FitSugar

Lose Pounds and Gain Shoes: The Shoe Diet

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:00:00 -0700

Do you love shoes? I sure do. It's a strange phenom really, women and their shoes. What else do women love (well love to hate, really)? Dieting. So, isn't it then a great idea to combine dieting and shoes?

This is just what Isabelle Shaw, author of The Shoe Diet ($12.95) has done. Unfortunately this diet is not about a special pair of shoes that curb your hunger (though I am sure we'll be seeing that in the future), it is based on the power of reward. What's a better reward than shoes? The diet is built upon a series of steps that you must take in order to earn your rewards, shoes. The first one being that you must start a food journal and begin your shoe rating system. For example, think of everything you eat just like a hotel star system, with one shoe corresponding to "not really worth it" and five shoes meaning "it was so worth it!" Soon you'll be eliminating your one shoe foods from your diet, all while keeping your eye on the ball: Your first new pair of kicks for a job well done.

I love that Dr. Shaw has realized that while we may not be willing to finally step up and eat right for our health, we will do it for a pair of hot shoes. Kind of reminds me of click it or ticket, we won't buckle up for our safety, but we'll do it to save 50 bucks. This is a diet that I think FabSugar (not that she needs to go on a diet) will enjoy. Buy the book on Amazon.com.

Trend Alert: Antidiet Diet Books

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Move over, Atkins and South Beach: antidiet books are the new diet books. Lately I've noticed a slew of what might be called weight management, rather than weight loss, books landing on my desk, reinforcing the ever-growing sentiment that diets, at least in the traditional sense, don't work. But changing your eating habits does.

People like Maria Langer, who I heard interviewed on NPR the other day, are admitting that the diet books they bought over the years turned out to be a waste of money. But the publishing industry is filling the void with books about how to stop dieting and keep off the weight, among them Naturally Thin: Unleash Your Skinnygirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting by Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel and The Big Skinny, an instructive memoir from a woman who learned to keep off the pounds without dieting. For more on the trend, read more.

Other very recent additions include The Skinny by Louis J. Aronne and Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels (stay tuned for more on that), both of which purport that managing your body's chemistry and metabolism is far more effective than dieting. Similarly, some of my favorite food books of the past year, including The Daily Fix by Alexa Fishback, have focused not on short-term fixes but on changing your eating habits for the better, for good.

I'd even put in this category Michael Pollan's books The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, which have changed many people's eating habits more than any old diet book could. What's your favorite antidiet diet book?

A Dog-Gone Good Diet: The Dog Diet

FitSugar — Thu, 10 May 2007 10:15:00 -0700

There are a lot of diets out there that I just don't truly trust, but this diet is one that I think I can really sink my teeth into.
The Dog Diet: What My Dog Taught Me About Shedding Pounds, Licking Stress and Getting a New Leash on Life ($12.71) is not a new fat diet that tells you to eat hot dogs, and only hot dogs, but rather a book that explains how one lonely woman adopted a puppy and as a positive result, ends up losing weight. The book, while being funny and cute, shows us simple and natural methods for shedding unwanted pounds without the usual stress and disappointments that go along with typical dieting regimens. Some practical dog diet tips that you'll find in the book are:

When it comes to snacking, if your dog likes it, it's probably not something you should be eating (think pizza and steak) -- Eat quiet foods that don't emit enticing aromas - they're good for you and won't arouse the beggar in your dog!
Learn Dogersize because sure you can walk your dog, but a traditional work out can be adapted to include your dog you burn more calories. Plus it's a lot more fun for both of you!
Look at life through the eyes of your dog: Learn how to live in the moment and don't hold grudges. (Though I am pretty sure it is not yet acceptable to sniff other people's butts.)

The Dog Diet is a great, light read for anyone who loves dogs and is currently struggling (or has ever struggled) with weight loss. Want it, then buy it at Amazon.com.

Weekend Reading: Ten Years Thinner

FitSugar — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 02:00:00 -0800

If you search hard enough, you can find a diet/exercise book that tells you what you want to hear. I have found this to be true for both gardening and child rearing, and now I know it to be true in the quest for a healthier, fitter, thinner body.

