Dieting Books

Excellent information. Many easy, quick recipes. This book will definitely help you stay on target with your low carb diet.

I bought this book when I was diagnosed with diabetes. This recent copy was purchased for my sister. Born and raised in New Orleans, LA, seasoning in vital to my meals. This book will teach you how to use spices and herbs to add flavor to a traditionally bland meal. The recipe for fake potato salad, she uses cauliflower instead of the carb-loaded potato, is wonderful.

I bought this when I embarked on a low-carb diet because I knew of McCullough from her annual "Best Recipes" cookbooks. She did not disappoint. There are some fabulous recipes in this book, including wonderful ideas for vegetables as well as great tips for low-carb living in general.

Her cookbooks have all been winners in my kitchen.

I have a number of low-carb diet books and cook books. This is the only one that has creative recipes that would inspire anyone, regardless of their dietary preferences. Most other low-carb cookbooks take traditional recipes and substitute awful-tasting low-carb ingredients. Not this one - it is full of imaginitive, flavorful recipes that bring the best out of the ingredients. I highly recommend this cookbook for anyone who enjoys healthy, fabulous food.

The secret to low-carb dieting is to focus on what you CAN have and to have recipes that are so delectable and imaginative that you don't miss what you're cutting out. This book fits the bill exactly. McCullough draws from cuisines as varied as classic French, North African, Thai, Mexican, and American comfort food and the results would not be out of place in the finest restaurants. Yet for all their sophistication the recipes are unintimidating and easy to follow for the average home cook. In addition, you will learn many clever tricks for mimicking the foods you miss, from using oven-roasted eggplant slices in "lasagna" and "pizza" to superb cauliflower "potato salad" and divine blue-cheese flavored turnip "potatoes au gratin." Then there are the desserts. Yum. This cookbook is so good that I would use it even if I didn't eat low-carb. But as it is, I've lost 11 pounds in two weeks eating "dinner party" food that took little more time than broiling a piece of fish and making a salad. One of the best cookbooks in my collection of 50+.

It's easier to understand a book when it contains many pictures. I am a weight consultant & I find it easier to teach my clients when I show them the pictures in this book. I teach people that they can stay full & still lose weight & stay slim and Dr. Shapiro picture book helps people to understand this point. He shows you smart choices that you can make by comparing high calorie choices with low calorie choices. Yes, you can lose weight without starving yourself!Asian Slim Secrets: Enjoy Food, Stay Slim Naturally!

This book has great picture illustrations to compare certain foods and view how making the right food choices can be most effective when reducing caloric intake. I use the illustrations to point out smarter food choices to my patients on weightreduction diets.

It has been a very good investment. The book had been recommended by a doctor in Switzerland and I am very happy I followed her advise. I am sure that my eating habits will be changed for life.

Lucila Sotomayor

This book contains valuable information to assist anyone trying to shed the pounds. If you are a diabetic, you must be reminded that this doesn't compare carbs but calories. That said, it allows you to visualize portions and values of food.

If you are a visual learner like I am, "Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss" and Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30 Day Plan can really help you to become more aware of the relative caloric density of different foods. I've tried many diets in the past during which weight came off, usually through self-denial, but then came right back after reaching my goal and eating "normally" again. Often, even more pounds piled on afterwards, a sure sign my body wasn't about to risk starvation again. I've followed Dr. Shapiro's books for only a month now and have already lost over 12 pounds without any feeling of sacrifice at all and I haven't even increased my physical activity yet. As he states in the first book, Dr. Shapiro does not want you to think of this as a diet but as "food awareness training." While I don't care for the resulting acronym, I have to say that this visual learning method has worked beautifully for me. I use my newfound knowledge at home as well as in restaurants and have no trouble making choices that are great for me. While no food is "forbidden" on this plan, I now know how to balance my caloric intake for little "indulgences" and am still losing weight. Best of all, I believe I have finally found a way of eating that I can live healthily with for the rest of my life. Thank you, Dr. Shapiro! Would that there were more books this Picture Perfect!!!

What a wonderful book! I bought three of them for family members for Christmas. Our goal this year is to be the healthiest we have ever been. Thanks!

