Customer Reviews

The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life

5 star:		(141)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Like many of you, I found myself wondering what the differences were between the various diet programs. What I discovered is that all of the major diet books are well written and share many similarities. None of them offered an "silver bullet" to weight loss - it primarily comes down to keeping your calories burned greater than your calories eaten. There are theories presented about glycemic index, good vs. bad carbs, etc., but at the end of the day it's about calories and exercise.

In this review, I've summarized Consumer Reports evaluations to offer brief summaries of each diet book/program in hopes that it might help you pick out the one that would work best for you. Don't pay too much attention to the number of stars, as it's my own subjective rating based on effectiveness, ease of use, and ability to stick with the diet. Instead, try to discern which diet might fit your lifestyle better.

The Abs Diet, ****
This book is written by David Zinczenko, the editor of Men's Health Magazine. The diet likes the number 6 - promising "6 pack abs in 6 weeks," by eating 6 meals a day. Each meal is built around the "power 12" foods. There is a strong emphasis on whey supplements. The fitness program was easy to follow but perhaps too strenuous for beginners and seemed better suited to men. Strong points are excellent nutritional content and strong exercise. Weak points are questionable claims about rapid weight loss and "6 pack" abs, and mediocre meal plans. Average recommended daily calories are 1,890, with 7 fruits and vegetable servings.

The South Beach Diet ****
The SB Diet is a slightly more permissive version of the Atkins low-carb diet. It is based on the premise that eating low-glycemic foods (foods that raise blood sugar) decreases cravings for sugar and refined carbs. Like many of the diets, there are two phases. In the first phase, fruits, sugar, and grains are banned outright. Phase 2 allows some fruit, high-fiber grains, and dark chocolate. The simplicity of the diet might appeal to many busy dieters. However the emphasis on the glycemic index and insufficient exercise sections are a drawback. Recipes are easy to prepare, but some called for unusual ingredients (a clever cook could make substitutions). Average recommended daily calories are a mere 1,340, with 13 fruits and vegetable servings (mostly veggies).

The Sonoma Diet ****
The Sonoma Diet is an updated low-carb diet with a Mediterranean theme. Again, it is broken into two phases, called "waves." In "Wave 1," the dieter is banned from eating most sweet or refined foods. The much longer "Wave 2" permits fruits and wine. It has a unique method of calculating portions by filling sectors of small plates with specified food categories. The diet is healthy but complex. It is also very restrictive, which makes it more difficult to stay on. Also, the book doesn't offer enough on exercise. The recipes were tasty but elaborate to prepare. Average recommended daily calories are a mere 1,390, with 10 fruits and vegetable servings.

Ultra-Metabolism ***
The Ultra-Metabolism Diet is designed around the assertion that people get fat because their body's systems become toxic, inflamed, and imbalanced. Again, this is a two phase diet. Phase 1 is an initial "detox" period. The longer Phase 2 is a "rebalancing" period. Overall, the dieter must eliminate white rice, refined grains, most red meats, and caffeinated beverages. The theory of your body requiring detoxification goes beyond any scientific evidence and rings a bit of late night television "miracle detox bowel-cleansing pills." The diet is fairly restrictive and complicated. The exercise section was brief but practical. Average recommended daily calories are 1,660, with 12 fruits and vegetable servings.

Volumetrics, ****
The Volumetrics Diet is based on Penn State research. It aims to maximize the amount of food you can eat for a given caloric intake. This is done primarily by eating reduced-fat products, adding in lots of vegetables, and using low-fat cooking techniques. It encourages eating a first course of broth-based soup or low-calorie salad (not heavily laden with dressing, cheese or bacon) to take the edge off your appetite. Recent clinical studies have shown this diet to be very effective. The recipes are appetizing but time consuming. Average recommended daily calories are 1,500, with 14 fruits and vegetable servings.

The Zone Diet, ****
The Zone Diet was designed to keep your blood sugar and hormones at optimal levels so that you can better fight obesity and diseases. It requires that each meal consist of 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbs (based on calories). The diet allows many fruits, but almost no grains except oatmeal. The meals are simple to prepare and nutritionally balanced. But having to keep to the 30/30/40 balance is very tedious and requires lots of preplanning. Recent studies showed that the overall weight loss was below average. Average recommended daily calories are 1,660, with 17 fruits and vegetable servings.

