Friday, January 18, 2013

Review # 265: The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss: Find Your Easiest Path to Naturally Thin by Stan Spencer, PhD

Description: (from Amazon)


     This book isn't about the latest celebrity diet, wonder food, or miracle supplement. It's about creating a personalized weight loss plan—your own easiest path to naturally thin. While you can lose weight with almost any diet, keeping the weight off is much more difficult, requiring permanent changes in eating and exercise habits. This book provides a science-based approach for making those changes in a way that works best for you, without wasting time, money, or effort. 
     Dr. Spencer explains why we gain weight and why the fat lost by dieting almost always comes back. He then presents an array of practical weight loss tools for controlling emotional eating, calming cravings, boosting metabolism, and improving nutrition and exercise. In the final chapter he has you create a natural weight loss plan based on your unique set of needs, abilities, and preferences. Simple recipes are provided for weight loss foods that reduce cravings and prolong satisfaction.

     What this book offers is a solid approach to weight loss—self-directed, gradual, and lasting—in contrast to the quick but fleeting weight loss offered by most one-size-fits-all diet plans.

Review:

     Finally, a book about weight loss without all the B.S! According to healthyamericans.org, "by 2030, more than half of Americans could be obese", and unfortunately there is no "quick-fix". I have no trouble admitting that I have always had a weight problem, but even with dieting, exercising, vitamin regimens and strict caloric regulation, I have never been able to shed more than a couple of pounds. My life is anything but sedentary, and I am not addicted to food, however, my body seems to ruthlessly retain water and calories. My biggest problems, according to doctors, are my hypothyroidism and my blood disorder - neither of which help my case. One medication is supposed to help me lose weight, while the other plays the opposite role, making weight-loss seem impossible. In August I started coming up with a weight-loss plan of my own, taking bits-and-pieces of other diet plans into account, but ultimately customizing it for my daily routine. I wanted my weight-loss to be natural - no pills, powders, magical shakes, etc... - and slowly but surely, I began to lose the weight. Now I am down twenty-three pounds, and more motivated than ever! That's why I love The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss, it has the same central philosophies on weight-loss that I do! I may be a scientist, but I don't always like diet/exercise plans that have to explain every detail of the diet to you - I find it very annoying. Most times I just flip to the appendix for the straight-up diet diagrams and recipes so I can start the plan instead of just reading about it. Reading about the history of a diet or other people's journeys is only motivational the first hundred times, so why slap that kind of info on every other page? 

     Stan Spencer's approach is quite the opposite. He begins the easy-to-read 152 page guide with very short and to-the-point introductory sections on weight versus lifestyle and diet failures, followed by eight "how-to" sections that give readers the facts on cravings, "fat genes", eating less, exercise and other natural weight loss habits. This is not the typical diet guide - no frills included - just the hard facts about getting healthy and weighing less naturally, and unlike other diets, there are no promises of "quick-fixes" or instant weight loss; you only see the results if you do the work. Spencer has compiled the research from a variety of diet/exercise sources into a more condensed and easy-to-comprehend format - making it simpler for anyone to just pick up the book and start working on themselves rather than wading through useless info. The recipes were very helpful, as were the tips at the end of each chapter. The "Naturally Thin Habits" helped me stay on track with my own goals, and the "Fifty-Six Ways to Weigh Less", although not revolutionary, were written from a new and interesting perspective.  Definitely worth a look for anyone trying to get healthier in 2013!
~Edit: Just saw the book on the Today Show! Can't wait to see other people's reactions!

Rating: On the Run (4/5)

*** I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.


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