When I first started reading this book some of their diet recommendations disappointed me so I stopped reading it. But after taking a second look and visiting their website I see that they have changed their mind and corrected almost all the things that were bothering me reguarding diet. Like what fats are healthy and that soy isn't so great after all. So please buy this book but make sure you take into account the changes they now recommend. This book needs to be have a new addition written with these changes because the very valuable information contained in this book needs to go forward in time. It needs to continue on but with accurate new information.

That being said, this book puts together all the pieces of my physical puzzle. I have found out some of the info contained in this book on my own through doctors who stumbled along and "dabbled" in my different problem areas. But they never connected the dots for me like this book did. It is facinating and brilliant and I think it will help me.

Since I've suffered from so many health problems for years and have never had any relief, my friend recommended this book to me. Upon first reading, I found it quite interesting and chock full of information relevant toward my symptoms. However, I didn't really know where to begin when looking for supplements and picking out the best and pertinent ones. A few weeks after reading this book, I went to an integrative medicine doctor, and during my visit, I realized that she had a similar approach to Ross, and she discovered that I have a thyroid disorder and have adrenal distress which have caused weight gain, reproductive problems, unresponsive allergies, depression, anxiety problems, insomnia, etc. Now, I'm using this book in conjunction with my doctor, and it is very helpful because I'm on the mend! Especially if you suspect hormonal/thyroid problems, work with a doctor or someone in health care with this book.

This book was recommended to me by the institute where I have studied at....the C.H.E.K. Institute. I recently received this book, but havent had a chance to begin reading it. I know it will be good since I was informed about the clear, balanced, and practical material it contains.

Just re-read this book again. I really think the author has a good idea exploring amino acid imbalances. She's on the right track. The book itself is a tad difficult to read but very informative. There are numerous case studies based on the types of imbalances including thyroid, blood sugar, allergies, yeast, fatty acids, and habitual dieting. Once the reader completes a questionnaire the advice follows. However, I read all the imbalances and I don't think it's as cut and dried as the book might imply. I'm also a little cautious about using high-dose amino acids in the forms discussed in the book. There are high-protein supplements, like egg white protein, that have the full complement of amino acids that might be safer. Dieters, in particular, probably aren't getting all of their nutrition resulting in various symptoms. Worth reading but adopted with careful consideration.

I like that the book is easy to read and the recipes are simple. Loving the workout program, it's everything I can do in my home without having to pay a gym membership!

This is a good book with great pointers. Another great 6 pack ABs program to look into is at physicallyfitandhealthy.wetpaint.com

Great book with good rationale for why the diet works. Has some great recipes - wish it had more.

[...]From: www.BasilAndSpice.com
Author & Book Views On A Healthy Life!

The Abs Diet For Women is authored by Mr. David Zinczenko, the Editor-in-Chief of Men's Health Magazine. Published by Rodale, the bright green color attracts immediately the eye of any potential dieter browsing the Health book aisle.

Here's the scoop-- following The Abs Diet for 6 weeks will encourage your belly to flatten up and your body to firm up, for life. Numerous photos of exercises targeting the abs, legs, stress reduction, and postpartum delivery are the key to proper form. More muscle means more fat burning.

The Abs Diet For Women strives to bring out the latest scientific data and relate it to the woman. An entire chapter is devoted to the transitions a woman and her hormones make through PMS, Menopause, Pregnancy, and Postpartum.

The Food:

Powerfoods/Superfoods--12 are cited and described in detail. You'll learn what each one: does for you (fights cravings, builds muscle), has inside (protein, folate, etc..), prevents (cancer, obesity, wrinkles), has for related foods, has for imposters (foods you think may be good but aren't--ie. salted/smoked nuts rather than raw almonds/walnuts).

Meal plans and recipes include smoothies, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks. Yes, you do eat, and you eat well. Studies of the benefits of foods are referenced and lengthier explanations are provided for the Powerfoods. Foods to avoid are considered key as well.

The Abs Diet For Women aims to help the reader strengthen her body, improve her life, and provide the necessary vitamins, minerals, and fiber for optimal health.

4 Stars

Upon my asking my physician how I can lose weight and if there's anything he could give to me he highly recommended I read this book. This book was easy to read and it's a easy plan to follow. I just began it so I can't really say how it does with the weight loss but I've enjoyed reading the book and everything mentioned in the book makes since to me.