Eat More, Weigh Less, ***
The Eat More, Weigh Less (Ornish) Diet is a low-fat vegetarian diet that bans all meat, fish, oils, alcohol, sugar, and white flour. Their clinical studies suggest that strictly following the diet can prevent or reverse some diseases. Ornish argues that it is easier to make drastic changes to diet rather than small ones. The diet offers the most food per calorie of any of the diets. It is actually lower in fat than current USDA guidelines recommend. Studies have shown good long term weight loss, but a relatively high drop-out rate. Average recommended daily calories are 1,520, with 17 fruits and vegetable servings.

Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, ***
The Atkins Diet is the grand daddy of them all. As with many of the other diets, it is divided into two phases. The first phase is a two week induction period that bans nearly all carbs. The second phase is only slightly less restrictive, but does slowly add more vegetables, fruit, and wine. Research has suggested that Atkins' dieters are less hungry than on many other diets. But the diet is difficult to adhere to and has a high drop-out rate. Long term weight loss has been shown to be average. The single most glaring concern with the Atkins diet is that the nutritional profile is far outside conventional dietary guidelines. (We've all known people eating handfuls of bacon, eggs, and cheese for breakfast, claiming they were on a diet). Average recommended daily calories are 1,520, with 6 fruits and vegetable servings.

Again, please don't worry too much about my ranking of the diet books - it's completely subjective. My suggestion is to simply find a program that seems to fit your lifestyle best.

Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.

Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Process of Elimination" - an intense thriller in which a martial artist, a greedy corporate attorney, and a sexy conspiracy theorist team up to stop a world-class sniper from killing presidential candidates.

I like the fact that the authors explain how things work in our bodies (how protein intake relates to the increased metabolism resulting from the workout, and to the muscle growth; which foods are good for metabolism; which of them aid in weight loss or lowering cholesterol levels). Although the idea of having six meals a day does not always fit my busy schedule, the one of snacking with fruits and/or nuts between main meals does seem to be effective in my case. What I like most about the book is the well balance diet that does not exclude any food groups. I am a great believer in the nourishment based on natural foods and The Abs Diet fully supports this belief. Dr. Tombak in the book "Can We Live 150 Year" farther explains proper food combination and its effect on our bodies. For that reason his book is a very good addition to The Abs Diet.

I have NEVER read a book that has inspired me to become HEALTHY like this one has. I needed to diet and was in a major diet "rut!" The best thing about his plan is you really dont feel like you are on a diet. It is all about getting your body healthy. I am going on my third week of the plan and I have lost 6 pounds and my body feels much tighter. My whole outlook is better because I am not starving myself with some crazy diet or eating a bunch of crazy foods that other diets recommend. This is SO easy to follow that I will incorporate my entire eating lifestyle based on his plan. This is not just 6 weeks for me this is how I will live my life. If I can do this, please beleive me ANYONE can. Don't let the author being a Mens Health" editor deter any women from this plan, I am a woman who is enjoying this plan to its fullest extent and trying hard to get my husband to conform. All in all 6 STARS from me!

Calorie controlled diets are the most scientifically valid diets. Less calories in, plus cardio = weight loss. The problem with this is that we generally loose fat and muscle at the same time. However, very low-calorie diets are beaten by the body after two to three weeks. The body learns that you are starving down and so starts to conserve fat. You can even eat half the allotted calories per day and watch as you stay the same weight and look like you have the same fat (and you do). Combine cardio and you can loose it all eventually (fat and muscle) but at least you lost the fat. Hard, but it can be done. Although this backbone of dieting is important, actually very important, and works, you can't start eating bad again or else you will put it all back on. You can't stick with a very low-calorie diet forever either without repeating this process every time you put on fat. In general this isn't a bad way to go about getting fit, especially if you are obese and fed up with that fat. This traditional method will rip the fat off for at least 3 weeks and get you down a bit. Then the low-carbohydrate diet is the next obvious choice to get down even more, like the Atkins diet. Low-carb diets limit what you eat so that you find it hard to eat and what you do eat doesn't convert to fat quickly. Lots of foods with medium to high carbohydrate levels vanish from your menu and so if you don't eat fatty foods on this controlled diet your body will continue to loose more weight. Combine this with the traditional method of a very low-calorie intake with cardio and you have a diet on rocket fuel. The problem though is that low-carb diets are very limiting, remove healthy carbohydrate foods that your body needs, and may even be considered dangerous by some experts. Shopping for low-carb foods is not as fun, or as easy, as it sounds. Even health stores and low-carb sections do not have such a great range of foods for low-carb diets. Even food producers have tried to corner this market by adding hidden ingredients to the low-carb foods. You will tend to eat the same things over and over. You can't do it forever. If you want something you can do forever then the Abs Diet is the way to go.

