1) when they say "no pasta ever" it's from this thought: "Does it grow? no? then don't eat it." This does mean that you can have complex carbohydrates - like the cous cous that's grains instead. Spaghetti squash is good with tomato sauce.... long grain rice... if you're going to eat pasta - eat the whole wheat pasta.

2) Check out some of the low-fat low-carb cook books - there are some that are good at provided tasty alternatives to what the nutritionalist gives you.

I don't know if these help, but maybe they'll give you some compromising ideas. I've been through both types of diets that they use now.