Until I tried SugarBusters and followed those rules, NOTHING worked for me except outright starvation. No matter how much exercise and low cal/low fat I ate, my weight would barely budge unless I was below 700 calories UNTIL I GOT RID OF SUGARS and PROCESSED CARBS. Now I can eat double that and still lose, admittedly still not a lot of food. One serving of anything with sugar or processed starchy carbs, and the weight piles back on disproportionally to the calories- and it's NOT bloat. Further, it always goes straight to my abdominal area.
Mel, I am printing this out and taping it in my journal. It is totally ME.
I have just about convinced myself that SugarBusters is the only thing that works for me. I have journals dating back to March 2005 here at my desk at work (the others are at home, but I think 20 months or so is plenty of history) and when I look back thru them, the times I was strictly SB was when I was most successful. If I were to sit down and make a list of my favorite foods, 99% of them would be on the list anyway, so there's no reason why I would try to fight it.
I'm hoping that YOAD (still waiting for my copy but I did read excerpts from the first chapter abc.com) is like SB and incorporates the same basic theories. Sounds like it is.
There is a '99 Second Edition' of You on a Diet at the official site. It seems a little too close to home to post the link, but it Googles nicely. If anyone wants any info on whether the book would be useful to them, it might be a good place to check out.
Im not a maintainer, but I figured I would step here and add my two cents.
I bought the book because it looked interesting. And it is. But some of it wouldn't apply to me as much.... for example, HFCS is an ingredient in my green tea, which I do love to drink and indulge in once every few days. I don't see a huge problem with me drinking my tea. And Im an insanely picky eater; almost all of the recipes that they suggested in the book are things I don't like for one reason or another... I'm better off sticking to my calorie counting. But the advice about what to eat has made me even more aware of what I put in my mouth, and has lead me to make such decision as cooking and freezing food, rather than buying frozen meals... and that actually seems to be working better for me!
So I guess I can say that if someone hasn't found something that works, than this might be the trick. If you found a part that appeals to you, like I did, then you can incorporate that into what you are already doing.
And as for my copy of the book, I leant it to a friend of mine, who I think would get more benefit from it than I did!
No, they said the waist measurement should not be over 32.5 inches for women but 1/2 your height was optimal. Not one size fits all - I liked their humor and I avoid sugar like the plague but there is a difference between naturally occuring sugar and added simple sugars.
I read this whole book in just 2 days. It makes a lot of sense. It is so true. It pretty much is a clean diet, somewhat Mediteranean (? spelling). Sounds like we won't be hungry on his plan. I will definitely be giving it a try.
mel I was just reading thru on this post. I read your post. Do you follow the sugarbusters woe or what type of eating do you follow??? Thanks ladyfirefighter
But if all this applies to the 'apples', what is a 'pear' like me to do? I clearly have a lot of room to lose some weight, but my waist is a nice 32", which is 'healthy' by these standards. For that matter, my blood sugars were perfect back in the 250+ days (much to my doctor's apparent dismay at the lack of a solid biochemical fact to bash me with). Do any of the fascinating hormonal explanations even apply to me? Is my biochemistry different from what the book presents? I can't even check with no references. I guess the 'waist management' aspect of it should have been fair warning to me. Should 'pears' save our money and pass on this book?
Anne
Late to this discussion, but I think it bears remembering that this is written from the point of view of a cardiologist. Its long been acknowledged that pears have less problems than apples when it comes to health at equal weights. He isnt writing a "how to fit in to a bikini" book, he is writing a "how not to die young" book. From that point of view, you are one up on us apples.
One thing to keep in mind is you are in your 30's now and a pear. My mom was a pear in her 30's as well. My mom is quite definitely an apple now. In her youth she ate very little refined food. As she got older her eating went to pot.
I think the book is useful if you think of it not as a weight management guide but a health management guide. Even if you dont have heart/diabetes/cholesterol issues NOW the continued OVERuse of refined sugars could appear in the future.
I didnt use to be sugar sensitive, now I am and I while I am no longer insulin resistant I am still sugar sensitive (and yes, I notice a difference between HFCS and table sugar). I will probably always be sensitive--the damage has been done. I think it is worth at least keeping these things in the back of your mind, not as a NEVER have, but as a "limited" product.
If for no other reason that being sugar sensitive is a royal PITA sometimes. How often am I somewhere and food is a ways off and I cant even eat the often offered "piece of fruit to tide you over til dinner" (sugar rollarcoaster baby).
It's like me and the diabetic diet. I am not diabetic, I try most of the time to eat as if I were, so that I can stay not diabetic, because it is a lot more pleasant to eat diabetic 80% of the time than HAVE to eat that way 100% of the time.
