Lisa Lillien is an expert when it comes to not just creating delicious and calorie-conscious recipes from her bestselling books like the Hungry Girl’s 200 Under 200, but she also has her constant nutrition pulse on the latest in food finds and hidden calories in your favorite dishes.

Tune in this Thursday to the Rachael Ray Show and your grocery cart on your next trip to the store might look a little different. And your waistline just might reap the benefits.

Check your local listings for exact show times.

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Tune In: Hungry Girl Uncovers Dangerous Foods on Rachael Ray Show

Just in time for the holidays, DietsInReview.com had a chance to talk with Lisa as she shared with us some of her tips for making the season fun, festive and healthy. She also gave us the scoop on her soon-to-be-released, Chew the Right Thing, a perfect guilt-free gift for the holidays.

Listen now to the audio of my conversation with Lisa, or continue reading the transcipt below.

1. The holidays are upon us. What do you recommend for how we can walk the tightrope of eating our favorite holiday foods but not gain weight?

During the holidays, we don’t want to hear that we can’t indulge or that certain foods are off-limits. You have to find a happy medium, and indulge in things you really love and swap out those high calorie foods for healthy alternatives.

I’m a big believer in planning what you are going to eat before you go to an event.  If you know you’re going to a big party, have a snack ahead of time so you’re not starving and eat everything once you get there. Pay attention to the food that is there before you start eating. That way, you can make a healthy decision.

Plus, it is important to drink a lot of water throughout the day. It fills you up and keeps you hydrated.

2. What are some of your favorite pre-party snacks?

Whether I’m at home or the office, I always keep things around to help curb cravings. During the holidays, I love candy canes; They are low calorie, they taste festive, and peppermint has been shown help to reduce cravings. I also love fat-free yogurt, particularly, Fiber One Yoplait yogurt, which has only 50 calories plus five grams of fiber and three grams of protein. You get a lot of bang for that snack. And it is Hungry Girl-approved. Portion control snacks, like 100-calorie packs of almonds, are also a favorite go-to healthy snack of mine.

3. Not all holiday food is bad. Many ingredients used are made with healthy, low-cal foods like pumpkin, butternut squash and lean turkey breast. Can you give a few tips for how to use these naturally, low-cal ingredients in our favorite holiday dishes and still keep them somewhat low calorie?

Many of the foods in holiday dishes are healthy. You can do things like use chicken stock in place butter to keep dishes moist. I do this in a stuffing I make called Save-the-Day Stuffing, which is made with light bread and apples. I have the recipe for it in my first cookbook. I make my Too Good To-Deny Pumpkin Pie with Fiber One breakfast cereal for the crust and pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix, for the filling.

Green bean casserole is another great example. You don’t have to use high fat, crispy-fried onions as a topping. I use garlic and onion-flavored soy crisps as a topping and 98 percent fat-free cream of celery soup rather than the full-fat versions. It keeps calories and fat grams down but it tastes just as good.

It’s about dissecting the recipe and replacing some of the ingredients with smarter ingredients.

4. Your latest creation, Chew the Right Thing, releases on December 8, 2009. This isn’t a book but rather, it is a set of 50 recipe cards. Can you tell us a bit more about these cards and how to use them?

I’m so excited about this. Chew the Right Thing is so cute and it’s a great holiday gift. Each of the 50 recipe swaps are Hungry Girl favorites like Lord of the Onion Rings and De-Pudged Pigs in a Blanket. Instead of a cookbook, they are  colorful and fun recipe cards that are easy to keep around the kitchen or on the counter. Plus, you can purchase the recipe cards for ten dollars or less, which makes it a fantastic and inexpensive holiday gift.

5. What is one of your favorite Hungry Girl holiday recipes?

That is a tough question. I love I Can’t Believe It’s Not Sweet Potato Pie, Too Good To Deny Pumpkin Pie, and Pumpkin-licious Nog. I’m not usually a fan of eggnog but I love this recipe. It’s amazing. Sorry, I guess I listed a few more than just one.

Thanks Lisa!

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Hungry Girl’s Healthy Holiday Tips

Rather than noshing on Lunchables, bags of Fritos and reheated slices of last night’s deep-dish pizza, Lisa shows a group of hardworking teachers just how healthy their lunch box is. She also helps them make subtle adjustments to their noon-time meal to make it more healthy and nourishing so that they have the energy they need to face the afternoon with a classroom full of kids.

Plus, while watching the show, you can also earn a chance to win a copy of the Hungry Girl’s latest book, Hungry Girl’s 200 Under 200.

Check your local listings for show times.

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Tune In: The Hungry Girl on Rachael Ray

Each small tub contains just 50 calories, zero fat, five grams of filling fiber (that’s 20 percent of your recommended daily amount), ten percent of your calcium needs, 15 percent of your Vitamin D needs and live active yogurt cultures. Plus, this new line of Fiber One yogurts is endorsed by best-selling author and food expert, Lisa Lillien, a.k.a. Hungry Girl.

