate.
Her alfredo dish was all runny and soupy. They didn’t have a video for the cupcakes. :(
I seriously thought she was about 20 because she calls herself a “girl” when she should really be calling herself a Woman. I was honestly SHOCKED when I saw how old she actually is.
Her show was super annoying when I watched it. She fawns over fake crap ingredients like they’re somehow ammmaaazzzinngg. Sorry but I don’t eat egg substitutes, whipped butter is a completely ridiculous waste of money, and why would I want to use lite hot dog buns for “french toast” when I can use perfectly good bread that is normal and healthy? The whole thing was just so ridiculous to me. She’s completely obsessed with counting calories, to the point where she has to have disordered eating. I’m sorry, but there’s no way someone who tells you to take a bite of cake in front of people and then throw the rest away can possibly have a healthy relationship with food.
Her food looks disgusting to me because everything is fake and non-fat. I’m not really sure if she noticed, but most non fat stuff is REALLY high in salt and sugar, and people end up using more of it than they would if they just ate the real thing!
Ugh. The whole thing is just so irritating!
You forgot to mention that most of her sugary foods are actually artificially sweetened!!! yuck!
Thanks for your comment, Melissa!
Ya, that makes it even more disgusting to me too! Like I get that sugar is bad for you, but at least our bodies can process it, and it’s not a bunch of bizarre lab chemicals!
Splenda completely freaks me out and she apparently uses it all the time.
I’d rather have no sugar than fake sugar! Or at least reduce my refined sugar intake so I can still eat it sometimes, but not all the time.
What I don’t understand about people like her is, why not just use the real thing but less of it?
Plus she takes foods that are supposed to be treats, and makes them “okay for everyday”. Except that they’re still not!
You’re not supposed to eat onion rings or fries or fried fish or cupcakes every single day! I just don’t understand people like her who somehow think that making junk food “healthy” by using a bunch of faux food and chemicals is somehow better than eating REAL food in moderation.
The whole thing is just so gimmicky seeming.