Has anyone tried this new diet? Any good? Sounds very interesting!
 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fast-Metab.../dp/0307986276

I read some reviews, but want real live opinions. Somehow this makes sense to me. I am waiting for the library to get the book in, but if it is good I will order the book. I would hate to spend money on a book for it to be just another to good to be true fad diet. Dee

I am not familiar with this book but the best life style changing "diet" advice came from my 3 years on Nutristem. Low sugar,low salt, lower carbs, high protien and of course, lots of fruits and veggies. Portion size is also key. I no longer purchase their food but I continue to adhere to the "maintenance" program eating comparable substitutes. I maintain my weight and have actually lost a few additional pounds. The occassional splurge does not derail me. I get back on track.

Excercise! Even if you only walk at a brisk rate. Just move!

This advice is not rocket science. It is common sense and doable. Nutrisystem has a forum and there is a wealth of info and advice discussed even if you are not on Nutrisytem. I am sure WW offers the same cocept.

A healthy rate of 2-3 pounds per week is good!

Slow loss is better than no loss! My motto and my real experience.

Sandy

I should have read the review that explained the books'concept and gave example of each meal caloric intake....1200 calories per day IS starvation and dangerous, not realistic. Save your $$. I had to agree with one review that the South Beach Diet book worked for her. I have that book tho I still adhere to my NS experience.

Sandy

I get so angry at diet ads I would write a nasty note if they had an email...on face book they have 2/3 a day showing an egg, raw, cooked, etc. whats up with that???? You go to the site and they never say anything LOL just a big long story of how fat he was and isn't now. My metabolism is screwy right now and has dropped drastically for some reason...I golf, walk the dog, house clean etc and still have put on 10# since March. The only thing I can think of is cut off all sugar and carbs to get back where I should be...

My dad's a personal trainer. He's looked at most of the diets, I haven't heard about this one, but here's what I've grown up having drilled into my head (and it's likely to make me unpopular. I do apologize to anyone this offends, it's something I'm fairly passionate about.):

• Your brain needs carbs to function. It cannot digest protein for food. This does not mean all carbs all the time. This does not mean white flour and empty carbs. Those are not proper nutrition for your brain or body. But you cannot unilaterally cut carbs out of your diet.
• All carbs are not equal.
• If you want to lose weight - burn calories more than you take in. Yes, exercise. This raises your metabolism, and becomes self-perpetuating. Brisk walking is better than nothing, but his usual response is, "how's that working for you?" (hint, they're talking to a personal trainer to start a program with him...) - To really burn calories and to lose weight, you must break a sweat.
• Load bearing exercise is good for your bones, and excellent for burning calories.
• Moderation. A couple of M&Ms once in a while, not a big deal. A handful or a bagful a day... not going to be helpful. The same is true with protein and carbs.
• Humans are omnivores. Part of that is carnivore. Eating meat. We wouldn't have ripping and tearing teeth if we weren't. We don't need canines for a carrot. We're built to metabolize animal protein most efficiently. If we'd evolved past that, we'd have evolved away our ripping and tearing teeth too. Vegetarianism is a choice. If done poorly, vegetarianism and Veganism can be a dangerous choice.
• "diet" (small d) is a lifestyle. It's not a few months where you change what you do regularly, lose the weight, then let everything go back to the way it was. That's yo-yo dieting. Change your habits, change your life (and your weight). diet (small d) is mostly common sense.
• "Diets" (Large D, commercial diets) - are a multi-BILLION dollar industry. They love to use buzz words that catch people's attention - like "metabolism" because we've all heard that slow metabolisms cause us to be overweight.

Here's what I learned on my own:

Flours are one of the most "Tampered with" foods out there.

• They're fogged with cyanide gas to make them unattractive to bugs (I also find this unattractive)
• they're bleached white with chlorine gas.
• I heard rumour from the Bosch store that they can -legally- cut the flour with sawdust. (I can't find corroboration for this one though)
• they remove most of the things that made the wheat berry healthy and whole - vitamin E oil, wheat germ, bran, germ oil, because it goes rancid in the bag. Then they add niacin and ug,.. something else... (I don't have what we call "dead bag flour" in the house anymore) and call it "Enriched"
• Most of the nutritional value in flour is dead within 72 hours of grinding the wheat berry. (How long do you think it sat on the shelf before you got it? In the warehouse? At the factory?) - Hence the "dead bag flour" name in our house.
• Freshly ground flour (yes, this is whole wheat) and the things you make with it - taste great. They don't have that dusty taste that the bran you buy in the store does. Or the weird, just "wrong" flavour of store bougt whole wheat. They don't tend to ... uh.... bind you up as much.
• This doesn't even touch on what labs have done to the wheat plant to make it grow faster, taller, bigger, stand up in wind, grow in drier climates, wetter climates, etc.
• "Ancient grains" are even better, and many times don't get the reactions that "wheat" does these days. We use Kamut in most of our cooking and baking, and it doesn't bloat my belly like modern wheat flour does. (Fun fact: "Kamut" means wheat.)

Soy is not food.

