You’d think, as an avid reader of food news, that I would know basic stuff about nutrition – stuff like whether sugar is toxic, or whether we all should be following the Paleo diet or the Mediterranean diet or veganism.

You’d be wrong – the more I read, the more confused I get. One day, the news says whole grains are good for me; the next, all carbohydrates will destroy my insulin production (or whatever).

It’s enough to make you want to give up on health altogether and just eat a cupcake. Frequently, in fact, I do.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons I like Carrots ‘n’ Cake – Tina Haupert’s personal health and fitness blog, headquartered right here in Boston. Haupert, a contributor to Health.com, is not a health extremist. She lost weight simply by making small changes to her life – smaller portion sizes, more fresh produce, that sort of thing – while continuing to eat cookies, go to parties and occasionally mess up. In other words, she seems like a normal person (albeit one who could probably kick my butt from all her Body Pump classes).

Her new book, also called Carrots ‘n’ Cake, is out on shelves now – she’ll be promoting it at the Brookline Booksmith on May 19th. In anticipation of this, I talked to Haupert last week about why she continues to write about health and weight-loss – and how she manages to stay healthy without going off the deep end. Included: a healthy burger recipe!

PRK: What sort of person were you writing this for, you think? Why are you talking about your experience and what do you hope people will get out of it?

TH: A mix of readers – I guess I had my blog readers in mind as I was writing it and thinking about the things that they want to know, and also maybe stuff I had talked about on the blog but they wanted to have all in the same place for them. So they were definitely in my mind as I was writing it. But also, anyone who just isn’t into the whole diet thing… [who wanted] just to have a lifestyle diet, of sorts.

I think people pick up diet books and think there’s going to be a plan that’s all laid out for them – you know, what to eat, how much, the whole bit – and for me that just never worked. I’d do it for a few days and then fall off track with that. I just thought that doing my own thing was the best thing for me to stay healthy and stick to it. So I really wanted a book that had tips and ideas that people could incorporate into their life to find their own healthy path.

PRK: I did find the book helpful for someone who was working to maintain his or her weight. How do you lose weight, though, initially? I know you counted calories at first – was that difficult for you?

TH: I was at a really low point and I gained like a ton of weight and I knew that something needed to be done. And I looked at my diet, and I was drinking a lot of beer and eating a lot of nachos and have a big warming coffee break with cinnamon buns or have an afternoon donut – it just got out of control. I knew I needed to figure out something that would work for me and so after that, I was like, “I should count calories.” You know, I was eating too much and eating the wrong foods.

And so I started with fitday.com and it was just a free website where I tracked everything I ate. And the first time doing it, I shocked myself – “Holy moly, I’m eating way more calories than I thought I was.” I was eating 3,000-plus a day, when I thought I was probably more at 2,000. So it sort of all made since as an aha moment – “No wonder I gained so much weight and I’m not losing it!” So at that point I really started watching what I was eating and picking foods that would fill me up but at the same time weren’t necessarily high in calories.

So I definitely had that diet mentality at first. But the more I tracked calories and watched what I ate, I just figured out what worked for me, and it wasn’t all rice cakes and salad. I figured that I could incorporate things I like, just not as much as I was eating before. That was definitely a good starting point for me.

PRK: Now that you’re running this blog for healthy eating, do you ever find yourself getting obsessed with health to the point where it’s, well, sort of unhealthy? I know if I make an effort to eat well, sometimes it all bottles up and I go on a binge, and I think that’s a cycle that a lot of women go through. How do you avoid that?

TH: I actually went through that a lot, especially when I was dieting because I was watching my calories and really trying to keep my calories low. And I would do well for a few days and then all of a sudden a plate of nachos would be put in front of me and I would eat all of them. And it happened a lot, so this is something I talked about in my first chapter.

My solution to this was called “Cookie Friday,” which was my big splurge for the week. And it wasn’t a cookie, it was, like, an entire ice cream sundae, not a small splurge. So having that to look forward to, it made going through the week a little easier to turn down all these treats because I knew on Friday I was going to have whatever I wanted and enjoy it.