The recipes in this book are a good way to dispel the notion that low fat equals low flavor. Using this book, we have included more grains into our diet and more variety in vegetable preparation. The nutrition information at the end of each recipe is very helpful as are the menu suggestions. While some of the recipes are time consuming, most can be prepared ahead to some point and then continued later. The Sun-Dried Tomato Polenta Cutlets with the Tomato Wine Sauce are good examples...and so delicious! A chapter on fish (Fish with Herbs and Lime and Breaded Garlic Dill Fish were two of our favorites) and another on deserts round out the mostly vegetarian fare.

This has quickly become my new favorite cookbook. I have tried about 10 recipes so far and all have turned out great. If you didn't know, you would never guess anything was low fat. I would recommend this cookbook for anyone...vegetarian or not. Lots of variety and great taste.

I've been using this cookbook consistently lately, and I'm finding that many of the recipes aren't quite as flavorful as I'd like them to be. They're by no means bad -- I can really taste the veggies, for instance -- but I'd like them to be a little more lip-smacking.

Thus far the stews and salads have worked out the best for me.

The recipes in this book are wonderful, but the only reason I give this four stars instead of five is because the recipes take a fair amount of time and work to prepare. If you have the time the results are worth it. However, I think the longer I work with the cookbook I'll be able to figure out shortcuts to make the recipies more realistic for weeknight preparation.

I found the main dishes in this book to be primarily good, although some require a multitude of ingredients that are not normally on hand. Every baked good I tried was awful! The biscotti was so hard I could not even bite into it! The bundt cake was soggy and heavy. I was disappointed and understand why used copies are $4.00!

This book packs a medium amount of information into a pretty tedious reading experience. Although the information is good, everything is repeated over and over again. The book spends too much time talking about cocunut oil and cod liver oil also. Everything pretty much comes back to those two oils--notice the coconut tree on the cover of the book. Also, almost all of the recipes involve coconuts.
I was disappointed in this book. The first 50 pages were good, but all the new info stopped after that.

We've heard and read a great deal about the misrepresented saturated fat of red meat, equating it with the harmful trans fats which are neither a saturated fat nor a polyunsaturated fat. In this book the authors provide a comprehensive job of explaining the truth about another healthy saturated fat, coconut oil, which is very different from animal- source fatty acids that are also needed by the body. The easily understood and practiced protocol provided for losing fat while eating it, includes this unique medium chain fatty acid (MCFA). Thanks for an important service, Dr. Enid and Ms. Fallon.

Sylvia W. Zook, MS, PhD
Author of Eatin' After Eden

Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats This book has successfully dispelled many of the myths I had about healthy foods to eat, namely the low-fat diet promoted in our country. It has transformed the way I eat and, so far, I feel great and am having a lot of fun. It just makes sense to eat the foods that people have always eaten.

This book has so many helpful ways to recover you health.
It is amazing how many misconceptions there are about foods and what is healthy and what is not.... This book helps you to see the truth.
I found it very helpful in helping me with the quest for better health.

I have been studying diet and nutrition for the past three years and this book by far is the ultimate best book that I have in my nutritional library. I have recommended this book to everyone!! After 3 years of chronic migrains lasting litterally from 3-15 days at a time, with a maximum 4 day repreive in between, and all attempts with many specialists failed, as well as nearly causing me to have a stroke from preventitive medication. I was desperate to find a cure and not a bandaid. My doctor assured me that diet had absolutely nothing to do with my migrains or any of my other illnesses either, but what did I have to lose? Not only did I change my diet by cutting out refined products, preservatives, sugars, few carbs, high fructose corn syrup, and soy, I added coconut oil on a regular basis as the only oil in my home. I have only had 4 migranes in the past 8 months in which they only lasted a day or two and always followed an unhealthy eating binge of the wrong foods. I actually feel like I have more energy and have not put on any extra pounds, although I am eating a lot more fats like butter, cream, and of course coconut oil! This book is a must have for anyone who wants to get control of their life again!!! DW

OK. Everyone knows that Stallone got busted for having Growth Hormone on him recently. He didnt get his body because he did the things in this book, he got them by juicing up!! Sly is just a cheater, doing the easy thing and juicing up instead of working out. This book is lame, because Sly is a cheater and a liar.