• It's a known goitegen. A goitegen messes with the thyroid. Makes it run more poorly. The thyroid is largely responsible for.... wait for it.... metabolism. It's the thermostat for your entire body. An overactive thyroid revs up the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc and can burn them out. This is why we control thyroids that run too fast. An underactive thyroid slows the metabolism, and does other "bad" things. Many people don't have a problem with soy or other goitegens. In moderation. With how much is in the foods we buy, it's hard to practice moderation these days.
• Soy is in almost every prepared food you'll find on the market today. It's a cheap texturizer and filler. It keeps profits up for manufacturers, while making their product seem like it's more than it is.
• Ever notice how many store bought so called "diet" foods have a lot of soy in them? (other things too, but I'm not going to get into -that- discussion) It's not in their best interests to make you thinner, they lose a customer.

Remember the 4 food groups we learned in school? They weren't wrong. They included: moderation, a balanced diet, and no real "junk food". Why have we forgotten about that?

Through my youth, and teens, I was very slim, and very muscular. Then life took over, and I fell off this "Regime" for a while. I slowed down, I got lazier, I ate out more often, more prepared foods in the house, etc. The first time in my adult life when implemented what I have written here? I dropped 2 dress sizes. Not immediately, and not dangerously, but it was gone. My energy level increased, which made exercising easier, and then that made losing weight easier.

The only reason I'm not at my ideal weight today is because when I hurt my back, I fell off a lot of this when I became depressed. It's hard to "give up" a lifestyle of motorcycles, skiing, and other activities, and find yourself hurting to just sit up, and not get depressed. Food became comfort food, became habit. I'm fighting my way back now, and losing weight again.

I have tried this diet and it is absolutely the best thing ever for my Type 2 diabetes. It really keeps my sugar down and is not hard to do. I don't take any diabetic medication and have to use diet to keep it under control. However, it has done nothing for weight loss for me. ??

My husband and I are currently on it. I lost 18 pounds in the first four weeks. I am in it now for 5 1/2 weeks and I have lost 25 pounds. I still have about 40 to go but this is the best thing that ever happened to me. Read it, you will like it. You can PM me with any questions you may have.

PLEASE get your thyroid checked out too.
Sandy

Healthy lifestyle is always the key. Lifelong good habits. Over the years I have gained, lost and regained the same 100 pounds several times. Only because I got stuck with big D Diet thinking and that always seems temporary. I am back at WW and doing great. I love it and once, like Nutrisystem, you learn the basics it is easy to keep it up long term. Good luck with your weight goals, it's a tough battle.

The best diet is to cut calories and increase exercise. There is no diet that works better with a lasting result...

Go to Sparkspeople.com. It is free and great. I have been on it for 6 mos. and still love it. I would highly recommend it.

Sandygirl, you are absolutely correct! well-said...

Archaic Arcane... also well-said!! I've read/studied (on my own, not professionally)/attempted good nutrition my entire married life. My husband tends to gain quickly... his sweet mother (who I adored) was morbidly obese... our daughter struggles with weight... well, not now... but when she was little, she did.... poor thing. She is very disciplined now, and that is her solution. If she slides the tiniest bit, she gains.

All that to say, while I'm not a professional, I've read a LOT on this and these two ladies have spoken (what I believe to be) truths!!

It is a lifestyle choice... it is not an easy lifestyle choice....

Thanks Running1. I don't do this professionally either, my dad does, so I've absorbed a lot that way too. Food became something I wanted to learn about because I became the "canary in the mineshaft", and became sensitive to a lot of things, still am, but through education we manage a lot better, and eat a lot healthier for it.

unfortunately, there's no magic pill (or diet). It's lifestyle and hard work.

Stop drinking alcoholic beverages. Expend more calories than you take in. (Walking will do; don't have to go crazy!)

I am loosing weight. Since April 1st, I've lost 22#s, averaging 2#s a week. Some weeks I lost weight & others I didn't. I am exercising on the elliptical, 1 hr 6x a week. I've reduced my calorie intake to about 1500 calories a day. Most days I go over the allotted calories, but it's ok! Allow yourself your error and move on - don't let it be an excuse to stop trying. The more veggies you put in, the more food you get to eat. I allow myself a small treat most every day but I don't let that treat go over 250 calories. Give yourself credit, every day, for any success you may have no matter if you ended up past your calorie goal. If you ate a 300 calorie salad instead of that 230 calorie candy bar, that's a cause to celebrate! BE KIND TO YOURSELF! Don't give up on yourself! Join me (Roseanne Terrill) on facebook where I've been logging in every day since April. You will see how most days my calories are in the red (meaning I've gone over my allotment for the day) BUT I'm still loosing weight! I'm not following any program, I'm eating real foods I would eat every day (including pizza, Chinese, spaghetti, etc.) It's all about PORTION CONTROL. It's not easy, but you can do it too!

Good job Roseanne! This is the best most tried and true way to do it. By the time you reach your weight goal, you'll have the habits ingrained in you and be fit for life! :)

You bring up a really good point. Some days, you fall off the wagon, but that doesn't mean you're out. You're out if you decide you're out. The fact is being at a good weight is important for your entire body and mind! If you "guilt yourself" every time the day doesn't work out perfectly, you create complexes. Accept it, adapt, overcome. :)

Way to go Roseanne!!! It truly is about portion control... along with the other great truths mentioned... So many people have no idea how much they really are eating! I recently asked my sweet hubby to show me one tablespoon of his favorite: peanut butter... he showed me about 6 tablespoons using a serving spoon! (Bless him...) He was amazed at how many Calories he was snacking on!!!