During the week I’d have small treats, like a muffin or a cookie or something, because I have a crazy sweet tooth, but that Friday splurge was always in the back of my mind, so it kind of helped me not overdo it on cookies or brownies or whatever else was available at the time.

PRK: You’re a runner… Now that you’re doing running – a lot of running – all the time, how does that change what kinds of foods you’re attracted to? Do you make better decisions, or does running all the time make it easier to make unhealthy decisions?

TH: Yes and no, because – I don’t know how much you read my blog or know the history, but I ran a marathon in January and I gained almost ten pounds from the time I started training to when I actually ran. And initially, I was like, “Oh, it’s just muscle mass!” [laughs] But no, really it was just that I was eating way too much calories. I would go out and run 15 miles and think, oh, I can have four pieces of pizza and two beers! But I just ate too many calories and so I was gaining weight.

So, I may be running another marathon [Ed: she blogged today that is, in fact, running the New York Marathon]… but the second time around, I’m definitely going to make better choices. And, I mean, I started making better choices when I realized how much weight I gained, so more nutritious foods, things with more protein, things that have healthy fats in them… but not all the stuff I was eating before.

So I think of more nutritious choices, like peanut butter and bananas on whole grain bread, that will fuel me through my workouts, and then post-run, kind of similar food: high fiber, carbs, protein, the whole bit. If you run a lot, you need more, but at the same time you can’t eat everything in sight and things that are terrible for you [laughs]. I definitely learned the hard way about that.

PRK: How did you handle that? Especially being honest to your readers, did you feel like a hypocrite, or ashamed? If I gain weight, I get emotionally pretty upset, but you seem to have a good attitude about it…

TH: Somebody said to me “gaining weight is something that can be fixed, it’s not really permanent.” And I’ve always kind of remembered that little thing. So yeah, I gained some pounds and none of my clothes fit me – I ended up buying a pair of jeans a size bigger because my thighs were huge and none of my jeans, well, I couldn’t even get them on. So it was a bummer and everything, but at the same time I was like, instead of being miserable I should do something about it.

I’m pretty honest on my blog – I just want people to see that I’m a regular person. I’m not perfect, I don’t eat perfectly, I don’t exercise perfectly. I have problems just like everyone else – I gained weight after maintaining it for so long, it happens, life happens…

So, I just went and watched what I was eating… I was eating a lot of high calorie foods because I was doing all this running. So after a ran a marathon, I was like, “Wait a minute, I really just want to get it together.” And since then I’ve been just watching my portion sizes, eating more fruits and veggies and not eating as many desserts…

PRK: Do you know if you’ve lost the weight?

 

TH: Pretty much – I mean, all my jeans fit now. [laughs]

I don’t think I’m back to my ‘happy weight,’ but I’m pretty close – I’m probably only two or three pounds away and I’m hoping it will come off in time. But I’m just glad my clothes fit again – I was like, “I can’t afford to buy a whole new wardrobe! And I really don’t want to buy a whole new wardrobe!”

But it took a while – I mean, that was early January and now it’s almost May, so it took a while to lose that weight. But I didn’t crash diet or do anything crazy – I was just watching what I ate and it just slowly came off.

* * *

ZUCCHINI AND MUSHROOM BURGERS

Reprinted with permission from Carrot’s ‘N’ Cake © 2011 by Tina Haupert, Sterling Epicure, an imprint of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

I serve these veggie burgers on whole wheat buns or lettuce leaves, your choice, with all the usual toppings.

• 1 small zucchini, shredded
• 1 small yellow squash, shredded
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, crushed through a press
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning mix
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese (optional)

Combine the zucchini, yellow squash, and soy sauce in a large bowl, and toss to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes; then pour the zucchini mixture into a colander and squeeze out most of the liquid. Blot up the rest with paper towels.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Sauté the onion and garlic until softened and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the zucchini, bread crumbs, seasoning mix, egg, and mozzarella (if using). Stir to mix, and form into 4 patties.

Preheat the broiler. Place the burgers on an aluminum foil–lined baking sheet, and broil, turning once, until browned on both sides and the internal temperature registers 160°F, about 10 minutes.

MAKES 4 BURGERS