The Gabriel Method Recipe Book

The Gabriel Method Recipe Book

All the delicious recipes in this book are designed to nourish the body and adhere to the philosophy of losing weight without dieting. It will give you the tools to stock your pantry and manage the ingredients needed to follow the Gabriel Method for all the family to enjoy, and on a sensible budget.

In 2001 Jon Gabriel weighed close to 186kgs, over the previous 12 years he'd almost doubled in size gaining more than 91 kgs. During this period, he tried every diet under the sun, spent thousands of dollars with Dr Atkins as well as undertaking many holistic cures and alternative health treatments. No matter what he did he continued to gain weight.

On September 11, 2001 Jon was scheduled to fly from Newark to San Francisco and it was only by a fluke of fate that he was not on United Airlines Flight 93 that was hijacked by terrorists. This event was the wakeup call that made him realise life was a precious opportunity not to be wasted.

Jon Gabriel's 'Eureka' moment was the realisation that his body wanted to be fat and was fighting tooth and nail to stay that way. Jon had finally made the connection that as long as his body wanted to be fat, it would be. All he had to do was find out why, and that's exactly what he did.

Jon then went on a quest to find answers - spending hours a day learning about biochemistry, nutrition, neurobiology and psychology. He ploughed through hundreds of research reports and became an expert in the cutting-edge chemistry of obesity and weight-loss. He studied meditation, hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming and Tai Chi, he even studied quantum physics becoming convinced that the answers lay somewhere in the space that separates the mind and the body.

Jon Gabriel lost over 103 kilos without dieting and without surgery. Most amazingly, his body shows almost no signs of ever being overweight at all - a fact that has astounded many professionals in the medical community.

He went on to publish The Gabriel Method, which is an international bestseller published in 60 countries and translated into 13 languages.

In The Gabriel Method Recipe Book Jon shares nutritious and tasty recipes that are easy to prepare. He also explains that by changing core ingredients such as salts, oils and sweeteners you can make a huge difference to your health and weight.

The Gabriel Method Recipe Book
Simon & Schuster
Author: Jon Gabriel with Oona Mansour
Price: $49.99

Interview with Jon Gabriel

Question: What inspired you to share your recipes in The Gabriel Method Recipe Book?

Jon Gabriel: I wrote The Gabriel Method in 2007 and it has been translated into 14 languages in 60 countries and it's a mind/body approach that focuses on the real issues which could be stress, emotional issues and many other issues that can cause you to gain weight although food is an important part of the method. What is important about food, for me, is learning how to nourish your body because sometimes if you're not getting the nourishment that you need, your body stays starving and it causes you to hold onto weight.

What I've tried to do with The Gabriel Method Recipe Book is take the most delicious foods and make them taste just as good without sacrificing taste at all but by adding nutrients in an uncorrupted form that will nourish your body and enable you to lose weight. You can almost eat the same foods which taste just as good and lose weight whereas on the other hand you can gain weight from hormonal and toxic effects of nutritionally-baron foods that you are eating that can cause digestion problems.

Food has become a real passion of mine, over the last couple of years, including being creative and making super-nutritious foods taste really delicious.


Question: Are the recipes provided in The Gabriel Method Recipe Book those that you used?

Jon Gabriel: I was over 400 pounds (186kg) and I was in New York working face-to-face with Dr Atkins, I went to naturopaths, acupuncturists, doctors - everything! No matter what I did, I kept gaining and gaining and it wasn't until I decided to stop trying to force myself to lose, and actually understand what it was that was causing my body to want to gain weight in the first place, that I started to get results.

I had a solid biochemistry background with the University of Pennsylvania and that gave me a foundation to go on the Internet and do research; I spent hours and hours every day understanding everything I could about not only the hormones involved with weight loss but also the mind/body approach of stress and how stress causes problems. I started to put together an approach that dealt with the real issues that were causing me to gain weight and since then I went on to loose over 100kg in 2004.

I didn't lose the 100kg through dieting but through learning how to nourish my body and deal with stresses and I put together my approach, based on that.


Question: Your body shows no signs of being overweight, how can you explain that?

Jon Gabriel: A lot of people try and force themselves to lose weight through diet, willpower and behaviour modifications whatever it is, is starting on the outside and not addressing the reason your overweight - it's willpower and a brutal force program which causes stress on the body. The stress on the body elevates the cortisol (stress) hormone which causes you to lose the elasticity in the skin which is why it is typically, when someone loses a lot weight, to have lots of loose skin because it has lost elasticity. When you lose weight by getting your body to want to be thin and you deal with the stresses in your body that are causing you to hold onto weight your cortisol levels go down and your body retains its elasticity. Losing weight with my method also keeps your skin thin and vibrant when you're done losing weight.


Question: Do you have a favourite recipes from The Gabriel Method Recipe Book?

Jon Gabriel: I have a Chocolate Mousse that is dear to my heart and a Chocolate Brownie that is made with really healthy ingredients including protein, eggs and chia seeds (omega-3) there is no sugar and it's made with organic raw cacao which is loaded with antioxidants and nutrients; it tastes out of this world. I have an Orange and Almond Cake and a Pizza that is wheat-free where I use an egg base with lots of protein and then I add salad and cheese on top - it's full of vitamins and it doesn't contain the wheat that is causing the body to elevate your insulin levels and causing you to gain weight. There are a number of recipes that are really dear to my heart.


Question: What is a typical days diet like, for you?

Jon Gabriel: I lost the weigh years ago because I dealt with the real issues and my body now wants healthier and healthier foods and I don't eat a lot of processed foods. There are still days were I eat an enormous amount of food but my body craves real food, that existed before we did (salads, nuts, fish, seeds, chicken, fruit) opposed to man-made foods. Our body knows how to understand and digest real food because of the healthy nutrients. For me it's all you can eat, whenever, but it's much, much healthier food than it used to be and that has become an organic and effortless thing because my body has been trained now and that's what the recipe book does - trains your body to crave healthier and healthier foods.