Have you tried it?? Does it work?? How much of my 30 pounds can I expect to lose and how quickly?
Where can I find a list of foods for this way of eating without having to buy the book?

Hi We have had several members here that have used this plan successfully in the past. We've also had members that were not successful. I guess like any diet plan, it only works if if fits your lifestyle and personal tastes. You should not expect to lose more than 2 pounds of fat per week on any diet plan. Anything more is usually water or lean muscle mass.

The diet is more than a list of foods, it is quite detailed, and you should get a copy of the book if you want to give it a go. Your local library probably has it, or you could buy it used if you don't want to buy a new copy.

I should also mention that the diet plan has not been well received by many nutritionists and weight loss experts, and there are healthier diet plans to go on. The plan even won the Good Housekeeping "Hooey Award" when the book was released.

I read another nutrition book that denounces it as bogus too--basically Somersizing's premise is that the body cannot efficiently digest/metabolise all 3 macronutrients (fat, protein, carbs) at once (a rationale that's shaky at best)--so one needs to do some creative food combining to help lose weight (I believe somersizing allows you to have either a "carb day" or a "protein day"). On top of that, one's forbidden to eat anything that has significant amounts of all these macronutrients.

I think weight loss is possible with somersizing, but more so because one's cutting out a major food group and its associated calories. I don't think its worth learning all the different rules about funky foods & ways to combine them, however.

I have a friend who did it. She was losing. In some ways it is similar to low carb dieting. Not as reasonable (in my opinion), but it probably works as well as anything.

Yes you can eat carbs and protein on the same day, you can't eat carbs and fat at the same time. You can eat fat or you can eat carbs, either can be eaten with protein, but you can't have both fat and carbs.

I suppose this is one way to find that you eat less of both fat and carbs. Because for me, my carbs always go with fat. Baked potatoes and butter or sour cream.... French fries... you know. There isn't much fat that I enjoy eating if it isn't combined with carbs, and there isn't much carbs I enjoy eating if is isn't combined with fats. Chocolate for instance, both fat and carbs. Think about it. Almost any high carb food also has fat, and most high fat food also has carbs.

So for me when I looked at the diet, it just made so much more sense to stick to Atkins which I was already doing.

I did find a really yummy spinach salad recipe in the Suzanne Somer's book though! I still make it and eat it on Atkins.

This is day 6 of Somersizing for me. This is what I eat each day:
4:50 (when I awake) 1/2 to 1 cup strawberries
5:30 1 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with 1 cup fat free milk
8:30 (snack) Eggwhite pancake (2 eggwhites/splenda/vanilla flavoring cooked without oil in a non-stick pan)
11:30 3 oz skinless chicken breast prepared without extra salt, 1 cup veggies (usually lettuce with 1/2 TBLS olive oil or some other veggie)
2:30 2 oz cheese (I tried boiled egg, but, being that I hate them, it was not working out)
5:30 skinless chicken breast or turkey breast/ peppers/onions/ melted cheese
I drink 80 - 100 oz of water a day and have been getting to work early enough to walk 2 miles each morning. Sometimes at for dinner I have cereal with fat free milk.
I have not been hungry and have seemed to kick my obsession with food, food, food. We had a workshop yesterday with all the available goodies right in the same room. For the first time in 18 years of workshops, they did not bother me. I was not tempted or interested in eating them because they did not fit with the food-combining plan and I already had an available snack. I have added in an extra serving of fruit in the afternoon on a couple of days.

I am able to plan meals. If I want more cereal in the morning, I eat more cereal without the guilt. I can drive by Burger King every day without panicing because I can smell the french fries.

I am down 8 pounds. This is probably "water weight" and will stop drastically next week. Being that I only want to lose 30 pounds altogether, I think that is pretty good. This diet may be a total "hooey", but it is something that I can easily live with for the rest of my life.

Thank you for all of your in-put. I did take your advise and buy the book. I also took the advise of someone else and am tracking my calories/carbs/protein/fats on fitday.com. I am eating the recommended amount of calories (as per my physician) per day. I also talked to my physician about the amount of carbs/protein/fats per day that I should be eating. Fitday.com is helping me keep up with this also.

Anyway, I think that being able to come onto a site like this to get information/opinions from others has been very helpful. Thank you for all of your help!

Happy Losing!

Hi. I tried her diet back in 1999 after my second child. Did lose a nice amount of weight - mostly due to eating more lo-fat items I believe. Plus I reduced calories - similar effect to the lo-carb diet starting weeks (South Beach, Sonoma, Curves).

Found that juggling a newborn, two year old and the home & garden responsibilities provided not a lot of time to prepare some of her meals. THe rules became hard to implement and the cost of food too high.

I've been on the Curves 6 week challenge and doing well. Eating 6 smaller meals a day - reasonably priced!

I did discover a lot of veggies on her diet I had not tried before - leeks, anise - she has some good ideas - its just hard to implement full time. And that is really the challenge. I've lost lots of weight on many diets but put it all back on because the rules are hard to follow.

What I like about the Curves diet is that there is a maintenance strategy in place plus it combines exercise.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Sue

I've been somersizing since mid August of 2005. I have lost 62 pounds since then. Somersizing is a food combining program. The theory is that macronutrients digest at different rates, and that sugar/starches cause insulin to spike and prevent the body from burning fat. Most veggies are considered "freebies". You can eat them with any meal. If you eat a carb meal, it should have no added fat and it should be a complex carbohydrate meal. If you choose to eat a protein meal, you can have vegetables, but you can't have foods with added starches or carbs (except for those naturally occuring in veggies.) You never have to count anything. You eat until you are full.

Although I still need to lose 80 more pounds, this has been the easiest way I have ever lost weight. Within two weeks I had much more energy and didn't crave foods like I always have in the past while trying to lose weight. I don't feel deprived, which has always been a diet buster for me. I eat more fruits and vegetables than I ever have.

I saw my doctor last month. My blood pressure was much lower, my cholesterol looked "great" (Her words not mine!). My husband has also lost 25pounds. He lost it just by eating what I cooked at night and on the weekends.

I recommend that you go to your library and borrow some of her books to read for yourself. Maybe it's not for everyone, but I know that it is for me. Don't worry if the food combining sounds too complicated, after reading one of her books, and working with it for a week, it really becomes second nature.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.
Tammy

I did Somersizing a few years ago and had good success. I gave up on it for quite a while (due to my schedule and depression issues) and gained quite a bit of weight. I recently am restarting and have lost 7 pounds since the first of the year. The main reason I am starting back with this plan is that I feel better when I'm eating this way and the food is great. I don't have problems with indigestion and have more energy. I believe you have to do something that you can stick with and that won't be the same plan for everyone. I feel I eat healthier this way (lots of veggies and not any "processed" foods.) The drawbacks for me are that it takes some preparation and planning. It seems that it cost more because you buy fresh fruits and veggies. However, I am single and used to eat out a lot. It is probably not any more expensive for me because I am saving money on eating out.

Like Tammy said, it's based on maintaining your insulin levels and is related to the glycemic index. As far as the "funky" foods go, you only cut those out while you are trying to lose weight. After you are at your goal, you can add them back in. The first time I ate this way, I was at my goal weight for over a year. I could eat some of the "funky" foods without any problems as long as I didn't eat TONS of them at once. I also have not been as strict with Somersizing this time around. I will probably lose my weight a little slower, but as long as I'm losing, I'll be happy. As far as I can tell from what I've read, every weight loss/eating plan has its supporters as well as its denouncers. You have to find the one that you can follow and that you believe in. For me, it's Somersizing.

Best of luck in finding what works for you!