Deprivation is out. Freedom is in.

DAVID CRANE/Los Angeles Daily News

Author Devin Alexander doesn't diet; she eats well. Here she enjoys Mediterranean Seven Layer Dip.

"Food isn't the enemy," says Devin Alexander, author of The Most Decadent Diet Ever! (Broadway Books, $20).

The expert on healthy recipe makeovers and decadent eating has kept off the 55 pounds she lost 16 years ago. "We really have to eat the foods we like and do it in a better, healthier way," she says. You don't have to give up the decadent dishes you crave, she says. Just prepare them in healthier ways, such as the 125 recipes in her book.

"Flavor comes first and calories second," she says.

The book is a long-term lifestyle plan affording lots of freedom. It includes calorie information, weight-loss tips and specifics of Ms. Alexander's battle of the bulge.

She grew up eating fast, fried and junk food.

"I weighed close to 190 pounds by the time I was 15, and was a plus-size model."

She'd been on many diets when she read that "if you cut only 100 calories from your diet per day for an entire year, you'll lose an average of 10 pounds a year."

"It gave me the freedom to realize I could still eat some of the foods I love. Up until then, I looked at diets as all or nothing. ... I was either on a diet or eating garbage, which is what most people do."

She cut out 200 to 300 calories a day, got motivated and within a year had lost 25 pounds.

"When I decided I would never go on another diet, I lost the weight." By age 22, she had lost 55 pounds.

Fifteen years ago, she moved to Los Angeles, attended culinary school and ended up in the food business, owning a healthy-cuisine catering company, cooking for celebrities and teaching private cooking classes.

A column she wrote for Muscle & Fitness magazine resulted in her first cookbook, Fast Food Fix (Rodale Books, $15), with 75 recipes showing how to make healthier taste- and look-alike versions of Big Macs, Cinnabons and other favorites. She made television appearances and was a consultant to the NBC reality show The Biggest Loser, helping contestants make over their favorite foods. Her second book, The Biggest Loser Cookbook, (Rodale Books, $22) was developed to accompany the show.

She landed a half-hour cooking show, Healthy Decadence With Devin Alexander, which began airing in March 2007 on Discovery Health and FitTV. She's also a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen meals.

Ms. Alexander eats five 300- to 400-calorie meals or snacks a day. If she has a bit larger meal, she eats a smaller snack. For chocolate cravings, she makes and eats Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Dark Chocolate Layer Cake With Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Not-Only-in-Your-Dreams Cake. The latter "is totally gooey and as rich as they come. I love it ... I make and eat it at least once a week."

"My goal is to eat normal to big ... portions of food that is truly decadent. With diets, people often put together low-fat ingredients that taste terrible.

"I'm not a tofu and carrot-stick chef," she says with a laugh, adding that she doesn't use strange noodles and mix fat-free mayonnaise with fat-free cheese.

"I really push and find options that taste like the real stuff. "

Here's a Mediterranean spin on Mexican-flavored seven layer dip that is served with tortillas. It's just as tasty, but much lighter. Three tablespoons of dip have only 41 calories and 2 grams of fat. Be sure to use garlic hummus with only about 3 grams of fat per 2-tablespoon serving.

Spoon hummus into a 6-cup glass bowl, spreading evenly with a spatula to make one layer. Mix yogurt with cumin and mint in a small bowl; pour evenly over hummus and smooth with the back of a spoon to form a second layer. Sprinkle evenly with cucumbers. Mix tomatoes, parsley, lemon juice, garlic and salt in a medium bowl. Sprinkle tomato mixture over cucumbers, followed by red onion, feta and olives.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 to 6 hours. Serve with 1/3 pita triangles for dipping. Makes about 31/2 cups dip, about 18 servings.

PER SERVING: Calories 97 Fat 3 g Sodium 270 mg Carbohydrates 15 g Protein 5 g

Pans: Use good nonstick pans.

Oil: Use a strong-flavored extra-virgin olive oil in a sprayer to mist pans and finished foods such as potato-chip-crusted chicken after baking. The food will taste as if it has been fried even though it hasn't.

Cheeses: Look for and taste-test reduced-fat cheeses to find those that you like. Finely shred low-fat cheeses are a good choice since less will be required to get some in every bite. The cheese also will melt better.

Baked goods: When reducing fat and calories in baked goods, look for reduced-fat and reduced-calorie recipes for best results.

Dairy products: Use light sour cream (avoid fat-free, it's pretty awful) and fat-free milk. Fat-free yogurt is acceptable. In most cases, Neufchatel cream cheese (low-fat) is preferred to fat-free cream cheese.

Substitutions: When substituting turkey for beef or pork in grandmother's meatloaf, add more seasoning and moisture.

Taste test: Compare low-fat and low-calorie products to find the brands that best suit your taste.

Read labels: Watch sodium intake. Opt for reduced- or low-sodium seasonings when possible.

Eat slowly: Eat only until you feel slightly full, not stuffed.