The Abs Diet has the right ideas, and really that is the bottom line. It is quite humorous at times too and is easy to read. Modern medicine tells us that the human body can use food to burn fat if we eat the right foods in the right proportions. When we eat certain foods our body's metabolism increases. The very activity of our digestion can use more energy than what we are ingesting. This is the way our bodies where always supposed to act. By avoiding appetite suppressants (the type that stops you feeling full!) food additives (like HFSC) we can eat healthy and feel full like we should, not drinking 2 litres of soda containing appetite suppressants and then want to snack out on a candy bar containing the same appetite suppressants, an endless spiral of overeating. Trans-fats, which are coming under fire only now in the 21st century with the new "dangerous fats" label on the way in means that it should be easier for us to learn about and identify problem foods like trans-fats, hydrogenated oils, HFSC, high GI-foods. The Abs Diet does a good job of telling you the stuff that is really bad for you. What you then discover is that there are medium to high carbohydrate foods that do not have this stuff in them. Meaning a low-carb food with these danger ingredients is worse than a high-carb food without these danger ingredients. If we exclude these danger ingredients in with our low-carb diet then good luck in finding food that you can eat - but if you can do it you will loose weight... but you can't do low-carb forever. The Abs Diet uses the principle that there are foods that can increase metabolic rates and that these foods can also be medium-high carb and should also be included in a diet for health reasons. This inclusion of medium-high carb foods suddenly opens up a wave of food options for your diet. You can shop this stuff probably anywhere. Next, the Abs Diet tells you that you need to move to six meals a day. 8am breakfast, 11am snack, 1pm lunch, 4pm snack, 6pm dinner, 8pm snack. This is a major component of the metabolic diet that bodybuilder's will already know (the Abs Diet borrows heavily from the bodybuilding world). You can cheat on one day a week (wow). Most of the foods contain high protein (this is also borrowed from bodybuilding) and so nearly every meal has vitamins, high protein and some carbs. There are even some meals with good fats in them. It is all very healthy. Nuts and berries are high on the list, veg, whey protein, beans, poultry, skimmed milk and low-dairy, oats, eggs, peanut butter (yep, a little can combat fat), olive oil and wholegrain breads. The Abs Diet asks that you get a blender to make some `smoothies' that are like health drinks you can use throughout the day. These are great and tasty additions to your diet. You even have full lunches and dinners with steak and chicken and tortillas. In essence you haven't seen a diet that looks as tasty as the Abs Diet. The blender allows for unprecedented creation of all sorts of metabolic foods. Although protein concentration is very high, so what, the meals are great and that is what counts. Watch out that you actually calculate for servings (per person) as some of the smoothies are enough for 2 servings and the lunches/dinners can serve 4 people sometimes. Metabolic dieting of six meals a day, which are high in protein and low in danger foods, will make you loose fat. The Abs Diet is a pretty valuable cook book. Lots of very good recipes are in here (I had to copy the recipes onto my PC because my pages are already worn from cooking with it) and they allow for a lot of variation when you have worked with them. You get the general idea and can even advance on to making up your own. Once you get the idea you can continue it for life. In short, the Abs Diet works, but there are some major drawbacks that are more side issues than the diet itself, but you need to know about them. The Abs Diet talks you out of cardio saying that you only burn a couple of hundred calories for every 30 minutes to 1 hour doing it. Fine, this is true, but you also get cardio-vascular exercise which promotes a body that can produce a better metabolic system. Never walk away from cardio. The Abs Diet tells