A NOTE FROM A FORMERLY “HEAVYWEIGHT” CHEF

Before I created the Spice Diet, I lived in a state of diet distress—360 pounds of distress!—for more than twenty years. I thought the foods I craved and the foods I should eat were totally different. I would swear off all the bad stuff cold turkey and go all in. Disciplined for a while, I ate sad, minuscule portions of bland fare, or sometimes nothing at all. When I lost a pound or two, I celebrated by “cheating” with indulgent, unhealthy foods. That one slice of pizza I promised myself as a reward became the entire pie. I was left feeling defeated and disgusted afterward.

To get back on track, I would punish myself with an austere regimen, and the cycle would start all over again. I learned firsthand that the feast-or-famine dynamic is hard on the body and harder on the spirit. It’s the perfect recipe for packing on pounds, falling into a world of depression, and living a disappointing life.

I knew my love of food was at the heart of my problem and realized it had to be part of the solution, so I made some smart choices. During my college years, I studied food science and human nutrition to learn the science of flavors and how to work with food in a healthy way. As I studied what I needed to know about the science of food, my weight continued to escalate. When I developed borderline hypertension and high cholesterol, coupled with depression and self-hatred, I knew it was time to put what I was learning into action. I had my whole life in front of me, but my addiction to food had me on a deadly course. There was no question that I had to change.

This “do or die” realization led me to develop the spice diet. From my college coursework and personal experience, I knew that restrictive fad diets weren’t going to cut it. Flavor was the key to success. I knew I could reduce my portions if what I was supposed to eat tasted great. I realized that the way to win my lifelong struggle with my weight was by using spices—a powerful source of flavor.

I love food so much that becoming a chef was a calling. Food is such an integral part of my life that I still dream about it to this day. After college, I went on to study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and traveled around Europe studying and experiencing food to refine my cooking skills. In that time, I managed to lose more than 160 pounds and reversed my hypertension and high cholesterol by changing the way I ate. Through my transformation, I learned to love me, and hard!! I have worked with food ever since and have kept the weight off for more than ten years.

Once I felt better in my own body and confident that I could overcome my food addiction for the long term, I developed The Spice Diet. My purpose is to teach what I have learned to the millions who struggle with weight issues, to help them to heal their minds, bodies, and spirits through food. I am sharing my program in the hopes that you will lose weight, boost your energy, and develop a renewed spirit and great health.

The Spice Diet dismantles and redefines the word diet, a four-letter word with a whole lot of baggage. I’m so over the D-word being synonymous with deprivation and self-loathing. A diet is a habit—nothing more. Habits can become a lifestyle you control or an addiction that controls you. Because you are going to eat every day for the rest of your life, you already have a diet. Right now, it just may not be a healthy diet. The Spice Diet is the way to break free from your destructive behavior patterns, so that you can live the life you want and have only imagined—until now.

If you give me thirty days, I promise to get you a healthier and leaner body and make you a great home cook at the same time. I know it’s a big promise. I am confident in my plan, because I, along with hundreds of others, am living proof that it works.

—Chef Judson Todd Allen, April 2017