Books. Don't you love reading a book that might contain The Answer?
Me, too. But I've read enough diet books to know that no book provides a magic solution to weight loss.
However, here are a few books that have some great ideas and insight:
The Amazing Soup Diet: Eat All You Want and Still Lose Weight! is actually an e-book available for a Nook. You can also find a lot of information about this diet on the Good Housekeeping site here.
Basically, this diet provides a basic recipe for a giant pot of soup, the Hearty Vegetable Basic Soup, and then a bunch of other recipes that use the basic recipe as a starting point. For instance, you can start with the basic vegetable soup and then turn it into a Mexican Chicken Soup. Easy as . . . soup, right?
Of course, you have to eat sensibly the rest of the day, too. You can check out a sample meal plan right here.
The e-book also includes snack ideas, "Star Chef" soup recipes, ideas for simple substituions and dining out (and more!).
I like it!
The DASH Diet Cookbook: Quick and Delicious Recipes for Losing Weight, Preventing Diabetes and Lowering Blood Pressure
This paperback has just been released and would be a great addition to a diet-book library. (What? You don't have a library of diet books?)
The DASH diet (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) was ranked as number one by the U.S. News and World Reports. They say it's "easy to follow, nutritious, safe and effective for weight loss."
This recipe book contains not only recipes but also a 28-day meal plan. (Personally, I like to just wing it, but for you planners, it's always nice to have something pre-planned.)
The DASH diet has you eating real, unprocessed foods. This minimizes sugar, salt, and saturated fat. What will you eat? Grains, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy, lean meats, nuts, seeds, legumes, healthy fats/oils . . . and very little sweets or added sugar.
What's not to love about a recipe book (and diet) that allows you to eat Chicken Fajitas with Spicy Avocado Sauce and Anna's Homemade Guacamole and Banana Chocolate Dessert Smoothies?
You can buy this book today from Aamzon for about ten bucks!
This last book is Fat to Skinny Fast and Easy! by Doug Varrieur
From Amazon, "Doug Varrieur battled weight gain his entire life until he found the secret to getting skinny fast at age 50. Though he had built and sold three successful companies over the past 27 years and worked extensively as a business consultant, the only challenge he couldn't meet was weight control. In 2002, Varrieur decided to put all his efforts and time into finding the secret to fat loss and good health. He quickly succeeded and easily lost (and has kept off) over 100 pounds using his own methods. He lives in South Florida with his wife, Sherri, who also has lost over 75 pounds using the strategies in Fat to Skinny Fast and Easy!"
I have to admit that the actual book--not the content necessarily--but the book itself didn't appeal to me. The font is too big and is gimmicky (the word FAT is in bold font, the word SUGAR is capitalized). I find that very distracting. The binding won't allow the book to open fully and there's no way it would lay flat on a countertop if you were trying to use the recipes straight from the book in the kitchen. You have to pry it open and hold it firmly just to read it.
The content is basically this: don't eat sugar and cut down on carbs. It's pretty much a low carb diet. Some people swear by this diet. Personally, I like to eat whole grains and unprocessed vegetables of all kinds, but if you're looking for a personal-testimony type low-carb diet book, this might be for you.
DISCLAIMER: These books were provided to me free of charge but all the opinions are my own.