you to stop counting calories. This is also a bad idea. The basic traditional calorie counts are important because if you are consuming more than you can burn then you are going to get fat. However it would be better to see these calories in light of their metabolic effect so don't get too worried if you see some bigger figures. At the same time, they should not get too big or else, so will you! These food amounts advocated by the Abs Diet need to be cautioned against. If you are gaining weight then check to see what could be responsible for it. Next up is the biggest lie of them all - that you can gain muscle and loose fat. You can't build muscle and loose fat at the same time. As any bodybuilder will tell you, this is a strategic impossibility. In order to build muscle you need a bulk diet which gains muscle and some fat and then you move to a cut diet which looses a little muscle but lots of fat. Bulk and Cut. That is how it is done. The Abs Diet tries to tell you that you can cut fat and gain muscle together. You can't. The worst part is yet to come. Pages 200 to 300 are dedicated to a four day a week gym exercise. Do not even read this section. The book has ended at page 200. To ask people to train four days a week is horrible overtraining advice and the exercise examples are horrible form. Only steroid users train this way four times a week or more and some of the examples will injure you. Forget about all the weight lifting information in here and concern yourself with cardio, like an exercise bike or biking. I suggest you look for better weight lifting exercises through manuals that are dedicated to natural bodybuilding that is responsibly taught. Search around. Now with that out of the way, if you have gym experience then the Abs Diet works super wonders but for the average person, who doesn't lift weights, don't waste time learning weights yet, and instead get your cardio in order first. The other thing this book lacks is sources. It really needs to cite its sources. The exercise and cardio claims are wrong for the above reasons. The writer knows nothing about weight training properly. I would be suspect of lots of the claims he makes but the general ideas are good and most importantly, the metabolic diet works... and it works really well, for as long as you want. Overall this is a great book because of its core message - Metabolic dieting on foods you can live with forever and that is why it is highly recommended. This could be the best diet book you could own.
*Updates*
- Always eat at those 6 times in a day. Even if you break the diet with a bad meal keep to the plan. Cardio always help if you mess up.
- Try not to snack between snacks. Keep the meals to 6 per day.
- The calorie calculations for the recipes are far from accurate.
- Turns out when you add up the meals that this is a pretty low calory diet for men but maybe high for women.
- The meals have massive variations in the calorie differences. One dinner recipe is 700kcal while another is 300kcal.
- You need to add about 3 tsp of olive oil to the non-stick pan if you dont want to burn your food.
- Drink plenty of water.
- I think the meals run a little too late for me. Better is 12pm lunch, 3pm snack, 4:30-5pm dinner, 7pm snack. I try to have the last sizable meal before 7pm. I eat something small with protein before I go to bed to prevent catabolism.
- Don't worry if the diet doesn't work right away. You need to get rid of the all the metabolism inhibiting chemicals that you have in your system. It can take awhile for the diet to kick in because of that.
- If you find that the diet is not working after all of the above then have a higher calory dinner for lunch and a lower calory lunch for dinner. That way you eat bigger midday and less in the evening. Two lower calory lunches for lunch and dinner are more extreme but if that is what you need to do then that is what you need to do.
- Get a digital weighing scales. You will drop down and go up and drop down and go up. The key here is to create a decline of dropping down and going up.
**I have gone from 220lbs to 207lbs in 1 month on this diet.**
*** I am now 181lbs** 8th May 2007 *** Slow, but getting there! Cardio is a must!!!!