This billion-dollar diet book industry is a sham. Mr. Stallone's book speaks the truth. You don't need to count points, or cut out ice-cream, or only eat meat. Who among us really wants to do any of that? Who here really wants to never eat pizza again? And in this book, he shows you you don't have to adhere to these silly diet notions. For that matter, no one really wants to be on a diet. You just have to eat sensibly (aka no pint of Ben & Jerry's every day) and you have to exercise. It's a shame more of the big media (like Oprah) decided not to help promote this line of thinking!

I enjoy this book very much. Mr. Stallone gives the reader a good look into his life that most people are unaware of, he's an interesting guy. He talks about what was going through his mind as he prepared physically for each of his Rocky & Rambo movies, and also a few of his other movies.
The book was written before these last two Rocky & Rambo movies, so there's no behind the scenes stuff on those...I have a feeling that all the reminiscing done for this book may be what lit the fire to do these two latest movies.

The final two thirds of the book walk you through his simple & informative fitness formula that anyone can use in their routine...from a fitness novice, to a "set in their ways" diehard fitness expert.
It's easy to read, informative & often humorous, cuts through the BS & gets to the facts. I would recommend this book for anybody.

The book is great!It gives some great but short insight into his personal life aswell as his films.I think he definitely needs to write a full biography.The workouts are great!

This book is typical of the life Sly Stallone...he lives the attitude of never say die, everyone is an individual, you alone are responsible for your life. His philosophy in a nutshell is don't try to fit in, try to stand out. Don't compare yourself with anyone. Don't listen to anyone else's idea on what you should be and do. Go for it!! There is no restrictions, rules and limitations...if your heart is in the right place and you remain focused you can accomplish anything you desire. Very inspiring and motivational!!

This is the best vegan book I've read so far. There is tons of information in this book that I couldn't find anywhere else, and it's nice to read about some sound science that backs a vegan lifestyle. If you are thinking of becoming a vegan or already are a vegan, this is a solid guide to help you better understand what foods to eat.

This is not a book of emotional testimonials of how people's lives dramatically improved with their change in diet. It is about the facts, the statistics, the things I can tell the people in my personal life about when they ask me 'why go vegan?'
It's also shown me what foods I can intake and what supplements I should look into to complete a balanced diet.
I highly recommend this book to those wondering why so many people are going vegan and to those who are already vegan and want to get more facts on their side and are concerned about getting all the appropriate nutrients.

Exhaustive but not exhausting! Davis and Melina fill in other vegan authors' blanks. Panoramic in scope, crystal clear in presentation. Responsible, politically-neutral analysis of the vegan paradigm - and as such, a tactful and diplomatic introduction of vegan eating for a general reader. Chapters that struck me as being particularly well executed and/or having a relatively unique focus: "Prospecting for Minerals," "Building Vegan Dynamos" (pregnancy), "Growing Vegans" (for the little ones), "The Vegan Athlete" (performance).

While an easy-to-use "reference" for the "converted," the book also manages to meet the mandate of its title, "Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a healthy plant-based diet" by providing an uninterrupted thematic emphasis on of the "adopting," adapting and becoming. Chapters offer a meaningful "character arc" of change and in their structure serve as a generic template for gradual, responsible change. The book bristles with unambiguous, no-nonsense practical tips, and, most importantly, highlights the points of vegan life-style vulnerability (e.g. vitamin/mineral supplementation, etc.) with adequate caution, yet managing to offer the reassurance of practical problem-solving advice and guidelines.

A Vegan "PDR" - no less!

Pavel Somov, Ph.D.
Author of "Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time" (New Harbinger, Nov. 2008)

Outstanding You: Discover, Design and Achieve Ultimate Fitness

I wish I'd had a chance to get a hold of this book earlier in my vegan lifestyle. It's been 12 years since I started down this vegetarian path - and I can assure you, it was tough at times. Reading this book years into my new lifestyle, I was thrilled to have the kind of support and reassurance this book provides. I recommend it for anyone starting or new to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. I'm the author of Outstanding You - and this book is a must-read.

I borrowed this book from the library and renewed it twice. I finally decided it was essential to have in my own library. It covers nutritional needs and opinions. Full of useful info for people becoming vegan the answers to many of your friends questions. Worth the money hands down.

