Proof That Life Can Be Spicy and Low-Cal

Genevieve Guidroz was reared on great food in New Orleans. So it makes sense that the woman who became Jenny Craig is passionate about food as long as it’s low-cal and divine.

Craig and her husband, Sid, live in Del Mar, where five adult children, seven grandchildren and two dogs run in and out of the Craig home. In the midst of all the happy chaos, Craig manages to exercise and cook, tend to her roses and pull together her first cookbook, “Cutting Through the Fat” (Oxmoor House).

“People think that diet foods are like carrots and celery and things nobody wants to eat,” Craig says over dinner--vegetable soup in a clear broth and shrimp risotto--at the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel. “I grew up right after the Depression and my mother could make the most fabulous meals from nothing, but the food was fresh. I don’t ever remember feeling that we were poor or deprived of anything.”

Question: What’s really in your refrigerator?

Answer: I think you’d be surprised. I’m serious. I really practice what I preach. In the refrigerator I have 1% milk, which I use only for my coffee; nonfat yogurt; fresh vegetables; lettuce and tomatoes for the salad. I never ever eat butter although I keep it at home because of the kids and Sid likes it.

Q: And the cupboards?

A: I’m doing this shelf by shelf. Canned foods mostly such as tomatoes and defatted chicken broth. Flour, rice, olive oil, vinegar and Dijon mustard, which I put on baked potatoes and salads. And lots of spices. I love spices. You can create very interesting food that has nothing to do with fat but, you know, at least give it some personality. People who use spices use fat less.

Q: When you don’t feel like cooking, where do you go?

A: Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe. We eat there probably once or twice a week. A French restaurant isn’t synonymous with Jenny Craig but it’s how and what you eat when you’re out.

Q: How do you eat out and stay on a diet?

A: If you go in any good restaurant and say, “I want chicken and please take the skin off and just broil it,” they’ll do it. It has to be prepared from scratch anyway so what’s the big deal? But a lot of people are intimidated to do that. Or if there’s a dish on the menu I’ll say “Now, explain this dish to me.” I’m not afraid to ask for what I want.

Q: Are you a big eater?

A: I would say a healthy eater. I don’t overeat. I eat when I’m hungry. However, after four hours anybody--not just me--gets hungry in between meals. That’s not appetite. That’s real hunger.

Q: So you pace your meals pretty carefully.

A: I have breakfast, toast and coffee, usually around 7. Around 1:30 I’ll eat a salad and dinner about 7:30 because I try to eat at least three hours before I go to bed after the 11 o’clock news. It really takes that long to burn off the calories.

Q: What about liquids?

A: I drink a lot of water. And I love soup. I really do. I could eat soup at every meal--vegetable, split pea, lentil. You know, it’s a good idea to eat something warm at lunch. Heat helps to depress your appetite. People who are big eaters should start their meal off with hot broth.

Q: Let’s talk about exercise.

A: I used to run until my knees started hurting. So now I walk briskly. Five miles every day on the beach. Most people can’t keep up with me. People are always kidding me at the beach. They say “Boy, you’re like a ship going.” The sand is more forgiving than hard surfaces.

Q: Any indoor activities?

A: I got a trampoline. Up in the morning on the trampoline . . . boom . . . boom . . . boom. And when people come over and stay with us, they say, “My gosh, what was that noise I heard this morning?”

Q: What other equipment do you have at home?

A: If the weather’s bad I get on my treadmill or the reverse climber. And I have an Exercycle.

They tell you that you shouldn’t do the same thing all the time. It gets boring and that’s why people drop out. I’m type-A, can’t do one thing at a time, so whenever I exercise I love books on tape. You don’t want to stop listening so you keep going.

Q: I hear you’re a big dancer.

A: Love to dance. Wind me up and I dance anywhere. Sid and I used to dance for hours to the big band sound. We hardly sat down and it’s wonderful exercise. Maybe that’s the reason I have good, strong legs today.

Q: And you like to putter in the garden.

A: I love to garden. I like to dig and watch the garden take shape. I have the most gorgeous roses and everybody who visits just raves about my hanging ivy geraniums in big pots.

Q: What’s in your mind when you see someone who should lose weight?

A: When I see people who are really overweight, sitting there eating big piles of French fries, I just want to go over and say, “You’re killing yourself,” because that’s exactly what they’re doing. And you just wonder what it takes to wake them up.

Q: What does it take?

A: Usually a happening. A health scare, a reunion, buying a dress two sizes larger than the last time, a husband starting to fool around, turning 40.

You know, nobody is busier than I’ve been all my life, raising a family and building a business. It’s never been a problem for me to diet and exercise so why should it be for the next person? We all have the same 24-hour period. You have to decide how you want to spend it.

Q: Most people are afraid to make a radical midlife change.

A: You’re right, but I have never been afraid to tackle anything. My dad used to tell me all the time that I could do anything. I’m glad he didn’t tell me I could fly.

* Guest Workout runs every other Tuesday in Life & Style.