I am in the medical field and work ina critical care setting. I do not agree with some of the other reviewers because this book, in my opinion, was a good look at how balanced nutrition is able ot be achieved. The first 75 pages are more of a motivation reason of why you should be eating correctly. It is not another "low carb diet". I don't even think its a diet, its more a way of looking at food the way we should - without the partially hydrgenated oil and the high fructose corn syrup. You may have confused this with low carb. Vegetables are typically low in carbs and calories as it is, and fruits are a natural carbohydrate that allows you to feel satisfied longer. I use this book for motivation to get back into the habit of eating more balanced. The smoothies recommended actually taste pretty good and are easy to make. Not only that, but you do feel satisfied afterwards.

While I would not advise only following it in 6 weeks, I think its a sound plan. I think the claims it makes are a little over the top, but this book should be more about eating to maintain and improve your health, not just to lose weight. I particularly liked the sections describing some of the major contributors to a decline in health in the average AMerican and what natural foods can protect against them...they are decent descrioptions that are related to the everyday person.

As someone who is very much into health and reads up on alot of nutritional research and physical diseases and ailments, I recommend the book and the foods it describes. Just don't expect the loss in 6 weeks.

I think I have read every diet book written and I doubted that this book had anything more to add to my knowledge. Alas, I was wrong. This is a good book but if you are looking for instant magic, then this book or any other, will not help you. Covered here are basics that can help anyone, even someone that is not seeking to loose weight. Your food intake is composed of a balance of foods that are all good for you. Only the traditional junk is left out. There is an emphasis on fiber and protein that will keep you filled up without overeating. Sorry no bacon! I have religiously charted my progress in terms of calories, and clearly on the days that I follow the diet, I always consume less calories than I utilize, which equals weight loss. (and I do this without any agony) On the days that I stray, I tend to overeat! Duh!! Exercise is focused on the mid area (abs) but includes aerobic as well. You abs show by reducing fat (everywhere including the abs area) and building muscle. Basically adding muscle increases caloric demand. As we age we loose muscle etc. Additionally, the book has a great series of illustrated exercises, that can be done in a gym or at home. Too many books expect you to have access to a gym or have $5K worth of equipment in your home. Not required here. A worthwhile read for sure!! Oh by the way, I have actually read this book cover to cover several times, unlike some of the reviews posted here. It works, what more can be said.

Just like Goldilocks from the "Three Bears" children's tale, I finally found the perfect eating routine. My first diet (bed) was the Atkins' Diet. This diet was okay, but I got tired of the greasy food, and started missing carbs and vegetables. When I got off that diet I gained all the weight back with interest. My second diet (bed) was the "South Beach Diet" which was better than Atkins', but it was missing something but shared similar methods to the Abs diet. My third diet (bed) was the Abs Diet and it was the perfect fit for me! You are not deprived of anything and everything in the book makes perfect sense. The key to my success is what the author calls the "12 Powerfoods" which consist of high proteins, fiber, and "good" carbs. As a carb addict it's important for me to have carbs incorporated in my diet. This way I don't have to worry about carb binges and regaining weight.

Another factor that works for me are the recipes that are really good, I even enjoy eating ground turkey now. The books maps out how to combine flavors to what is perceive my some as bland food into cuisines that you could serve to your guest. My favorite recipes are:
Strawberry Field Marshall Smoothie (Life saver when you want something sweet)
Banana Split Smoothie
Yo Soup for you
Mas Macho Meatballs (FAVORITE!)
Chili Con Turkey (Great for those cold winter nights)


Even though the books states six weeks, for me it took six months to lose 25 pounds. I overindulged in both snacks and meals, didn't exercise much, and around the holiday ate like it was going out of style. With that being said, I still did well and went from a size 16 to a size 12. I still have 35 pounds to go, but now I'm exercise frequently, and eating less. Within two weeks, I noticed my skirts are fitting looser which encourages me to continue with exercising which will give me the results that I'm looking for sooner. The only thing I would change is the title of the book; I would change it to the "The Abs Lifestyle". I have changed everything about how I eat and carve the "Powerfoods" instead of junk food which is loaded with fat, dangerous carbs, and empty calories. I know I will become healthy and maintain the weight, this is truly my perfect bed (diet) and I hope it will be the same for you.

I am a 38 year old woman who is looking to lose about 20 lbs and tone up a bit. My middle area has expanded a bit in the past year and it is my mission to trim it back before I hit 40. The thing that attracted me to the health lifestyle outlined in Mr. Zinczenko's book was the stress on increasing one's metabolism. The food plan also was appealing as it incorporated many of the foods I already eat. I just needed to get some "organization" in how to eat them in order to achieve the results I was looking for.

This is not a typical "high protein" diet. He stresses the importance (it's imperative, really) of eating whole grains instead of white flour and trans-fats. Fiber is essential to the mechanics of the body as it was designed. Caloric intake is not an issue in this book but I really disagree with that. Maybe he is saying that at first, one shouldn't count calories, instead, eat 3 smaller meals a day and at least two snacks, timed so that one never gets "hungry". Maybe this works when your metabolism is already jump-started, but for me, I can't eat snacks when I'm not hungry. I am the type of person who really doesn't like eating that much anyway so I guess I tend to eat more at a meal so that I "get it over with". This is proving to be the biggest struggle for me with this diet. I don't want to have to think too hard about "when it's time to eat" or "Oh gosh, I forgot my afternoon snack, there goes my metabolism".

The book HAS taught me a lot though about foods I didn't know and the effect on the human body. The whole "eat fat, get fat" thing has always been confusing so it's nice to see the breakdown of "good fat, vs. bad fat". Also, I learned a lot about the nasty High Fructose Corn Syrup additive that is in EVERYTHING! After learning about it I went through my cupboards and refrigerator and was amazed at the amount of products that contains HFCS. I tossed everything that contains it. Even the 100% whole wheat english muffins I bought contained it. Why??? So, I made my own.