Continue reading to learn how you can try it for free, and see more of our review.

As an added bonus, Yoplait is offering a promotion that gives a coupon for a FREE four-pack of the new Yoplait Fiber One 50-calorie yogurt to the first 50 DietsInReview.com readers who sign-up below. Plus, all DietsInReview.com readers can receive a coupon for $1.25 off and weight management tips from Lisa Lillien.

The yogurts come in four flavors: Strawberry, Vanilla, Key Lime Pie and Peach. I tried the vanilla and it was creamy and smooth with just the right amount of vanilla. Key Lime Pie must be a favorite flavor because two stores near me were sold out! Four cute tubs come in one package.

This coupon giveaway is provided by Yoplait for DietsInReview.com readers. No product was offered for review and the review is of Heather’s own opinion.

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We Love New Fiber One Yoplait Yogurt and Coupon Giveaway

And Lisa Lillien, a.k.a. Hungry Girl, also stops by Rachael’s kitchen to share with us two secret ingredients that will cut the calories in your favorite dishes in half!

Check your local listings for show times.

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Tune In: Hungry Girl and Sherri Shepherd on Rachael Ray Show

Lisa will reveal some of her tricks and secrets for drastically slashing calories on your favorite dishes while also keeping them healthy and yummy. Unveiling some of the weighty truths of your favorite lunch meals, Lisa will show you how to do a complete recipe makeover of your beloved burger meal while also keeping your tummy happy and your bum looking great!

Lisa is the author of the Hungry Girl and the Hungry Girl’s 200 Under 200 cookbooks.

Also on today’s show is Ashlee Simpson-Wentz who will reveal how she got her post-baby body back into shape and ready for the cameras.

Check your local listings to for exact show times.

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Tune In: Lisa Lillien on Rachael Ray

Like any woman who has spent years struggling with her weight, Lisa lost 30 pounds by giving up heavy starches, pasta and junk food. But once she hit her goal weight, she started to experiment with how she could re-incorporate some of her favorite foods back into her diet. She is now a Weight Watchers devotee who tries to keep her points in check and her dry carbs down to a daily minimum.

Using her own kitchen as a mini-laboratory and searching in grocery stores for the latest low-cal snacks, she began to create slimmed-down recipes from everything from nachos to chocolate peanut butter fudge. Using tricks like coating “fried” food with crushed Fiber One cereal, Lisa has coined herself as a foodologist, not because she has a degree from the Cordon Bleu (she doesn’t), but because she is shamelessly and enthusiastically obsessed with food.

Whether you owe Lisa a huge thanks for introducing you to shirataki noodles or showing you how to skinny-down your favorite coffee drink, The Hungry Girl shared some of her insight, experience and favorite food finds with us.

The Hungry Girl was a huge success. What was your motivation behind Hungry Girl 200 Under 200?

Thanks! I wanted the follow-up book to be super-useful and be something that everyone would be able to use and relate to. Portion control is key and I thought the idea of having a book that was crammed with satisfying recipes for foods that had 200 calories or fewer would be great.

Can you explain the magic that happens in the Hunger Girl Kitchen? For instance, how do you take a 800-calorie dish like cheesy nachos and bring it down to 200 calories and still make it healthy and tasty?

I’m a bit of a mad scientist. And so are all of the HG staffers. We pretty much decide what we want to make and then tackle it by dissecting all of the ingredients, then the swapping and testing begins. It’s really fun and we love a good challenge! The nachos were easy. You start with a fat-free or low-fat chip, then create a sauce out of an array of lower-calorie ingredients and reduced fat cheeses.  Add a few key things– like a low-fat chili and some salsa and you’re done!

What are four eating essentials that you can’t do without?

1. Laughing Cow Light cheese
2. Vitalicious VitaTops
3. Fuji apples
4. Eggbeaters

We grossly underestimate the number of calories we consume when we eat out or eat on the run. Since you have been traveling so much promoting your new book, how do you manage to not overdo it?

The key is to PLAN ahead. Always have emergency snacks on hand… and learn how to order the right things at restaurants. For me, it’s about skipping the bread, avoiding fatty dressings and ordering sauces on the side. I usually stick with lean meats or fish, and steamed or grilled veggies.

What are two of your favorite recipes in your new book?

Hmmm – I love them all — but I especially love the H-O-T Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings, and Double Trouble Chocolate Trifle. YUM!!!

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Interview with Hungry Girl’s Lisa Lillien

via The Tyra Banks Show

Also on the show is soulful crooner Patti LaBelle. The last time she was on Tyra she put a call out for someone to be her own personal chef. See who answered her call and battles it out to become Patti’s own personal chef.

Check your local listings for show times.

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Tune In: The Hungry Girl and Patti LaBelle Dish with Tyra