Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been doing Weight Watchers off and on for about three years. I have gained and lost the same 10 pounds, and I have gotten nowhere near my "goal weight". Why not? No one mentioned the common sense guidelines that I got from this book in the first five minutes of reading it: eat according to your appetite and eat balanced meals that satify (rather than stuff) you. FINALLY! Very very great information about nutrition (with no hocus-pocus studies or extreme recommendations) and about how each meal should be balanced for maximum satisfaction and metabolism, and how to increase your physical activity (moderately) to support your weight loss. After only a few days I feel, for the first time in my life, a) satisfied after every meal, b) the excess weight coming off (already!), and c) completely confident that I can meet my goal weight without completely disrupting my life or suffering at the hands of the dreaded "WW points". I can do this for the rest of my life. Buy this book!

I am thrilled to have this book. You need this book if you want to lose weight. I am now eating based on my hunger and the info in this book and it is working. I have lost a dress size already -- in just 2 weeks. Lucy's formula worked for her to lose 50 pounds and keep it off for 20 years and thank goodness, she is now sharing it with all of us. She is a true inspiration. Plus, I am learning how to be thin in not just my body, but also in the way I think and live. My life and attitudes are changing in wonderful ways -- and I still can eat and enjoy my chocolate! The book is a delight to read - and it feels as if Lucy knows exactly how I feel and think. Yes, this is a warm and cuddly weight loss book. It is extraordinary and it works!

I have learned more from half this book than I've learned half my life. This book has taught me all the things I've done wrong in trying to lose weight and how to fix them. Why all my efforts have failed, or if I did loose some weight why I did not keep it off. This is not a diet book it is a living book. This book is exellent "food for fat"

I know everyone else is raving about this book, but I just don't see the big deal. In that it's one of the "complete idiot's" series, I was expecting something a little less "gimicky." However, these authors' diet recommendations remind me so much of The Zone, i.e., protein/carb/fat combo meals where the carbs are in the form of fruits & veggies. They note that our ancient ancestors didn't eat grains and suggest that we limit our consumption. I agree on the limits and like the new food pyramid where the grains are not the foundation; however, I do think eating whole grains shouldn't be discouraged to the extent that the authors discourage it. After all, barring those ancient ancestors, our more recent ancestors (i.e., those in the last few hundred years) have been eating grains, and America's obesity problem is just getting out of hand in the past 30 years, so we can't blame it on grains. The authors do have some common sense advice in the part of the plan that advises readers only to eat when hungry and to eat only until satisfied, not full (e.g., a portion about the size of your fist). The authors say that this is the way thin people eat, and we should emulate that if we want to be thin. I agree with that part. However, I was annoyed at the contradictions in the book. The authors continually suggest that we act and think "thin," but then they make suggestions for eating in a way that I've never seen any of my thin friends do. For example, the authors say that you can eat those cheeseburgers and that pizza, but when you do, eat the burger without the bun and the pizza without the crust. I've never seen a thin person do that unless for some odd reason that person didn't like bread (I don't know anyone who doesn't like bread). I think that suggestions like these perpetuate the dieting mentality. I would have prefered them to suggest eating a smaller burger or just one piece of pizza.

All in all, I don't think the book is harmful, but it didn't measure up to my expectations of books in the "complete idiot's" series. For those who like the concept of eating only when hungry (a concept I highly recommend), I suggest Seven Secrets of Slim People. This book advocates that type of eating, but doesn't suggest any food restrictions. The only aspect of the COMPLETE IDIOT'S guide that I prefer to Seven Secrets is their recommendation to eat breakfast even if you're not hungry. I believe this is necessary to get your metabolism moving in the morning.

This book is really terrific! After over two years of living a "controlled carb" lifestyle, my husband and I began to get concerned about our health. Even though we lost loads of weight and kept it off all that time, we felt we may be doing our bodies long-term damage. So we tried low-fat for a bit, but started gaining weight and so we went back to low carb. Desperate to find a way to lose weight and eat healthy, we bought this book. In a nutshell, it shows you how to balance it all out. Through educating you about metabolism and even how to "get in tune" with your own body, this book puts it all in perspective. No fad dieting ideas, no gimmicks, just REAL answers to why we eat the way we do and how to eat right for the rest of your life! Exercise and stop being afraid of food! Eat when you're hungry! Enjoy real ice cream, butter and mayonnaise! Just do it right. This book shows you how.

Hooray! Finally a smart weight-loss approach that you can rely upon for the rest of your life. I love it! And it works. Never preachy, this book is helping me approach eating, food, my body, and getting to my ideal size without guilt or silly approaches to food.

This book is excellent. Written in easy-to-get language it manages to be both simple and yet detailed enough to go into a wide range of weight-management topics in significant depth.

I think books like this should be at least tax-free if not entirely free, as they are beyond being just self-help in the sense that they can potentially help relieve the burden that overweight/obese/unhealthy people have on our society. don't get me wrong - I mean no judgements there - I've been overweight and unhealthy myself and it's a problem which is still very much on the increase, both sides of the pond.

It's very educational and based on sound science yet you will hardly ever feel that you're 'in class' or studying; that said your knowledge of biology and the human body will definitely increase as a result of reading this book.

The real question - will it help me lose weight? Well, the answer is perhaps obvious - the book itself won't help you lose weight: your choices and behaviour will help you lose weight, but this book will definitely help you to understand how to lose weight (and why).

Buy it if

- you need to lose weight (duh)
- if you've lost weight with fad/crash-diets but know you're going to put it back on again
- want to learn more about the human body and basic nutrition
- want to teach and guide others in the subject (e.g. if studying nutrition/health on a medium level course)
- want to support someone who you know wants to lose weight effectively, safety and for good.

Written by a Registered Dietitian and speaking to our basic needs in a very user friendly format. This is a GREAT book! Food is a must for each of us - and the conflicting reports we get almost daily on what to eat and how to eat is so frustrating that most of us throw up our hands and say forget it! I love the easy manner of this book. It is so basic that it makes me wonder why I did not fit it all together like this before now? I can use this book for my entire family - it is MUCH more than a weight loss book and definitely not another diet book to get dusty on a shelf. It teaches good nutrition for life. I love the hunger scale - it teaches you to use your own body as the signal for how much to eat and when. This is a MUST read for everyone's health library. It never gets too technical but it is obviously based on good science and real life situations.

I am an ordinary 40 pound overweight person who has tried everything. I love this book. It makes sense and shows me how to stop yo-yo dieting. This program is designed to work while living in the REAL world of fast food and a hectic schedule. It's easy to read and understand. I am eager to use the affirmations and visualizations, plus intend to start eating based on my hunger numbers right away. This book is truly an answer to my prayers.

After adopting the ideas in the book, Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss, I proceeded to lose 35 pounds in 2.5 months. I'm 5'10 and now weight 170 pounds. Hurrah!