The recipes in the book are so easy, even a guy could make them (but of course, the book was written by a guy!). They are almost a little "too simple" but are good basics so if you cook and you want to jazz them up with spices or healthy ingredients, they are extremely adaptable for that.

I did find some inconsistencies with some of the food recommendations. He does a lot of comparisons like: Instead of crackers, Pick: Wheatables original reduced-fat crackers because they don't contain any Trans-Fat. Well, that's true, however, when I went to the store I found that that product contains High Fructose Corn Syrup! So, I checked all the labels and found that Triscuits Garden Herb variety crackers had whole wheat, no transfats and no HFCS. So, one learns from the book but then needs to become their own food investigator really to make the best choices overall.

The entire last third of the book is all about the workout. One might get a little overwhelmed by the workouts and decide it's "too much" however, the overall point is to just get moving on a regular basis and incorporate the strength training into your daily routine in SOME way. The strength training really is Key to getting your metabolism going and keeping it going. That is what allows you to burn calories when you are simply sitting still.

Some reviewers stated that the way Mr. Zinczenko writes is geared toward men. I didn't find that to be the case at all. The writing is light and humorous while maintaining a serious tone when relating the importance of taking care of your body.

I purchased this book along with The Abs Diet Eat Right Every Time Guide. I recommend you spend the extra few dollars for this guide, especially if you eat out at times. There are recipes in The Abs Diet book but there are a LOT more in the companion guide. I think I counted at least 25 different ways to make breakfast smoothies and 20 different ways to fix oatmeal in the Eat Right Every Time Guide.

If it were just me using these books I might have just given them 3 stars but since this is the first diet book my husband has actually picked up and READ, I gave it 4 stars.

I'll keep this quick--the eating guidelines in the book and the rationales behind them not only make sense, but they work in the real world as well. The book made me a smarter and savvier shopper at the grocery store (no more high fructose corn syrup EVER), and slowly but surely I came to really enjoy the "power foods" (especially almonds, oatmeal, and **natural** peanut butter) that you should snack on to get you through your daily "munchie times" (mine is between 3 and 6 in the afternoon). It's easy to follow, affordable (you won't be buying tons of meat, Atkins people), will knock out some of your more unhealthy cravings, and will probably show in your waistline and on the scale after a week or so.

The exercise circuit is pretty basic--you can do the whole thing quickly at home with 4 free weights (two "medium" and 2 "heavy") and in a very small space. I'm docking it half a star because the writer doesn't give enough props to a good cardio workout (seriously--we all know it's the only way to start dropping BIG pounds) and another half star because the writing style is a bit too cutesy and "wink wink nudge nudge" for my taste. Not every reader is going to be an ex-frat boy determined to advertise his uber-heterosexual charms at the drop of a hat.

Anyway, I meant this to be a shorter review, but it all boils down to my review title. Give it a try and see for yourself.

I usually am not the type to buy a diet book. As a matter of fact, I have only followed one diet closely for a number of years, and that has always been to eat everything in moderation. However, two years after my second child was born, I am fighting a layer of fat around my middle that will not budge - or, should I say, did not budge until these past 2 weeks. I have always been active...I run, I do martial arts, and I rarely ever sit down! However, my middle has been a challenge to keep lean. Upon reading this book I immediately employed several of the power foods into my diet. I began to eat flax, oatmeal, soy products, fresh veggies, fresh fruit, non-trans fat foods, and I have practically eliminated anything that comes in a box. I have honestly been much more satisfied. I actually am eating more than I was, I have more energy, I am losing weight in my middle (4 pounds in 2 weeks). I have NOT made any fruit smoothies, however. I actually do not like yogurt or milk so I have to get my calcium from other sources. I'm happy to say that the absence of these blender meals has not impeded my weight loss efforts. I think this is a very good book if you're looking to reduce your waistline. I also would recommend this book to all people, no matter how fit they may be. The foods are just way too good for you to only eat as "diet" foods. They should be a part of all of our lives. I don't believe you even have to follow the recipes. Frankly, I do not - I don't think the recipes are that good, and I love to cook so I am more creative than the author is with these foods. And, if you can be creative, you won't get bored and you'll remain successful! If you purchase this book, good luck and enjoy your results!