This book has clearly done a lot of people a lot of good, including the friend I gave my copy to. That should be acknowledged. Perhaps it even applies to more people than it doesn't, as Mel argued. I won't even argue that some day it could apply to me; life is long and people change, sometimes dramatically.
But it is marketed as a one-size-fits-all diet book, and from that perspective and in this phase of my life, I'm out about $30 and several hours of my time, neither of which come easy for me. I did come out of the human gene pool, and assuming there are others like me (biochemically speaking) out there, people deserve to know what is in the book before they spend their cash and their time. Hence my review, which covered its good points, and there were many, and its bad points, all from my perspective of course.
The lack of references when dealing with a controversial subject still really bugs me. There is no way to check if the research cited is outdated, flat out wrong, or has been spectacularly vindicated in the last couple years.
I stand by that review, even though it is a year and half old now. I still don't think this is the best book out there for those of us who are not sugar sensitive. For people like me, I think paperback copies of Volumetrics and Mindless Eating would be a much better investment for about the same amount of cash.
Anne
Last edited by AnneWonders; 02-10-2008 at 06:05 PM.
I got both hardcover & audio versions of YOAD & the new one, YOU: Staying Young for gifts last Christmas. The audio versions have PDF highlights, shopping lists, etc. that you can print out which is very helpful. I liked them both very much & enjoyed the illustrations & descriptions of how my body works.
The recipes & menu plans are extremely healthy. This would be a lifestyle that would eliminate processed & junk foods as well as everything most of us hold near & dear in the goodies department. I am not going to kid myself that I would eat their way 100% of the time...I like too many food items that are not on their lists.
Instead, I plan to use these books as guidelines on healthy eating, using many of their recipes & suggestions to help me continue with a good for you eating plan. And yes, I will have my goodies here & there, in small portions & in moderation. Don't tell Dr. Oz, but for me, that will be the way that I will stay slender.
I must have been living in the middle ages or something...I thought the You on a Diet thing was NEW because I just saw that new show on Discovery health on Wednesday...LOL!
For what it's worth, here's a review of "YOU - on a Diet" I wrote last year. I hope you find it helpful.
Drs. Roizen and Oz absolve you of responsibility if you are fat: the problem is a brain chemical imbalance. Take the authors’ weight-loss advice, and they promise to balance the chemicals, without hunger, without thinking about how much you’re eating.
Roizen and Oz recommend eating whole grain products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive and vegetable oils, fish, eggs, chicken, and low-fat dairy. Alcohol and specific commercial fast foods are allowed. This is healthy, Mediterranean-style eating. The foods are readily available and easy to prepare. Forty-two recipes are provided. No beef, pork, potatoes, or peas. Other forbidden or strictly limited items are simple sugars, high fructose corn syrup, enriched/refined flour, trans fats, and saturated fats.
The authors tell you what to eat daily for one week. Week two is the same, and helps to establish new habits. Variety is limited by design. They say that too much variety leads to overeating. You choose from among four different breakfasts and four lunches. Seven different evening meals are spelled out for you, taking 30 minutes or less to prepare. You repeat the pattern until you reach the authors’ healthy goal: waist circumferences of 32.5 inches or less for women, 35 or less for men. Weight is not important in this scheme.
Although never divulged by the authors, I estimate you are allowed 1450 calories per day. There is no allowance for your sex or baseline weight. Roizen and Oz don’t want you to focus on calories.
Incredibly, they don’t address what you do after you reach your goal waist size. Just add more of the same foods? How much? Can you ever again eat beef or potatoes? Maintenance of weight loss is certainly problematic, but that’s no reason to ignore it.
The authors make several controversial claims without offering supportive documents such as scientific references or a bibliography. I guess we are supposed to just trust them since they are medical doctors. Examples: 1. Having sex will curb your appetite, 2. Aluminum in deodorants promotes weight gain, 3. ½ tsp of cinnamon daily will help you lose weight, 4. Red pepper helps with weight loss, 5. Willpower is not important because it always fails, 6. Eating 70 calories of nuts 20 minutes before meals will help you avoid overeating.
Roizen and Oz provide great information on the process of digestion and the importance of exercise. Their exercise program is detailed and readily achievable: 30 minutes of daily walking, along with strength training.
The book is a quick, easy read. The cutesy style will amuse some readers, irritate others. Lots of pop celebrity references. And neologisms, such as “YOU-reka!” Sexual intercourse is mentioned more than average.
Bottom line: This is a fair program for most overweight women. After they reach their goal waist size, however, they are left without guidance. This is worrisome. For women over 210 pounds, and for nearly all overweight men, 1450 calories per day is not enough. These folks won’t be able to follow the diet for more than four days—their hunger will be too great.
