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DEAN ORNISH, M.D., 70, LIFESTYLE MEDICINE SPECIALIST AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR Ornish will always be known as the man who put the president on a diet. After years of heart issues, Bill Clinton

turned to Ornish to help him drop pounds and keep his arteries clear. Ornish responded with the plant-based lifestyle program he’s been prescribing for his patients for years that’s now

reimbursed by Medicare when accessed virtually. It’s very low in fat and sugar, meaning that in addition to most animal foods, fatty fruits like olives, avocados and coconut are also off the

table, and nuts and seeds are eaten in moderation. It also includes exercise, stress management, and social support: “Eat well, move more, stress less, love more,” is Ornish’s mantra. But

if he sounds like a dietary downer, Ornish begs to differ. “A lot of people think, _Am I going to live longer, or is it just going to seem longer?_” he says with a laugh. But he says that a

low-fat, plant-based diet can provide fast results. “Your brain is getting more blood, so your cognitive function improves. Your skin is getting more blood, so you look younger. Your heart

gets more blood flow so you can often reverse heart disease. Your sex organs are getting more blood in a way that works like Viagra.” ​ To amp up the joy around the Ornish house, Dean often

joins his wife, Anne, founder of Ornish Lifestyle Medicine (and co-author of their book UnDo It!) in what she calls her “full-sensory meditations.” ​​​“When we give our full attention to

what we’re eating, we enjoy it much more fully,” Anne says. “After the first of couple bites, most of us go into autopilot. When we slow down and recruit our senses, one by one, we can spend

several minutes savoring a high-quality piece of dark chocolate and get far more from it than mindlessly consuming a whole chocolate bar,” she adds. “Even a single bite can be exquisitely

pleasurable if you’re fully in the moment.” In the Ornishes’ shopping cart, there is a lot of fresh produce, especially fruit. “Frozen fruits are less expensive, and you can eat them any

time of the year.” Almond and soy milk are his go-to dairy alternatives; tofu, tempeh, beans, and vegan yogurt and vegan cheese are also in the mix. And finding pleasure in eating is

important as well, Ornish says. “Food has a way of bringing people together. And intimacy is healing.” _WHAT’S IN ORNISH’S CART_:_ Dark chocolate, blueberries, fresh and frozen produce, soy

and almond milk, tofu and tempeh, beans and lentils​_ Devin Alexander/Maggie Shannon/Vons DEVIN ALEXANDER, 52, CHEF, AUTHOR AND TV HOST Alexander knows what it’s like to be ashamed of her

weight. By age 15, she had reached 200 pounds, and she struggled to find a healthy path forward. “It was the ’80s. Richard Simmons was not a relatable role model for a teenage girl,” she

says. Alexander decided to cook her way out of her weight trap. She educated herself about nutrition and culinary science, eventually becoming one of the stars of _The Biggest Loser,_ where

she taught contestants how to make decadent foods healthy. She uses the sugar substitute stevia, cocoa powder, zero-percent-fat Greek yogurt and a tiny bit of salt to make a breakfast for

her young daughter that tastes like chocolate pudding. (For more adult tastes, she’ll do a similar trick to create a healthier White Russian.) As a mom, “easy” is her dinnertime mantra. Some

basil, bits of wheat bread, garlic and Parmesan cheese are quickly blended into a pesto, then spread on salmon with some olive oil. “It bakes into a crust on the salmon, and I can make it

in 15 minutes,” she says. Or she’ll throw pork tenderloin or chicken into a slow cooker or pressure cooker, then top it with a mild salsa verde or barbecue sauce; the meat can become a taco,

the topping for a rice bowl or an ingredient in a variety of other dishes. Another easy, healthy favorite: top shrimp with some lower-sodium Old Bay seasoning and pop it in the steamer for

a quick and inexpensive meal. Alexander credits a lot of her creativity to keeping a handle on her food budget. Her top tip: “Use the digital apps from your supermarket. They’ll give you a

considerable amount of money off” select items, she says. “It’s my own little _Chopped_ challenge: Buy what’s on sale and see what you can do with it. “When I was struggling with my weight,

I used to think I couldn’t have certain things,” she adds. Her goal today is to show others that healthy food can be fun. That’s the message of The Land of Secret Superpowers: Vegetables,

her book for parents and grandparents who want to teach healthy cooking to their youngsters. “Once you truly believe that eating healthy is fun, it becomes much easier to keep the pounds

off,” she says. _WHAT’S IN ALEXANDER’S CART:_ _Cocoa powder, phyllo dough, agave nectar, Greek yogurt, almond flour, salmon, shrimp and mild salsa verde_