The contrast between Ten Years Thinner ($26) and The Thrive Diet is a case in point. Ten Years Thinner, written by Christine Lydon, M.D., argues that lean animal protein and strength training are the key components to looking and feeling your best. On the other hand, The Thrive Diet asserts that vegan, and even raw food, along with endurance training is where you will find your wealth of health. I have only read these books, and haven't followed either plan, but the contrast is fascinating to me. Both books lay out their plans convincingly, and discuss how their diets combat the negative impact of inflammation while increasing your energy levels. It just boils down to finding a plan you think you can follow for the long haul.

Want to hear the details about Ten Years Thinner? Then read more.

The diet plan in Ten Years Thinner starts with eliminating certain foods and gradually adding them back into your diet over the course of six weeks. The first two weeks you avoid legumes, soy based food, dairy, grains and high glycemic index foods like potatoes, fruit juice and alcohol. Each subsequent week you reintroduce these forbidden foods, so in the end no food groups are completely off limits. Although you are encouraged to eat as little grains as possible as well as alcohol.

Workout wise the focus is strength training in daily 20 minute sessions, for four consecutive days followed by a rest day. The workouts are designed to get your heart rate up and create a post workout metabolism calorie burn too. The cool thing is that the exercise plan requires no gym time; you can do the workouts in the comfort of your own home with hand weights, a mat, a step stool and a pillow. The book includes a handful of recipes and workouts to follow. The tone of the book is, of course, up beat and friendly even though Lydon does mention that she went to Yale for medical school a few too many times in the introduction. The information is detailed and easy to follow. If you do decide to follow this plan you can find online support here in the form of active forums.

If you are curious and want to check out the book for yourself it is available at Amazon for $17.16, $8 off the cover price.

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South Beach Diet Exercise Program Is Misleading

FitSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:00:00 -0700

The latest in the South Beach Diet craze, The South Beach Diet Supercharged, is getting a lot of heat from top exercise researchers across the country.

The feature under particular scrutiny is an interval walking plan that promises that readers will burn many more calories than moderate walking and keep on burning calories all day. Researchers say no and no. They say, sure, those using the book's interval program may burn a few more calories than if they'd walked at a steady pace, but they won't burn "far more calories," and more importantly they won't burn calories for hours afterward as the book promises.

While I do feel like the South Beach Diet is a relatively good eating plan, I am not a fan of misleading customers to make a buck. So, I'm not saying that you shouldn't follow the book, just be prepared that your results may not be as dramatic as it claims they may be.

What's the Deal with The Cardio Free Diet?

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:30:00 -0700

Anyone watching Good Morning America the other day may have seen the piece they did on The Cardio Free Diet ($13.80). Anyone who knows anything about exercise was probably just as stunned as I was.

The basic principal of the Cardio Free Diet is that cardio is a waste of time and it ruins your diet by making you hungry all of the time, so you shouldn't do it and should focus on weight training instead. I can see where Jim Karas, the author, was going with this book but it truly does not make sense in terms of real life application. Sure, lean muscle burns more calories at rest, but the overall benefits of cardio are plainly stated and researched across the world -- Cutting cardio out would be cutting you (and possibly your life) short. Don't even get me started on his recommended daily caloric intake of only 1200 calories. With or without cardio, I personally would be starving on only 1200 calories per day.

As always, I am having a hard time understanding why we all just can't grasp the fact that it is best all around to do cardio and resistance training along with eating right. Books like this may sound good and I am sure they appeal to those who truly hate cardio, but in my opinion, it's a love-hate relationship you need to learn.

Still interested, then buy the book from Amazon.com.

Weekend Reading: Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels

FitSugar — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 03:30:00 -0700

The key to mastering your metabolism, according to the new book by Jillian Michaels? Hormones! But not in the way you normally think of hormones.

In Master Your Metabolism: The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally Balancing Your Hormones For a Hot and Healthy Body!, the Biggest Loser trainer explains how the myriad hormones that make up your endocrine system - including cortisol, ghrelin, testosterone, and leptin - work to keep your body healthy and balanced.

One of the new anti-diet books, this incredibly detailed guide combines personal memoir, serious science, and healthy eating recommendations to shed light on how artificial additives and other external factors can sabotage our weight-loss efforts. The book starts out incredibly academic, defining the various hormones and how they work; it was too much scientific jargon for me. But after wading through that I learned a lot. To find out what, read more.