This is a great cook book , but I was expecting the same type of gorgeous photos that are in her other cook books. The recipes and little factoids are typical of her other books- I just felt a little cheated with out the pretty pictures.

Like many others I bought this book because I'm a fan of Nigella's tv shows. I loved her personality and they way you can tell she really enjoys the food she's making. "How to Eat" seemed like a good place to start, and from the get go I was inspired. I wanted to bake a pie, I wanted to roast a chicken, things I'd never done or really thought about doing. She's very encouraging and honest about what can happen in the kitchen. Sometimes the recipe is going to turn out wrong or less than stellar, but I got the sense that she encourages repetition as a way to get comfortable. Can I really learn "How to Eat" if I pack it all in just because my first chicken isn't perfectly moist or my second pie crust falls apart? This book helped me tame my fears and made me want to create a personal kitchen history.

"You don't have to belong to the drearily narcissistic learn-to-love-yourself school of thought to grasp that it might be a good thing to consider yourself worth cooking for."--Nigella Lawson

Who would disagree that Nigella Lawson is a true Domestic Goddess? A graduate of Oxford with a degree in medieval and modern languages, Lawson wrote for The Spectator and was a literary editor of The Sunday Times before winning the British Author of The Year Award for her cheeky guide on How to Be a Domestic Goddess in 2000. She then hosted her own series, Nigella Bites, which resulted in yet another bestselling cookbook, Nigella Bites, before hosting the Food Network's Nigella Feasts. Nigella has been called the "queen of food porn" for her charismatic demeanor in hosting these two shows (The Daily Mail, 2006-12-01; The Independent, 2007-07-20). However, such remarks really only suggest that, "Men love her because they want to be with her. Women love her because they want to be her" (The Guardian, 2002-09-02).

Despite the fact that she is not a trained chef, as the recipes in the beautifully-illustrated How to Eat reveal, Nigella is a foodie who understands the therapeutic, sensual pleasures of food and mixing it up in the kitchen. "I think cooking should be about fun and family," she says. "I think part of my appeal is that my approach to cooking is really relaxed and not rigid. There are no rules in my kitchen" (Oakland Tribune, 2003-06-04.) Whether giving instructions on how to cook a Tarragon French Roast Chicken or how to prepare the proper English trifle, her style is intimate and conversational: "When I say proper I mean proper: lots of sponge, lots of jam, lots of custard and lots of cream. This is not a timid construction . . . you don't want to end up with a trifle so upmarket it's inappropriately, posturingly elegant. A degree of vulgarity is requisite." The recipies collected here will appeal to foodies and families alike, or basically to anyone just interested in impressing their dining guests with an irresistible meal.

G. Merritt

Like many others, I first became acquainted with Nigella Lawson through her TV programs as they began airing in the US. I find it a shame that it appears none of her series has run here in its entirety as she's fascinating to watch and lovely to listen to as she sets about making cooking and eating pleasurable.

How to Eat flows along like a conversation, one recipe leading to the next which blends into the next. There are no photos other than on the cover. The paperback version is all words and I love it!

Having seen her shows, I can hear her voice as I read which is part of the fun. Her use of adjectives makes everything seem so much more decadent than it should be, even when she's describing something like setting up a pantry.

There's a page for errata at her own website, http://www.nigella.com/news/detail.asp?article=1890&area=5 and fortunately, How to Eat hasn't got a lot of errors in it to correct. If you buy this book as a gift, you might want to tuck in a little printed slip with the corrections so the recipient doesn't wonder why the birthday cake recipe comes out runny instead of lush.

Also be forewarned that it's a hefty book, even in paperback, and might arrive crushing its own shipping box. For that reason, I'd recommend not using Amazon's own shipping service (handy though it is) if sending as a gift. But I highly recommend it as a gift-able book. It's a lovely read!

Nigella Lawson's book, "How To Eat: The Pleasures and Principles Of Good Food" is not only a fun read, reflecting the author's warm and inviting personality, but also a new way of looking at the lost art of home cooking. Ms. Lawson is clearly not afraid of thinking outside the box when it comes to food, and unlike a lot of her contemporaries in the rush hour world of the cooking industry, reminds us consistently that knowing how to slow down and truly enjoy eating is one of the greatest pleasures in life.