Michaels's basic premise is that the toxins in processed foods, nonorganic produce, prescription medications, and the environment can throw our hormones out of whack, wreaking havoc on our systems. She writes, "Any and every body function you can imagine is controlled by your hormones." Her "three diet secrets" divide the book into three phases: removing these toxins from your life, replacing them with healthy foods, and rebalancing your hormones through diet, sleep, and exercise.

She offers a strict and simple meal plan that involves eating every four hours and tells you how to look at all the labels in your pantry and toss out the really bad stuff. She also acknowledges that we can't eat perfectly all the time and offers suggestions for good but not great foods. Along the way, she adds personal touches, like memories of being an overweight kid and confessing that she hates to exercise (which I have a hard time believing).

I like how the book offers different reasons for eating healthy than the ones we're used to hearing. It really made me think about how bad junk food really is and how every decision about what we put in our bodies has a ripple effect. This certainly isn't a book you can absorb with a quick skim; it's very dense with information. But I learned a great deal reading it and plan to return to it as a reference.

Must-Read: The End of Overeating

FitSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:10:33 -0700

He took on big tobacco as the head of the FDA, then once out of the government Dr. David Kessler decided to take on America's growing obesity problem, focusing on the issue of overeating. His motivation was personal this time, having dieted on and off for years watching his scale yo-yo up and down.

In his new book The End of Overeating, Kessler explains why foods that takes you to your bliss point are not only preying on human biology, but these foods have also been engineered by the food industry to whet your appetite. Kessler lays out his arguments like a scientist, backing up almost every point. It is easy to get bogged down by these reports, but from them you learn how and why we crave sugar, fat, and salt. The author makes a point to reemphasize that eating more calories than you burn creates weight gain and that we wasted a couple of decades finger-pointing at specific macronutrients. Kessler also details the inner workings of the food scientist and research used to engineer food to ensure it not only tastes good, but will make you want to keep tasting until well beyond satiety. All in all, the book details why many Americans are obsessed and even addicted to food. To see what Kessler has to say about the actual process of ending overeating continue reading.

Weekend Reading: Thrive Diet

FitSugar — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:00:00 -0800

When I flirted with being a vegetarian in college, my parents told me tales of a collegiate basketball player from their co-ed days. The athlete decided to eat a plant-based diet and subsequently was injured all the time. My parents seemed to think that meat was a form of injury prevention. They would be amazed by the whole food, plant based, vegan, almost raw diet that professional Iron Man athlete Brendan Brazier ~~cooked~~ dreamed up and promotes in his book The Thrive Diet ($16.32).

The first third of the book lays out a very convincing argument for a plant based diet. It decreases stress, decreases over all body acidity (which is cause for inflammation), and provides more nutrients per calorie. His food philosophy is to eat plenty of small meals a day, drink nutritious smoothies daily (some recipes contain kale), eat raw greens daily, and to partake of an afternoon snack. Brazier also believes we should all be eating a raw energy bar daily concocted out of ingredients like dried dates, quinoa, and ground flax seeds. All that sounds healthy, but for me to follow this diet I would have to completely change how I eat and approach food. Brazier definitely sees food as fuel to power his extreme workout schedule. Food for me is also about taste, texture and pleasure. Not to mention food provides a social forum for family and friends.

To see how to start the diet, just read more

Brazier is clear that you need to take on the Thrive Diet one step at a time. It is not about perfection but about progress. Since change can create stress, you need to ease into the Thrive Diet by adding nutrient dense foods and weaning yourself off of coffee and refined carbs.

If you are vegan, especially if you are into endurance sports (he has recipes for raw vegan sports gels!), and looking for some super healthy recipes, this is the book for you. It contains a lot of recipes for meals, snacks and sports drinks. If you are looking to thrive, buy the book at Amazon. I bet Brazier would prefer that you walk or bike to your local bookstore to pick up your copy.

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Healthy Dose Link Time

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:05:04 -0800

Revamp your belly in a month with these moves - Shape
Use your iPhone to find a yoga class near you - Social Workout
Two books to inspire the fit life. Win one with just a comment - Fit Bottomed Girls
Amy Winehouse's latest addiction is surprising - FitCeleb
Guess the most popular day to call in sick - Vitamin G
Wii Fit burns calories, but not as many as you think - Fresh Fitness Tips
It starts early even preschoolers affected by airbrushing - Never Say Diet