This is a good basic primer on the zone diet. I was hoping for a source that would outline a diet menu for me. This was very technical. In looking at the other books by Barry Sears, I find that they seem to provide "additional bits and pieces of information." I would prefer one obvious, simplified source.

I have started this healthy diet and was glad for the foundation information.

Mastering the Zone gives the shortened explanation of the Zone diet. The purpose of the book is not to explain the details of the science behind diet (which is covered in The Zone), the purpose is to introduce a brief overview and then provide an abundance of recipes and food examples that fit within the confines of the diet. Sears accomplished both, and also adds a Q&A to address any issues one might having trying to follow the diet.

Many reviewers of this book have spent their time rating the diet which I have deliberately avoided. My review is based on the content of the book, and thus this book rates well independent of whether you find this diet a success or not.

I went from 209 pounds to 151 pounds with the principles of this book. Once you understand how insulin works against you to store fat,and learn the right amount of protein and carbs your body needs to maintain your ideal weight, you can begin your journey to eat in the zone and lose weight.It has been my eating guidelines for almost 10 years. It is well worth the trouble to learn to treat food as a drug.

Hello everyone. Early this year i was on the Zone for 6 months, and i followed it perfectly. I did lose body fat, but i also noticed i lost my muscle. Even though i lifted weights 3 times/week, i was LOSING muscle. So i decided to actually calculate how many calories i was eating per day. It came out to 1,500. No wonder i was losing muscle! According to the American College of Sports Medicine, men should not dip below 1,800 calories in a day or else their lean body mass won't be sustained. So in essence, i lost fat and muscle. Girls weren't looking at me and saying "ooh, look at that hot guy over there with a flat tummy and no muscle." Let's face it. Women like to see some mass on a guy. Since June, i've done a lot of research into nutrition and now i am burning solely fat, no lean body tissue at all. I've increased my daily calories to 2,100, kept up with weight-training, and added 5 days/week of cardio. At first i was worried that with all that cardio, i'd lose muscle, but i'm not. As long as the calorie deficit isn't exaggerated and you lift weights, it's unlikely you will lose muscle when you add a good amount of cardio.
So even though the Zone claims to be a non-calorie counting method of dieting, that's deceitful in my mind because you ARE reducing your calories--way too much.
When you reduce calories excessively and for prolonged periods, you're going to get hungry. And i was hungry all the time. In addition, your body starts to hold onto the fat it has because it thinks you're starving. After 2 months of the Zone, my fat loss pretty much stopped because my metabolism had slowed down.
There is one positive thing to say about the Zone: it encourages you to drink plenty of water and to eat only healthy foods. Just not enough of it. If a book recommends anything less than 1,800 calories for men and 1,200 calories for women, don't buy it. You'll lose muscle and your fat loss will halt after a couple of months and you'll be hungry and not keep up with the plan.
Who has the best bodies out there? Fitness models and bodybuilders. They have single digit bodyfat. You know how they do it? They stay within recommended caloric limits by the American College of Sports Medicine, they lift weights, and they do cardio(and lots of it!) The Zone showed me what healthy foods are, but that's about all it did. For long-term results, stay away.

I'm giving this book a 4 star review. It recieves 4 stars by merit of the diet's effect on me personally. Your mileage may vary. I have been following this diet mostly to the T. I have dropped 15 pounds in the last month and I feel absolutely excellent. I'm not sure whether all of the theory that this diet is based on is completely sound. The focus on hormones and stuff seems a bit pseudo-science-ish to me, but much of it is also sound. For me I think the big thing was getting more protein and having my blood sugar levels more stable. As far as that goes this diet is excellent. I notice I have lots of energy and not in a manic psychological sense, which tells me that it's legit energy... there if you need it but you can chill if you don't. My muscles are also staying quite hard despite not having added weight training to my exercise regimen until this week... an effect strangely lacking in other diets I've tried that were so calorie restrictive.

However keep in mind that everyone's individual chemistry is different. I've always intuitively felt that I needed more protein and fat for a successful diet, and I am the type of person who did not respond well at all to the typically dietary guidelines that the food pyramid recommends. Your milease may vary.